Push Yourself, Because No One Else Is Going To Do It For You!

This is what keeps Dina Contractor going! Mother to two young girls, she has given herself a second chance at Life by embarking on a new career as an Image Consultant at the age of 50 years!

“Age is just a number” she believes!

“It should never hold you back from learning new things and fulfilling your dreams at any point in your life!”

With a natural penchant for design and creativity, Dina studied Fashion Designing after a graduation in Commerce. Thereafter, along with designing clothes, she curated and sold destination jewelry. She had a short stint of successful exhibitions and then motherhood took the forefront in her life. Now, after a sabbatical of 20 years she has picked up where she left off, as an Image Consultant!

In an interview with Team Laja, she admits getting back to studying has been difficult and acknowledges that it has been her adapting nature that has helped her through it. With a never-say-die spirit, she knows she isn’t far from achieving her goals now! Although she has had a difficult childhood, with her father’s death when she was just 3 years old and her mother being diagnosed with Schizophrenia, we can see that her enthusiasm is still that of a teenage girl! She attributes her strength and resilience today, to the adversities she has faced as a child.

Recollecting those years, after her father passed away, Dina remembers the extensive hardships her mother faced at the hands of her paternal family, owing to which she fell into an abyss of depression. At that tender age, Dina took up the responsibility of her mother’s care. Maturity made its way to her, earlier than it’s time and the significance of age seemed to vanish from her Life. As her mother’s illness progressed to Schizophrenia, they moved into her maternal grandparents’ home. She is immensely thankful for the support she had from her maternal family in those difficult years.

Today, she recounts to Team Laja, it is the wholehearted support and encouragement from her young daughters as well as mentor Dr. Reeta Shah, that is the wind beneath her wings. In every way, they continue to motivate her towards her Mission, which is to help Women look beautiful and love themselves more!

Her mental vision board, where she sees herself with her family on a vacation, happy as a successful businesswoman and contented as mother, keeps her motivated too! Success to her, will always include the happiness of her family. When asked about how she felt sacrificing her career so early on, she does not see the setbacks in her career as sacrifices. The satisfaction of bringing up her daughters who are now wonderful, passionate and determined young women gives her endless happiness.

Always having thoroughly enjoyed dressing up her girls and designing clothes for her friends, Dina’s love for jewelry too isn’t far behind. She believes that with the right compilation of accessories, a woman’s appearance and beauty can be greatly accentuated. On a regular day she spends about 4 hours in the morning meeting her clients, guiding them on fashion trends and creating the right looks for various occasions. Then she is back home for lunch and the rest of the day is spent with her daughters.

Keeping up with the constantly changing technology has been a major hurdle for her, she admits, but she remains inspired by the belief that great things never come from comfort zones. She manages to fight her fear of failing at what she has started, with a daily dose of lots self-confidence along with some self-love! In the beginning of her career as a Fashion Designer, she lost her investments in fabrics etc. when she gave it all up due to lack of support from her family. That, she now understands, has taught her to stand up for herself and never give up on what she loves!

Team Laja acknowledges her indomitable courage and is immensely grateful to her for sharing her story with this beautiful message of perseverance!