Fashion designer Masaba Gupta recently opened up about the struggles she faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when her business came close to shutting down. In an interview with Faye D’Souza on YouTube, Masaba spoke about her emotional and financial difficulties, revealing that she even struggled to pay her cook’s salary.
Masaba Gupta’s Pandemic Challenges
Masaba described how the pandemic hit her business hard. She said she narrated financial setbacks, which made her feel helpless. “In 2020, when COVID hit, it was the worst time of my life. I didn’t even have ₹12,000 to pay my cook.” Like many others, she initially thought the lockdown would only last a couple of days. However, when it extended, her life changed dramatically.
She recalls that by the end of March or early April 2020, her business had called in and said that she had spent all the money. “There was no money left. Nobody was buying anything. Fashion was at the bottom of the priority list at that time,” Masaba remembered. This was especially hard on her because she tried to keep her business afloat during a period of great uncertainty.
Impact on Her Business
House of Masaba, her brand, felt the brunt of the pandemic. She shut five stores in two months – some were franchises and others company-owned. At one time, she claims to have had only some ₹2 lakhs left in her bank account. Her team shifted focus to making masks while cutting losses.
As Masaba recalled, “I remember crying after every call with my business head”. Very confident that things would come around, Masaba’s business head had to put up with all her tears; though, the financial tension took a toll on her, and it was an incredibly emotional time for her.
A Lesson in Resilience
The Masaba story is quite an inspiring tale of survival against impossible odds. When nothing seemed to be working, she didn’t give up; she adapted to the situation, focusing on how to keep her business alive and thriving, even if it meant drastic changes like shutting down stores and changing what she’d been selling.
About Masaba Gupta
She is the daughter of West Indies cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards and a famous Indian actress in her own right, Neena Gupta. In 2015, Masaba wed Indian movie maker Madhu Mantena; they have been separated since 2018, and the divorce was finalized in 2019. Masaba has just recently married actor Satyadeep Mishra and in April 2024 announced that she and her husband are pregnant.
Masaba’s journey in person and professionally has, of course, highlighted great strength and resolve. She passed through the hardest part, such as the pandemic, which is the epitome of her resilience and adaptability.
Masaba Gupta’s story represents the various sorts of struggles that businesses encounter during a pandemic, especially when they are involved in industries like hers. Her example shows sometimes you only have the power in your soul to move forward through the hardest of times. She was under extreme financial pressure and was able to maneuver to continue to maintain herself, and even spoke candidly about the emotional scale of the crisis, showing that icons like her too aren’t entirely spared from misery.
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