It has been well said that strong women are not born. They are made by the storms that they walk through. My name is Priyanka Sarmacharjee, Founder and CEO of FeelPretty. I am not only an Entrepreneur but also Pro Makeup Artist and Educator and travel globally for my work. My company named Feelpretty deals both with makeup services and makeup products pan India.
I have completed my HSLC, B. Com and MBA. I also have master’s degree in Kathak and Rabindra Dance.
I started my journey in a small town in Assam named Karimganj. I had the courage to dream of being an artist and being popular someday. I wanted to study interior designing but a so-called best friend of mine who always pretended to be the best but never did anything good for me, intentionally suggested me to not opt for interior designing. At first, I did not listen to his suggestion because I really wanted to pursue interior designing. Later, he told my father, “I will make you talk to one of our faculty members who told me that there is not much scope in interior designing. Let Priyanka study B.com or B.C.A”. He probably regarded me as competition.
My parents gave it a thought. They did not see a point in me pursuing studies which would not help me build a career in my native town. So, my father asked me to study something else as there was not much scope of a job in interior designing back in my native town. So, unwillingly, I opted for B.com. After struggling to keep up with my studies in the 1st semester, I thought that I should give up as I was trying to do something I didn’t like!
One fine day, I sat and give it a second thought. I knew I couldn’t lose hope neither could I fail in studies, thus I started concentrating and simultaneously, I started to learn and research about makeup, skin, and hair and started my YouTube channel at the age of 17. I am a self-trained artist. I purchased beauty products with my monthly savings and asked my mom to hold the camera to record my videos. At the age of 19, I started working along with my studies just to keep myself busy so that my depression issues don’t drive me mad.
I overcame all the obstacles in my life whether it was my failure in my semester exams or being blackmailed by a guy who I always appreciated thinking he loved me and who I used to call my best friend until he turned my life upside down.
When I tried to confront him, he started misbehaving. I realised that cutting him out of my life would be the best decision, but he started blackmailing me saying he would commit suicide and that I would be the one to blame. This happened more than 3-4 times, and as my parents were unaware of this situation, they trusted him and thought of him as my best friend. He used this to his advantage to defame me and my parents and spread a lot of rumours about me.
Due to all the emotional turmoil, I went into depression. I tried talking to a few friends, but they couldn’t help me through it. I used to pretend that everything is fine because if my parents would have gotten to know this, they would have lost their faith in me.
I finally decided to share all my problems to a childhood friend who supported me and made me tell everything to my parents. My parents helped me get out of this mess. My friend is the one who understood me, helped me get back to my regular life. I thank my friend for this as I had almost messed everything up.
Today I am living in Bangalore and have recently been awarded “Best Makeup Artist and Young Entrepreneur of the year 2020” by ACE Business Awards. In October 2020, I launched new luxury makeup products made in India. I plan on entering colour cosmetics soon.
I believe that everything happens for a reason. If I wouldn’t have failed in 3 subjects in my semester exams, I wouldn’t have thought of Youtube, nor would I have started doing makeup. Now, I have regular celebrity clients and my makeup line is used by reputed makeup artists and celebrities from Bollywood and Tollywood industry.
Self-learning is the best medicine to overcome the fear of oneself. I always dreamt of doing something big not only to fulfill my own dreams but also my parents’ dream of seeing me be independent and apart from the crowd. I always dreamt of becoming a successful public figure and today I can say that I am on the correct path. Lastly, I wanted share that if your dreams do not allow you to sleep, it means that you are on the right track.
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