“I soon realised I had something much greater than I’d expected. I have firm morals behind the business: I want to keep the traditional craft alive. The idea is to fuse contemporary design with a traditional hand. Bholu’s philosophy is very much about supporting the women with fair trade.

“We’ve also been running projects with slum children and encouraging them to draw and have fun rather than working. I feel it’s important to remember the humanitarian reasons why I first started this “business” and not become too consumed with the "business" side of things.”

Bholu has been growing at a rate that Jodie never expected. “I started this as a small side project to my film design career and it’s taken over. I still balance work in the film industry, but it’s getting harder. My partner and I sometimes refer to Bholu as a gorgeous but badly behaved child. We seem to be forever running after it and trying to rein everything in. We seem to get over one challenge and then another opportunity hits us in the face. The product and the story sells itself and I am pleasantly surprised by how many people are also interested and passionate about it.”

We asked Jodie what did she treasure most about Bholu. It was her love for the Indian people showed through in the response she gave us.

“Going back to India and seeing the faces of the women and children who make all this happen is incredibly fulfilling. My most cherished part is going back to India and handing over the money we raise from Bholu projects. It is so little to us but means the world to them. For instance, in one recent project, we raised $3000. This is going to a school in a slum community. It will go towards the food that the children get when they go to school. It’s a way of educating children, by offering a meal per child per schooling session. This encourages families to send their kids to school instead of work. It’s such a blessing to be able to make a difference.

So what has inspired Jodie? Her main inspiration comes from India and its madness. She admires Scandinavian designers such as Marimekko for the simplicity of their designs and that they’ve become a household name for textiles committed to quality, colour and design. It is important for her to have mentors and to be inspired by other business ventures. She admires other young business women like Rachel Bending (founder, Slingfings, Bird Textiles) and Kate Bezar (founder, Dumbo Feather, Pass It On).

"Artists bring a lot of inspiration to my work including painters Marnie Wark and David Band. Photographer Greig Fraser inspires me for capturing such beautiful faces and light through his photographic work."

The Bholu range can be found throughout the North Island from Kerikeri to Wellington.  Website www.bholu.com.