Building Beyond The Boardroom

Like so many people in our industry, I too, always had that long-held dream of trading the Mumbai rush for a slower pace in Goa. But for me, it was just a retirement plan I was tucking away for later. Our move to Goa, during the lockdown, shifted this perspective and it became a very sudden reality. It was during that time, in the dusty reality of Goa, I found and started restoring what would eventually become our dream home, the Verve Estate.

When we began restoring a century-old Indo-Portuguese mansion, I wasn’t just fixing a roof, but learning and preserving a beautiful heritage story. For me, interior-styling isn’t only about filling a room with furniture. It’s about the narrative of the space. Dealing with 26-foot wood-lined ceilings, original Belgian tiles, and 55-cm laterite walls required a certain level of patience that somehow my fast-paced digital life rarely allowed me to have. Amid that, I found myself obsessing over the origin of every light fixture or the history of the period furniture which I was sourcing. This entire process opened up a part of me that had been boxed away for years while living in rented apartments. And then, seeing the final aesthetic turn into reality and eventually, get featured in Indian and global architecture and design magazines was an incredible moment of validation. But more than that, it gave me the nudge I needed, to move beyond helping just my friends and family with decorating their spaces. It was this reality check and encouragement which pushed me to start thinking about interior styling in a much more structured way. That’s how the journey of Home Styling with Rubeena began.

Given my professional experience in digital marketing, it felt only natural to share the learnings on Instagram. The idea was never to “build a brand” in the corporate sense, but to find my tribe. What started as a simple outlet of my passion, quickly grew into a loyal community of thousands of people, who actually cared about decor tips and design stories. For me, this hasn’t just been a side project; it’s been a vital part of my growth in many ways.

First, it’s a dedicated creative space for my passion. But professionally, it’s also kept me incredibly sharp. Managing a community, from the ground up, keeps me connected to the forever evolving social media landscape and shows me exactly how audiences engage with my content—from which, I take insights straight back to my professional work. On the other hand, it also gives me a necessary mental reset. It’s my way of switching off from the day job so I can return on Monday feeling recharged.

Most importantly, it’s been a lesson in humility. Building a following purely based on my ideas, independent of a twenty-year professional reputation that I have practically lived, is a real entrepreneurial buzz. It’s a humbling reminder of what it’s like to build something from the ground up, be it our home or the online page.

I’ve always believed that while a job builds your career and offers stability, a hobby builds your vision and maybe, even feeds and completes your soul. You tend to learn much faster when you’re building something that is entirely your own. Especially today, in this era of AI disruption, when industries are shifting almost overnight, maintaining a diverse set of skills is the only way to stay resilient.

As I sit and write this today in Mumbai, imagining the moment when light hits those Belgian tiles, I am reminded that not every year needs to be great to be meaningful. Sometimes, real progress happens in those quiet, slow moments of building something with your own hands. My experience has taught me that while a career gives you stability, it is these personal curiosities that truly build your vision. Whether it is restoring and incorporating a century-old well in a unique way within the house or finding the perfect period chair, I’ve realised that the things we build by ourselves, simply for the love of the craft, are often the ones that stay with us the longest.