“God created you to be attractive in your own unique way, so embrace it and enjoy it fully.”- Sharmila Singh Flora

Family and Childhood Days

Sharmila Singh Flora was born on April 18, 1964, into a well-known Hathkhola Dutta Bari family from North Kolkata. Her father worked for Port Trust as an engineer and eventually as its director. Her mother was an ardent housewife. Her mother was stunning and served as a role model for her. Her brother had left the family a long time ago and never returned. Her mother used to stay with her after her brother had left the house.

Sharmila has been notorious since she was a toddler, and she has been involved in numerous mischievous behaviours such as climbing trees and playing on the street. She had a natural talent for cooking and learnt it from her mother, but primarily from her maternal aunt. She was a student of Bethune College and was pursuing Economics honours.

Her early family life

Sharmila married when she was only 17 years old. It was a love marriage and her mother was against it since it was an inter-caste marriage. Her dad expired a few months before her wedding. She is a Bengali and she got married to a Punjabi family. Though her family was against this entire scenario, her in-laws were very supportive. Later, her own family also agreed and accepted it when she gave birth to her daughter just after a year. She completed her graduation after her marriage. Despite her desire to obtain a Master’s degree, she was unable to do so due to family obligations. In her home, she was a pampered child who never did any household tasks. However, following her marriage, she took part in all family chores and enjoyed it.

Dreams coming true

Her husband is a very successful businessman and was into Power Plants. She had always desired to accomplish something in her life. Her husband offered his complete support but advised her against taking any jobs. During that time, she read about the famous beautician Shehnaz Hussain and was influenced by her life and achievements. She enrolled at Shehnaz’s ‘Women’s World’ in order to learn more about women’s beauty. Body Anatomy, Table Etiquette, Chopstick Use, Ramp Walk, Beauty Course, how to wear a saree, Client Management, Handling Clients, Mistake Management, and other topics were covered in this course. She wanted to learn more after the training and travel to Delhi, but her husband disagreed. But she contacted the institute in Delhi on her own and registered herself. She went there and took a comprehensive course on nail extension, nail art, hair extension, and a variety of other topics. She got pregnant again after a few days of coming back to Kolkata and gave birth to another beautiful daughter. She worked as a trainee in Women’s World to have first-hand experience in handling clients. Although her husband was reluctant in the beginning but supported her later. She opened her first Beauty Parlour in the year 1992. The concept of a beauty parlour or a beautician was not well-known in Kolkata at that time. People didn’t know much about make-up other than how to tie their hair and apply kajal and lipstick. She fought a lot while opening her own parlour. Her mother-in-law was against this idea, and her husband refused to help. But she remained adamant, and she sold all of her gold jewels and opened her own parlour.

The famous actress Moon Moon Sen inaugurated her parlour. Many people came to her parlour merely to observe the woman who changed the parlour concept in Kolkata. It was a difficult battle for her because running a business and expecting profit from day one is not simple. There was a greater struggle, but there was also joy. When she was in Women’s World, they were taught to prescribe more products to the customers. Sharmila rose to prominence after prescribing a small number of products and seeing incredible results. From the initial days only, she had celebrity clients like Debashree Roy, Indrani Halder, Satabdi Roy, and many more. In the year 1998, she did her cosmetology course in London. She was the first beautician in Kolkata to be featured in many magazines, gave interviews on various television stations, and was requested to write for beauty magazines. This is how she established her own brand and received recognition for her kind demeanour.

The expansion of her brand

In the year 2004, she came up with the gent’s parlour along with her existing women’s parlour. She considers herself very lucky because from the beginning of this parlour she had celebrity clients like the superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Tanmoy Bose, and Subhasish Mukherjee, and many more.

She decided to create her own beauty factory on the ground floor of her home in 2007. It was a difficult and expensive affair, with fierce competition. People were afraid to use cosmetic products at the time because fungus had been found in a few of them. Her products, on the other hand, were entirely organic and natural. Out of jealousy, many brands forced shopkeepers not to sell Sharmila’s products when they became extremely popular. Now that she has her own name, she still believes she is struggling and that every day is a struggle. She has been in business for 30 years, and the majority of her former employees still work for her.

Her plans to expand her brand outside Kolkata

Her children were small during the initial phase, so she didn’t have time to expand the business outside of Kolkata. Her family was dependent on her. She had dreams, but her motherly nature prevented her from pursuing them. Corona appeared now that she had considered expanding it. Her elder daughter encouraged her to open one franchise in Mumbai and said she would take care of it if necessary. She is still debating whether to do so because she prefers to be physically present at her workplace, which is difficult to manage in two different cities. However, she is open to discussion if someone wishes to collaborate.

Sharmila’s pass-time activities

She reads a lot and has even written several books about beauty. She teaches about beauty to Scheduled Castes and Tribes in various parts of West Bengal. She even teaches women in correctional facilities about beauty. She designs the entire course. She regularly contributes to newspapers on various beauty topics. She enjoys cooking and serving food.

The motto of her life

She wants to help others and enjoys it when her students are satisfied with the course. She teaches impoverished women about life, and she enjoys standing by them and wants to continue doing so. She believes in never underestimating a woman’s ability to rule society and help her to be strong.

Her pieces of advice

Do not oppose men, but rather educate and inform them about your goals. Always be self-sufficient, never rely on your father or husband, and never accept or torture men. Do whatever you want, but don’t argue.