Growing up in Milak Adalpur Taj, a small village in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, Poonam Yadav always dreamt of creating a better future and becoming financially independent. But like many women from her community, she didn’t know how to turn that dream into reality.
That changed in August 2022, during a Women Equality Day event, where Yadav first heard about the Youth Hub that was opening near her village. This new opportunity would change her life forever.
Discovering passion, building a plan
After learning about the Youth Hub, Yadav decided to give it a shot. Excited but uncertain about her future, she registered and underwent a psychometric assessment and career counseling session. It was during these sessions that Yadav realised her passion for beauty and makeup.
Recognising her potential, the Youth Hub team encouraged her to enrol in a beautician training course offered for free through a Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI).
Yadav pounced at the opportunity and soon completed the one-month beautician course. The training gave her the technical skills she needed. But starting her own beauty business needed more than just knowledge and technique.
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Supported by her family and husband, Yadav worked with the Youth Hub team to create a comprehensive business plan. After several discussions, she finally found a small shop in the local Kailsa market and took a bold step forward by opening her own beauty parlor – the Ashi Beauty Parlour.
Navigating difficult setbacks
The early days of her business were not easy. Despite her hard work and enthusiasm, attracting customers was a challenge. Only a handful of customers were visiting her shop each day.
Yadav reached out to the Youth Hub team for advice to overcome this. Together, they devised a strategy to promote her beauty parlor through the local cluster-level federation (CLF) platform. This led her to offer special discounts to self-help group (SHG) members during village meetings. In turn, this helped her build trust and attract more clients.
The strategy soon worked and Yadav’s parlor became popular. Interestingly, young girls from nearby villages started seeking her out for hands-on training. Over time, she trained more than 50 girls. She effectively passed on the skills she had learned and encouraged others to follow in her footsteps.
Inspiration for a new generation
Her hard work has brought financial stability allowing her to significantly contribute towards her household income. More importantly, Yadav’s journey of beauty business has made her a role model for other women in her community.
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She has also earned their respect within her village. Recently, she purchased a brand new two-wheeler, making her commute to work easier and allowing her to offer on-site beauty services during the wedding season.
Her success has not gone unnoticed. Thirty to fifty trainees from RSETI recently visited her shop to learn from her experience. Such is the power of one woman’s determination, and a support system at the grassroots level.
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The lead image on top shows Poonam Yadav attending to a customer at her parlour with help from her intern Lovely. (Photo courtesy Simmi)
Ankit Rawat is a practitioner at Transforming Rural India.
