Mumbai creator economy.
Ten years ago, Merwin D'Souza was working as a project manager in an IT company. Today, he spends his days teaching people how to build furniture.
The transition wasn't sudden. D'Souza first picked up woodworking during a break from corporate life while dealing with a family situation that required his full attention. Looking for something meaningful to fill the long periods of waiting and uncertainty, he turned to woodworking as a hobby. "I genuinely thought it would just keep me occupied until I returned to work," he recalls. Instead, the hobby stayed with him. Even after returning to his corporate job, his weekends became consumed by woodworking, building projects, researching techniques, learning about tools and materials, and gradually teaching others who were curious about the craft.
Over the years, woodworking became more than a pastime. Following a series of life-changing events, including the pandemic and his young son's autism diagnosis, D'Souza stepped away from corporate life and decided to focus on two things: supporting his son and pursuing woodworking more seriously. Today, he runs woodworking experiences where participants learn how to create products with their own hands. His story may sound unusual, but it's becoming increasingly common in Mumbai.
Across the city, people are finding ways to turn hobbies and niche skills into income-generating experiences. From skateboarders and musicians to chefs, photographers and self-defence trainers, a growing number of Mumbaikars are monetising skills that would once have remained personal passions.
According to Alive App, which works with experience creators across cities, Mumbai is seeing strong interest from people who want to teach, host and share what they know. "We're seeing everyone from artists and musicians to working professionals come forward," says Vivek Kumar, Founder and CEO of Alive App. "Many of them have spent years developing expertise in a particular area but never thought of it as something people would pay to experience."
Some of the skills being monetised are surprisingly niche. There are creators hosting skateboarding sessions, pizza-making workshops, pet photography experiences, Rubik's Cube-solving classes, guitar and keyboard discovery sessions, coffee tastings, grooming workshops and even classes on car basics. A few years ago, most of these would have been considered hobbies. Today, they are becoming weekend experiences.
What's also changing is who is creating them.Not everyone is looking to quit their day job. Many hosts are salaried professionals using weekends to explore interests that sit outside their primary careers. For them, experiences offer something more than an additional income stream. They offer an opportunity to build a personal identity beyond work.
"People don't necessarily start with the goal of building a business," says Kumar. "Often they simply want to share something they care deeply about. The income comes later."
The demand side has changed too. Mumbai consumers are increasingly looking for activities that feel more engaging than a standard night out. Beginner-friendly experiences such as rifle shooting, skateboarding, pizza-making and music sessions are seeing strong interest because they are easy to try and don't require a long-term commitment.
The appeal is simple. People get to learn something new, spend a few hours doing something different and walk away with a story.
Social media has helped people discover these activities, but Kumar believes that's only part of the story. "People don't just want to watch someone online anymore. They want to meet the person behind the skill and try it themselves," he says. The trend also reflects a broader shift in how younger Indians think about work. Many are still ambitious about their careers, but they're increasingly looking for creative outlets outside their jobs. For some, that means building a side hustle. For others, it's about testing whether a passion could eventually become something bigger. And in a city like Mumbai, where every niche interest seems to have an audience somewhere, that possibility is becoming more real than ever.
The next creator success story may not be an influencer with a million followers. It could be a woodworker, a skateboard coach, a home chef or a musician teaching a small group of strangers on a Saturday morning.
