Homemaker of 7 Years Ended Up Building a Brand Worth Rs 200 Crore
Harini Sivakumar, the founder and CEO of Earth Rhythm,, wanted to address her son’s skin condition but ended up starting a company of her own.
Harini Sivakumar recalls that growing up she was never a bright child. She was an average student in school and college. And hence she was married off at a very young age of 22. She had a small corporate job then. Her son was born when she was 23, and unfortunately, her son was born with Down Syndrome. So Harini had to quit her job to take care of her son.
Years moved by. Harini was a homemaker. The family moved from city to city to take care of their son with special needs. It was when her son was 5 years old, and the family was in Delhi that Harini had some time at her hands. Her son had started going to school and around this time, Harini wanted to address the skin concerns of her son. In 2015, she started a small home brand named Soap Works and started selling homemade skincare products in her locality. It was just a passion project for her, and the small business was registered under Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
She was focused on this work when her father visited her house. Her father saw her passion for this venture and agreed to partner with her. So together in 2019, they relaunched the brand as Earth Rhythm and started selling their products on a larger scale.
They needed to hire one more employee to help with them. But in a homegrown environment, Harini did not know whom to hire or how to hire. So she asked the security guard of the building and he sent a bunch of girls thinking Harini wanted a girl for house help. Harini asked the girl if any of them know how to read and write. Among them was the girl Momitha from Sundarbans who was a graduate. Harini was surprised to find a graduate looking for the job of house help. Momita knew how to read and write English. She just did not know how to speak English.
So Harini immediately hired Momita. And from there she was able to train Momita into a successful businesswoman. Within one month of working in the company, Momita started coming up with business strategies for the company. Harini feels that this is the biggest achievement that she can achieve.
Since then they have hired hundreds of employees to work with Earth Rhythm. Most of these were women and people with disabilities. Harini consciously wanted to have inclusivity in her hiring process and wanted a safe working environment for people with disabilities.
Earth Rhythm has about 160 products that are selling on its website and also on its social media platforms. According to Harini, customisation and sustainability are the key highlights of the brand. She says in an inspiring talk of her, “If someone who hasn’t stepped out of the house for a long time, with zero knowledge in business, like me, can run a Rs 200 crore brand, you can too.”
Credits: The Better India, Josh Talks
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-Staff Reporter
