Community Highlights: Meet Shani Perera of Shani Creations

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shani Perera. 

Hi Shani, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My story starts from when I was born. I was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to the United States, with my parents, when I was four years old. Growing up and going to school my parents hoped for me to be a surgeon/doctor, basically work in the medical field. Fast forward to high school, and I figured out that becoming a surgeon wasn’t something I would be passionate about. I always did little DIYs at home, started a YouTube channel to show how I made things, so when I enrolled in the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, I decided that I wanted to become an artist. I have always loved creating and designing. It always made me so happy when I had an idea and I made it come to life. 

I studied photography in college because it was the main reason why I decided to be an artist. The minute I picked up a camera and took a photo, I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In my junior year of college, I started to become unsure of what I wanted to do. I loved photography and I still do to this day, however, studying it and doing it for four years made me realize that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. I didn’t feel super passionate about it, and I knew I wanted to do something where it wouldn’t feel like I was working, do something that I love. 

Fast forward to June 2020, I took a huge risk and started my business, Shani Creations Co. I started it to see if it was something I wanted to do if it was something I was passionate about, and it turns out that it was and still is. I taught myself how to use different graphic design softwares, marketing and promoting, designing a website, anything that had to do with starting and running a business, I even took extra credit hours to graduate college in November 2020, a semester earlier than my expected graduation date, just so I could run Shani Creations Co full time. Now in 2022, I run Shani Creations Co, by myself, full time. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Starting Shani Creations Co was not a smooth road. My business wasn’t an overnight success, and it is a lot of work to run a business. I had to think about marketing, promoting, what I want to sell, what to design, do I have enough shipping supplies, and most importantly earnings and expenses. Even though it is stressful I still love every part of my business, but there was one point on this road where I almost closed down Shani Creations Co. 

When I started Shani Creations Co, I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t have a purpose for creating the products I sell, it got to a point where I forgot the reason why I started Shani Creations Co. Christmas of 2021 I unfortunately got Covid and had to take a break from doing anything for two weeks, but then two weeks led to two months of not doing anything that had to do with Shani Creations Co. During this two-month period, I was contemplating if I should close down my business. I wasn’t getting many sales, and I was spending more money on materials to create products than earning money, so I was feeling very discouraged. However, I knew I invested so much time, money, and energy into Shani Creations Co, and even if I felt discouraged, I knew for a fact that running my business was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So instead of thinking about closing down Shani Creations Co, I thought about why I started Shani Creations Co. 

It’s true that I started Shani Creations Co to figure out if running a business was something I wanted to do, but that wasn’t the only reason and it wasn’t the main reason. I have been designing and creating since I was in middle school. It started off as little DIY projects, then it turned into having an idea or seeing something I want to buy, but instead of buying it, I would try and recreate it and adding a twist of my personal style. I have always loved designing and creating. It’s practically a stress reliever for me. So, starting Shani Creations Co was the one thing that helped with my mental health. 

My freshman year of college to the end of my junior year of college, basically before I started Shani Creations Co, I struggled to prioritize my mental health, and I think that happens to several college students, especially student-athletes, but let’s not narrow it down to just student-athletes. I think that a plethora of people don’t think about/acknowledge their mental health. That was the case for me. I went to school full-time, worked a part-time job, played soccer, and had long nights of doing homework. I only got about 3-4 hours of sleep every night, and I was always stressed. I also had a lot of anxiety, especially when it came to homework assignments. I always thought that whenever I was assigned an assignment or project, I would have to complete it that day, even though the assignment deadline was in a month. It’s crazy to think about, but that’s just how I thought. I thought that if I got it done early then I would have more free time, but that was never the case. There was always another one or something else to do. It got to a point where I was completely burned out, mentally. It felt like everything I was doing was pointless. Waking up in the mornings was always hard because I would never get enough sleep. Sometimes I would skip my classes because I just wanted to. In May 2020, I started drawing and designing again. Just little doodles, but it made me happy and it calmed me down. I always ended my day with drawing a little doodle on my iPad. Then that turned into starting Shani Creations Co, and from that point on a lot changed. 

Although I had to learn a lot to start and run Shani Creations Co, it taught me a lot too. Shani Creations Co wasn’t and still isn’t an overnight success, and that helped me realize that not everything has to get done instantly. Now I’m not saying that procrastination is good and to wait until the last minute to do something, but sometimes it is completely fine to take a break, especially if you need it. It helped me manage my time more, since running a business is a lot of work I had to come up with a schedule, and that ultimately helped me get enough sleep. And overall, it just made me happier. I’m happy when I wake up in the mornings, and I look forward to my day. I get excited when I get to design or pack an order or create a product to sell, it’s just fun for me. Now my mental health is in a much better state, and I’m living a happier and healthier life. 

Remember when I said that I took a two-month break from Shani Creations Co to figure out the purpose of starting it? Well, here we are. Because of what my business helped me learn, I want to help everyone realize that their mental health is important as well. Shani Creations Co aims to help raise awareness for mental health. I want everyone to start prioritizing their mental health because it’s just as important as your physical health. I want people to wake up and look forward to their day, I want everyone to live happier and healthier lives. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I started Shani Creations Co to help raise awareness for mental health. I take 15% of every purchase and donate it to an organization that helps raise awareness for mental health. Shani Creations Co is mainly an e-commerce business. I sell products online and ship them right to your doorstep. 

Something that sets Shani Creations Co apart from others is that every product is hand-made by me, Shani. There is just something about carefully designing and making the product then ultimately selling it that brings me so much happiness. Not only does it make me happy, but every person who places an order at Shani Creations Co is receiving good quality products that last a lifetime, and that makes them happy because they are buying something that’s worth the money they are spending, and they are also helping me raise awareness for mental health. 

Something I am proud of is the improvement of my design process. I used to just design something and not put any thought into it, but now I take a very long time to perfect a design. From a rough sketch to creating it in Adobe Illustrator, and then taking many breaks, and coming back to it to make adjustments/changes, and finally perfecting the design. I want my designs and my products to bring people joy, I want them to make people happy. 

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
There’s a lot to love about Nashville. One thing I like best are the murals. I went to a high school basically located in the middle of downtown Nashville and I saw them everywhere. The murals give Nashville such a vintage vibe, even though it is a growing city, and the artwork is phenomenal. I don’t go into downtown Nashville often now, but every time I go, I see a new mural, and I can’t help but to stop and look at it for a little bit, and maybe take a picture. The murals in Nashville also give me inspiration for my own designs. 

The one thing I like least about Nashville is the traffic. I don’t think I realized just how bad the traffic got in Nashville until my senior year of high school. Now, I definitely try an avoid driving when it’s rush hour. 

Contact Info:

• Email: shanicreationsco@gmail.com
• Website: shanicreationsco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanicreationsco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079294577623
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shani_creations
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxicIgM2xeMmyzwzW7AdfWg

Image Credits
Shani Perera