‘Outside the Pitara’, a mission to empower 999 artists. A lifestyle brand aiming to build a community of artists from across the globe.
Incubees: Tell us about your journey of being an entrepreneur?
Sonia: It’s been the biggest learning experience that I’ve ever encountered. It starts with knowing each and every department of your company thoroughly, going on to expanding into a team. Being a woman entrepreneur does have its own set of challenges – right from not being taken seriously to your knowledge being underestimated. But, that was never enough to stop me from striding forward. I’ve come across some of the most wonderful people because of Outside the Pitara. It opened my eyes to see the endless number of possibilities that once started with just a small idea – it was all there, I just had to look!
Incubees: How did you come up with ‘Outside the Pitara’?
Sonia: When the pandemic hit, most people were spending their time on Instagram and had turned into creators; a lot of them had taken refuge in creating physical art like mandalas, painting, DIY crafts and the likes. It started with a small idea of a product, to running surveys, to diving deeper into different corners of the internet, exploring each day. Until I finally picked up the phone and spoke to the first artist. That phone call was all it took to feel that conviction that stands strong for OTP today.
Incubees: Talk about your start-up in detail?
Sonia: Outside The Pitara is A Community of visual artists from different walks of life with a common passion and love for creation. It’s A Platform for artists to showcase their talent via physical products created by OTP without having to make any monetary investment and a Platform for people to explore their own connection with art via lifestyle products.
It’s also A Mission to connect and support artists on a global scale. We’re dedicated to providing our artists with a unified system of monetary, promotional and inspirational support. Our products, the art that goes on them, act as the best conversation starters and open up one’s heart to art!
Incubees: Tell us about the mission to empower 999 artists and why did you choose 999?
Sonia: Mission: 9 – 9 is believed to be the number of Brahma, the creator of the universe according to Hindu Vedic history. Artists themselves are creators and this chain of thought led me to choose the number 9. Our mission will always be called Mission: 9 and we aim at setting milestones for ourselves to stay associated with the number 9. The first mission we’ve set out on is to make our community 999 visual artists strong.
Incubees: Tell us about your team and what keeps them going?
Sonia: We’ve got a small team of very dedicated people who are all working in synergy with the brand’s mission. I personally believe to working with people that I vibe with, it’s very important to me. When there is a flow of good energy within a team, the work automatically flows in the same energy. We’ve never adopted a policy of working for someone. Everyone in the team is equal, working ‘with’ each other!
Khushali Samriya- The Content Genius
Karan Bhalerao- The Social Media Wiz
Karishma Kakar Chawla- Part Of The OTP Pannel
Incubees: How do you go about finding artists and what is the criteria to select them?
Sonia: Instagram and Behance have been some of the strongest tools for finding artists. Once you connect with one artist, they connect you to a whole bunch of other artists, and they further connect you to more of them – it’s an endless chain. All the artists that we’ve come across have been appreciative of the concept and have been more than willing to increase the circle.
To become a part of the community, you need to have some professional experience in the field of art or simply a history (be it brief) of creating art even as a hobby. To set up your shop with us, the art that an artist submits goes into a screening process by our Panel and we screen the art on various parameters, succeeding which the product and artist listing is created.
Incubees: Any advice for the budding Entrepreneurs?
Sonia: Patience. Persistence. Consistency. Live every waking moment with these key elements – and I’m sure what you’re looking for will follow you!
To know more, visit: https://www.outsidethepitara.com/
