Meet the SHEROES - Shuchi Pandya

“The idea of Pipa Bella was born with the understanding that fashion jewellery is a fast growing, yet highly fragmented industry in India,” says Shuchi Pandya, founder of Pipa Bella, a versatile e-store that offers affordable fashion jewellery catered to the tastes of the young Indian woman of today.
 

Shuchi tells us about her entrepreneurial journey and what inspired her to set up Pipa Bella.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in Mumbai in a family of jewellers – many conversations at the dining table with my grandfather and father centred around business (and still do). Those lessons stuck with me throughout my undergrad days at New York University, where I studied Marketing at the Stern School of Business.

I went on to join my family business of jewellery manufacturing, where my early experience in a product-focused environment helped me understand the dynamics of supply chain and pricing.

In 2010, I went on to Wharton for my MBA with the aim of developing a more modern business outlook. During my time at Wharton, I enrolled myself in an 8-week class on how to build and pitch a business plan. It was here that I began developing my idea for Pipa Bella and began understanding what I would need to think about when building a new-age/tech-based business. I took finance & accounting classes as well as a coding course to help forge my knowledge gap and with the right guidance from some incredible advisors, Pipa Bella was born.

How and when did the idea of Pipa Bella come about?

The idea of Pipa Bella was born with the understanding that fashion jewellery is a fast growing, yet highly fragmented industry in India. Young women today are increasingly fashion conscious and well exposed to international markets and trends. I saw this as an opportunity to build a brand within an industry that lacks a strong brand leader. Today, when one thinks of fine jewellery, many brands and online marketplaces come to mind, however the more affordable and versatile fashion jewellery segment lacks such brands. I wanted Pipa Bella to be a brand that exudes a carefree, bold, adventurous spirit and exemplifies what today’s modern Indian woman is truly about.

What differentiates your e-venture from others in the same space?

Our brand’s integrated supply chain and strong relationships with vendors allows us to introduce new collections every week. Our e-portal offers customizable options in jewellery and we will be launching an iOS app that will have some really cool functions and features. We even have a UGC (user-generated content) section on our website that allows our loyal customers to post pictures on social media using specific hashtags and get exclusively featured on our site. This has helped us increase engagement and also allows shoppers to see the versatility in styling our jewellery.

What future plans do you have for yourself and Pipa Bella?

We are looking to raise a Series A round in the next few months, which we will use to expand internationally as well as develop a robust offline distribution model.

When setting-up, what were the initial challenges you faced?

Finding good talent was definitely a challenge, especially because team culture is really important to us. We wanted to find people who enjoy their work and not just treat this as a 9 to 6 job.

What is a typical day at work like for you?

My day starts pretty early as I’m awake by 6 AM and start working around 8 AM. I spend my morning completing my most important and urgent tasks of the day, as I’m generally the most productive then. I schedule all my out of office meetings after lunch, and my evenings are typically for sitting with various internal teams to get updates on their targets/plans etc. I wrap up the day around 8 PM after I’ve written down my tasks that need to be completed for the next day. 

 What was your most inspiring moment, to date?

My most inspiring moment till date was on a ten-day leadership trek across the Atacama Desert in Chile a few years ago. Atacama being one of the driest places on the earth, the trek was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting and our team was given a different challenging task to complete every day. By the end of the experience, we had learnt to recognize our own and other’s strengths and how to implement these in the best way possible to reach that day’s goal. This taught me very simple lessons in business – how to delegate work, how to play to each person’s strengths, and set small daily targets, while keeping the big picture in mind.

Can you leave our readers with a few thoughts?

Find your passion, follow your heart, and be open to change.