Vineeta Singh, the CEO, and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics and a Shark Tank India judge opened up about the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur in a "man's world," and how balancing her family life and developing her own company has been difficult but rewarding.
Vineeta mentioned in a Humans of Bombay post that she was 17 years old when her professor encouraged her, "You should be an entrepreneur!" This created the groundwork for her future goals.
At the age of 23, she relocated to Bombay, where she began her real struggle. She began to mistrust herself as a result of it. "I lived in a tiny house which flooded easily," she said.
Vineeta began running marathons, which helped her get through the ordeal and provided her with clarity. She started a cosmetics subscription company a year later, which led to the launch of her successful brand, Sugar. However, the first leg of the journey was not without its bumps. She admitted that it was difficult to be a woman in a man's world, that combining children with her time-consuming career was difficult, and that she had run out of money at one point.
She said, "After a year, I gave entrepreneurship another shot with Fab Bag–a beauty subscription company. But after research, I realised the need for quality cosmetics in India–that’s how SUGAR was born!"
She added, "I’d also just become a mom. So at times I’d be pumping breast milk, working out, handling office calls, & hoping to not wake my son up. I’d have sleepless nights, but I loved what I was doing. After a year, it paid off–we were recognised as the best lipstick brand!"
The female entrepreneur concluded that women can balance both work and family and even though 'the juggle is real, but it’s also totally worth it.'
The woman entrepreneur and Shark Vineeta came to the conclusion that women can manage career and family life, despite the fact that "the juggle is real, but it's entirely worth it."