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Throughout our latest Zoom name with 29-year-old Diksha Singhi — a Delhi-based entrepreneur and physique positivity influencer — her cellphone wouldn’t cease ringing. Simply final week, she showcased her enterprise ‘A Little Additional’ on the third season of Shark Tank India, securing funding commitments value 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 fixed ridicule, bullying and fat-shaming all through her childhood to rising as a distinguished voice in physique positivity on Instagram, establishing her personal unconventional equipment model and making a profitable look on Shark Tank India, Diksha Singhi has come a good distance.
Chatting with The Higher India, Diksha talked about her journey of overcoming childhood trauma, sharing her story on public boards, and turning into a physique positivity influencer and entrepreneur.
‘At all times been a fats baby’
Born and raised in Guwahati, Assam, Diksha remembers, “I’ve at all times been a fats baby. As a fats baby, you’re informed essentially the most ridiculous issues by individuals round you. Rising up, I used to be in a boarding college and closely bullied for it. In class, I used to be not chosen for theatre or dance performances due to my look. Individuals made assumptions that I couldn’t play sports activities as a result of I used to be fats. Individuals began calling me a tomboy as a result of I’d put on free garments.”
“Sporting free garments was not a acutely aware trend determination. I might by no means discover garments in my dimension and needed to store within the males’s part. That’s why individuals began calling me a tomboy. However this type of bullying wasn’t simply restricted to high school. I used to be even known as out by my family. Actually, there was a time after I used to like swimming. However at some point my swimming trainer informed me that I mustn’t put on a V-cut swimming costume as a result of I seemed ‘hideous’. And that feeling of humiliation stayed with me for thus lengthy that I began hating swimming,” she provides.
It took Diksha a few years to unlearn all of these issues that had been stated about her physique.
“I might see the magic it [unlearning] did to my well being and psychological well being as soon as I began letting go of the issues that individuals stated about me and the notions my fast society had about physique form and appearances. What I’ve learnt in life is that if there are issues that bother you as a toddler and for those who do one thing about them whenever you’re older, it provides you an innate type of satisfaction. I by no means meant to develop into a physique positivity influencer or creator,” she remembers.
And quite a lot of that unlearning started as soon as Diksha moved to Delhi for faculty in 2013 and began writing about her experiences in weblog posts after which on Instagram on quite a lot of topics.
“I used to be somebody who would write lengthy captions with the whole lot I posted on Instagram. And that was simply my method of telling my story. Regardless of having simply 500-odd followers on Instagram on the time, I’d repeatedly pen down my ideas on something from trend to journey. After ending school in 2016, I turned a contract social media advertising and marketing advisor, writing and publishing content material for various magazines or on-line platforms,” she remembers.
Ultimately, there got here a part when she severely started analyzing the issues that had occurred to her up to now and the way they impacted her choices. In a collection of Instagram posts in March 2018, she posted footage of herself in swimwear for the primary time. This was Diksha reclaiming her physique and responding to those that traumatised her all these years.
“There have been these posts I wrote on social media about my story with my physique and it acquired quite a lot of traction. There have been quite a lot of girls who wrote feedback on my publish sharing their very own tales and that’s how I began creating content material as a physique positivity influencer,” she remembers.
At present, Diksha has greater than 1,26,000 followers on Instagram.
“I by no means meant to develop into a blogger or a content material creator. This isn’t a ‘job’ for me. Sure, cash is available in numerous varieties like model collaborations, however creating content material to generate income has by no means been the target. It has at all times been about sharing my story,” she says.
As a body-positive content material creator 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 family saying issues about her bodily look. “I’ve shared such content material all throughout my private social media web page. By making such content material, I turned that elder sister or good friend [to my followers] that I by no means had after I was a toddler,” she provides.
From content material creator to entrepreneur
Rising up in a ‘enterprise household’, Diksha at all times had the need to start out one herself. However the determination to ascertain ‘A Little Additional’ in August 2020 wasn’t nearly following a household custom.
“There was a time after I was experimenting with trend however there weren’t sufficient garments [that fit my size] out there available in the market. So, I began using totally different equipment to look extra modern. Even whereas travelling to totally different international locations, significantly in Asia, I couldn’t discover garments for individuals my dimension. My thought was to at all times store for jewelry,” she remembers.
“Whereas my pals went to the mall and shopped for garments, I additionally wished one thing to buy. So, I’d go to the jewelry part as a result of the gadgets on sale there didn’t include the type of dimension limitations you see in attire put on. Actually, on one in all my posts, I’ve had individuals writing feedback like ‘Went searching for garments however got here again with a scrunchie’. Over time, I turned a jewelry junkie and I made a decision to enterprise into the equipment area,” she remembers.
“Amid the [COVID-19] pandemic, I used to be again house fascinated about what to do subsequent with my life. What I discovered was a niche within the inexpensive equipment section and measured all the professionals and cons related to working such a enterprise. Ultimately, I established ‘A Little Additional’ in August 2020 with an preliminary funding of Rs 5,000, and right here we’re at the moment,” she provides.
A lot of the jewelry made at ‘A Little Additional’ has a “distinctive aspect” to it, based on Diksha.
“Should you purchase standard jewelry, they’re both stone-based or they’ve a sure design or aesthetic. We wished to make jewelry particular for an event, 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 have the chunkiest components of shell, mirror, beads, and so on? If you wish to watch a soccer match in a stadium, cheering to your favorite staff, why simply put on these common earrings? Why not put on earrings formed and designed like a soccer?” she says.
“We wish to create a sure emotional angle with the jewelry that you simply’re shopping for. Given the type of event/emotion-specific earrings or the neck items we design, it additionally turns into simpler to offer the type of equipment we make to different individuals as items. However we’re additionally conscious of a market which is on the lookout for equipment with a minimal aesthetic, and in consequence, we additionally make jewelry with minimal/easy designs however with an additional contact,” she provides.
For instance, they’ve this restricted assortment of very small gold-plated brass earrings designed within the form of a dragon. “This was impressed by a really energetic and galvanizing petite good friend who was both bullied for being small in stature or not taken severely in consequence. Regardless of individuals counting her out, her power has remained undiminished like a dragon. We additionally make use of totally different handmade artwork varieties like Kada, beadwork, Kundan, brass, terracotta, cane, and so on,” she says.
How do they make these equipment?
A Little Additional works with karigars (artisans) specialising in numerous handmade artwork varieties. Because the enterprise offers in numerous artwork varieties, Diksha argues that she will be able to’t have one thing in-house for manufacturing functions.
“The way in which our karigars transfer their fingers is one thing you and I can not do. They’re expert and work finest once they’re of their group. You’ll be able to’t choose them out of a village in West Bengal, carry them to Delhi, and count on them to do high quality work. They’d not be pleased. They wish to stick with their households. So our thought was to have these karigars work in their very own communities,” she explains.
“We current them with no matter designs now we have provide you with right here. We ship the designs throughout to our supervisor stationed with these artisan communities who then sits with the karigars and develops these designs. Following this, they ship us gadgets for sampling, which we assess and see if there are any adjustments we wish on them. They finally ship us additional samples which we approve and ship for manufacturing. We comply with this course of for all our merchandise,” she provides.
Speaking about terracotta, Diksha’s staff works with karigars from Assam and West Bengal. On the subject of beadwork, they work with karigars from Delhi-NCR states. In the event that they’re using Kundan (a conventional type of gemstone jewelry), they work with karigars from Rajasthan.
“My mantra with regards to working with karigars is to pay them what they ask for. All through my journey, I’ve seen individuals in my business attempt to exploit them. My strategy has at all times been the extra they develop, the extra we develop. Efficiently promoting over 80,000 merchandise and growing a variety of equipment with over 500 designs, we’ve grown collectively. At present, ‘A Little Additional’ is a women-led enterprise, and I presently have eight full-time girls workers with me,” she says.
The Shark Tank expertise
Diksha has nothing essential to say about her expertise of Shark Tank India.
As she remembers, “Though I did put together my pitch and labored on the attainable varieties of questions the Sharks would ask me, there was nothing scripted about what questions had been requested, whether or not I’d safe an funding, or if sure Sharks had been already prepared to put money into my enterprise. The Shark Crew India [production] staff did help me in fine-tuning my pitch however ultimately, it’s your name whether or not to simply accept their suggestions or not.”
It was a one-hour-long pitch, she informs, which was then reduce all the way down to 17-20 minutes for viewers.
Though each the Sharks (Anupam and Vineeta) agreed to put money into her enterprise, there’s presently a extra detailed due diligence course of underway.
“If somebody is prepared to speculate Rs 60 lakh into your enterprise, they should safe their funding and know that they’re investing in a respectable enterprise. On the entrepreneurial facet, I’ve to take a seat with my staff to evaluate the share agreements and different paperwork despatched by the Sharks’ groups as properly. All this due diligence work will take about six months or so,” she notes.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; Pictures courtesy Instagram/Diksha Singhi and Instagram/A Little Additional)
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