Tiger Sisters - Motherhood & Entrepreneurship: Real Talk with a Female Founder EP 9

Starting point is 00:00:00 Okay, why don't we start with you introducing yourself? Hi, I'm Farad Dessani. I'm the chief chai officer and CEO of One Stripe Chai. We're a South Asian beverage brand that's focused on bringing the rich tradition of chai to your homes and your favorite coffee shops. Where are you from? I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Why did you start One Stripe Chai? So that's an interesting story.

Starting point is 00:00:22 I didn't really intend to start One Stripe Chai. I had this feeling where I was like, if I'm going to be really, really, really stressed out, I'm happy to be really stressed out if it's something that I really care about. And the other thing I was really interested in was this idea of like specialty coffee. So like, you know, I remember one time I was getting like an almond milk mocha and it was like eight or nine dollars. And I was like, this is crazy. Like what justifies this cost? Because at the end of the day, a coffee bean is a commodity product, right?

Starting point is 00:01:03 It's like a bean is a bean. And so how can Folgers be so cheap? Why? Like you're charging me for craft, but like what is the craft? And so I was getting really interested in, like, the supply chain and also brewing my own coffee. I told my sister that, and I didn't really think anything of it because I think a lot of us have, we say that all the time. We're like, oh, I'd love to do this. I'd love to do that.

Starting point is 00:01:24 And it's really the follow-through, because when you work a corporate job, you're always waiting for, like, the next bonus or the next paycheck. And it's really hard to just kind of, like, cut ties. But I remember telling my parents at dinner, there was just a mini earthquake. Oh, my God. What just happened? That's an earthquake. I thought that was a bird. Okay.

Starting point is 00:01:45 Yeah, so I remember telling my parents, like, we went to dinner and I was with my sister and I was like, oh, by the way, like, I'm, I kind of want to quit my job and like start at the time. I was like, I want to open up a coffee shop, either in New York or in Atlanta. Okay, wait, because I was going to ask you, like, what was your family reaction? But then I almost stopped myself because I was like, oh, like, would you ask that if you were interviewing a man? But, like, then I was like, okay, I'm more asking you that question. because you're a minority.

Starting point is 00:02:13 Yeah. So because you're a woman. I think in a lot of minority families, there's this like daughters are like dolls and you don't let them do anything and like the sons can go do risky things. And my dad was always the opposite where he was like, we're in high school. We were expected to have jobs. It was like, you want to go out with your friends? You want to do this or that?

Starting point is 00:02:34 Like you need an understanding the value of money and like, sure, like, yes, your education is important. but like you, I don't care if you work at them all. I, like, worked at Limited 2 for... Oh, my God. So it's like, he really wanted us to, like, be self-sufficient because his whole thing was, like, if we're gone one day, like, way earlier than you expect us to be, like, I don't want you all to be like, what do we do and, like, not understand how to, like,

Starting point is 00:02:58 take care of yourself. On that point, I feel like, I have this, like, nascent theory about something with, like, minority families that have only daughters versus ones that have, like, a son and... a daughter. I feel like to generalize, like, the women who grow up, the type of women they grow up and do are very different. Yeah. Because like when there are no sons in the minority family, then the like expectations are different. The boys are put onto the women. But it helps. It's positive. It's positive. Yeah. It's actually positive. Yeah. And usually like the eldest child in like the two or three or four daughter. Yeah. It's like is is very different. Like the expectation is different. I think you

Starting point is 00:03:35 of a little bit more of a, like, a responsibility to, like, set a good example. And I think that's important because I think, like, you know, like a lot of immigrant parents came here to give their kids a better life. And so, like, I think his reason for saying that was, like, you have some privilege here. And so, like, don't just, like, take it for granted and be like, I'm just going to go, you know, open up a restaurant, but I've never waited tables and I don't understand what goes into it. And so he was like, I want you to like go like be a barista, do something like that and like really understand, you know, how a coffee shop works. And if you still feel like you want to do this, then like that's, we'll always support you. I was like, oh, that's so interesting.

Starting point is 00:04:16 Like that's true. I should do that because I've never, I don't know what the back of an espresso machine looks like. Like I just like coffee. Yeah. I need to like join like a brist of training program. So I found one online at this like old church that had like a bell tower that had a coffee shop and they had a bristair training program. And so that's what I did that summer. I was just bristing at this coffee shop.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Yeah. And learning about coffee. And that's when I started digging into like, well, how are people serving chai at coffee shops? And I realized it was like pre-brewed concentrates or powders. And so I started kind of looking at the company selling, you know, chai concentrates and powders on the market at the time. And one, I realized I was like, nobody looks like me. Yeah. I was like, I don't know if anyone.

Starting point is 00:04:56 Where do they get these recipes from? And a lot of times it was, and it might have been a good product. But I think what was missing was like the story, like, which people care about wasn't there. But I just, I couldn't sleep. Like, that's all I would think about was like, try. You're like, I want to tell the story of chai through my lived experience. Yes. And I wasn't even like, 100.

Starting point is 00:05:18 I wasn't even like, is this a business? I was just like, this is weird. Like they're. And why can I stop thinking about this? Exactly. And I was like trying to figure out what do I want to do? Like, is this really something viable? In 2018 was when I like, was like, okay, I'm going to go full time.

Starting point is 00:05:31 I'm like, this is, like, what I'm going to do. I actually love that story because I feel like a lot of times when you talk to founders and entrepreneurs, like, they do this, like, backwards-looking sort of revision of history where they make it sound like, yes, I had this whole, like, master plan. And, like, this was, like, how I envisioned the company would grow and my five-year plan, my 10-year plan, and the empire. So, like, it's actually so refreshing to you'd be like, well, it was just an idea. I couldn't get out of my head.

Starting point is 00:05:58 And, like, started as a side project. We were literally, like, tinkering on. a recipe and then like we got more and more customers were like okay it's a business i'm going to do it yeah fast forwarding a little bit yeah how did we get from you like mixing the the the chai and like brewing it in this basement to all the way now you're on the shelves of erwan yeah so okay so for people who don't know what what how would you describe erow like the fanciest it's a very expensive it's a grocery store will people people will pay anything for all the things on the shelves.

Starting point is 00:06:35 Has like a bit of a cult following. Yes, that's what it is. And it's kind of like a tourist. It is. Like people will come to L.A. and be like, oh, I went to Arawon. Yeah, yeah. If I didn't actually know you, I would be like, oh, one stripe. They're on the shelves of Arawan.

Starting point is 00:06:51 They've made it big. Done deal now. Yeah, but it's tough because they're very expensive and like the margins are squeezed and like you're still working with a distributor. And so like retail is not our big thing. But Airwan was important. because I was like, I think that that really gives some brand recognition. And I remember when we had first applied, we had just applied online.

Starting point is 00:07:08 Because they usually tell you, like, just apply through their portal online, which can feel like a black box because you can't follow up. Like, you send some samples, but then there's no, like, they literally say, like, don't follow up on this email. Like, we will let you know if we're interested. They have a program, which is like a marketing program. But it's an expensive buy-in. So it's like, it's just like for a lot of small businesses, like, it's just like, it's tough.

Starting point is 00:07:31 It's tough to, like, justify that. Exactly. I actually kind of negotiated with them in a weird way where I was like, oh, I don't want to do this program. And they were like, and I'm sure nobody says I want to do this program. Yeah, I was like, well, you said it's not mandatory. So like, I'm going to pass. Let's just get in. And they're like, oh, well, if you don't do this program, you just have to apply again.

Starting point is 00:07:51 And then I think it was like maybe a month later they came back and they're like, okay, you know what? Like, we'll let you do a December end cap. And we'll just throw in that marketing program. think they like the product and they're like, no, I really like this product. We want you to. So the product's stood on its own. It stood on its own. Yeah. The NCAP was really helpful because I think it really got our product in the people. Being able to say that you're an Aeron is really nice. Like it is a place where people go to discover new products. Like I feel like people go there for the curation. Yes. They go in there like, oh, I know this has been very carefully vetted. I will buy anything from here because I know it's the best. Yeah. It's a retail channel, but it's also in a way, like a marketing sort of play. The staff at Arawan does really, like, value the products that they sell. So I think they are, like, champions of the brands.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Yeah. Okay. So then speaking of all your different distribution channels, can you talk us a little bit through the financials of running your business? What's a little bit unique about us is our channel strategy and, like, our Omni Channel strategy where, like, a lot of businesses will go DTC, like, all in, like, that's what we're doing. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:57 Ecommerce, doing ads, cost per click. Or they're doing, like, all in on retail. where it's like we got to be in the biggest distributors, we got to get into like whole foods, like really squeezed margins. And like that's where they're playing. And for us, like because I started this company with like this chai concentrate product that is actually a food service product, we're able to play in like the food service channel, which is very different from like retail and direct to consumer. Because we're able to have like bulk packaging. And we're able to work with distributors that are not the same as like grocery distributors.

Starting point is 00:09:31 So right now our business is about 65%, 65%, 60% in the food service and like retail channel and like about 30% in like direct to consumer. Okay. And are the margins better? The margins typically end up being a little bit better because a lot of our distributors, they have like a margin that they want, but there's not like a bunch of like fees. Something that I don't know if many people know is when you get into a grocery store, there's things called slotting fees and there's things called free fill. So like they're going to charge you for slotting you and like putting your product on the shelf. And food service, it's like a really nice recurring revenue channel where once they're about to run out, they're going to place an order again. Yeah. B2B.

Starting point is 00:10:18 B2B. Yeah, exactly. We were only B2B. And then the pandemic forced us to become like DTC. I'd always wanted to make blends that people could use at home to like learn how to make chai themselves. because that's what I really wanted to teach people, right? Yeah. And so that was when I was like, okay, I have these recipes in mind.

Starting point is 00:10:37 Like, let's start testing them out and let's like, let's like launch two. Yeah. And that's when we launched our Chimey at Home blend. So the whole thing was like our customers are at home. So let's meet them where they are. Let's see. This is Chimey at home. I love it.

Starting point is 00:10:50 And this was so good. The whole idea was like, okay, how do we make this like an educational package? And then the back of every bag says like Chimeen's tea or we have one called Gulub City. and it says like rose, gulab means rose. Yeah. It's like a little bit of like point of education. And what are your feelings about the phrase chai tea? I think the reason it rubs people the wrong way is because there are so many things that we just like call what they are that belong to like not our culture.

Starting point is 00:11:19 But like when it comes to our culture, people like need to like call it chai tea and call it non-bred. And it's like we've, our culture has been here long enough in America that like we can just, can't we all just like now like know that it's. non, do we call it non? It's like that joke where the people are like, um, you can pronounce Timothy Salome. Like, you can pronounce my name. Yes. Learn how to say my name. If you can say, say Timothy shallame. Okay, here is my, here is my, oh, I haven't heard that, but that is, that is, that is, that is, that is, that is, that is so true. I think Hassan Minaj is that. Hopefully I'm pronouncing his name right. Our other, the second one that we want is our, it's Haldi, dude. Yeah. And Haldi, dude means turmeric and dudes means milk in, um, in Hindi. When golden milk was

Starting point is 00:12:00 becoming popular in coffee shops. I remember just like standing in line and being like, dude, it's Haldi, dude. Like being like, it's Haldi dude. And so it was like supposed to be a play on that because it was like everyone was just like, just called by a name. Yes. It's not that hard. So what I always say is like when I go to an Italian restaurant, when I'm ordering Nielke, it doesn't say potato pillows. Yeah. Right? Like it just, I have to call it what it is. Yeah. And like, if I don't know what it is, I'm going to look, I'm like, I'm just going to look up the type of pasta because I don't know what all the types of pastas are. So like, I will learn and then I will know and then I will be better for it. And we will all know more.

Starting point is 00:12:36 That was my intention behind it. And after we launched it, a lot of like non-South Asians reached out and were like, I had no idea. This was called Haldi-Dood. I'm going to call it that from now on. Imagine like me in like college or like in high school, going to a coffee shop and seeing Haldi-Dooz on the menu. I would feel so seen. Yeah. 20 years ago, nobody knew what Boba was. Right? Like, but I'm like, I did. Ever, you did. But like, but like the average American didn't know what Bobo was. But like now everybody knows what it is. It is possible for us to like, yeah, make things mainstream. We don't have to always feel like we have to define everything further when it comes to our culture. Like, they can just be part of like the melting pot culture of America.

Starting point is 00:13:22 And so you're like, yeah, it's Haldi dude. That's what it is. And if you don't know what it is, then ask. And what I've realized is that after we launched this, there have been more companies that have called their turmeric blends, Haldi dude. And like that. And I'm just like, oh, like, maybe I did that. Like maybe somebody was like, well, they did it. Yeah. I'm like, maybe like they were like, oh, well, they did it. And like, so like we can call it that too. And like that in itself is like a huge or like maybe people are looking for Haldi dude now instead of golden milk. Yeah. Should we make some tea? Should we make some tea?

Starting point is 00:13:57 Yay! Well, we have so many more questions, but we can do them while you're making tea. Okay, yeah, that's fine. She smells amazing. It smells like kind of chocolate-y. Mm-hmm. No. Oops.

Starting point is 00:14:13 You're going to put it on your mouth. You looked away for one second. Yeah. If this happens, I'm going to be to everyone. Sorry, it's like not an Instagram is something right there. But that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for it. The own business for the reality.

Starting point is 00:14:29 Exactly. Okay, so I want to ask you about some of the challenges. Tell us about some of the challenges of running a business and having a newborn slash still baby. I think when you own your own business, you're just so like, I'll just do it. I'll just do it. I'll just get it done. And because you've always had a very lean team. Yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:14:52 I'm so used to doing, like having my hands and everything. So we used to make all of our products in house. And so, like, there was a lot of, like, being in the warehouse, packing orders, like, all of our own fulfillment. Building pallets, like, doing a lot of, like, laborious things. Yeah. Which I just couldn't do once I got pregnant. So, like, having somebody, like, kind of take over the operations was great. Um, and having somebody that I very much trusted to, like, take care of it, like, while I was, like, you know, after pregnancy.

Starting point is 00:15:19 Even at the hospital, I was still, like, answering emails from my phone. Yeah. I remember, like, it was a very difficult. like grueling, birthing process. Yeah, I had like an emergency C-section. So many things didn't go the way that I thought they would go and there was somebody that I didn't understand. And so much of it was so scary to me. They didn't even give me the baby because I was so zonked out. Yeah. And Nupor has a video of like, so he gave her skin to skin. And he even told the doctor, he's like, can I hand her off to my wife? Can we put her? Can we put Yara on her? And they were like,

Starting point is 00:15:52 look at, like, no. Like that's, she's high. They're like, yes. They're like, yes. They're They're like, we cannot give. Like, there's like a video of me. I'm just like, zonk. And they're just like, no, it's like not safe to get her the baby because she's like, she's so out of it. A lot of like shame around like, oh, what if I had done that? And like, what if they, whatever?

Starting point is 00:16:11 Like, should I have gotten a C-section? There's just like so much that you're like processing. And I didn't know how to like, because like it's my company. It's like I don't. Yeah. Like you've never taken time off. from your company. I've always like worked because there's always something you could do. Yes. That's how I feel. So there's no there's how boundaries. And so like I would like jump in and

Starting point is 00:16:36 like do stuff and like work on stuff. But in retrospect, it's like should I have done that? Should I just turn my brain off and like allow myself a break or like even if that meant I just like spent time with Yara or I or I just like spent the time that I wasn't spending with Yara just like by myself. So like my whole thing has always been, you know, when we talk about having another kid, it's like, okay, well, I don't want to have another kid unless, I know I'm going to have maternity leave when I deliver, or I have, like, once I've tried set up in a way that, like, I can truly take, like, three to four months completely to myself, like, and not, not, like, participate in anything. And I think part of that's, like, you probably want to have somebody, like, in leadership on your

Starting point is 00:17:19 team who can, like, who can, like, it makes sense for them. Yeah, and, like, they don't feel. they don't feel like it's a burden for them to take on so much. And like, yes, they can make those decisions instead of like deferring to you. Men don't have to deal with that. Yeah, they don't worry about that. And it was like funny because Newport had paternity leave. That's crazy. Yeah. And he was like so helpful. But like it still isn't like the same like what other people around you are helpful. It's not the same as like you actually taking time to yourself. Your advice essentially. Yeah. anyone running their own business and like yeah who is planning to get pregnant and have a baby is to

Starting point is 00:17:56 intentionally plan for yes yes even if you think like oh well I can sort of just like muddle through it like I'll be on email no everyone should take maternity leave everyone should take at least three months that are like completely like not doing anything like at all like just don't do anything yeah no work no because you'll be like working on your baby yes because you're also you're there making so much stuff. This might not be true for everybody, but, you know, at least for me, there was so much emotional stuff that, like, I'm still working through, like, trauma-wise, like, that you have to kind of, like, give yourself some grace and some space and, like, your business will hopefully still be there. Or you should at least plan to set it up in a way that it doesn't self-composed.

Starting point is 00:18:42 Yeah. Yeah, that's something that I'm like, oh, I really wish I took some time, time off. Why don't we talk about speaking of chai? Talking about something spicy. So tell me what's like one of the spiciest things that you've encountered in the course of running your business. Okay, something that is that like I don't really talk about and I think people don't talk about is I had a co-founder when I started and now I'm a solopreneur. We parted ways and that did require me to buy my co-founder out. Well, also just like buying a co-founder out is like notoriously thorny, like notoriously difficult to do. It can be a very often fails.

Starting point is 00:19:22 Yeah. So then how did you navigate that? Or like, where do you think you went right where people, other people, like, go wrong when they're trying to do a co-founder buyout? It was like very obvious that like we had different goals. We had different ways of doing things. We didn't work well together. It was so obvious.

Starting point is 00:19:39 Yeah. And it was at a point where it was like it was affecting the business. And so it was very easy to like sit down and I mean, they're very awkward conversations. to like sit down and be like if if you want to stay on then I don't want to be a part of this and you take on the responsibility of growing this and if you feel like you can do that then that's fine I'm going to take the money I put out off the table and like I was the only one who had invested any money but it was like you were willing to understand yeah I was like I was like this isn't going to grow for both doing this so like the only way I want to do this is if I'm just doing this

Starting point is 00:20:16 Sometimes that means like being assertive and being cutthroat about it and being like hard-nosed. Yeah. There's all this content on TikTok now about like how like being willing to walk away is like the most powerful thing. Yeah. And I was because I knew it wasn't a good fit for me or my co-founder. How long did it take from you initiating that conversation to signing the papers? I think I got very lucky that like it was a pretty quick and fairly painless. process. It was like, I think it was like a month or two. So you bought them out of all of their

Starting point is 00:20:51 ownership? I bought them out of all of their ownership. And that was important to me. It was like clean pot. Yeah. Nothing else on it. I think I felt after that I, after I did that, it felt like it was the first time where I could be like, oh, I can launch the products I want to want. But like having that freedom, like that's when I launched, Shimey at Home and Holy Dude. And like, that's when we, like, when I really started feeling comfortable in my own skin, being a South Asian woman running this like chai company, that like think through what your ideal outcome would be and what the other options are. Like maybe present them with two. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or like just think about like what are you, what are you willing to how much can you afford? What are you willing to pay? How far long is your

Starting point is 00:21:37 business? Are you willing to walk away or just putting it in their court? Like you take on the responsibility. A lot of co-founders will not. They'll be like, no, I'm not doing this by myself. Yeah. But also, like, another thing that's important is, like, if your co-founder has an expertise, are you truly okay with, like, that expertise leaving, right? I knew deep down, I was like, well, there is a chance that, like, I will struggle with this in the short term. I was like, it's worth it for me.

Starting point is 00:22:06 I'll figure it out. It's fine. I'll figure it out. That was, like, definitely an interesting experience. Like, learned a lot. And I hope I never have. to do that again. But what a valuable experience. Thank you for sharing that. That's something I feel like people, you almost never hear people talk about talking, but it happens so much. What are some of

Starting point is 00:22:26 the challenges that you've faced as a female founder? Because I know there are challenges. Yeah. I just, I know. So many. Well, I think also like there's like something about being like a female brown founder who's like just like a very petite person. Yes. Like I'm I'm always just like, are people taking me seriously? There's just like so much pushback. There was an investor that I spoke to who was like a tech investor, wasn't a CPG investor. He was like, oh, wait, your husband likes entrepreneurship? Like, why doesn't he work at one stripe? Like, why doesn't he, why didn't he like, why did he like join you at one stripe? And I was just like, why would he do that? Like, maybe that's not his interest. I think it's my thing. Also like, I was like, would you ever

Starting point is 00:23:07 ask him why like, why doesn't she work at your startup? But I was so taken aback. I was just, like, is he asking me this because he wants my husband to be like a part of the startup? Because he like trusts him more. Yeah. Just on him being like a man. I just was like, this is such an inappropriate and weird question to ask. What is the intention behind your question? Like, why are you actually asking?

Starting point is 00:23:30 But things like that happen a lot, right? When we went to visit a like, I think we visited like five farms and to choose like who we wanted to work with, the manager was this older Indian man. He wouldn't talk to me directly. he wouldn't ask, he wouldn't look me in the eye, he wouldn't talk to me. And my husband came with me on this trip. So it was like the two of us. He kept directed questions to my husband and only talking to him. And it was, he knew that it was my company. I was asking him questions and he would like kind of direct them to my husband. And that, and that I think happens, I think that happens more than you would think. Um, just like, I'm not going to fight against the system today. Yeah. So not today. Yeah. Exactly. And so it's like, sometimes it's like people don't take you seriously, but you're like, but I, but I think it happens. I I did do some of this. I did make some of this happen. So then what do you do?

Starting point is 00:24:17 Are you just like, well, I take myself seriously. So I'm still going to just forge your head. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not afraid of just like saying a snarky comment, letting the person know that like I didn't appreciate that. Yeah. Or that's weird.

Starting point is 00:24:32 Yeah. Letting them feel uncomfortable too. Yeah. Yeah. That's so powerful. I wish I could do that more. Well, sometimes I don't even realize it in the moment. I'm like, oh, I should have said this.

Starting point is 00:24:41 I should have been like, oh, why are you asking me that? Like, where does that come from? It's so hard to do that. It's so hard to do that. And like, I feel like, I'm comfortable just like thinking about it. But then you're like, okay, great, like, that's not a good partner. That's like not a good, that's not a good investor. They don't understand the business. They're thinking about the wrong things. Maybe they're not able to see value in you. And if they're not, then they're not going to be a good partner. Yeah. And it's kind of like, you know what? I don't want them to be a part of my journey. Yeah. Like, I'm building this company and it's going to be really successful. You're not going to be

Starting point is 00:25:10 part of that. Yeah. But I think that. Yeah, like, if there's more of us, like, imagine when you were growing up, did you see a lot of, like, women's CEOs? It's like, you have, like, Indra, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, you got one. That's one. But you're like, whereas, like, now I'm like, oh, there's, like, so many founders that look like me that are, like, minority women that are, that are actually crushing it.

Starting point is 00:25:34 And I'm like, oh, I hope when Yara is older, she's like, I can do so much. Like, this is like, this is second nature. Like, yeah, like, or, like, start. Startup became like a cool word, like, right after I graduated, where people were talking about startups. Yeah. And it's funny because so many family businesses were startups, but it was never called that. It was called a small business. Yes.

Starting point is 00:25:54 And like, obviously none of them were VC funded. Yeah. They were, like, funded by a loan that they got from the bank or from, like, family members. Yeah. Having, like, that kind of, like, someone to look up to, like, no matter what happens, if I were to find out that, like, somebody started a business because they're like, oh, I saw this girl for her. I had this company once I tried. Like, that would be great because, like, I didn't really, I didn't have anybody. And, like, that's why it took me so long to even come to, like, oh, is this something I should do?

Starting point is 00:26:24 Yeah. Yeah. So I think of you to look up to. Yeah. I hope so. I hope I hope Yara, like, just like I think about my mom and I'm like, oh, remember that one time she, like, had a restaurant. I hope Yara is able to, like, come back to that. And if that's, like, not something she wants to do, that's, like, totally fine. I mean, just by definition, like, her internal narrative now growing up is like, yeah, my mom was an entrepreneur. Yeah. She ran a business. She was an accelerator. She had, you know, my parents were, she's going to be like my parents were both very scrappy people.

Starting point is 00:26:55 But also, like, since I started the business and now, like, I've also changed a lot as a person. So there are like kind of like waves of like, who am I now, you know, adjacent to this like company. So those are also kind of things you have to like think of all time. Wow. Yeah. I feel like we've come full circle. I think that's a good place to end it. Yay.

Starting point is 00:27:15 Nice job. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to this episode of the Tiger Sisters. Before we get to the main takeaways, we would so appreciate it if you could like, comment, and subscribe. And if you could also share this episode with someone who might find it helpful. Alrighty, let's get to the takeaways. The first takeaway is to embrace your own identity and your own intersectionality. Fara's unique identity as a South Asian woman became one of her brand's biggest strengths.

Starting point is 00:27:44 She realized early on that many brands selling chai concentrates didn't share her cultural background and the authenticity of the story and the brand was often missing. Fara decided to lean in to her own story and her own heritage, making it a point to share her own lived experiences through One Stripe Chai. This personal touch has set her brand apart from other competitors. It resonates deeply with customers who want more than just a product. They want to connect with the origins. The second takeaway is to be prepared for the challenges of being a female founder. As a petite woman of color, Fara often face situations where she felt

Starting point is 00:28:20 underestimated or even dismissed. She shared stories of business partners and investors who directed questions to her husband or even questioned her authority, even though she is the one running her own business. These experience taught her the importance of being assertive and not being shy about calling out inappropriate behavior. Fara encourages female founders to stand their ground and to call out when something feels off. The third takeaway is to plan for life's challenges. Fara's experience of running a business and becoming a new mom has taught her many lessons on work-life balance. She candidly discussed managing her business through pregnancy, birth, postpartum recovery, and oftentimes feeling like she had to stay connected to the business at all times. In hindsight, Fara wishes she had spent more time planning

Starting point is 00:29:07 for maternity leave. She now advocates for founders, especially female founders, to intentionally set time aside and set boundaries, especially during significant life transitions like having a baby. Her advice is to create a plan that allows your business to run smoothly in your absence, ensuring that you have the support and systems in place so you can step away when needed. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to this episode of Tiger Sisters. We'll see you next time. Bye!

Tiger Sisters - Motherhood & Entrepreneurship: Real Talk with a Female Founder EP 9

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