Priyanka deeply believes in her passion and she believes that’s the sole thing that keeps her driving, keeps her motivated even when she makes mistakes.
It’s my passion. MUD is my baby, so when you are so passionate about something, you will not allow mistakes.
She admits that starting a new venture is never easy and often you tend to take a wrong decision, but it’s what you learn from the mistakes, the lessons which will decide the course of the future.
Priyanka, more known for her simplicity, shares tidbits about the birth of the institution MUD, she states,
“I did not know about the industry, I did not know about the business. I had no background related to makeup. But now I learn something new every day. I have made mistakes. When I make mistakes, people around me tell, why are you stressing, give it a year. But I don’t want to make mistakes for a year and I never repeat my mistakes.”
Priyanka shares how within five months, MUD India was launched in India and how much it has flourished within the first few months.
“We have had more than 5 batches. We offer different types of class. There’s make-up essentials, hair, and fashion, bridal makeup, portfolio and more. We also offer photography classes, so it works like networking. Our students are starting to work together with photographers and vice versa from the beginning and so, they have friends in the industry you know, even at the start of their career.
It’s been difficult, to be honest. But the motivation comes from passion.”
While the journey of being an entrepreneur comes with success and an inspiring story to tell, it also opens the door when one can make mistakes. But Priyanka keeps her motivation high from her strong faith in her vision. She says,
“There are times when I have taken days to make a decision because I was not sure about it. I also take help from people. I don’t have that kind of ego that I can’t ask for help. I ask “where are we going wrong” and “what can we do to fix it?”. My husband motivates me a lot. And most importantly, I am always looking to give the best education.”
The source of her inspiration lies in her family, she shares how her grandfather and her husband’s grandfather were into education and empowerment and how that motivated to make her mark flag bearing a change in how creative education is administered in India.
“In India, we do not have that much creative studies courses which are certified and give you the right kind of education.”
While regular courses are widely available but what about certified courses in makeup or photography are scarce.
Priyanka also shares how makeup is perceived in India and how the general myth about makeup indicates it as a tool to “change” your face or features.
“Makeup is not about enhancing all your features, sometimes you just want a gloss over your lips. And it’s okay. You don’t have to go all out to change yourself. A lot of people look at makeup like it is an identity change but you don’t have to change the way you look. This is you. Sometimes you just want to highlight something about you.”
Envisioning A Bigger picture
MUD is not the full stop of Priyanka and her husband’s vision. They plan to launch courses about languages, soft skills, bartending and so much more. She believes that a certified course in any creative field would give the student a solid foundation to land his/her dream job and open new doors to build and create. MUD is a part of their bigger vision LEAP India.
we were looking at different locations for different fields. For example, modeling and photography, which can be the perfect location. We also wanted to launch courses in language, soft skills, bartending. We have an international standard of infrastructure here and our course modules are structured to pay attention to every student.”
But the life of an entrepreneur, the crazy hours and a ton of responsibilities, that’s not how she sees her life. Priyanka’s happy family comprises of three beautiful dogs and the proud mother of three admits, whenever someone talks to her about having babies, she says I already have three babies to take care of.
“They are my babies. I have 3 dogs and when someone asks me about babies, I tell them, I already have 3 babies to take care.”
Priyanka believes her life is not constrained by any rules of how it should be. She says,
“If you are passionate about something, you should chase that. There is no way that you won’t excel. If you feel this is my thing, you can achieve it. You need to push yourself to stay motivated. My husband has motivated me a lot. For the first 6 months, it was very downing. I have never been an employee and never been an employer before. so my relationship with my employees is really different as I don’t come from that corporate experience. It all comes from who I am and how I have been.”
In a span of one and half years, Priyanka’s life has changed a lot.
“From being a housewife, now I am here nine to seven, looking over Bombay FC and looking over MUD, either looking at the bench. So much has happened. I have something to do and look forward to me on a daily basis, I have so many responsibilities.”
She shares the three most important things that she has learned in this whirlwind journey.
“I learned to be patient. I learned responsibilities and I learned how to solely focus on your passion. Focusing on your passion is very important. Doing what makes you alive is what you should go after, always.”
We applaud Priyanka’s honestly and the conviction with which she is directing a bigger dream, to build better and broader educational infrastructures for the country, so that everyone gets a fair chance to pursue their creativity.
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