#awinewith Nisha Abeyasekera
MEET Nisha, Founder of Abbey Print Studio
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:05):
Nisha, welcome to Spark tv. I'm so excited to have you here.
Nisha Abeyasekera (00:09):
Thank you so much. So excited to be joining out.
Danielle Lewis (00:12):
I know I can already tell by our vibe that this is going to be a great chat, so we're excited. I feel like when you get two people in the room, I'm like, this could either go off the rails very quickly or be a great chat.
Nisha Abeyasekera (00:25):
It is amazing. I love off the rails.
Danielle Lewis (00:28):
Yeah, me too. Me too. Let's start out by telling everyone who you are and what you do.
Nisha Abeyasekera (00:34):
Yeah, so I'm Nisha Abby. I run Abby Print Studio up in Brissy, and we're basically a textile and surface design studio working with fashion and homeware brands and other products like stationary and wall art and packaging. Basically, if there's a surface we can design something and print on it. So that's kind of how I like to say. So a lot of the artwork's kind of very painted and hand drawn. So yeah, quite creative studio here. So yeah.
Danielle Lewis (01:03):
How cool is that? I just feel like it sounds like you have created a business around something that you love.
Nisha Abeyasekera (01:10):
Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. I was thinking about that today and just, it's taken a while to get to here and a lot of different roles and different ups and downs. But yeah, just so grateful that I'm just painting and drawing. Most days. I was saying to a friend, I was painting like a Santa the other day and I was like, what is my life? I'm just painting Santa for my job, which is amazing and I'm so grateful and it's yeah, fun.
Danielle Lewis (01:38):
That is so cool. I love it. Well then tell me about the journey. So how did you actually get here? Oh,
Nisha Abeyasekera (01:45):
It's been a bit of a crazy, well, not crazy, but it's been a long wheel to winery. Yeah, winey row, that's the word. But I basically graduated 2008, which is a really long time ago in fashion design, but previous to that, as a kid and a textile and a teenager, I loved art and I loved textiles and I, that was my two favorite things and I didn't actually just, I didn't know that was a career, so I kind of put two together and was like, okay, fashion, I need to do fashion. I remember I used to collect Vogue and one Vogue spread. It had a beautiful Mark Jacobs just spread of color and pattern and behind the stage of a fashion, and I was like, that's what I want to do. I was just like, I think it was the color and the pattern, but I didn't know that was the thing.
(02:35):
So I went into fashion, graduated and just worked my way through all the roles, try to figure out where I was supposed to be, so from production, design, technical compliance, and then did well but didn't love any of them. And then in between that I was like every other fashion design student does. I had a little swimwear label for about five years and I was like, yep, that's what I have to do. So tried that out and it was amazing, learned so much, but that was five years and hard work, and so I think I ended that and then I basically was just like, okay, I need to figure out my life and just see what I am supposed to be doing. You kind of get to that point where you're just like, I don't know where I'm supposed to be. And so it took two years to play around, have, be creative, do some art, and then I kind of just started again and just started it as an assistant textile designer in a company in Melbourne and just work my way up. And then I always say to people, when something's right for you, it's easy, it just, things fall into place and steps are easy. Whereas the business, everything was so hard. The swimwear business, everything was hard to do and I was like, we're not meant to be. So yeah, so five years later, I'm now running my own business, which is amazing and it's just taken a while, a long time. But yeah,
Danielle Lewis (04:05):
We're here. It feels like it does sometimes though. We've got to just go through all the things where you mentioned Brisbane and fashion at uni. Where did you study
Nisha Abeyasekera (04:15):
The uk? Yeah, back in the day in Kent, just south of London. I studied fashion and tech production, and that's kind of how I got a lot of the production roles. And then I basically moved up over to Aus in 2013. So yeah, just been doing a lot. I feel like I've, I'm not one of those people that just stays in a career forever, but now having this business, it's keeping me on my toes. So I feel like this is me forever now.
Danielle Lewis (04:46):
Well, well now you're wearing a thousand hats being right. Get bored. No, it's so cool. The reason I asked was because, so I studied fashion design in Brisbane, that was my uni degree, and I'm always interested in where people land because you're so right. I was like, I kind of came out of that and I was like, I don't want to be a fashion designer. Shit, what do I do?
Nisha Abeyasekera (05:10):
I know. And I feel like a lot of uni courses, they don't set you up for real life either. Especially back in the day when I graduated, I was just a fish out of water. I was just like, where do I start? And I think I took internships. I was like, I just need to get some experience. And nobody wants to take graduates on because anything, so you need to try and get experience. It's just a whole, even that takes a few years to find your feet.
Danielle Lewis (05:37):
Totally. And back then as well in fashion, it was all unpaid internships as well. Let's just make these people work for free. Supposed to be glamorous and it's least glamorous industry ever is.
Nisha Abeyasekera (05:51):
Yeah, I know. Did you not go into fashion after then?
Danielle Lewis (05:54):
No. So I ended up getting a full-time job for Telstra, and I worked in sales for a decade and then started businesses in social media marketing and then spark and social media didn't even exist when I went to uni. It's been, it's such a different
Nisha Abeyasekera (06:10):
Life, isn't it? Especially marketing out of date from uni. It's all, yeah,
Danielle Lewis (06:17):
Everything's out of date since I've read up on it yesterday,
Nisha Abeyasekera (06:22):
I know internet algorithms have changed again.
Danielle Lewis (06:25):
I know. And now I need to be on TikTok and I just can't deal with it. TikTok has been on my whiteboard for ever, and I'm like, I don't know if I'll get there.
Nisha Abeyasekera (06:34):
You are also good at Insta stuff though. You just transfer it. I know. I'm on TikTok as well though, and I'm just like, I've done a few really bad videos and I'm just like, I need to figure this out, but we'll figure out. I know,
Danielle Lewis (06:45):
I know. And I feel like you've got to, and I dunno, I'm sure someone will correct me when I say this, but I'm like, I feel like tiktoks, you got to be on the, I'm very much into scheduling. I batch create content schedule, and I feel like TikTok, you might need to be a bit more in the moment and posting on the app and all that kind of stuff. And
Nisha Abeyasekera (07:02):
That's super reactive to trends. You have to be on it, but then you have to be looking at it all the time, so what's going on in trends. But same as Insta though. Hey, with reels, you need to be seeing what's going on. I don't know. It's a full-time job. Tell me about it. I
Danielle Lewis (07:15):
Know again, why there's so many things to do as a business owner. It's insane. And so you mentioned you had this two year period where you were like, okay, stop. I need to figure out what I want in life. What was that process like for you? I think sometimes we all get to a point where we're like, what did I just create for myself in this business? I'm always interested when people take a step back. Did you go through a process? Did you ask yourself questions? Did you, I don't know, meditate, what'd you do?
Nisha Abeyasekera (07:46):
Well, I was Byron at the time, and so it was a little bit of meditation and energy and hippie stuff, which I kind love though. But I think I just stayed in a role a bit and then I just kind of took a few couple of days a week to just play and figure out and just really hone in on what I actually love to do. And that's how I figured it out. Just going back to when I was younger and just what did I love to do for free or what could I do all night long for free? And I loved doing it and I wouldn't even care. And that was basically art and design. And I just remember as a teen, I'd just be painting flowers. I did this whole kind of project on Jo Keith and Picasso and just botanical artists, but abstract artists.
(08:41):
And I did a few, within those two years I did a lot of art courses and just playing around and just drawing, painting again and relearning to paint again from stopping for 10 years. And I just remember throughout my career there was always textile designers there just in background, just painting away. And I was always like, what are they doing? How can I do that? But I thought it was so out of reach and I was doing kind of production and fabric and textile technical stuff. I was like, how do I get from here? The production side to design? And I think I always had it in the back of my mind, but I just didn't know how to do it. And I think just having a play and painting and creating again and mood boarding and journaling and all that kind of stuff, really, I think I just had a light bulb bulb moment.
(09:36):
I was like, I just need to do this. But it's so hard, hey, when you're older and you're like, do I step back and start again or do I keep tru truing along and hoping, but it was the best thing to just start again. That was 2019 and I just took a pay cut and I was just like, I just need to relearn the ropes again. Let's just do that. But I kind of went up really quickly because I kind of knew the industry anyways and then it was just the right thing to do. Things just are easy, hey, I just feel, as I said before, things, things just flow effortlessly when they're meant to be. And then if it isn't, and even in the business now, if something's not quite right, you kind just got to listen to that gut intuition and just be like, okay, well maybe not right now. Let's just leave that and just go down a different route. So I feel like that's what I learned a lot in the last 10 years, just listening to what I need. So yeah,
Danielle Lewis (10:31):
I love that so much because I think you're right. I feel like the struggle is almost romanticized a little bit. I feel like sometimes we're like, it's supposed to be hard. There's that. Unless if you're not doing anything worth doing, it's going to be hard or whatever it is. But that's really just jelling with me right now because I'm like, I feel like that is that identity as a business owner, as I'm doing something really tough and I've just got to push through. And I love that you said maybe sometimes it's okay to take a step back, whether that be getting rid of clients that are shit, whether it's getting rid of work that you don't love doing, whether it's getting a job, whether it's taking a pay cut, whatever it is, that stepping back to actually propel yourself forward. I just think that's so smart,
Nisha Abeyasekera (11:23):
But I feel like you kind of just learn over time. And then I feel like especially with my swimwear label, I just kept pushing, pushing and pushing and then things just were so hard and I was just like, well, whereas other friends who also had businesses in fashion, they were just going really well. And then I was just like, well, something's not right here. Oh, I'm not doing something right or the product's not right, but just just stay. But then hard work and to keep pushing forward on something that is hard relevant. But I think as well, if it's not feeling right, I think it's just parking the idea. And maybe it's not right now. Maybe it's in a year or when it's the right time. I just feel like that's very me right now. I'm just like, if that's not working, it's going to work at some point. It's just timing. So yeah,
Danielle Lewis (12:16):
No, literally just as I said, it's just connecting with you. I'm thinking of a few things that I have on my plate right now that I'm like I hate. And when I'm doing them, I almost resent the person and I'm like, I shouldn't. That's not okay. I shouldn't be having that in my world because they're actually awesome and that actually is great, but I feel really horrible when I do those things. So it's like maybe I do need to think about refining what I'm doing.
Nisha Abeyasekera (12:46):
And it all creates space I think, for you to do something else, which I think is a bit more rewarding. So I feel like that's so important this year for me. And so I feel like good little advice.
Danielle Lewis (12:58):
I love it. Share the love. This is great. And so with this new iteration of the business, how did you go about getting those first customers?
Nisha Abeyasekera (13:10):
It is quite tricky. So it's kind of very freelance clients that I work with. So fashion or homeware brands. But a lot is very through very networking and people that I know and people that I know in the industry right now that's a lot of the people who I work with. And so that's quite tricky, but I've done a lot of stuff. And as in fashion, you go in one company and people spread and then you can try to get in. So that's kind of how I'm going about at the minute, but it's a bit of a hard stock. So that's basically what I'm trying to focus on now and try to get the right clients though as well. I think the same as you were saying, they might not be quite right or they're not going to pay for your services or not going to keep, it's not, doesn't gel quite well. So I'm just trying to find the people that align with my style. I do a lot of watercolor and acrylic and hand painted, so someone that's quite graphic and logo based is not going to work for me. Whereas someone like revenue or review and stuff, I've worked with them in the past, they kind of work, so
(14:22):
It's quite hard. But then as I'm growing the business, it's kind of just putting those steps into place. So there's a lot of trade shows around the world like New York and Paris and here, even Sydney. So that'll be the next thing to do, but it costs a lot of money, so it's always the fun thing. So it's just kind of working out the right timing to be able to do that and invest in the business and myself. So at the minute it's just kind of small and I've got my freelance clients. The next thing is scaling up and becoming more of a studio and then hopefully trade shows. So we'll slow slowly. I'm like organically slowly Gary, but I'm the most impatient person. I'm like, come on.
Danielle Lewis (15:03):
Oh my God, I know. And that's so the journey you can go, I can see the 10 steps ahead, why can't I just be at step 10 and it's got to ratchet up, ratchet up, get the cash, do the next thing, do the next thing. It's like business. Hey. Yeah. Oh my God, it's so true. But I love that. It's interesting. So I come from the B2B world where it is networking, getting into those brands, and then the biggest thing I found too was you're right, they do kind of move on. So you get in a really good relationship, they move around. So sometimes that person can then walk you into the next brand that they're in. So networking is such a huge part of it in the early days, isn't it?
Nisha Abeyasekera (15:45):
It's huge. I feel like networking, especially B2B is everything and there's not enough around. I think your goal coast, hey, and I'm up and there's not enough creative side creative networking. So I don't know, it'd be good to, I've got idea to try and start one up to just get more creatives and businesses, but social media and marketing and in the same place. So I feel like that's a great idea. Yeah, we'll get that going at point. Another thing on the todo list, thanks my forever to do list of a million things to do, but I think networking is number one. And just keeping relationships. I just feel like being happy and outgoing and social and yourself authentic self to people just really helps just get you far and to be able to network. And so if someone is in another company just to be able to say, hi, how are you going? And just, I don't know. Starting going back to where you did last talk, I dunno, it's kind of quite important to do that kind of backend relationship
Danielle Lewis (16:57):
Building. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's forever ongoing as well. I think sometimes we go out and do a big batch of networking events, sales, then we do all this delivery and then we're like, oh crap, I haven't talked to anyone in three months. I got to go back out. Kind of feel like you've got to keep it humming along.
Nisha Abeyasekera (17:16):
Yeah, and it's another little area of the business that you have to keep working on, but it's fun. It's such a fun, I love networking. It's just getting doing the right ones. But yeah,
Danielle Lewis (17:29):
Totally. It's just putting my hair and makeup on and walking out the door that I have a problem with. Yeah, I know something, I'm fine. Yeah, I know. Same. So good. I love it. What do you think has been some of your biggest challenges running your own business? Going from employee to business owner, what do you think was the biggest or some of the biggest things that were challenging?
Nisha Abeyasekera (17:53):
I feel like I like autonomy, I guess. And just keeping motivated, I guess. I work from home at the moment and so even that's a challenge too. Not be doing anything else and just working on the business and I think that's quite hard. But then also money as well, just cashflow. I think that's with every small business though is the cashflow to in and out. So I feel like they're the most challenging that I'm still working on to streamline a little bit. So yeah. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (18:32):
It's actually really interesting. You are a thousandth person that's talked about working from home, staying motivated, and that balance between half the time you're kind of only working on your business and not prioritizing anything else. And then other times you're like, I've walked to the fridge a thousand times today just because procrastinating, because you're in your home. So when you're in a office, it's so much easier to just sit there, maybe take coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and it's a little bit more structured when you work from home. I work from home as well. When you work from home, it's giving yourself that accountability is really hard.
Nisha Abeyasekera (19:11):
It's really tricky. And I think having somebody there with you or just to check up, not check up, but as in just somebody there always helps If my partner's or if I'm working with a friend or something, I think that you're both working and you can't keep going to the fridge and eating chocolate, which happens. I don't want the judgment. Thank you. Exactly. But I don't know. I think working from home is so amazing that we can do that now. It's zoom and all these kind of different things that help. But yeah, I think that's the hardest thing. But also I think with work deadlines as well help, just trying to help structure your day and looking at your to-do list. I don't know. I think self-care in general, just to try and keep you on top of things is quite important to structure yourself.
Danielle Lewis (20:09):
Yeah, I totally agree. And I find I love the deadlines comment. I kind of like to make my day busy with meetings and things, so then I panic about the tasks that I have to do that gives me a self-imposed deadline. I've been on calls during the day and I'm like, oh my God, I've got to get this done today. That helps me a little bit of accountability. Yeah, I
Nisha Abeyasekera (20:31):
Think so. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (20:32):
Oh my god, I love it so much. So what do you think the future holds? What's the next six months look like for you?
Nisha Abeyasekera (20:40):
We are growing, which is very good. So I'm basically scaling up the business. So instead of just freelance small clients, I'm working on this big pattern library of design. So we've kind of just pretty much launched that. It's on our website, Abby Print studio. But it's basically just again, with the accountability, just every day I am just working on new prints and it doesn't need to be for a client, but it's just stuff that's trending or I feel is relevant for right now. And so it's just a library of stuff that people then are ready to buy and just go. So it's not just waiting for clients. I've got a library, so that's exciting. And then I am hoping to do a bit more travel and trade shows and sell to clients. So that's really scary for me. I'm not the sale, I'm a designer. I'm behind the scenes, so sales is kind of hard. So I think just trying to find the clients and networking and then trying to make myself go and sell, which buying. So yeah, that'll be my next sign of six months of vulnerability. I
Danielle Lewis (21:51):
Love it. I love it so much. Well, you have to. I mean, I think we made this comment at the start. It's like all of the hats that the business owner wears and we love some of them and we don't love some of them
Nisha Abeyasekera (22:04):
Definitely. But it does make you grow. Hey, just those hard things that are tricky to trick in your mind. It just helps you become better person, hopefully.
Danielle Lewis (22:16):
Totally. Do you have any strategies to trick yourself into going out and doing the things that you hate doing?
Nisha Abeyasekera (22:23):
Oh my God, just booking it in and then just having to be there. Yeah, totally. Some pressure. I committed to it. I've got to do it now. Yeah, exactly. And also I feel like it's always the lead up of the lead up to the thing. It just that fear or procrastination and then you're there and then you're like, oh, it's fun. It's totally so true. Yeah, so it's just in your mind. But yeah,
Danielle Lewis (22:46):
I do that too. So I am not a morning person. I hate getting up in the mornings and I book 7:00 AM calls like I got to show up. Right? I got to get up. Yeah, exactly. I love that. And then I'm having a cup of coffee. I'm chatting to someone and I'm like, oh, I'm awake now. Oh, okay. I can do all the things. It's fine. I
Nisha Abeyasekera (23:08):
Love that. I do. I love those strategies to try and trick yourself. Trick
Danielle Lewis (23:11):
Yourself. Yeah. I am just tricking myself. That's how I'm getting through business life.
Nisha Abeyasekera (23:18):
I feel like that's what I'm trying. That's actually what I'm learning to do. I'm just like, just do it. Don't overthink it. Just do a podcast, for example, today.
Danielle Lewis (23:26):
Yes. Oh my God. And it's been so good. I love it. I love it. Oh my God. Incredible. So I always like to leave these podcasts on one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time in business, what would be one piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her journey?
Nisha Abeyasekera (23:44):
I feel like really understanding why you're getting into business and why you're doing that thing in business. And like I said earlier, if you love doing it for free all night, then you're meant to do it. If you don't, then just keep working, keep figuring out what you need to do. Just I think it'll save you so much time in the long run.
Danielle Lewis (24:11):
I love that. I mean, the way you put it around, what would you do for free in the evenings? I reflect on, as I said, all the things I'm doing right now, and you're so right. The things that I would just sit up all night and tinker with, I'm like, yeah, why don't I do more of that and less of the stuff that I hate. And then even if people are in businesses right now that they're going, oh my God, I've got a business I hate. It's like, how can you carve out time then for the little bits of joy so that you can kind of build that up over time and slowly get rid of the crap that you hate.
Nisha Abeyasekera (24:44):
Exactly. And just delegate. And obviously as a small business, you kind of have to do everything. But yeah, carving out just five minutes to do a bit of drawing or something is so important to your sanity and remembering why you are doing what you love. So yeah.
Danielle Lewis (25:00):
Oh my God, you are incredible. Nisha, thank you so much for sharing your story and your journey with the Spark community. I know there were so many good little nuggets of wisdom in there, so I appreciate you.
Nisha Abeyasekera (25:12):
Oh, thank you so much. It was great. Lovely speech.
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