Women 2.0 interviews Sarika Batra from Lavish Life.
W2: What inspired you to start this company?
I was always fascinated with how successful trailblazers were able to run multi-million dollar companies, travel on business, have a family and look great simultaneously. Each aspect of their life seemed perfectly managed. I have always struggled with maintaining high energy myself and being entrenched in my business left little time for health and wellness.
I interviewed several of these great minds to find out what makes them who they are and the one thing that stood out was their unwavering positive mindset and relentless energy for life. I felt like people really needed to hear the secret sauce behind this mindset for success and the physical energy needed to make ideas turn to reality. What I realized is that most successful people had a morning and wellness routine which was unbreakable and uncompromising.
I feel like most of us go through life putting ourselves, our wellness and mindset second and are living life tired and exhausted, and always wanting more energy and the desire to feel better. I immediately fell in love with the wellness industry and knew this would be my next venture.
I have always loved beauty products and I truly believe that if you look great you will start feeling great and everything falls into place after that. On this mission to provide only safe and effective natural beauty products along with expert knowledge, I spoke with so many amazing founders who put passion and love into each and every ingredient. Just as we watch what we eat, watching what we put on our bodies is equally important.
Lavish Life has curated 20 brands for our launch that are safe, effective and luxurious. These products are designed to pamper all of your senses and make you feel radiant and healthy. We couple these products with daily expert tips for the mind body and soul. We believe that inner and outer beauty are equally important. I can’t get away from my media bug, so we have set up a platform which uses video marketing to educate people on why these powerful ingredients from nature are so effective. Beauty is my starting point. I plan to expand into other wellness sectors as we progress and become the trusted destination for luxurious, wellness related products from around the world. I am proud of our curated brands. Each and every founder has such an incredible story and the products are amazing.
W2: How did you go about building your team?
When building a team it’s important to find people with complementary skill sets and amazing attitudes. I would take a positive attitude with the desire to learn over someone more experienced with a bad attitude any day. One thing I have learned along my journey of entrepreneurship is that the vibe and energy in the office during the early days is extremely important. Quickly get rid of negativity and find those special gems that have the skills you need, the right attitude and the energy to do whatever it takes to make it work. I personally love working with amazing, smart women and have built my team with female professionals in synergistic sectors that have the mindset for success. Not that I am opposed to hiring men– I will as the company grows.
W2: What’s a typical day like at your company?
These days it’s crazy! We all meet in the morning and start the day analyzing our business and what changes we can make to create a better user experience and increase revenues. From there we move on into our individual tasks for the day. By the afternoon we take vendor meetings, discuss marketing and PR strategies and regroup our thoughts for the day. By late afternoon we are shipping packages and continuing our tasks for the day. I encourage the team to take moments for eating healthy, yoga, face masks and early morning workouts. Startups can be stressful as we find ourselves waking up at 4:30am to get on a call with the web team in India almost every day of the week. On weekends we are shooting videos and writing scripts so taking those moments for yourself is very important.
W2: What’s one thing that surprised you during the process of starting the company?
People. People surprise me. The hardest part to any entrepreneurial journey is raising funds. It’s an ongoing process and you deal with all sorts of personality types when dealing with investors for your company. My advice is to learn to adapt to different personality types, never sell yourself short and be ready to walk away from a bad deal. Never make deals out of desperation and know your value as an entrepreneur. Listen with your gut and know when it’s just not right. If your intuition is telling you not to take it. Do not take it. Something better will come along. Just keep moving forward.
W2: What are you reading or listening to right now?
A few things:
In the morning I read a passage from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali for daily inspiration.
In the evenings I am reading The Good Gut by Justin and Erica Sonnenburg. The gut seems to be a hot topic these days!
W2: What’s your advice for budding women entrepreneurs?
If you have that burning desire to create real change in the world, then go for it. It won’t be easy. At times you will wonder if you made a mistake taking this path. Always look for the little miracles and follow your gut and keep moving. Living a life with struggles and successes is so much more rewarding than floating through an easy life, leaving your dreams behind. Take a stab at life– It’s worth it! We are meant to live, struggle, cry, feel bliss, know what it’s like to build something with our own hands in this long journey called life.
W2: What’s next for you and your company and where do you need help or support?
We just launched a week ago, so we are focused on finding a formula that works! We plan to expand to other wellness related products such as wellness retreats, teas, candles, juices, organic fashion and more. As all entrepreneurs, we need support in developing great partnerships (such as Women 2.0) and in finding amazing team members. Soon we will be ready for our series A. We are excited about that!
About Sarika:
Sarika Batra is the Founder and CEO of Lavish Life— a company slated to change the wellness industry by educating the masses through creative video marketing and curated safe, effective products. Founder, producer, and host of Andaaz TV, Sarika has interviewed many of today’s greatest minds. Now entering its sixth season, Andaaz TV is the first US based South Asian show on Sony Entertainment Television, and airs in over 150 countries. She is one of the few TV hosts that produces and creates her own show. Sarika is a story teller by nature and believes good content can lift the human spirit and create real change. She is on a mission to educate millions of people on inner and outer beauty with Lavish Life. @AndaazTV @WeAreLavishLife
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Meet Sarika’s Co-Founders:
Anu Jain- Founder
Passionate about empowering girls and women and living an optimal life through health and wellness.
- Trustee/Visionary Circle, Xprize Foundation
- Advisory Council, Girl Up- United Nations Foundation
- US-India Advisory Board of Girl Rising, a global campaign for girl’s education
- Board Member, Bellevue LifeSpring
Sony Mordechai – Founder
Passionate about creating companies that make the world a better place.
- Founder of Global Eye Investments, Cosmos, Mobile, Sport Couture, Alesonor
- Innovation Board Member of X-Prize Foundation
- YPO Champion of Singularity University Program
About Lavish Life:
Lavish Life is an e-commerce platform that curates luxurious, safe, and effective natural beauty products from around the world. Their site empowers you to make fully informed decisions about beauty and wellness so you can thrive naturally, inside and out. Shop now for holiday gifts while supporting a woman entrepreneur. Use code: LAVISHWOMEN for 20% off.
