Today we’d like to introduce you to Harshita Gupta.
Harshita, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved and appreciated art and aesthetics ever since I was little. I still remember how excited beautiful store displays, art classes, or even putting together an outfit used made me! I always felt most alive and aligned when I was creatively engaged.
It became an almost natural choice for me to go to design school, and I focussed all my attention toward it. I attended a Dual Degree program, where I specialized in Communication Design. I graduated from both the National Institute of Fashion Technology in India and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Without a doubt, New York was truly the place where it all began for me! I started interning and freelancing with fast-paced agencies learning various facets of Communication Design including – print and packaging, advertising, and digital design, along with the realities of working in a studio and collaborating with a team on global client projects.
I graduated in the middle of 2020 and looking back, I’m genuinely thankful that I did! My idea of success and the path to my highest self dramatically shifted during this time. Up until then, I always thought that I wanted to work in a large creative agency, take the time to scale up the corporate ladder and then begin working for myself once I had the experience. However, graduating in the middle of a pandemic made me consider an alternative path.
I realized that all that while, I was running the race without truly enjoying it. I realized that I didn’t even enjoy where I was working and missed being the creative visionary of projects. I’d chosen the path that was laid out without looking for alternatives to the system.
At this time, I made the move to India but still knew that I wanted to work with global businesses and still didn’t exactly know how that would be possible. I initially began freelancing with an agency in New York which then became contracts with several other agencies, and around then fell into the rabbit hole of Instagram businesses after a conversation with a friend of mine who had just started hers!
There was something so magical about the idea of putting my work up online and reaching thousands of eyes across the globe, and that’s when my business journey began. I initially set up just an Instagram page featuring a few projects of mine and within the first week, I had three inquiries come in from all across the world – I began working with them and that snowballed into bigger projects and clients, so much so that in December I knew I had to close down for the month to come back with stronger back-end systems and a business structures to scale and establish myself as a creative studio. I took this time to strategically think about the exact problem that I wanted to solve for my clients and how I would help them scale most efficiently. It was then that I began to acknowledge the fact that I was a business owner finding solutions and creating an impact.
Once I defined the business I was going to create specifically and the niche I was looking to serve, I officially launched my multidisciplinary design studio on January 10 and the rest is history. I was able to exponentially scale my business ever since, working with both start-ups and big-name global brands while defining and scaling their identities. I honed into creating experiences for brands who were looking to establish themselves in an affluent market and created unique identities based on their one-of-a-kind stories.
I was now living a reality that I would’ve never thought was possible when I was just 23.
I truly think the game changed for me when I decided to put my work online because that’s when I had a personal brand that I became known and sought out for. It switched from reaching out to agencies for entry-level roles to brands coming to me as the visionary.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I definitely don’t think it was all smooth and took a lot of inner work to conquer the outer world. I was stepping into creating a business of my own at 23 soon after design school where most of what I’d heard was that it took long-enduring years to climb up the corporate ladder and to build a name for your work. It was a constant battle between what seemed to be “possible” and what I envisioned to create.
I didn’t enjoy the average entry-level role available to a recent graduate and it didn’t inspire me. I was lucky to have had one agency that recognized the visionary in me and made me see that was the kind of role I enjoyed playing. When I began showcasing my work online, the tables turned for I began to be sought out for my expertise.
It took appreciating and understanding the value that I was bringing to the table and the impact that I could have on the trajectory of a business by creating aesthetic and strategic solutions with the attention and detail that went into it.
Another aspect that played the hugest role in building success faster was making connections with the people who inspired me. I’d connect, meet and talk to the people I looked up to, ask them questions, learn from them and focus on how I could be an asset to them. Networking has brought me so many opportunities that wouldn’t have come my way otherwise.
My biggest reframe was that it’s not the most talented person who is the most successful – It’s the one who tells the world what they do and shows up consistently.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a brand and website designer passionate about creating unique experiences that make a connection.
I run a multi-disciplinary studio helping brands elevate into their most authentic and inevitably biggest selves. When a brand has a unique identity centered around its unique story, offering, and impact, the consumer can feel it resonate from its very look. I create brand, web, and social media presences for startups with the biggest dreams.
My zone of genius is transforming the every day into luxury, I help position brands who want to enter the affluent market and want to be seen as a leader in their industry. I specialize in working with brands in the beauty, fashion, and lifestyle space as well as creating and defining personal brands.
With every brand that I work with, I dive into the meticulous details – it’s why, what makes it unique and how it serves better. When the identity of a brand carries that unique story, I believe that’s what makes an absolutely magnetic brand experience, and my mission is to craft these experiences!
What does success mean to you?
Success to me means creating an impact, leaving a dent in the universe. I always love asking the question, “How did I serve today?” when I close my day and even if it was as small as making someone smile, I acknowledge that impact. Success is the cumulation of the small and the big.
When I think of my highest success, I envision the state of my being to be filled with gratitude, fulfillment, and absolute alignment. I continually simulate the same state whenever doubt or worry comes in during my everyday reminding me that all that I want can be created and is already here if I’m experiencing the now in its entirety.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.studiobyhg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiobyhg/
- Other: Community: https://www.instagram.com/theceorally/
