Fourteen years ago today, I traded for the very first time at Anjuna Market. I was selling hand-painted jika-tabi, laid out on a simple mat on the beach — no table, no roof, just a small patch of sand.
At the time, I had only just decided that I wanted to live a life centred around what I truly loved. I didn’t yet know exactly what that would look like. What I did know was that I wanted to return to Goa every year. To make that possible, I started trading.
Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place. I reached a point where my earnings covered the cost of flights. I was able to reduce the part-time work I used to do in the summers. Eventually, after moving to the UK, the work grew into something that allowed my husband and me to build a life together.
Looking back, it’s not one big leap that stands out, but a series of small, steady steps. What began as a simple desire to keep returning to Goa has quietly shaped everything that followed.