Meet Lekha Shah: Creative Artist & Entrepreneur

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

Hi Lekha, what do you attribute your success to?
“Great things never comes from comfort zone.” I am a true believer of this wonderful quote. The most important factor behind the success of The Artsy Box is “Self motivation” and “Never give up” attitude. No roads are easy. No matter which carrier path you choose, there are going to be hurdles, challenges and once in a while a big storm like “covid-19”. All what matters is how you survive. How you learn to try new things and make your business work. Integrity and love towards what I do is what helps me get going. Through the nature of our business, I get to be a medium of spreading happiness to so many people. This feeling is what drives us strong towards our goals. The first look of the box when opened and the long lasting happiness in the recipients heart is priceless. Success always depends on the efforts you make from the beginning and make things work even if the circumstances are not in your favor. Like every other small business, Covid-19 has also pushed us way back in achieving our daily goals. Along with retail, we always have been focusing on working with wedding pros, corporate clients for bulk orders. Due to uncertain events around the world, the events had to cancelled and some have to postponed. What we have to focus is how to work harder and pivot our minds to make our business survive. We learned to divert our business and put more attention toward retail side and YES our hard work paid off. We helped dozens of our clients to curate gifts for their front line worker friends. We targeted the right audience who would love to celebrate virtually and inspired people to send more gifts when being far away.

What should our readers know about your business?
So to begin with, I have always nurtured my relationship with family, friends and loved ones. I know how important it is to be in touch, make memories and cherish all the moments you spend together. With that in mind, I wanted to create a platform where we can become a tiny part of celebrations. The Artsy box is a symbol of sharing love and gratitude among one another. Designing boxes with a theme in our mind and a gratitude in our heart is what makes our business unique. Every gifts we curate are practical, modern and useful for everyday life. It’s all about sending a cheer to someones doorstep. Making someone feel celebrated even if you can’t physically be there. May it be a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker or an aunt. Coz it’s not just about the gifts but its really about the gesture and the thought goes into curating that gift. We also offer build-your-own-box where anyone can design the gift of their choice according to their style, taste and budget. To keep up with the trends, style and the current events and to steer the curation of the boxes which reflect those things is what we learned since we began this new journey. People always want to gift something unique and also which is budget friendly. Since beginning, we have loved to work with various professionals, event planners, real estates, IT firms, and curate stunning gifts for their clients and employees. We very well understand the importance of maintaining a business relationships and so we are keen in creating the perfect gift people can’t stop talking about. In each box we blend the products from talented handmade artisans, small business owners, top international brands and women owned businesses. We strive to make the gift giving experience easier and comfortable.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Wow, I would love this to happen. Hope to see my friends soon and hangout with them. I have been residing in Charlotte since I first came to US. I have seen this queen city grow and tons of small businesses doing extraordinary things. I have always been a beach person and since last couple years mountains have been my best friends too. I am lucky that Charlotte is situated right in the center where couple hours journey can take you to beach and couple hours to mountains. So I would definitely love to take my friends to a waterfall hike in great smoky mountains, explore scenic routes of blue ridge parkway, staying in glamping sites or cabins and enjoying cup a joe from a local coffee shop. Some of the best glamping sites are Asheville galmping, undercanvas, glamping unplugged. Bryson city is also a sweet town to explore. I would also like to give a tour of our queen city, Charlotte. Exploring coffee shops like Amelies, Lincoln haberdashery, noda district area and evenings spent trying new breweries. Few other things we would go is top golf, carowinds and a ride through uptown area. I won’t miss a chance to enjoy sun rays and soothing ocean waves when friends are in town for a week. Some of the coastal areas I would love to take them to is myrtle beach, charleston or wilmington. Love the vibes here and can’t miss the walk on the beach at the sunset. Travelling has always been my happiness and meditation, just like painting and exploring new places to eat, drink and hangout is what I have always look forward for.

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?
“Thank you” is my love language. My parents have always been a great inspiration for me. I have got a risk taking attitude from my father and empathy from my mom. For me it’s always my family who have been there to acknowledge and support me. And being here away from them in the new country, I have always been strongly supported by my better half, my husband. A huge shout out to him for his belief in me. It’s always a great feeling to have someone by your side who knows you well and understands how important it is for you to follow your passion. There were times when I started to doubt myself but he was there to bring the best out of me and helped me to achieve the most desired goals. More than grateful for friends who envisioned my success even before I did.