Shirani Rajapaksa (pen name Rukiya Shanthi) is a children’s writer dedicated to creating fun, diverse, decolonised stories that inspire young readers to empathise and make sense of the world they live in.
Through writing historical fiction that represents minoritised communities, her work offers new perspectives on old and often forgotten worlds.
With fewer inclusive and diverse children’s books being published, Shirani was looking to find commercial success in a challenging publishing landscape.
Shirani's Re:Create Story
Keen to grow her business and offering, we paired Shirani with business mentor, Louise Emerson.
“Louise Emerson was such a fabulous mentor! She took care to listen and prompt me to think in different ways to help my business planning. My priorities were business planning and marketing, and the course has definitely helped me with both!”
Working with Louise, Shirani set to work on a range of useful tools – from a new business plan, marketing and social media strategy, business model options, brand story, profit and loss analysis and her budget.
“One of the key takeaways is it’s ok to make it simple so that it’s actionable in the limited time I have for business management.”
Re:Create Events and E-Learning
Alongside the mentoring, Shirani broadened her networks and learning through the two bespoke Re:Create events.
“It was so great to meet other creatives in person! And I was surprised how many I could relate to either because of their business journey but also the ethos and mission of the creative art. Very inspiring!”
She also made use of the free E-learning modules describing some familiar business aspects as being delivered “in refreshing ways that are simple to adopt or help solve a problem.”
Looking Forward
From her time on Re:Create, Shirani reports an increase in confidence and feeling optimistic about the future:
“I believe I can achieve my goals and I’ve identified key steps and potential partners. I’m more proactive in moving things forward.”
Summing up her Re:Create experience she said:
“Having a creative business is very time-consuming and it takes a lot of energy to do your creative work. But weaving in your creative plans with your business plan in terms of finance, marketing, and other collaborative community networking so you’re building across all those different variables across the year – that’s really helpful.”
To find out more bout Shirani, find her on Instagram @rukiya_shanthi or head to her website www.rukiyashanthi.com
