Right through our fresh Zoom name with 29-year-old Diksha Singhi — a Delhi-based entrepreneur and physique positivity influencer — her telephone wouldn’t forestall ringing. Simply closing week, she showcased her challenge ‘A Little Additional’ at the 3rd season of Shark Tank India, securing funding commitments price Rs 60 lakh (for a 7.5% stake) from Anupam Mittal, the CEO of Shaadi.com, and Vineeta Singh, founding father of Sugar Cosmetics.
From enduring consistent ridicule, bullying and fat-shaming all through her early life to rising as a outstanding voice in physique positivity on Instagram, putting in her personal unconventional equipment emblem and creating a a success look on Shark Tank India, Diksha Singhi has come a ways.
Chatting with The Higher India, Diksha mentioned her adventure of overcoming early life trauma, sharing her tale on public boards, and changing into a physique positivity influencer and entrepreneur.
‘At all times been a fats kid’
Born and raised in Guwahati, Assam, Diksha remembers, “I’ve at all times been a fats kid. As a fats kid, you’re advised essentially the most ridiculous issues by way of folks round you. Rising up, I used to be in a boarding faculty and closely bullied for it. In class, I used to be no longer decided on for theatre or dance performances on account of my look. Other people made assumptions that I couldn’t play sports activities as a result of I used to be fats. Other people began calling me a tomboy as a result of I might put on free garments.”
“Dressed in free garments used to be no longer a mindful type determination. I may by no means to find garments in my dimension and needed to store within the males’s segment. That’s why folks began calling me a tomboy. However this kind of bullying wasn’t simply limited to college. I used to be even referred to as out by way of my relations. Actually, there used to be a time once I used to like swimming. However sooner or later my swimming instructor advised me that I must no longer put on a V-cut swimming dress as a result of I seemed ‘hideous’. And that feeling of humiliation stayed with me for see you later that I began hating swimming,” she provides.
It took Diksha a few years to unlearn all of the ones issues that had been stated about her physique.
“I may see the magic it [unlearning] did to my well being and psychological well being when I began letting cross of the issues that individuals stated about me and the notions my quick society had about physique form and appearances. What I’ve learnt in lifestyles is if there are issues that hassle you as a kid and if you happen to do something positive about them while you’re older, it offers you an innate type of delight. I by no means supposed to change into a physique positivity influencer or writer,” she remembers.
And a large number of that unlearning started as soon as Diksha moved to Delhi for varsity in 2013 and began writing about her stories in weblog posts after which on Instagram on numerous topics.
“I used to be any person who would write lengthy captions with the whole thing I posted on Instagram. And that used to be simply my means of telling my tale. In spite of having simply 500-odd fans on Instagram on the time, I might incessantly pen down my ideas on the rest from type to trip. After completing faculty in 2016, I was a contract social media advertising and marketing advisor, writing and publishing content material for various magazines or on-line platforms,” she remembers.
Sooner or later, there got here a segment when she critically started inspecting the issues that had took place to her up to now and the way they impacted her selections. In a chain of Instagram posts in March 2018, she posted photos of herself in swimming wear for the primary time. This used to be Diksha reclaiming her physique and responding to people who traumatised her some of these years.
“There have been those posts I wrote on social media about my tale with my physique and it were given a large number of traction. There have been a large number of women folk who wrote feedback on my put up sharing their very own tales and that’s how I began developing content material as a physique positivity influencer,” she remembers.
Lately, Diksha has greater than 1,26,000 fans on Instagram.
“I by no means supposed to change into a blogger or a content material writer. This isn’t a ‘activity’ for me. Sure, cash is available in quite a lot of paperwork like emblem collaborations, however developing content material to earn money hasn’t ever been the target. It has at all times been about sharing my tale,” she says.
As a body-positive content material writer on this area, Diksha has created content material starting from suggestions of manufacturers that make attire in plus sizes to [verbal] comebacks in opposition to relations announcing issues about her bodily look. “I’ve shared such content material all throughout my private social media web page. Thru making such content material, I was that elder sister or good friend [to my followers] that I by no means had when I used to be a kid,” she provides.
From content material writer to entrepreneur
Rising up in a ‘industry circle of relatives’, Diksha at all times had the need to start out one herself. However the determination to determine ‘A Little Additional’ in August 2020 wasn’t near to following a circle of relatives custom.
“There used to be a time when I used to be experimenting with type however there weren’t sufficient garments [that fit my size] to be had out there. So, I began using other equipment to seem extra trendy. Even whilst travelling to other international locations, specifically in Asia, I couldn’t to find garments for folks my dimension. My thought used to be to at all times store for jewelry,” she remembers.
“Whilst my pals went to the mall and shopped for garments, I additionally sought after one thing to buy. So, I might talk over with the jewelry segment for the reason that pieces on sale there didn’t include the type of dimension barriers you spot in attire put on. Actually, on one in all my posts, I’ve had folks writing feedback like ‘Went purchasing for garments however got here again with a scrunchie’. Over the years, I was a jewelry junkie and I determined to challenge into the equipment area,” she remembers.
“Amid the [COVID-19] pandemic, I used to be again house fascinated by what to do subsequent with my lifestyles. What I discovered used to be an opening within the reasonably priced equipment section and measured all of the professionals and cons related to operating one of these industry. Sooner or later, I established ‘A Little Additional’ in August 2020 with an preliminary funding of Rs 5,000, and right here we’re nowadays,” she provides.
Many of the jewelry made at ‘A Little Additional’ has a “unique component” to it, consistent with Diksha.
“If you are going to buy typical jewelry, they’re both stone-based or they’ve a definite design or aesthetic. We would have liked to make jewelry particular for an instance, emotion or way of life. For instance, if it’s Navratri, what higher than to put on our ‘Durga earrings’ which might be vibrant, vivid and feature the chunkiest parts of shell, reflect, beads, and so forth? If you wish to watch a soccer fit in a stadium, cheering on your favorite workforce, why simply put on the ones common earrings? Why no longer put on earrings formed and designed like a soccer?” she says.
“We need to create a definite emotional perspective with the jewelry that you just’re purchasing. Given the type of instance/emotion-specific earrings or the neck items we design, it additionally turns into more uncomplicated to present the type of equipment we make to people as items. However we also are conscious about a marketplace which is on the lookout for equipment with a minimum aesthetic, and because of this, we additionally make jewelry with minimum/easy designs however with an additional contact,” she provides.
For instance, they’ve this restricted selection of very small gold-plated brass earrings designed within the form of a dragon. “This used to be impressed by way of an excessively full of life and provoking petite good friend who used to be both bullied for being small in stature or no longer taken critically because of this. In spite of folks counting her out, her power has remained undiminished like a dragon. We additionally make use of other hand-crafted artwork paperwork like Kada, beadwork, Kundan, brass, terracotta, cane, and so forth,” she says.
How do they make those equipment?
A Little Additional works with karigars (artisans) specialising in numerous hand-crafted artwork paperwork. For the reason that challenge offers in quite a lot of artwork paperwork, Diksha argues that she will be able to’t have one thing in-house for manufacturing functions.
“The best way our karigars transfer their arms is one thing you and I will not do. They’re professional and paintings absolute best once they’re of their neighborhood. You’ll be able to’t select them out of a village in West Bengal, carry them to Delhi, and be expecting them to do high quality paintings. They wouldn’t feel free. They need to stick with their households. So our thought used to be to have those karigars paintings in their very own communities,” she explains.
“We provide them with no matter designs now we have get a hold of right here. We ship the designs throughout to our supervisor stationed with those artisan communities who then sits with the karigars and develops the ones designs. Following this, they ship us pieces for sampling, which we assess and notice if there are any adjustments we would really like on them. They ultimately ship us additional samples which we approve and ship for manufacturing. We practice this procedure for all our merchandise,” she provides.
Speaking about terracotta, Diksha’s workforce works with karigars from Assam and West Bengal. In terms of beadwork, they paintings with karigars from Delhi-NCR states. In the event that they’re using Kundan (a standard type of gemstone jewelry), they paintings with karigars from Rajasthan.
“My mantra in relation to running with karigars is to pay them what they ask for. All over my adventure, I’ve observed folks in my business attempt to exploit them. My way has at all times been the extra they develop, the extra we develop. Effectively promoting over 80,000 merchandise and creating a variety of equipment with over 500 designs, we’ve grown in combination. Lately, ‘A Little Additional’ is a women-led undertaking, and I lately have 8 full-time women folk workers with me,” she says.
The Shark Tank enjoy
Diksha has not anything crucial to mention about her enjoy of Shark Tank India.
As she remembers, “Even supposing I did get ready my pitch and labored at the conceivable forms of questions the Sharks would inquire from me, there used to be not anything scripted about what questions had been requested, whether or not I might safe an funding, or if sure Sharks had been already prepared to put money into my challenge. The Shark Workforce India [production] workforce did lend a hand me in fine-tuning my pitch however in any case, it’s your name whether or not to just accept their suggestions or no longer.”
It used to be a one-hour-long pitch, she informs, which used to be then lower all the way down to 17-20 mins for audience.
Even supposing each the Sharks (Anupam and Vineeta) agreed to put money into her challenge, there’s lately a extra detailed due diligence procedure underway.
“If any person is prepared to speculate Rs 60 lakh into your challenge, they’ve to safe their investment and know that they’re making an investment in a valid industry. At the entrepreneurial aspect, I’ve to sit down with my workforce to evaluate the percentage agreements and different paperwork despatched by way of the Sharks’ groups as neatly. All this due diligence paintings will take about six months or so,” she notes.
(Edited by way of Pranita Bhat; Photographs courtesy Instagram/Diksha Singhi and Instagram/A Little Additional)