Yashoda didn’t begin with stitching.
For years, her world was centred around home - raising her children, managing the everyday, and doing what needed to be done without question. Work, in the way we might define it, came later.
Today, she sits with needle and thread in hand, part of the rhythm of the workshop. But her story isn’t one of lifelong craft, it’s one of timing, of stepping into something new when life made space for it.
Yashoda is a mother of three, two sons and a daughter. Her children are growing now, teenagers finding their own paths. And as they’ve grown more independent, so has she.
Before stitching, she worked in small ways, finishing garments, helping where she could. Before that, she stayed at home, focused fully on her family.
Then, four years ago, something shifted. She began embroidery.
“She started using her time,” we’re told. It sounds simple. But it’s not.
Because what she’s really done is step into a new role, one that exists alongside everything else she continues to be. Mother. Caregiver. Now also, artisan.
Her work carries purpose beyond the piece itself. The money she earns goes towards her children’s education. School fees. Futures. Opportunities that stretch further than her own beginnings. And in that, there’s a quiet transformation.
When asked about her life now, her answer is simple:
“Good.”
She says she is learning. That things are better. No grand statements. No need to over-explain. Just a sense of steadiness.
Yashoda’s story doesn’t revolve around a distant dream or a dramatic shift.
It’s about something more grounded. A woman who found a way to contribute, to grow, and to support her family - later than some, but no less meaningfully.
At Design Alchemy Collective, her stitching holds that story.
Of beginnings that don’t happen all at once.
Of change that comes quietly, when life allows it.
Of work that becomes more than just income, it becomes confidence, contribution, and care. Because sometimes, the most powerful transformations aren’t the ones we plan.
They’re the ones we step into - slowly, steadily, and entirely our own.