Best friends and creators Srishti Chhabria and Avantika Chhabria, along with Sethna Malhotra and Prerna Mehra talk about how they club in and work together on different creative projects.
Imagine two besties, each a creative force in their own right. One's a wordsmith, weaving magic with every sentence, while the other's a visual genius, painting pictures with every pixel. They're a duo, a dynamic pair, and their friendship is as strong as their creative bond. Now, you might think that having two such strong personalities working together could lead to creative clashes. But these BFFs have figured out the secret sauce. They've learned to appreciate each other's unique styles, to challenge each other without being critical, and to compromise without compromising their artistic vision.
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Here’s what they had to share:
How do you tackle creative differences while working together?
“Prerna and I have our individual pages, but love coming together to work on projects. We do have a similar aesthetic and while collaborating on content for a brand or when we come together for organic content as well, I like that we bring different perspectives and our little elements to the table. I think that’s what makes our content together more fun and engaging and a change from our individual content. And we’re comfortable enough with each other to voice if something isn't working for one of us. If we always stuck to only our style then there would be no point in collaborating and creating something together”, says Maia Sethna Malhotra and Prerna Malhotra.
“Communication is key; we make it a point to have a conversation on what is going to work better for both of us, and once we have our answer, we just go with it”, says the Cister Co.
Do you find it hard to separate your friendship from work?
“It’s always been friendship first for us, and that’s been the foundation, so we never really find it hard to separate the two because there’s so much mutual respect for each other that they both can co-exist in the same space, says Cister Co.
“We met each other through work. Prerna is 8 years younger than me, but really ahead of her time, an old soul as I like to call her. We clicked and have been friends ever since. We are both so passionate about what we do and really bond over it”, says Maia Sethna Malhotra. “ Our friendship grew very quickly but we did meet at work. That being said, I do feel like when we meet for lunch or a drink, or just to catch up we rarely talk about work and when we meet for work it doesn’t feel like work because we’re having so much fun together!”, says Prerna Mehra.
What's the best part of working together?
“I mean, working with your best friend can’t get better, right? It’s just so easy sometimes because you know there’s always someone who is like a shadow and has your back when you can’t be there”, says the Cister Co
“Work is always more fun if you are surrounded by people who make you laugh and have good energy! Honestly, the industry can be a little intimidating sometimes especially in a new place - at Indian Couture Week in Delhi in fact, it was nice to simply have a trustworthy face around, even if it’s across the room. We also traveled without our teams so we helped each other shoot by holding up lights in heavy couture gowns, we helped with unzipping, and getting like a 63839637 pins out of each other’s hair”, says Maia and Prerna.
Does working together bring you closer?
“It does have its pros and cons, we’ve seen sides of each other more closely than anyone else would’ve. So yes, definitely a lot closer”, says the Cister Co.
“Yes definitely, we’re both very passionate about our work and we bounce off each other’s energy!”, says Prerna Mehra.
How do y'all tackle fights while working together?
“I don't think we have ever fought. We are both quite calm and chilled”, says Maia.
“I feel like problem-solving solidifies bonds so if we do every fight, I think we’re comfortable enough with each other to address the problem and solve it”, says Prerna.
We give each other some space and then just have a very direct conversation. Again, communication is always key!” says the Cister Co.
How did you manage to stay connected through ups and downs during the lockdown?
“Work really did help us stay connected on a daily basis. So a ton of Zoom calls and Ludo games later, we sailed through, says the Cister Co.
“During the lockdown, there were so many of us from the digital creator community that came together to create content together with individual video snippets that were then edited together. It was fun to stay connected in this way with other members from the community and our audiences as well”, says Maia.
“I think because of all the uncertainty, we checked up on each other often, we took on the challenge of creating content together without meeting and we sent each other surprise food deliveries!”, says Prerna.
This article was first published in the Social Ketchup Magazine's August 2022 edition.
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