SMALL BUSINESS STORIES: MALIKA & SONYA

One of the most important lessons I have learnt from my mum is that it’s never too late, and there is no single right path or trajectory for life.

At 20, mum didn’t have the opportunity to complete her university education. 20 years later, in 2011, passionate about understanding the science behind food, she began her nutrition diploma – the same year that I entered University. Thus began the nine year journey that would lead to launching her own, homemade, handcrafted organic skincare range (MotherEarth’s).

Fast forward three years, there were two new graduates in the family. Mum’s passion for nutrition and holistic wellness deepened and expanded – thinking about how we can make sure we are not only putting the best inside our bodies, but on them too.

Learning about the harmful side effects of the chemicals in our daily skincare and cosmetic products, she was horrified, and intent on finding a better solution. And so began her journey into skincare formulation; she studied, she got the certification and she spent three years perfecting her own homemade blends. She was intent on using the highest quality, purest, organic, natural ingredient, rooting our skincare routines back into the earth, and all the goodness it has to offer.

For a while, that was just it. She’d be making different creams, serums, balms and hair products for friends and family. Each family member, and their skin and hair care woes inspired a new formulation. My own desire to have an uncomplicated skincare routine, that relied on only one product that took care of all my skin needs led to the creation of Glow ME, the most nourishing moisturiser there ever was!

But deep down there was always a desire to go bigger, and bring her ingenious formulations to the wider world. Building a business was never in Mama’s forte, nor mine. Neither of us knew the first thing around building a business. Yet, what I did know is that I wanted to bring my mother’s passion and talent to the world. And it’s this drive, to nourish each other’s talents, that has given us to take the plunge, learn as we go, and bring MotherEarth’s to life and to the world at large.

Over the last few months as I share MotherEarth’s capsule collection with our nearest and dearest, the immense positive feedback we have received from each and every person keeps us going. It’s given us the confidence and encouraged us to keep learning everything we need to, from building a brand identity, a website, a social media strategy and everything needed to share with all of you this lifestyle of rooting our self-care in the earth and all the goodness it has to offer.

 In 2011, Better Interiors shared an article about mum, that I think captures best the kind of person and aesthetic that she embodies. “It’s not often you come across people who tread ahead of the competition and away from the limelight. And when you find someone who seems to be so content with their life, you immediately want to reboot yours. One such person is designer Sonya Atal Sapru. She is not one for making huge statements. Her innovations don’t stride out, determined to change the world. But that’s not to say that they won’t. She creates work in her own likeness. They have an individuality of their own.”

Prerna and Sarojini first met in the fortuitous year of 2017 at SOAS University. We bonded over a simple diwali gift: a packet of maggi, intended merely to cure Sarojini’s home-sickness, but which has bonded us together till date in a friendship that knows no borders.