I recently spoke with Shashi Srikantan, founder of Quench Bath and Body, on StartupNation Radio. Her company offers bath and body products from around the world. What a star she is!
Though she’s just recently become an entrepreneur, thanks in part to her use of our StartMeUp! program, Shashi has always been interested in beauty products. Back when she was a little girl, she would spend hours in her bathroom mixing up concoctions to turn into creams. Once she mixed up baby powder and water and her mother walked in and told her to wash that off because it would clog her pours. From that point forward, Shashi began using her mother as more of a beauty resource. As a teenager, when Shashi skin would break out (like every teenagers skin does at one point or another) her mother would give her tips of mixing up certain spices and oils and her face would clear up instantly. Shashi’s mother always had these unique, small village-based beauty tips that worked! This was the framework that launched Shashi’s interest in the natural, culturally influenced, beauty market.
Having an interest in something is a giant step away from forming your own company and starting a business, as Shashi quickly learned. As every good entrepreneur should learn, research, research, research! And boy did she ever! While working a full time job, Shashi still found the time to scour the internet for hours during her nights and weekends, trying to get a smart as possible on the beauty world and where to source her materials from. Though she was able to get a strong handle on her product and her market, she still was lacking on the ‘business savvy’ side of the equation. This is where StartupNation came into the picture.
When Shashi found StartupNation, she quickly found an endless amount of information from all of the contributors on the sight. There was also the forums that offered free advice for new entrepreneurs. Shashi was able to–and still–uses this sight as her go-to place to pitch new ideas, help strategize her business and a place where she is able to have contact to talk to other people who are in a similar situation.
She is now well underway with her business and we applaud her for moving from “idea” and “passion” to hanging the OPEN sign on her business.
CONGRATS to Shashi!
