Chandigarh’s Dr Shweta Gupta runs Little Llama to promote eco-friendly cloth toys which have made celebrities – together with Sonam Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan, and Neha Dhupia, – her followers!
Again in medical faculty, the prescriptions written by Dr Shweta Gupta would depart anybody shocked – from her sufferers to her seniors.
“As soon as, my senior medical doctors from completely different departments known as me. I used to be so nervous. I questioned if I had dedicated any mistake within the work. Later, I came upon that they needed to test my handwriting,” she tells The Higher India.
“Whereas seniors complimented me for clear and interesting handwriting, sufferers doubted my diploma,” laughs Shweta, who has at all times been complimented for her handwriting since childhood.
Almost a decade later, this creativity inspired her to change into an entrepreneur.
At the moment, she handcrafts cloth toys which have made celebrities together with Sonam Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan, and Neha Dhupia, her followers!
In 2022, the Chandigarh-resident launched her startup Little Llama that has to this point catered to at the very least 300 orders and have made it to kids’s toy collections throughout the nation.
Her niece was her inspiration
In 2012, Dr Shweta accomplished her MBBS and went to work with the Gurugram-based Medanta hospital as a diabetologist.
Earlier than her marriage in 2018, an incident pushed her to pursue her long-lost childhood ardour when she was seeking distinctive dolls for her niece.
“I needed to reward her good high quality dolls. All that was accessible within the Indian markets had been the identical previous barbie dolls that I actually grew up enjoying with. Additionally they have a plastic physique and artificial hair fibre. These should not good for the well being of the infants,” says the 35-year-old.
“I discovered some distinctive handcrafted dolls within the European markets however importing them was an costly affair. The doll, together with the delivery costs, would have price me Rs 10,000. This didn’t look like an excellent thought,” she provides.
As an alternative of shopping for the dolls from overseas, Dr Shweta sat right down to craft a one-of-its-kind doll on her personal. “I purchased wool and a biodegradable but costly linen cloth to make the doll. I sketched a design and it took me about twenty days to finish the doll. It is rather intrinsic work that requires detailing facial options,” she says.
Dr Shweta says that her niece, Gauravi, cherished her distinctive doll. “My niece nonetheless has it,” she smiles. “Moreover her, everybody cherished the doll. It was completely different from what they see out there. As we had been getting an ideal response and a very good demand for the dolls, my husband inspired me to make extra such dolls,” she provides.
This gave her an thought to begin a model of her personal and shortly she launched, Little Llama.
Making eco-friendly ‘jungle’ animals
At present, Dr Shweta handcrafts toys for youngsters within the age-group of 0-12 years holding their well being and sustainability centric to the model. “As an alternative of utilizing plastic and chemical paints, I’ve designed these toys utilizing vibrant wool. Their limbs, eyes, hair…every thing is constituted of wool. I costume them with linen cloth. And I crochet flowers to make the dolls look visually interesting. It’s innocent for infants who normally attempt to put something they get of their mouth,” she provides.
However studying to handcrafting these toys, Dr Shweta says, was tougher than even getting her drugs diploma. “I watched a number of movies to discover ways to make such dolls. Even manufacturing them might be cumbersome – from designing them on paper to truly making them with completely different options, clothes, distinctive color mixtures. Typically, I felt doing MBBS was a lot simpler,” she laughs.
Priced between Rs 700 and Rs 4,000, Dr Shweta sells handcrafted dolls and ‘Jungle Animals’, birthday buntings, and extra. Prior to now one 12 months of commercialisation, she has been capable of clock a income of Rs 15 lakhs together with her startup.
One in every of her common prospects, Amanbir Kaur, has been shopping for the toys for her new mother associates. “These toys make an ideal reward as they’re eco-friendly, sustainable and the best way they’re designed is cute. I like their assortment of Jungle Animals, which look cute and never scary. The infants gave the impression to be loving the toys. I hold going again to Little Llama to customize presents for me,” she tells The Higher India.
Dr Shweta’s toys have additionally been endorsed over Instagram by a number of celebrities together with Aparshakti Khurana, Gauhar Khan, and Nakuul Mehta.
Whereas Dr Shweta has earned immense recognition and appreciation for her work, the transition from being a physician to an entrepreneur was not welcomed by lots of her kinfolk.
“After all, being a physician could be very prestigious. And other people had their considerations. They might inform my dad and mom that I might have finished higher. After all, there are days after I don’t get orders and I additionally doubt myself. However the very subsequent day I’m up with new vitality and grateful for my present job that evolves me as a inventive individual. The compliments enhance me once more,” she provides.
Edited by Padmashree Pande. All pictures: Dr Shweta Gupta.
