What Does Being South Asian Mean to You?
I am full of pride and gratitude. I'm proud because I am able to bring our wellness rituals and ingredients myself with Kola Goodies and not wait for someone else to popularize it. The $70B wellness industry has even less diversity than the fashion and beauty industry, even though many of the trendy wellness ingredients stem from our region, and it's something I wanted to change. As for gratitude, the modern consumer is open to new ingredients and experiences and having more cultural awareness, and that helps fuel our growth.
What Does It Mean to Have Style Right Now?
Style right now for me has some important elements: it's smart on the wallet and supports inner peace and comfort. I think people with style right now are becoming more aware of not giving in to excessive consumption — they are taking care of their inner peace and mental health, and they are mixing and matching comfortable pieces with trendy pieces and reducing expenses on new clothing, which helps not only our planet but also our bank accounts.
The Best Piece of Career Advice You've Gotten?
During my corporate career, I was fortunate enough to seek advice and benefit from amazing leaders. What I usually do with them is write them down, group common themes together, then introspect on how I could benefit from it, because the way all of us internalize advice is different. I highly recommend this approach, so you can piece together great tips on everything from a 1:1 meeting to a podcast or book you read.
Something You Wish You Knew Before Starting Your Business?
Start before it's perfect. Most entrepreneurs I know are perfectionists and want customer experiences, products, and pictures to be perfect. This serves us well at most times, but it also can be hard on us. Be OK with not everything being perfect by making peace with the fact that when you are growing, you can evolve and grow into that perfect company you know you can make it be. It is OK to not do all of it at the time.
Shop The Brand: Kola Goodies
