059: Serving Instead of Selling with Divya Gugnani

As an entrepreneur, it's crucial to serve your customers. You should focus on creating value because this sends an important message to them about what you believe in. In this episode, I was joined by serial entrepreneur, CEO and co-founder of Wander Beauty, Divya Gugnani. Divya shares why they believe in serving rather than selling. She talks about the discovery process she went through that led her to start her company and how they decide on essential products. Divya and I discuss how the pandemic has shifted her outlook on life, her advice for starting your own business and her hopes for continuing to grow her business, Wander Beauty. (This episode was pre-recorded on April 28, 2020)

 

What's in this episode:

• How Divya got started in her creative journey
• The discovery process that led her to start a clean beauty company 
• How they decided on essential products for their company
• Why they've made it a mission to serve instead of sell
• How the pandemic has recalibrated the way Divya operates
• Why Divya knows she wants to continue to grow Wander Beauty
• Divya's advice for seeking fulfillment in your life
• How she's reached a different place now versus her early years of being an entrepreneur
• What you should consider when starting a business of your own
• Why you have to create value for your consumers

 

About Divya:

Divya Gugnani brings 20 years of investment and entrepreneurial experience to her role as CEO and co-founder of Wander Beauty, a company focused on multitasking beauty essentials created with global inspiration. Launched in 2015 Wander Beauty has proven to be one of the fastest emerging brands in the country, with over 30 highly prestigious beauty awards under their belt, plus a loyal following of A-list celebrities, top journalists and notable beauty and style influencers. Prior to that, Divya co-founded Send the Trend, an e-commerce site focused on personalized fashion and beauty, and sold it to QVC, where she focused on digital innovation. She is a serial entrepreneur and has co-founded multiple companies.

 

Divya started her business career in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to private equity and venture capital at Investcorp International and FirstMark Capital. Divya is a self- proclaimed startup junkie, a food and fashion lover, as well as a beauty experimenter. She has appeared regularly on several shows on CNBC, NBC and MSNBC. She has also been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, BusinessWeek, TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Deal, and Crain's, among several other publications.

 

Divya has contributed to The Huffington Post, TODAYshow.com, Daily Beast, The Nest Magazine and Woman's World. She is the author of the book Sexy Women Eat: Secrets to Eating What You Want and Still Looking Fabulous, published by HarperCollins. In addition to a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Divya attended the French Culinary Institute.

 

Connect with Divya:

Website | Instagram | Divya's Instagram | LinkedIn

 

Links:

How to Get to the Top: Business Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table by Jeffrey Fox

 

Hope you've enjoyed this episod