As part of our relentless pursuit to identify and share with our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem, this week we invited yet another passionate women entrepreneur Vaishnavi Reddy to understand more about her inspiring journey, her vision and the way forward. She is the Co-Founder of Unsweetened Beauty – a D2C lifestyle beauty brand that focuses on creating first of its kind treatment-based cosmeceutical products for various skin problems such as acne, hyperpigmentation, ageing, dull and dehydrated skin. Let’s learn more about her!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Vaishnavi:
Talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
I worked with a number of startups before starting my venture Unsweetened Beauty. My journey as a women entrepreneur has been interesting, it’s been challenging yet exciting. Building something on your own is always challenging yet fulfilling.
I have learnt it is very important to have the right female mentors to guide you towards the right path.
Being a part of the startup ecosystem, I realised that I need to be prepared to work twice as hard since things are going to be twice as hard for women entrepreneurs.
Even though there is a lot happening to promote women entrepreneurship, in reality, things are different.”
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Entrepreneurship is a space where everything happens outside the comfort zone, there is constant learning and growing.
I personally find it very empowering and stimulating.
I have always been inclined towards the entrepreneurship space right from my first job.”
‘Unsweetened Beauty’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
We wanted to build a skincare brand that is focused on actual results by creating products that are effective and not packaged with just fillers.
We are also focused on redefining beauty standards and stand for un-filtered photos.”
This idea led to the name Unsweetened Beauty, no sugar coating. Everything is backed by science and evidence.
The problem we are solving is uncomplicating skincare for all.
What does your company specialise in?
Unsweetened Beauty is a D2C lifestyle beauty brand that focuses on creating first of its kind treatment-based cosmeceutical products for various skin concerns such as acne, hyperpigmentation, ageing, dull and dehydrated skin.
We specialize in making skincare simple and easy for everyone, we launched India’s First Skin School to achieve this goal.”
We are focused on redefining beauty standards and empowering people through knowledge and creating a community that gives everyone a sense of belonging.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
When I started my journey as an entrepreneur, I was prepared for challenges since entrepreneurship isn’t an easy job. I have started looking at challenges as something that would help us get to the next stage.
As we all know, nothing good comes easily.
The desire to build something that is revolutionary in terms of empowering people is what drives me every day.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
The biggest source of motivation is the community we have built so far. Our community is absolutely fantastic and makes everything we do worth it.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup?
1) Knowledge is power
2) Building a community is important
3) Being open to listening to everyone on the team.
What are some of the strategies that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
Reading, being open to feedback, right mentorship, learning about other entrepreneurs’ stories, and remembering everyone is fighting their own battle, be kind.
Please share with us – what has worked well for you so far?
Building a community before launching our products.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
The keys to success are different for everyone, for me personally I think it would be hard work and the courage to keep going, never give up.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Work hard, show up every day even the days you don’t want to and have mentors.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
