Kriti Baveja and Divya Gupta, the two childhood friends, sat together and upon listening to the woes of their mutual friend who was expecting, got them thinking how pregnancy is so underrated and how it deserves much more importance.
Taking cues from the conversation with their friend, Kriti and Divya went on to conceptualize MomzJoy, an online maternity fashion brand with a core mission to make mothers feel beautiful, confident and empowered.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
MOMZJOY.COM is an online maternity fashion brand with a core mission to make mothers feel beautiful, confident and empowered. We create thoughtfully designed chic, innovative and functional clothing that provides style and comfort to nursing and pregnant mothers-to-be. Made in breathable fabric, our designs are versatile and fit during and post pregnancy. Our fashionable yet comfortable nursing wear has easy and hidden accesses to promote effortless breast feeding. We take pride in being a “Make in India” brand – from the raw materials used to the extensive in-house manufacturing, everything is indigenous.
OUR USP’S
- Innovative Designs
- Easy Nursing Access for Effortless Breastfeeding
- Breathable High Quality Fabric
- Fits Through Pregnancy and Beyond
- Doorstep Delivery, Easy Returns, Cash on Delivery, and Free Shipping all over India
- Handcrafted in India
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
The idea of starting an online maternity fashion brand cropped up when me and my childhood friend and co-founder (Divya Gupta) were having a conversation with a friend who was expecting and was upset because she was having difficulty finding clothes for a party, it really hit her self-esteem. And it got us thinking how pregnancy is so underrated and how it deserves much more importance.
On researching further we found out that although tradition too tells us that being a mother is a blessing and we vouch for it, yet it’s tough to negate the worries that accompany pregnancy. A 2015 research of expecting Indian mothers found expecting mothers to be as anxious about breastfeeding as their attractiveness during and post pregnancy. Several studies prove the effect of clothes on self confidence and self-love. We realised how we could use the power of fashion to solve these problems by creating the right kind of trendy, fashionable yet comfortable maternity wear with easy nursing accesses and how this would be a step towards resolving these worries.
We conducted a research and surveyed over 100 expecting mothers and doctors only to find the need to have fashionable yet comfortable and functional maternity clothes and we decided to take a plunge leaving our lucrative jobs, and start our own maternity fashion brand MOMZJOY.COM
What is your life mantra?
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
For me, coming from a non – business background , being a computer science engineer and then leaving my lucrative job to start up a maternity fashion brand was initially a big step for my family to accept . But they understood the concept and inspiration of my startup and have been a 100% supportive.
For Divya – being married and balancing home and a full time startup was challenging at first, but her husband and family have been a great support throughout.
Thirdly, we wouldn’t term it as a challenge, but setting up our own manufacturing unit from scratch has been a great experience with its own new and exciting learning experiences.
How did you overcome those challenges?
It’s all about the right attitude. Challenges are mere learning experiences. If you’re determined to achieve something you’ll find a way out. Keeping the big picture in mind has been instrumental in overcoming any challenges. We don’t look at any challenges as problems , and we know that challenges are faced in every new business every day, and we’re no different, but we see each one of them as stepping stones to reach our goal of empowering millions of pregnant moms and new moms.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
We are currently bootstrapped and would be looking at investments in the coming months.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
Perseverance, Passion, Optimism
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
Time is a precious commodity, especially when you’re a startup and it feels like there are always a million things to do. Scheduling your time and following a daily and weekly timetable works wonders for productivity.
Answer in less than 50 words
As a thumb rule – follow your passion and add value, success will automatically follow ! Passionately contributing to others lives whether it be professional or personal leads to success.
- One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:
Not listening to your customers closely.
- One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:
Trying to be perfect at everything from the start can be hazardous to any startup, it is important to analyze the cost, time and benefit of any task and prioritize.
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
We don’t believe in looking back , our mantra is to always look forward. We value every experience in life and we don’t think we would be the way we are if we wouldn’t have had the experiences we did.
What are your top three getaway destinations?
Kerala ,Ladakh, Goa
Share a quote that inspires you the most.
“Dreams don’t work unless you do!”