Carving Your Own Path Ft. awardrobeaffair

Today I sit down with Amber Javed, one of the most OG fashion bloggers in Pakistan. If you have been around the digital space long enough, you know her blog awardrobeaffair. Amber was here before fashion blogging was even a thing locally, and she has built a career many told her would not last. In this episode, we talk about the grind behind the glam, the decision to walk away from a cushy corporate job, her new venture Find Again, and the realities of being an unmarried woman in her 30s in a society that has a lot to say about it.

A very humble beginning

Amber started blogging in 2012, a time when digital media in Pakistan was still a tiny experiment. She wasn’t into fashion growing up, she describes herself as a tomboy, but reading international blogs like High Heel Confidential and Miss Malini sparked something in her. Friends who had started tech blogs helped her set up awardrobeaffair, and the name came to her on a walk. Her first move was bold. She walked into a Yasir Raheed lawn exhibition with a camera and introduced herself as a fashion blogger. “I still remember the look on Yasir’s face because he was obviously a little skeptical. Okay what does this girl mean like why is she here,” she laughs. That audacity set the tone for everything that followed.

The awkward in-between years

Being an early adopter came with friction. As fashion weeks began inviting bloggers, Amber was taking leaves from her office to attend, lying about her whereabouts and catching flights to Lahore. It felt glamorous, but the industry wasn’t fully welcoming. She recalls the insecurity that print media and other factions felt toward this surge of young people with Instagram accounts. “There was sort of this notion that we’re just like a bunch of pretty girls strutting around on the red carpet taking photos,” she says. Brands took time to understand what bloggers really did. Amber and her peers had to constantly explain themselves, and there was a negative connotation they had to endure before the industry finally accepted digital as a meaningful medium.

Putting a face to the name

For the longest time, Amber’s blog was faceless. She’d talk about international fashion, Sonam Kapoor, Dior, local news bites, but never herself. When global influencers started putting their lives out there, she felt the pressure to shift. The thought was uncomfortable. She remembers telling her sister Maria that she wanted to stop doing only branded content and start showing up as herself. “It was uncomfortable the thought that I’m now going to put myself out there,” she admits. But the faceless model was dying, and she realized people were more interested in the person behind the curation. She made the leap, knowing that even now, sharing her life with the world still gives her a small sense of anxiety. She’s learned to set boundaries and decide what stays private.

Leaving the cushy job

Amber studied telecom engineering and worked at Telenor in an engineering department, doing what she calls “basic excel work.” The contrast between her corporate desk and the fashion platform she was building on the side was stark. For years she tried to balance both, but the fear of regret grew louder. “The worst feeling would be for me to know that I was at a much higher position in the corporate sector but I never explored that side of me,” she says. One random day, she called her boss and quit. Her boss was supportive, but Amber knew this was a now-or-never moment. She gave herself permission to fail, to become a failed blogger and fizzle out, because not knowing was scarier than any paycheck. The freedom of mind that came with the decision was, she says, liberating.

Find Again: fashion with heart

This year Amber launched Find Again, a curated digital platform for pre-loved fashion. The idea grew organically. She noticed her personal closet sales were hugely popular, and she saw a global shift where girls didn’t need to buy brand new to look good. She wanted to make fashion more affordable and accessible, a space where you could buy a trendy purple coat for two thousand rupees instead of twenty thousand. Every piece is personally curated by her, dry cleaned, and given a brand new experience. “Just because it’s used doesn’t mean it can’t be loved,” she says, and that mindset shift is at the core of Find Again. It’s not a buy-and-sell page; it’s a carefully picked selection that speaks to her audience. The venture adds a layer of sustainability and joy to shopping, and Amber is doing it one step at a time.

Marriage, pressure, and your own timeline

I asked Amber a question that so many girls wanted me to ask: how does she navigate the pressure to get married? She is grateful for parents who prioritized education and career, who dropped her to job interviews and discussed work politics with her. But the pressure from society still exists. People ask “what’s next?” And the pool of options starts to feel like it’s shrinking. Yet she is firm in her belief that contentment does not come from marital status. “You can be married and unhappy, you can be unmarried and happy,” she says. She wants to be an example, not just through words but through action. Girls look for real life inspirations, and Amber hopes that by living her life on her own terms, she shows that it is okay to not be married in your 30s. It’s not a disease. She doesn’t reject marriage, but she refuses to let it define her worth. Her advice to young women is to be a little thick-skinned, communicate respectfully with family, and not get too emotional about it. Lead karni paregi, you have to lead by example. Shut the noise, carve your own path, and know that happiness is your own responsibility.

Why this matters for you

This conversation isn’t just about fashion blogging. It’s about redefining what a full life looks like for a Desi woman. Amber’s story is proof that you can leave the blueprint behind, face discomfort, and still build something that feels true. Whether it’s quitting a job, starting a side hustle, or simply choosing to live on your own timeline, her journey says: your path does not need anyone else’s approval. Take it with a pinch of salt, put in the hard work, and let your actions do the talking. I hope this episode leaves you feeling a little braver about whatever you are carving for yourself.