Mirror Magazine - Strong and determined

Continuing our series on young entrepreneurs, this week we look at two enterprising individuals from two different fields – beauty culture and IT

Independence can be given… and better yet, earned. This week we continue our trail of speaking to capable young individuals in the business field. Our latest finds are two more illustrious youth, who have made it in their chosen fields, working independently.

Bringing out your beauty
Another second-generation young entrepreneur, Chathurika Jayawardane (24) is enjoying her career, doing what she knows best. Having watched her mother beautify people almost all her life, the art has been etched into her. “My mother has been in the industry for the last 20 years, and even during my school days, I used to help her out dressing brides and so on. So in a way, this has always been what I’ve wanted to do.”

With her mother putting her in charge of her very own ‘Salon Amali Jayawardana’ recently, she now has two others on her staff, and handles an impressive amount of clients everyday. “While we offer hair cutting, styling, including the entire range of straightening, perms and re-bonding and so on, we also do bridal dressing, facials, herbal skin treatments and even nail art,” she explains.

Her overall training in beauty culture began with a one-month make-up course in Singapore. Continuing to help her mother to dress brides while studying for her A/Levels, Chathurika followed a six-month course in hair dressing and beauty culture in Thailand in 2001. “This diploma helped me get a good understanding of the field, and of course the practical part of it came with the continuous work I did with my mother.”

Going to India in 2003, she graduated from the Shahnaz Husain Academy, with a diploma. The 3-4 month course was on skincare treatment, an extremely sought after area in modern beauty culture.

In August 2005, her mother decided to hand over a salon of her own to Chathurika, giving over a big responsibility and, of course, independence. “I have two on my staff, and we do hair cutting, styling, bridal dressing, herbal treatments and nail care. I get involved in all of this, and just because you are running a salon, it does not mean that you can just sit around,” she adds. Enjoying her work thoroughly, along with her mother, she plans to expand the business in future. “It’s quite easy, because I have my mother to advise me, and running a salon on your own is a very interesting experience.”

Getting involved with television programmes and demonstrations, they also do bridal shows such as the ‘Mystique Bridal Show’ held this year, in partnership with the Fabric Gallery.

Going techno
With IT being one of the most sought after fields for basically every area in the modern context, making it on your own within it should be quite a challenge. But for Navin de Alwis (25), working independently is so much more rewarding, as opposed to working for someone. Defined as a content manager, the work he does involves web development, consulting, graphic designing and systems.

Isn’t it risky to quit a job at such a young age and launch out on your own? “It’s absolutely risky, but it was a risk I willingly took. Though I’m relatively young, I’ve been involved in IT for a while now, and I have a satisfactory amount of experience. But of course, at the end of the day, you’re working for someone else.” Navin adds that especially in countries like Sri Lanka, young people are not taken seriously as professionals, and so you never really get due recognition when working in a larger company.

Known as Sciteq Soft, the IT outfit is handled by Navin and one other guy, and has been functioning for the last six months. “We have two regular clients at the moment, and we have handled a few more websites and IT material for other companies as well,” he says. Using programmes such as Flash Animation, Maya, Coral Draw and Adobe Photoshop, the work they do is manifold.

“The best part about working on your own is that you get to set your own deadlines, and you’re that much more committed, because you answer to yourself. You also don’t have to deal with internal politics and stuff.”

Having supportive people around you, helps immensely when launching out on your own. Navin adds that “My parents and friends are great when it comes to support. That’s really important, because managing a career is quite a tough challenge, and you need all the support and moral boost you can get!”