Why I’m (Still) Building AAVRANI

Reflecting on my entrepreneurship journey so far and why I’m still choosing this path, even when it’s hard

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, where I was the only Indian girl in my class. To fit in, I abandoned my culture. It wasn’t a dramatic rebellion – more like a quiet disappearance. Over time, I stopped engaging with anything that made me feel too much like an outsider.

By the time I started working in Finance, I saw there was no space for anyone’s culture. Good. Because at 21 years-old, I’d had none left (aside from my outward appearance). 90-hour weeks, a ton of manufactured stress, a bad diet, and a bunch of other poor life choices all took a toll on me. My skin and my hair were the first to show it. I was spending hundreds on products that didn’t work just to feel like I was doing something.

When I went home to Michigan for Christmas in 2015, my mom took one look at me and was horrified. She quickly whipped up a turmeric mask for my face and while it dried on my skin, she massaged my scalp with warm amla oil. Just like we used to do together on Sundays growing up, just like her mom would do with her in Kolkata. The inflammation on my face felt immediately calmed and the scalp oil massage was more restorative than my average night’s sleep. I remember thinking, “if only I could take this back with me to New York.” But how was I going to find all these fresh, Ayurvedic ingredients? Which corner of my 400-sq ft. studio was I going to layer them all together? And when, between all the chaos, would I even do it? By the time that holiday ended and I came back to Manhattan, I’d forgotten all about it. But that’s when the seed was first planted.

I started building AAVRANI in 2017, shortly after moving to Philly to pursue my MBA. At first, I was most excited by the idea of building my own business. I was 27, single, intent on doing something meaningful with my life, and the opportunity seemed so clear. Skin care was booming. DTC was exploding. It had never been easier to launch a beauty brand. All I had to do was bet on myself.

My first real awakening occurred in 2019, two years in. I realized that in order to succeed, I needed to not only sell excellent products, but also develop an authentic brand. Creating the AAVRANI brand from scratch was a spiritual process. It forced me to tap into a deeper layer of myself – one that I’d long forgotten since I’d spent so much time abandoning her. Doing so enabled me to translate my story, my lived experiences, and my point of view into color schemes, mood boards, formula textures. Into packaging components, landing pages, shipping boxes, social media posts, video captions, secondary cartons, handwritten notes, email design templates, plus a bunch more stuff that I googled my way around, and most importantly! Into a curated lineup of skin care treatments that preserved the efficacy, depth, and feeling of the beauty rituals that I once shared with my mom and grandmothers.

Then came 2020. Beyond the obvious challenges of building a business during a global pandemic, COVID forced me to confront the reality that what once felt like a great business opportunity now felt impossible to scale. The DTC landscape was more crowded than ever. Customer acquisition became increasingly expensive and unpredictable. Brands were launching every day and disappearing just as fast. Loyalty was fleeting. I ultimately came to terms with the fact that I’m building this because it connects me to who I am. What began as a venture turned into a personal mission: to honor, share, and celebrate my roots with the world. That powered me through the next five years.

From 2020 to 2025, I took some big swings. I raised over $10 million, expanded into hair care, enlisted Lilly Singh, partnered with Sephora. These achievements were hard-won, and I’m proud of them.

But behind the scenes of these glossy milestones was a relentless cycle of falling flat on my face – then getting back up. Again, and again. It was brutal. It was surreal. Some mistakes were strategic, some shaped by circumstance, others born from blind spots I didn’t yet know I had. Not everything was within my control, but it was still mine to carry. There’s no such thing as “fair” in business – only outcomes, consequences, and how you choose to respond. Taking responsibility, even when the odds felt stacked against me has been humbling and, over time, freeing. This season of building unlocked reserves of strength I didn’t know I had, and that’s how I’ve grown – not just as a founder, but as a person.

The past year in particular has been one of profound transformation. I became a mother. I brought on a General Manager who helped me see the business with fresh eyes. That clarity gave me the conviction to restructure our team and reorient the company for continued success. Together, we’re resetting from the inside out – refining the brand, revisiting our strategy, and anchoring every decision in the longer-term vision.

In this season of realignment, the question circles back again: why am I building AAVRANI?

1. To Celebrate South Asian Culture. If South Asian people don’t take ownership of South Asian traditions, others will – intentionally or not. And when they do, they often get the credit. It’s that simple. I’m not saying this to be cynical; I’m saying it because I’ve seen how it plays out.

Imagine a world where some of our own friends and neighbors believe that Gwyneth Paltrow discovered turmeric, or credit Kourtney Kardashian for introducing them to ashwagandha. People are tuning into things that South Asians have practiced and cherished for centuries. Unless we speak up, those rituals will be stripped of their history and beauty – repackaged without context or meaning. Reclaiming our heritage is not just an act of pride, it’s an act of preservation.

And with AAVRANI, I don’t just want to reclaim. I want to celebrate. Every time someone engages with this brand, they’re honoring South Asian culture. That brings me joy. Not just South Asians participating, but everyone – celebrating with us, evolving the wisdom forward, investing back into themselves in a way that feels grounding, intentional, and alive.

2. To Foster a Paradigm Shift in Beauty. We live in a culture where beauty has become about speed, surface, and illusion. We’re promised instant gratification, one-click transformations, and immediate results. We’ve lost our connection to care, and what it actually means to tend to ourselves with reverence and intention.

Ayurveda offers a way back. At its core, Ayurveda is a system of harmony between mind, body, and nature. It isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about rhythm, balance, and honoring your whole self – across time, change, and imperfections. In the context of beauty, this means creating rituals that restore us. Not just our appearance, but our sense of self. It’s a return to something deeper and more lasting: a definition of beauty that nourishes self-esteem, builds inner strength, and restores our sense of belonging in an increasingly inauthentic, disconnected, and tech-obsessed world. We need that now more than ever.

3. To Create Products People Actually Need. Hair loss. Stress-related shedding. Scalp inflammation. These are not niche issues – they are common, and they don’t discriminate. While there are many products that promise to help, they don't speak to what people actually deserve.

At AAVRANI, we ground every product in Ayurvedic wisdom, then amplify it with modern technology. For example, when developing our Hair Density Boosting Treatment, we began with the problem: hair thinning. We identified the Ayurvedic ingredients best known to address premature hair loss – which includes turmeric and ashwagandha – and paired them with clinically-backed actives like Redensyl to maximize both the immediate and long-term support for the hair and scalp. Most importantly, we introduced turmeric stem cells: a more potent, regenerative interpretation of turmeric. This layering of traditional integrity and scientific innovation is what makes our products so special.

Once we refine a formula (texture, consistency, scent, application, and more), we test it – first internally, then through clinical and consumer trials. Only one in three of our product concepts make it this far. When they do, we go all in. This rigor matters. It’s how we ensure our products are not only effective, but safe for everyone, including pregnant and nursing women, those with color-treated hair, and anyone seeking clean, cruelty-free solutions. We don’t launch products that already exist. We only even begin R&D on concepts that sit at the intersection of what the world is missing, and what Ayurveda can uniquely offer. One day, I hope to return to my original vision: to create Ayurvedically inspired solutions across skin, hair, and body. For now, we’re focused on hair care. There’s so much left to explore.

4. Because It’s My Responsibility. I know what a privilege it is to be in a position to do this work. Not because I already had access to networks or funding. I didn’t. I built that over time. My privilege is that I had options. That if I risked everything I had, I could still build a life I could live with. Not everyone has this, so I believe it’s my responsibility to act on it.

On a personal level, building AAVRANI keeps me accountable. To the rituals I believe in. To the wisdom I was raised on. To the version of myself I’m still becoming.

5. Because I Want to Live Fully. I’m not building AAVRANI to chase money or status. I’ve already proven to myself that I’m capable. I want to see what’s possible when I lean into my intuition further, when the stakes are bigger, and stay committed to a real purpose. I know from my prior life in Finance that it’s a rare thing to feel this kind of alignment in your work, and I don’t take it for granted.