Essille Heisman, a 28-year-old entrepreneur has had first-person experiences of witnessing the exploitation and other social challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. The beauty and make-up industry employs large numbers of LGBTQ+ workers. But, there is widespread discrimination and bias prevalent against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenders, Queer and the allied community. This led her to decide to do something about it through her personal efforts and her enterprise (‘The Artist in You: A Gender-Free Paradise’) in Imphal, Manipur.
Essille’s ‘The Artist in You: A Gender-Free Paradise’ studio promotes inclusivity of all individuals irrespective of gender barriers and other social norms. Essille is focusing on empowering the lesser privileged and/or marginalized people from LGBTQ+ community in Manipur by imparting skills and knowledge in the beauty and make-up domain through her studio. Among key services provided by ‘The Artist in You: A Gender-Free Paradise’ are: Bridal Makeup Package with Wedding Attire, Party Makeup and Makeovers.
Essille joined the Indo-German Her&Now Entrepreneurship Support Programme in June 2020. It enabled her to set-up her own studio and launch it officially in December 2020. ‘Her&Now-Empowering Women Entrepreneurs’ is a pan-India project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The project is running in partnership with ‘Dhriiti-The Courage Within’ in North-East Region.
