In 2012, Sarah Sham went to meet a potential client for her family business Essajees, which specialises in home decor accessories, including antique furniture, fine art, vintage items, showpieces and more. She wanted to show the new client some decorative chandeliers.
The meeting with the client, who had a sea-facing home opposite the famous Haji Ali Durgah in Mumbai, took a dramatic turn after Sarah recommended a few creative suggestions. The homeowner revealed she was facing major issues with the contracted interior designer and asked that Sarah take on the project instead. Caught off guard, Sarah scoffed at the idea.
A fourth-generation member of the family (and its business), 35-year-old Sarah had always known she would work for the family business. But she'd never, ever, wanted to be an interior designer. Yet, when that homeowner insisted, Sarah discovered her abundant talent for the work and confidently took on the project.
Two years later, Sarah Sham started her own firm called Essajees Atelier, an offshoot of her family business, and has been inundated with work ever since.
Confidence game
Even as a child, Sarah was ambitious, strong-willed and a determined overachiever, with a very vivacious personality.
She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke and then Oxford University in 2009, with a major in art history, and also completed the NYU Stern Advantage Program in 2008.
At the start of her career with her family business, Sarah worked with the projects department that created bespoke high-end furniture and lights, and she was content with this trajectory.
この記事は Brunch の August 20, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Brunch の August 20, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting the wrong note
Even hitmakers can have epic fails. Here are 10 bands that named themselves in haste, only to repent at leisure
A walk to remember
As India celebrates 25 years of Fashion Week, here's your front-row seat to the first edition, in 2000. The models, the designs, the gossip, the backstage drama, and those after-parties!
Before the tea gets cold
Sudhir Patwardhan's paintings show a Mumbai that viewers may find familiar. But look closer. The details tell new tales, trigger universal questions
Who's the third world now?
There was a time when Egypt or Lagos were considered lawless lands. Now one has to be on guard in London and Paris
Spice routes and detours
More and more countries are discovering that packaged Indian spices are contaminated. Back home, they're so convenient and trusted, we didn't think to look closer. It's time to rework this recipe
Murder, she rewrote
What's better than a woman detective? A team of two. New shows and films are making the most of the partnership, giving crime drama and comedy an edge
What broth this on?
Hopeless ramentic? Slurp up this guide and order the best bowl, every time
Unconventional habits
There's so much more to nuns and convent education than what shows up on screen. Why do the cliches persist?
Photos or pulp fictions?
Gauri Gill's portraits showcase ordinary folks, doing ordinary things, but wearing extraordinary masks. See why the quirky series offers more than what meets the eye
Hear it from a reliable sauce
Kikkoman launched a dark soya sauce for the Indian market after realising that Indians expect Chinese and pan-Asian dishes to have a rich, dark colour. It mimics the taste profile of the flagship Kikkoman soya but has a different colour.
