From software engineer to $100-an-hour mehndi artist: How a woman turned childhood art into a side hustle
Software engineer Priyancka Jaiin has successfully turned her childhood hobby of mehndi art into a lucrative side hustle, charging $100 an hour for her services. Her story highlights how professional individuals are increasingly leveraging traditional skills to create additional income streams and preserve cultural art forms.
Why it matters
This reflects the modern 'side hustle' culture and the trend of professionals finding personal and financial fulfillment through creative, non-traditional work.
Priyancka Jaiin has built a career in technology, but one of the skills closest to her heart came from her childhood. Long before she became a software engineer, she was learning the art of mehndi from her nani and dadi. Today, that childhood interest has become a serious creative side hustle. While working as a software engineer in the US, Jaiin also takes mehndi bookings and charges around $100 an hour, showing how a skill developed years ago can eventually become an additional source of income. For Jaiin, however, the journey is about more than money. It is also about keeping alive an art form that has been part of her life since she was five.A childhood skill that stayed with herJaiin's connection with mehndi began when she was a young girl.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in