It took two women to change the ball game in India. Seriously! Ananya and Anushree Maloo are two young and fearless entrepreneurs who dared to break the taboo and stigma around male intimate hygiene in India which in reality was widely unaddressed and untapped. They founded Nuutjob which is a revolutionary brand tackling male intimate hygiene.
Many people believe that running a business is not a women’s job, but these two TheGlitz Super Women built their company from scratch with no prior experience in the pharma industry or D2C, and can proudly say that they’re completely bootstrapped. The journey was not easy initially, as the founders faced hostility and sexism in a predominantly male-dominated industry. But hey, they did what they had set out to do – the unthinkable – celebrate the idea of intimate hygiene and make it an everyday product.
So isn’t it a huge feat for two women? Well, yes, but they didn’t want the company to be known for being led by women, but instead, a company that has made a difference. So put your hands together for these two TheGlitz ‘Super Women – stubborn, daring and fearless – Ananya and Anushree Maloo. Read on as Ananya Maloo the Co-Founder, NuutJob tells us all about Anushree and her journey.
Your journey has had many momentous milestones. Could you tell us about your life-changing journey that has moulded you to be what you are today?
The biggest milestone was to step into a segment that wasn’t expected of women to venture into i.e male intimate hygiene and grooming. What started with a series of questions that revolved around the idea of how chaste are these women if they are talking “male genitalia”. It’s our belief that there persisted a need in India that kept us going till the very end. To no surprise, one of the initial problems faced by us was our gender. From why our pictures were being displayed on the website to whether we would still be ‘marriageable’ after being associated with a segment like this were a few biases we countered. There’s always an unconscious bias when women take the wheel of change — questioning and inhibitions. People are always asking if there are any men helping us out. We faced resistance within the family as well, as they had issues with women building male intimate hygiene problems. I was really happy when my grandparents took it in their stride compared to the other younger relatives and friends. Explaining the idea to our grandmothers was what I really pride myself in and it infused the idea of empowerment where women stand for women. Also, we didn’t give up. The brand was also appreciated by the shark on Shark Tank India season 1 where we received an offer from all the sharks. ‘It’s the don’t under-sell your dreams’ to change the world that has moulded us into who we are today.
Could you list 3 of your major achievements?
- Bootstrapping with our own money without even asking our family for funds.
- 100 orders in one month of launching our brand on Amazon.
- Shark Tank India’s first participants who received funding from the sharks.
What are the setbacks you have faced? How did you tackle these setbacks or challenges? And what lesson have you learned from it?
A major setback we experienced was linked to our gender. Had it not been for our family’s support and constant pushing, we wouldn’t have had the ability to fight back each naysayer who said a brand like this would not work. You really need a very strong set of people backing your dreams. Strong in the sense of mentally who support you with all their heart and will not let you give up.
When you look back, what are the three qualities in you that have helped you become what you are today?
The most important quality that has made us who we are is our belief in what we as entrepreneurs can and want to do. It’s the clarity of vision that enabled and fueled our belief in Nuutjob.
• To have a mentor, because we as creators of a brand are in love with the idea of the product or service and thus seeing a fault or error sometimes surpasses our vision. A mentor helps hold the mirror of reality for you so that you know how you can improve and deliver to your customers.
• To not fret over mistakes. We learnt that in a business we need to make fast mistakes and learn and adapt from them at the same speed or faster. There is no point crying over spilt milk but what works is how fast you clean up the mess and get another glass of milk.
Who are the people who have been the wind behind your wings?
Our family and close friends were the people who have backed us since Day 1 especially our fathers who not only inspired the genesis of the brand but have been our biggest cheerleaders and mentors in growth, strategy and being the guinea pigs for our product trials.
Lastly, if there was a quote to define you, what would it be?
In a world where there are brands who are only talking – be the brand that listens and does. We at the core of Nuutjob believe in the idea of personalising personal hygiene. People are the core for us here at Nuutjob.
