Note to readers: Storyboard18’s Share The Spotlight aims to highlight inspirational stories of women who continue breaking barriers and setting the precedent for other women marketers, entrepreneurs and communication specialists.
The initiative aims to kick off a movement where people from across these communities step up and share their spotlight with other women. They could be women in their team or any other team, a new group or previous one, from a past workplace or the current one.
Share The Spotlight calls on us all to come out and share words of praise and encouragement for each other, appreciating and acknowledging the contributions of so many people who make businesses, brands and workplaces better. Learn and understand how to face challenges and seize opportunities while bringing along others on the path to progress.
This is just the beginning of a long journey to spotlight individuals who are empowering others and bringing change and growth for all. Together we rise.
Ayushi Gudwani started her women’s workwear brand, Fable Street (now called FS Life), in 2016 with a focus on solving the unaddressed workwear market for different body sizes in India. Post-pandemic, Gudwani had to re-evaluate the business with remote work and hybrid models becoming a reality, which was the biggest challenge she faced in her entrepreneurial journey.
“However, driven by our determination to overcome the obstacles and emerge stronger, we engaged with hundreds of customers to understand their clothing needs in the new normal. The outcome was multiple capsule collections, with LivIn emerging as our most successful launch, igniting a new wave of enthusiasm and passion for our brand,” she shares.
FS Life (previously Fable Street) has three brands, including FableStreet, a premium western-wear clothing brand for women, Pink Fort, a modern Indian wear brand reimagining traditional clothing for women, and March, a sterling silver and semi-precious jewelry brand.
Her biggest lesson as a female entrepreneur in India is to never let your gender come in the way of your dreams.
“My biggest lesson so far has been to never think if you’re a man or a woman, just do your job and be the best at what you do. There is no room for self-pity,” she says.
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Prior to setting up FS Life, Ayushi spent seven years at McKinsey & Co. where she consulted various organizations on strategy, growth, and scale across sectors. By education, she is an engineer from NSIT, Delhi, and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, from where she graduated as a silver medalist. Despite not having a background in fashion, Ayushi had decided to build the business from scratch, without a co-founder, and took a risk by investing personal money to set it up.
Her biggest achievement so far has been starting as a solo entrepreneur to now working with a team of over 500 individuals across corporate, factory, and operations.
She feels another key life lesson she has learned through the entrepreneurial journey is to help other women grow with you.“It is crucial that you help in grooming more women leaders to grow along because we need them. Lastly, entrepreneurship is worth it, take the plunge,” she says.
Gudwani has shared the spotlight with Shipra Sharma, co-founder and director – Tattva Spa, and co-founder – Vilasa, “Shipra built a very large and profitable business in a span of 10 years, which is absolutely commendable. Moreover, she also launched another brand Vilasa that focuses on re-thinking skincare,” she shares.
Nominating another woman entrepreneur, Priyanka Goyal Salot, co-founder of The Sleep Company, Gudwani says that she really appreciates how Salot has built a strong brand in such a short span of time with great products. “I appreciate how she has connected the dots of a successful brand,” she adds.
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Know anyone you’d like to share the spotlight with? Join the movement, give them a shout-out on LinkedIn and tag Storyboard18 so we can take it forward.