Mother-Daughter Turn Entrepreneurs, Launch Baby Skin Care Products

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Culminating out of love and experience in child care over the years, CITTA is the brainchild of mother-daughter duo Akanksha Sharma and Monisha Sharma who bring a gift of baby skin care products for millennial parents. The duo incorporates the ancient child care methods with the backing of modernity and advancement to provide a safe and nourishing skincare solution for children. CITTA was created with the serious desire to create a sustainable Indian product for the discerning customer.

Her Story

A team always seeks inspiration from a leader who is dynamic yet humble, goal-driven yet accommodating, and fierce yet kind. These qualities are exactly what defines Akanksha Sharma as the new-age young female entrepreneur of India.

AKAKNSHA SHARMA CITTA — AKANKSHA SHARMA, Founder

Twenty-three-year-old entrepreneur Akanksha, is the epitome of contemporary leadership. With an education in Design & Management from the United States of America, Akanksha is able to approach business through her multidimensional understanding of concepts and ideas.

Having grown up with some of the most noteworthy names of the Indian business domain, with edupreneur parents, Pankaj Sharma & Monisha Sharma, as well as her grandparents and uncle and aunt (pioneering leaders of The Lexicon Group, Pune), Akanksha believes she was destined to venture into entrepreneurship early in her life.

She has witnessed her family’s indefatigable work ethic and how they have built an entire body of business right from scratch. This drive and motivation led Akanksha to launch CITTA, a premium brand of baby skin care products for children.

“CITTA is a brand embodying the clear ethos of conscious business; with products that are all-natural, chemical-free, and manufactured upholding the highest standards of practice, this a brand that blends Indian traditions and new-age scientific technology”, says Akanksha, CEO & Co-Founder of CITTA. She oversees the entire operations, marketing, and sales at CITTA since its launch in August 2020.

Mission and Vision

Inspired by the traditions and knowledge of childcare passed down by grandmothers to mothers, the #Dadi Nani Ke Nuskhe is what CITTA’s range of baby skin care products pride in. This homegrown brand caters to millennial parents specially curated baby products for the age groups of 0-5 years.

“Working on the principle of ‘Tradition backed by Science’ all CITTA products is a culmination of painstaking research into rituals, customers, and best practices in baby-rearing and caring. Therefore, each one has been designed with thought and age-old wisdom married with state-of-the-art technology and natural Indian ingredients”, adds Akanksha. The brand envisions providing the same love and caring that a grandparent would, while today’s parents juggle personal growth and parenting altogether.

“Our products that are all-natural, chemical-free, and manufactured upholding the highest standards of practice, this is a brand that blends Indian traditions and new-age scientific technology”. 2020.

“I envision this brand to be an Indian household name for skincare products for children. My mother is the Director of The Lexicon Group & Co-Founder of CITTA, who also has a keen interest in and a sound knowledge of cosmetics and skincare”.

Her mantra of entrepreneurship is perhaps deeply inspired by her father’s personality and his experiences: “Focus on what can go right, not what can go wrong; believe in yourself and make your own path to success.” With no apprehension of going the extra mile for her personal and professional families, Akanksha Sharma is the vibrant new face of Indian business.

What is special with this baby skin care product?

Keeping in mind the tender and fragile skin of babies and toddlers, CITTA’s formulations are Safe and Tested that work well for the fast-paced demanding self-sustained life of millennial couples today. That is why, they are developed using natural ingredients and are guaranteed free of parabens, sulphates, silicones, mineral oil, and allergens. Keeping the motto of transparency as a way to serve each parent, CITTA mentions each ingredient clearly on its packaging.

Whether it is the various natural oils, the oat silk, or the multiple extracts, each one of them has been combined with precision in a controlled environment and has received all the safety approvals, and is cruelty-free.

Achievements

Akanksha was a TEDx Speaker in 2020 and a panelist at ‘How and why MSMEs will be the growth catalyst for India to become a $5 trillion economy at the Pune Times Mirror Leadership Awards. She had collaborated with the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, to distribute CITTA care packages to the underprivileged children of the community.

Infano Thanks Akanksha Sharma for sharing her story with us.

If you know of a powerful woman whose story needs to be heard, mail us at infano.care@gmail.com

Also Read Weird things about your newborn baby

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There are people who eat to survive and then there are people who live to eat. But over time, we have been witnessing another category of people who have made their life everything about ‘food’ — from their hobby to passion, mission, and even profession!

Our Bengaluru based mom and entrepreneur Kirti Yadav is one such woman who made food & healthy eating her passion, mission as well as profession!

Kirti always wanted to do something of her own. Public speaking, presentations, leading always fascinated her, and somewhere deep inside, she knew that this is what she wanted — this is what she was made for and when she took a break from her years’ long corporate career to take care of her newborn child, she also got an opportunity to build her entrepreneurial career.

“I left my corporate career after our daughter was born. She is our blessing because while I was busy taking care of her, I also joined Plattershare, my first venture which was run by a few of my friends. I used to work only when she was sleeping and dedicate the rest of the time to her. That period of my life was a whole different experience. I knew that this is what I’ll be continuing with,” Kirti says. “In 2018 I started my second venture KuKClean — ‘Kitchen U and Kirti’s Clean’ eating journey to inspire everyone about the whole plant-based food lifestyle.”

Kirti’s KuKClean is bringing a plate level change. She believes that a plant-based food lifestyle is a future to heal the world. KuKClean promotes healthy and clean food, spreads awareness about it by conducting corporate wellness programs, online and offline cooking workshops, and by providing personal counselling with the holistic approach to change the complete lifestyle.

For Kirti, being an entrepreneur gave her an opportunity to interact and inspire several other people. It all started six years back when her fight between health and taste began, “I wanted to lose weight but could not compromise on bland and boring food. When I lost 28 kgs and turned vegan, I realized what it means to be a vegan in a dairy obsessed country. Slowly, people started noticing me and asking me tips for weight loss. That’s when I decided to conduct corporate wellness programs and provide personal counselling.” She also started promoting the whole plant-based food lifestyle through her FB group followed by establishing her venture KuKClean. Her quest about nutrition helped her to become a certified holistic nutritionist from AFPA and she started KuKClean wholesome plant-based community e-store in Bengaluru to provide personalized healthy tasty vegan food products.

As of now, KuKClean is preincubated in NSRCEL, IIM- Bangalore and there is a lot to learn and adapt like any other startup. “Operations are tricky and we have to do everything — from creating content to building an online presence to delivery, but I feel these things teach you unlimited lessons which no corporate job can teach you,” Kirti continues. “It’s like raising a child; you will love your kid unconditionally but you will also need to face the challenges and look after them!”

Food and beverage industry saw a surge during the pandemic, especially with all the healthy food & lifestyle becoming a priority, people are more conscious than ever. KuKClean got the complete advantage of this and was operating during the lockdown when a lot of other businesses were on the verge of closing down.

Kirti dedicates the success of KuKClean to her family who always supported her. From getting her first job to making her father proud to marrying her life partner and giving birth to her wonderful daughter, these are the moments Kirit finds strength and solace in.

On asking about tips to start an entrepreneurial journey, she says, “build your niche, understand your target audience, take a plunge and move forward.” Kirti further wants to expand KuKClean to the international market and as her 6YO kid wishes, she wants to see her venture on roadside hoardings.

She concludes her story by asking every woman to never give up. “Keep going. Put in some effort every day. Do not give up on your dreams or career due to kids or family or society. Koshish toh karo, kuch naa kuch ho hi jayega!”

You can connect with Kirti through her Facebook page or Instagram account. You can also visit the website of KuKClean or follow their updates on Facebook or Instagram.

Have you found your true calling yet? Or know someone who has realised it? Keep sharing such #PassionToProfession stories with me and stay tuned for another tale next Sunday! #InfanoWomen