It always takes courage to leave a “perfectly good” job and follow your own interests but Supriya Donthi, founder of Leafy Affairs had this courage. In February 2016, Supriya quit her job and started her entrepreneurial journey with Leafy Affairs. She got another job in the following month itself and had to quit that as well because her startup, contrary to her expectations grew bigger.
The Bangalore-based nature inspired jewellery startup started with an initial investment of Rs 20,000 on Facebook. Supriya’s startup encases preserved flowers and leaves from across the world and uses them to make jewellery like necklaces, bracelets rings, wall mounts and many more. The business started with unique designs and limited edition but it became impossible to operate in this model because of increasing demand. So, she started working on particular designs that were more in demand.
Leafy affair currently has 4 collections running including Dandelion Fairy Dust, and Mermaid’s Ocean Treasure. Supriya has been fond of nature and she combined her love for nature and jewellery together to bring out the start up. The wall mount though still remains abstract as they are “made with various arrangements of ferns and flowers” and they can not be repeated. The products are available on the Leafy Affairs website.
The startup imports its stock of flowers and ferns from the US, Russia and China. Supriya has been praised by her childhood idol, the host of DIY MAD show, Harun Robert aka Rob. Her products have even caught some celebrity eyes like Navdeep, Samyuktha Hornad and Ahaana Krishna.
The roots of entrepreneurship run deep in family with their own family business but it wasn’t easy for Suriya as she had little knowledge in the field. It took a lot of research and learning for her to grow her business. The journey has been full of roadblocks with people questioning her abilities to financial management to competition in market but the founder has overcome all the challenges. Once the work resumes after lockdown, Supriya plans conduct workshops for the same. She also plans to collaborate with wedding industry owing to their large use of flowers in business.