If it was easy, everybody would do it
“If it was easy, everybody would do it.” My partner says this to me every time I crash out. In the moment, I don’t want to hear it. Later, when things settle, I understand what it means.
Because building something asks more of you than you expect. Especially when you’re doing it alone. You become everything at once. You wear every hat. Some don’t fit, but you wear them anyway. Some swallow you whole. Others sit too tight, and you feel it all day.
I’m coming up to a year of Studio Purani. I’ve been thinking a lot about what that actually means.
There’s something about getting out of your own way
If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. It sounds obvious, but it’s not always easy to practice. I used to hesitate to reach out, to go after things I knew I was capable of.
Now I don’t really give myself that option. Maybe it’s less confidence and more responsibility. If you don’t do it, no one will.
Staying open has changed everything
It’s easy to define yourself too early, to decide what you are and stay there. But a business doesn’t work like that. It moves, it shifts, it surprises you.
Some of the most meaningful parts of SP came from things we didn’t plan for - conversations, collaborations, people finding us from completely different worlds. Supper clubs, photographers, creatives who saw something in us before we fully saw it ourselves.
“Community” is one of those words that’s everywhere right now
“Intentional” is another. But for us, it’s been slower than that.
A conscious effort to not add more noise. To understand who is actually drawn to what we’re building and why. To create something that feels considered, not just visible.
There are also the less romantic parts
Manufacturing has been one of the biggest lessons. You can’t rely on one path, one supplier, one solution. You’re always searching, always adjusting, always figuring it out again.
Time moves differently when you’re building something
Creatively, we often feel ahead - full of ideas, quick to respond, able to see where things are going. But execution has its own pace. We’re often behind a season. Waiting. Following up. Trying to be taken seriously while still being small.
And sometimes, if I’m honest, the delays give us space to breathe. To catch up. To prepare for the next stretch.
Money changes everything
It shapes how fast you can move, how visible you are, how far your work can travel. Without it, it can feel like you’re floating, surrounded by incredibly talented people, all trying to be seen.
You can pay to play, or hope to go viral. But neither has ever felt like the point for us. We care more about staying close to the people who find us and choose to stay. Growing slowly. Growing with intention.
Social media has been its own contradiction
Over the years, I’ve shared less of myself. Become more private. More selective. And now, I’m here, building a brand that asks to be seen. To be shared. To exist across platforms that never really stop asking for more.
We try not to overthink it. To let it be imperfect. To trust that how we show up now won’t be how we show up later.
For all of it, the uncertainty, the waiting, the constant figuring it out - it’s still been worth it.
Every challenge feels new. And somehow, that feels like a good thing. Like we’re building the muscle for whatever comes next.
It still surprises me every time someone buys something we’ve made. There’s always a small pause - why us? But maybe that’s the answer. Maybe it means it’s reaching the right people.
We come back to the same place, every time: why we started. To put something thoughtful into the world. To support handcrafted work. To be part of preserving heritage craft, not just as something from the past, but something that still deserves a future.
If you’re thinking about starting something, come back to your why. It doesn’t make it easy. But it makes it feel possible.
