Akanksha Menezes Nair – Entrepreneur, Founder and Curator at Tickle Tickle Organic Essential Clothing

At Sugermint, our aim is to bring to our women entrepreneurs community some of the success stories and motivational interviews from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate women entrepreneur Akanksha Menezes Nair – Entrepreneur, Founder and Curator at Tickle Tickle Organic Essential Clothing for an exclusive interview with us.

This is the interview of Akanksha Menezes Nair, Indian women entrepreneur and Founder and Curator at Tickle Tickle Organic Essential Clothing. Let’s learn more about her inspirational journey and her advice for our growing community!

Tell us a little about yourself

My name is Akanksha, I come from a working-class family, where both parents worked my entire childhood. I have one older sister and I am married and have a lovely five year old daughter.

I have studied my Masters in Business Administration and worked for 4 years in India, before moving to the UAE for studies and work.

How did you get your idea or concept for Tickle Tickle?

When I was a new mum with a daughter who had sensitive skin, I began to get more conscious about better clothing and started looking for pure organic cotton wear.

What I found was either pinks or blues color classifications or the pricing wasn’t going to help make it a part of our sustainable lifestyle.

The quality we were getting at a lower budget made me question the authentication of organic as a whole. That is where I realized the need for gender neutral certified organic clothing.

What products do you offer at Tickle Tickle?

We offer wardrobe essential, capsule clothing for kids in the age range of newborn up to 4 years.

We cover styles such as sleep suits, swaddles, onesies, rompers, shorts-tee sets, accessories etc. All our prints and styles are gender neutral.

What is unique about your business?

Most of our essential wear is made from organic cotton that is undyed or grown in natural colors or cotton that is dyed using herbs with beneficial properties.

We focus on keeping everything gender neutral and affordable, so that it can be worn for longer and passed on within your family without thinking if its suitable for a gender.

What made you choose organic essential clothing?

The sheer need to bring in certified organic clothing free from coloring agents with evergreen patterns and styles that does not really get affected by trends and fads.

I was very passionate to bring my own brand of clothing curated with love for both our children and the environment.

What was your mission at the outset?

Our mission is to make Tickle Tickle a household name, where parents don’t treat sustainable clothing as a onetime purchase but make it as part of their lifestyle.

What’s your business goals?

Our company goal is to ensure our brand always stays focused on gender neutral daily wear clothing with always being conscious on reducing our carbon impact on the environment.

How do you build a successful customer base for organic essential clothing?

By doing what you to commit to do and making sure your prioritize the needs of your customers.

We have a high reference model where most of our customers have heard about us from their friends who have bought from Tickle Tickle at some point. We make sure to maintain and build relationships rather than just sell.

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

Everything is a learning in a business and nothing can be treated as a failure. As a start up every business goes through teething issues from dealing with manufacturers who are used to working with big brands, right until logistics of orders and deliveries.

Experiences and time are the only two ways to resolve your issues. Also talking to other businesses who would have faced similar challenges helps as they are happy to support and assist.

Who has been your greatest inspiration?

Its cliché but it is my family 🙂 My little girl is my biggest strength and push to do better. Its her future and the way I would like to see her think about the environment in everything that she does, is what started me on this journey. My husband has been a pillar of support and helped me follow my passion.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?

Not being able to plan demand well in advance, you don’t realize sometimes when your customers like the product and it sells out much faster than you anticipated.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Just go for it! the more you think, the more reasons you will find to stop you from doing it on our own.

Take help from other women in business and join business communities, there are plenty of kind people willing to help and share experiences that are very helpful.

Does Tickle Tickle help the community or society?

Yes, we collaborate with organizations that encourage reducing their plastic waste by gaining points that can be redeemed on our website towards purchases.

Website: http://www.tickletickle.in