“When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that's when passion is born,” aesthetically elucidates Zig Ziglar. The story of Aatika Manzar (Founder & Director, Aatika Manzar Designs) embraces these words and adjoins to it the fact that passion combined with effort could take you places. In 2008, just a year into her Bachelors in Architecture, Aatika not only kick-started her career as a trainee architect, but also fit in some interior design projects in her free time. The feeling of comprehensiveness - from architecture to interior design & execution - fascinated her even more, propelling her to harness experience & confidence with each passing day.

Aatika finished her Masters in Interior Designing from Birmingham City University and became the creative head of a multinational design firm. Having had her baptism of fire in the international market and amassed envious professional experience at such a young age that spanned across a plethora of commercial projects in India & the Middle East, she was up for the new challenge – building something that reflects her signature. Aatika decided to take the plunge and incorporated the eponymous label –Aatika Manzar Designs – in 2017. Today, Aatika boasts a prestigious portfolio, including the project for the High Commission of Canada in India. Women Entrepreneur India engages in an exclusive interaction with Aatika to further explore her anecdote.

Starting up in a populous industry like interior design can be really tough. What were the challenges that you faced in the initial phase?

Starting up a company is a daunting ask; to say nothing of the design industry-specific challenges. I didn’t have the safeguard of a godfather nor the luxury of contacts to begin with. I started with a handful of pilot projects, thanks to a heap of free presentations. I had to be the ‘Jill’ of all trades within the company, working across the day and night. Eventually the efforts paid off resulting in an ever-growing number of clients. The brand name garnered further strength through a healthy word of mouth.

“I had to be the ‘jill’ of all trades within the company, working across the day and night”

Today, you are an inspiration for many young women out there. How has been this journey for you as a woman entrepreneur?

The whole construction industry is a male-dominated business, including the entire stakeholders starting right from Plumbers & Carpenters. Unfortunately, as is the case with quite a few task intensive professions, no one takes you seriously when you are a woman in construction related work too. It took a while and constant effort to break that glass ceiling and to experience a change in attitude. Today, after having completed 100 projects, the scenario has transformed to the tune of their regard and respect being a part of our success.

You are well-known among your clients for a disciplined approach. How do you enable this?

It can be traced back to our process, well trained team, and SOPs. Clients today come to us after exploring our social media profiles & gallery and they usually have a clear idea about what they want. We work closely with our clients, involving them right from the conceptualization stage. That makes a huge difference in the final product in terms of their satisfaction. This approach has enabled me to solidify my mark in niche commercial spaces like departmental /grocery stores and, and have a growing prominence in the field of restaurants and clubs. We have been executing a lot of cafes and restaurants in business hubs like Connaught Place.

“It took a while and constant effort to break that glass ceiling and to experience a change in attitude”

What are some of your upcoming projects?

We are currently working on a 6000 square feet microbrewery project in Guwahati, which is the first Microbrewery in the city, as well as a 40,000 square feet departmental store project in Delhi. We are very scalable in terms of project size and flexible in terms of location. We are also working on projects in India for a Dubai-based brand as well as a US-based corporate group, in addition to a bunch of exciting & challenging renovation projects.

Furthermore, we are also really excited about a few out-of-thebox projects for some of the most reputable retail brands in Delhi. A Book Cafe combined with the kids’ play zone is a predominant one among them. The client is highly motivated in making this book cafe easily accessible and inclusive for the differently abled. We have created ramps to access the entire area in a wheelchair and navigation lanes with tac tiles for the visually impaired. Even the washroom is designed keeping the inclusiveness in mind. A lot of research has gone behind this implementation and this is going to be India’s first ‘accessible to all’ café.

Going forward, staying a step ahead of the curve remains our prerogative.

Aatika Manzar, Founder & Director, Aatika Manzar Designs

Aatika holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from JamiaMilliaIslamia and a Masters in Interior Design from Birmingham City University. She boats more than a decade of experience in the industry that spans across the Middle & India.