Released on: July 18th, 2022

Nayanmani Baruah
Founder NAYAN'S Entrepreneur I Fashion Designer I Women Leader I Exporter I Traveller

Talk us through your background and your journey as an individual and achiever. Tell us all about your brand/books/businesses .

In 2001, I graduated from South Delhi Polytechnic for Women in New Delhi with a degree in Fashion Design. As a Designer and Merchandiser in Delhi from 2002 to 2009, I had a long career in the fashion industry there. However, working for someone else does not fill me with joy. I had an inspiration in myself telling me to take action on my own and so my strong desire to do something made me start with my own .As a result, I’ve chosen to return to my hometown and start a business of my own. I moved to Guwahati in 2009 as a result.

What is the hardest challenge you faced in your journey and how did you turn it into an opportunity?

When I returned to Guwahati after a nine-year absence, I had no idea how big this industry was in the city. Fortunately, I came across an advertisement in the newspaper for an Entrepreneurship Development course offered by SIFT (Sualkuchi Institute of Fashion Technology). That’s exactly what happened to me. It was a turning point in my life at that time. During the training, I had the opportunity to meet a number of well-known people in the sector in Assam, as well as government officials who helped us learn how to start our own businesses. I learned the fundamentals of being an entrepreneur at SIFT. Following the completion of the school, I wanted to open my own firm and pursue my RND in the local market. NYN’s Creation has finally taken off under the name NAYAN’S.. My firm began with just Rs. 9000/- in initial funding. It was all done by myself, and I bought some high-quality textiles from the local market. It was a blessing for me that all nine of my Mekhla Chador sets were sold when I first manufactured them and displayed them in an exhibition at NEDFi Hut in Ambari with one of my friends. This was extremely motivating for me. My first encounter with customers occurred during that encounter. For the first time in a long time, I was able to feel what I had been missing while working for someone else: a sense of fulfilment.

Tell us about the uniqueness of your brand/talent/style ?:

I started receiving positive feedback from my clients after participating in exhibitions. In response to rising demand, I hired one seamstress, one embroider, and one machine embroiderer in 2010 and began my garment production business. As a result, we’ve taken part in state-based Fashion Shows. I eventually received an export sampling order from an Egyptian buyer in 2013 after slowly building up our confidence in exports and participating in international buyer seller meetings all around the country. I finally got the order after a lot of back and forth. We were able to make our way onto the Exporter’s list as a result of that order. After that order, we received a New York-based buyer’s request for Eri and Muga silk children’s goods. We couldn’t get enough of the goods. We had a successful international and domestic market for the product. As a result, we began exporting to countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and others. Our initial focus was on commercially available clothing, but since 2012, I’ve been working as a textile designer for Handloom and Textile, Assam, which has given me access to a network of people who can help me make handloom fabrics. As a result, we’ve begun experimenting with Eri and Muga Silk to improve our regional yarns. In the past, we were proud to state that we developed the fabric for our goods in-house as well.

Tell us about your social initiatives?
Since 2017, I’ve been putting up exhibitions in Guwahati to help women entrepreneurs who work from home and want a place to meet their customers. When I attended a course in Water Hyacinth from NEDFi in the year 2012, I taught a few women how to produce jewellery and accessories for women, and we’ve been selling the Water Hyacinth products at NYN’s Creation ever since

What is your success mantra that you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
It was just a matter of time until we expanded into other parts of women’s wear such as handbags, jewellery, and accessories for the ears, neck, and head became a part of our offering. For more than a year now, we’ve been working to improve our collections and services for our customers by testing out new ideas. My team has grown from three workers to 25 workers and 110 weavers.