We recently connected with Sonam Desai and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sonam, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Taking risks is a significant gesture in both my personal and professional life. I started Snows Design in 2013 when I was in college to make a few extra dollars to spend on nice dinners or going out. Over the years, I continued to grow Snows Design as my crafts and experience evolved until I moved to London in 2019, I hit pause on the business and my crafts due to a huge move that I had taken for my professional career. That in itself was a huge risk I had taken to just lift up my daily life in the US to move to UK to progress my career. Snows Design up to that point was only a side business, I hadn’t put as much time into it with my schedule. Then 2020 came around and the pandemic hit and I knew I needed to get back to my crafts to relieve stress from being in lockdown in a whole other country.

I started new art projects and self taught myself different mediums and art I never worked with. In the beginning when we ran out of masks, I bought a small seeing machines and learned how to sew fabric masks that I then gave to the local doctors offices and the homeless that were in my town. I then learned how to work with resin and made several trays and coasters. I then learned how to use polymer clay and started making jewelry which then ended up being incredibly soothing. I then looked back to Snows Design and started marketing my designs on Instagram and my business picked up again and I started to focus on growing it.

So what does this have to do with taking a risk? Fast forward to 2022, I’ve now moved back to the US and I continued to make jewelry as it was still a great stress reliever from my day job until I realized I wanted to really grow my designs but I needed a different medium where I could duplicate my designs as it was complicated to duplicate my intricate designs with clay. Overnight, I did some research and invested in a laser machine and it’s all history from there.

Buying that laser was one of the biggest risks I took for Snows Design as it was a huge investment for a business that I just started to grow. Once I create niche designs and started marketing it, I went viral a few times and have had partnerships with some larger brands (shout out to Taco Bell for partnering with us during a South Asian holiday.)

Taking risks is how I ended up where I am today with a successful (and growing) jewelry business. Had I not taken a risk to move to London then I wouldn’t have focused on my crafts. Had I not taken an impulsive risk and bought an expensive laser, then I wouldn’t have been able to execute all my designs I would have never gone viral. I would have never made connections with well known customers and companies.

The funny part is, before taking these risks above, I actually had gotten a tattoo “take the risk” on my forearm to always remind me to always take the risk because its better to know you took that risk to move further rather than regretting not doing it at all.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started Snows Design in 2013 when I was in college to make a few extra dollars. While Snows Design isn’t my full time job as I have a full time day job, I equally work on Snows Design every moment I get. It’s funny how a business ends up being longer than a 9-5 job!

Snows Design is known for our quirky and cultural designs. We hand design and handmake quirky South Asian food inspired jewelry and accessories. When we were working with polymer clay we always saw hotdog earrings, pizza earrings but never South Asian food earrings and that’s how the concept started. Once I was able to draw my designs and execute it, marketing was the next step though as much as we are a business trying to sell a product, equally, we are selling a piece of nostalgia.

The best part of our business is talking to our customers about how our designs like the Parle G earrings remind them of when they would go to India when they were younger and having Parle G biscuits and chai with their grandma or when they would go to the local corner store in the village and they would pick up Maggi noodles and would cook it with their cousins. Our designs are a nostalgia that brings you back to your childhood. We made all of our childhood South Asian foods we grew up with so there is a story in each of our designs whether it’s my own or the customers story.

While we are a brand/business, we are a one woman team. I draw every design and then assemble, paint and ship everything out on my own. The only way my business succeeds is through the likes and stories if my customers, this gives me the motivation to work harder.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Navigating social media is hard. We’re still growing our audience but here’s a few things that I’ve learned:

Be authentically you. For me, my brand is me. My brand is my personality. Therefore when I post about my products, certain content involves what I do on a every day basis and I’ve found that so many people relate to that. Many people that have met me in real life after following me have consistently said that I am the same person that I portray on my social media, so being authentically you will be memorable.

Your following count does not measure your success. I have so many repeating customers due to being able to speak to everyone that messages me. While I would love more followers, I know that growth would deter my time for being able to reply back to every single DM so there are always pros and cons of having a huge following.

Show behind the scenes content. Followers love to see your work/crafts and this equally shows them how much work goes into making that product that they buy.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Competition. In my community, we’re taught at a young age that everything is a competition. Whether it’s a competition on who walked first or who said their first word or who went to the better college, it was always a competition rather than supporting and uplifting each other. This is really engrained into our bodies and having a business means someone else’s sales measure their success, which in a sense profit wise yes, but the world is big enough for all creatives to grow. In order to grow we need to continue to support one another. Supporting doesn’t only mean you have to buy from them, but uplifting them by posting about them on social media or recommending them to someone that is looking for a particular style that only that other business could do.

Constantly competing with one another takes out the spirit of your art and the passion out of your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: Snowsdesign.shop
• Instagram: @snowsdesign
• Facebook: Facebook.com/snowsdesign

Image Credits
Jackson Roberts Sahiti Yarakala