WorkEntrepreneurshipVocal For Local: Small Women-Led Businesses That Deserve Your Cheer

Vocal For Local: Small Women-Led Businesses That Deserve Your Cheer

The new wave of ‘vocal for local’ proved to be a boost for Indian entrepreneurs. It has promoted local businesses during COVID-19 and given customers the ability and motivation to shop locally with ease. This rebranded version of ‘Made In India’ has our support, and every month, TC46 will spotlight small businesses and ventures you can champion and back easily through online and offline purchases.

Artists, entrepreneurs, visionaries and experts, Indian women are shattering glass ceilings and breaking out of boxes. Success, tied with skills and hard work, is what makes those featured in our list today an inspiration for many. And the journey, for these women of incredible talent, are stories that must be told.

This week, here are some brands we’re cheering on; check them out!

Flower Therapy By Jhelum Loves

Jhelum Biswa is an author, entrepreneur and flower therapist. She founded the brand Jhelum Loves with the thought and desire to use flower essences effectively with skin and hair care products. She is a certified Bach Flower Therapist from Bach International UK. Along with Jhelum Loves, she has founded another venture, Beauty Beats. Jhelum joined the India Today Group and worked as a beauty editor for a decade for lifestyle magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, and Women’s Health. Thereafter, she took up the role of Marketing Head for Sephora India and Satya Paul.

Jhelum works with Bach flowers to treat emotional and spiritual health. Her work in aromatherapy enables her to draw on the healing powers of the plant to enhance the physical, psychological and physiological well-being. She also specialises in chakra-healing balancing the chakras/energy vortexes of the body ensuring a balance between mind, emotions and health. Her personalised consultations on the above subjects have helped people successfully overcome anger, stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, children’s nightmares, separation anxiety, adjustment issues, lack of self-esteem.

The brand offers a variety of skin, hair and body care products and fragrances, that also have the emotional healing ability. Their target audience includes urban women who believe in clean living and alternative healing. 

The products range from Rs 500 to Rs 700 and are available on the website as well as Instagram.

Sweet Treats By GetBAKED

An architect by profession, Aishwarya C is a baker by passion. And this passion led to her establishing her brand, GetBAKED. Her love for baking emerged during her childhood days, like most bakers. She states that she was terrible at it which made her more interested as she was keen on getting it right. That motto drove her passion and she has reached new heights of success because of it. She bakes delicious desserts and to see the satisfaction on her customers’ faces is a cherry on top.

She used to only bake for her parents and friends. Her husband saw the potential in her and pushed Aishwarya to start her own baking venture. She says, “It is a beautiful thing to start as it makes me so happy to bake, and I bake with love”. She plans on combining two of her talents, architecture and baking, to create art.

The brand is known for different flavour macarons as well as confection desserts like brownies, mousse, cookies, tarts and wafer-thin toffee cookies. They are one of her best sellers and a testament to her work. Her passion for baking motivates her to try new desserts and integrate Indian flavours in them.

“Trying and being able to share with everyone is a wonderful feeling”, says Aishwarya. A customised cake starts from Rs 1,500 and the price depends on the customisation. You can get delicious cupcakes and macarons at Rs 75 to Rs 95. Head on over to the brand’s Instagram page and indulge in some sweet treats.

Green Gifting Solutions By The Purple Unikorn 

Shakti founded The Purple Unikorn, a venture that’s a personalised green gifting space. The gifting dilemma is real and this brand solves the issue with green, personalised, custom-made gifting options for today’s eco-conscious generation. They create miniature garden pieces for your home décor or for gifting needs.

The idea of the brand, according to Shakti, is to make something special for each customer. She says, “Research shows that we can spend on average 14+ hours a day trying to find the perfect gift. Yet, 75% of the time the gift is neither liked nor put to any good use or is soon forgotten. Moreover, we as Indians love gifting. We are emotional and we feel that gifts reflect our emotional thoughtfulness. No wonder the Indian gifting market is one of the largest growing markets in the world.”

With miniature gardens, the possibilities are endless. The gardens can be used to reflect your personality, or tell a story of the life of a celebrity, or a CEO’s achievements, or celebrate a new business venture. 

The brand’s focus market has been the B2C personalised gifting space. Another major revenue stream for the brand has been the return gifting domain for weddings and events, and also customised corporate gifting. They are also working with designer and landscape companies for their miniature garden requirements, and with those looking for expertise in the indoor garden space. While millennials and couples living abroad have been a focus market for them, they also see a huge interest from parents who want to give their kids a hobby/activity starter kit with these miniature gardens.

Shakti explains, “As it’s rightly said, we can’t buy happiness but we can buy plants, and that’s pretty much the same thing.” Prices for these gardens range from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000 depending on customisation.

You can reach out to the brand through various social media channels to place your order and on their website, which is launching soon.

Want us to be VocalForLocal for your brand or know someone whose work you’d like to cheer on? Drop us an email to be featured on The Channel 46 at [email protected].

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