Interview: Janani Balasubramanian, Founder, Kaagitham

ST Bureau

New Delhi

This
interview is a part of Startup Terminal interview series to mark the occasion
of ‘International Women’s Day’

ST: Please tell us more about yourself.

Janani Balasubramanian: I was an
engineering graduate who moved on to complete my Masters in Business
Administration and had a brief work stint with the IT industry. I have always
loved everything about crafts and arts and even as a child, I used to love
being left alone with paint tins, brushes and papers and scissors.

Janani Balasubramanian,
Founder, Kaagitham

My
love for paper jewelry happened when I was browsing through random DIY videos
on YouTube. The fact that paper could be converted into jewelry was amazing! I
started going through a lot of blogs, videos, and paper craft books and ended
up creating simple designs. Over time, with a lot of trial and error, I was
able to make sturdy paper designs that were waterproof and could be used just
like any other jewelry.

Starting
a Facebook page to showcase these designs was also something that was not
preplanned. I started a page because it cost nothing and asked friends and
relatives to share it across. Social media is a powerful medium. I started
getting requests for orders and that is when I sensed, this was something
bigger than just a hobby.

Right
now, we have thousands of followers on social media, have our own website and
also sell on marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Voonik etc. We have
also had a few boutiques outside India selling our designs.

ST: Who is your biggest influence in life?

Janani Balasubramanian: I do not have
one role model whom I follow. I try and learn a lot from people around me.
Every successful entrepreneur, every failed one, every shopkeeper who convinces
me to buy something I don’t actually want has helped me learn and grow!

ST: What challenges do you face in your day to day
professional life, if any?

Janani Balasubramanian: We had started
up with no external investment. It is always a challenge finding raw material,
employees, strategies etc. with limited budgets that you have. When you do not
have a co-founder, it means you have to touch base every single thing around
the brand and multi-tasking gets stressful at times.

Building
a startup from scratch is a very challenging task. A lot of times, bad days put
you down. You start doubting yourself, your efforts, your ideas and pushing
through such days are important to keep moving ahead. My husband has been my
rock and has always believed in me and in Kaagitham a 100%. It is important you
have few people like that around all the time to tell you good days are not far
off.

ST: Where do you want to see yourself in next 5 years
down the line?

Janani Balasubramanian: We are
experimenting with different paper craft styles and want to implement all of
those into jewelry designs. We are also looking to have physical presence
around India in the next five years! Looking at paper jewelry and feeling how light
weight it is, is a completely different feeling than seeing it online. We want
to give users that experience soon.

We
also want to introduce the idea of paper jewelry to people around. A lot of
people still do not believe when we tell them what our jewelry is made of!
Reaching the idea across is first on our to-do list.

ST: What is your message to the readers on
‘International Women’s Day’?

Janani Balasubramanian: As a woman, I
think we should constantly tell each other that it is ok to break barriers, be
independent, and demand the rights we deserve. It is ok to be married at 20, it
is ok to be single in your 40s, it is ok to be a homemaker, it is ok to work 15
hours a day in office. It is perfectly alright to want to put yourself first at
some places. As long as you do what you love and are truthful to yourself,
things will fall in place.

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startupterminal@gmail.com

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