Running a Batik Painting Workshop

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

The Word Spaces — an idea that literally muncul just like that, while I was searching for a purpose in life. Masa tu COVID pulak, and my days were just quite stagnant.

How does it feel jadi business owner bila yang ada cuma curiosity and the guts to try?

Honestly, horrible, but also the happiest kind. The thrill tu, Masha Allah...

Batik painting was my very first workshop. Tak sangka kesitu yang jadinya haha. Betul betul lari dari plan asal! I kept going sampai boleh ke Terengganu semata-mata nak beli barang supplies. Alhamdulillah.

Sampai hari ni, I believe we have served more than 1000+ customers and we couldn’t be more grateful. (Ironically, “we” is just...me huhu cries in small business owner)

Banyak kenangan manis especially bila buka booth and jumpa tourists or customers yang betul-betul appreciate arts. Along the way, saya pun slowly polish balik skill seni yang dah lama berhabuk hehe. Terima kasih to both my parents. Kalau bukan sebab Ummi Abah paksa pergi kelas Khing Art dulu, I do not think I would ever make it this far.

Some days are tough. Some days are sweet.

Ada juga hari yang saya langsung tak boleh nak “roll” duit. Memang kena letak sebulat-bulat kepercayaan pada Allah and just believe something will work out.

That was exactly during the early days of the batik workshop. I was not a TikTok girl, and masa tu TikTok pun still macam taboo. TikTok shop pun tak famous lagi.

But I posted anyway. Sikit-sikit. Just for the sake of FOMO.

Then one message came in:

“Berminat tak nak buka booth dekat Kulim Central?”

Us? Me? Business baru beberapa bulan and pocket pun kosong?

“Tapi booth free.”

FREE.

FOR REAL.

Okay, sekarang ni siapa nak tolong? Jeng jeng! I recruited my entire family (also for free, may Allah bless them), and a few friends, Julia, Asbi, ’Atiqah and Aishah. They literally came to the rescue.

For three days, suddenly, we were a team. TWS first team!

I was happy.

That’s when I realized: people love familiarity. And that “familiarity” came from a few batik pieces I initially bought just to try.

People stopped by our booth simply to colour.

I restocked. Day after day. Week after week. Sampailah satu hari, UUM called us for a batik workshop for 70 people. 

And just like that, the batik painting workshop journey began. Unexpected. Unplanned. But beautifully guided.

 

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