We had the good fortune of connecting with Shivani Barot and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shivani, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have always been a creative person ever since I was a child. I loved art, I enjoyed painting, writing, and just all things colorful and creative. Now I’m here in my life, trying to be a successful content creator, an entrepreneur and a home maker. My idea of being a content creator is to make people laugh and spread fun and joy because let me tell you, the world needs it. It needs lots and lots of laughter and joy. Not just around Christmas but JOY all year long!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m going to talk about my entrepreneurial skills and my business first. So I started this brand Starwick’s out a garage of the home we were renting 6 years ago. I still remember melting the Soy wax on a double boiler using a stove and just pouring 5 candles would take me 3 hours! I didn’t have enough budget to spend on proper equipment and supplies so I made the use of best resources available. It was tough, I personally went to every artist market possible, set up a booth and stand under the sun just so I could protect my candle tops from melting. There were times where I doubted myself and kept questioning whether or not I should keep going. But I kept going, hustled hard and now 6 years later, I have my own website, online shop and I successfully sell in a couple of brick and mortar stores around Atlanta. Yes, that’s my achievement! Starwick’s Creation is recognized brand in local artist stores and boutiques. The idea behind my candles is to provide customers with exceptional quality candles that are not only made with great scent, but great intentions, good energy and lots of love. Our candles are 100% soy wax and environmentally responsible, free from toxins so you are definitely not breathing any poisonous lead and other gunky stuff that comes out of the many big popular candle brands.

Coming to my creative artistic side,
I started the instagram page @itsmelouiethefrenchie with the excitement and love of being a first time pet owner and honestly just wanted to use an excuse to show of my adorable little pup! Little did I know people would love him so much that it became a routine thing posting about him. Taking his photos, dressing him up. I think I do a good job with photography and video editing and honestly that shows on our instagram but our followers started increasing in no time! I still remember in August 2021 I was at 500 followers and now 7 months later, we are at more than 10,000 followers on instagram, over 1.5 million views on Tiktok and Instagram.
It makes me so happy to share little snippets from our day and life that make people laugh, and inspire them. Louie is a French Bulldog and clearly is an eye candy. Everywhere we go people just want to pet him and he so loves to be petted. He has funny and goofy personality that makes him stand out on social media. We are so happy to be here and inspire others who are watching or reading about us. We could not thank our followers enough for all the love and support!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
So I would definitely try out dog friendly places first because who doesn’t want an instant serotonin boost right? I would love taking my friend to the belt line, ponce city market and halcyon outdoor mall. We would eat at some of the coolest brunch spots in Atl like “The select” in Marietta or “the pancake social” at ponce city market.

The food hall in ponce city market and Chattahoochee food works is great for a variety of options for lunch.

Some of my favorite dinner places would be Delbar in ATL, Southcity Kitchen, Pasta da Pulcinella in ATL

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, the pillar of my strength. He’s always been by my side like a rock. He’s helped me develop my candle business, he’s always working behind the scenes, holding camera and shooting the best angles whenever required. His patience and resilience inspires me to never give up. Apart from him I have got an amazing family consisting of two sisters and my parents who have always been there for me no matter what!

Website: www.starwickscreation.com

Instagram: @itsmelouiethefrenchie

Facebook: @itsmelouiethefrenchie

Other: TikTok @itsmelouiethefrenchie

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