SHRADHA SUD

Start and end with kindness.

New Delhi, India / Palo Alto, USA

August 10, 2023

Have you ever been at a point of decision when all the forces in your life collide? When those forces urge you towards a new beginning and your intuition kicks in? Shradha Sud arrived at that pivotal moment when she had been working as a lawyer for fourteen years and became pregnant. It is said that motherhood is a calling. For Shradha, it was the call of an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs have an unstoppable urge to solve problems. Shradha had always been a “sucker” for doing so, especially for women. She is a women’s evangelist—be it in helping the neighbor who lost her young daughter to hospital negligence or calling timeout on a colleague for stifling a female team member’s voice. She shared her passion when we sat for an interview.

“The number of times I have spoken out for women!” she exclaimed. “When women succumb to fear and intimidation, I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ I’m a great supporter and all for causes that uplift. Women who know me know they can always ask for help.”

While her work as a lawyer influenced who she is today, Shradha’s greatest inspiration comes from her own family. Her husband is a positive and systematic thinker. Her sister is self-realizing and course corrects effortlessly. Above all, however, Shradha’s parents set a great example during her childhood.

“In my private equity law work,” she shared, “I have often been impressed with entrepreneurs shifting gears to build businesses. But the first person I saw doing crazy things was my mom. First, she worked in IT sales. Then she started a fashion business. When she realized that the business was not her cup of tea, she shut it down. Then the day I left for college, she enrolled to study psychology. Now she's practicing.”

“I've never seen my mom stop. She once asked me, ‘What stops you from being anything?’”

Shradha went on, “My dad is in the Navy and is the most positive thinker in the world. He has taught me to let things go. He has obviously faced hardships but I’ve always seen him keep his cool.”

Her father developed her interest in managing personal finances and wealth. She wants more women to recognize that financial independence is fundamental to happiness.

“Always be financially independent,” she said emphatically. “That is the number one thing.”

“If you want to take a break after pregnancy, get a divorce or take care of others, first see your financial situation. I grew up watching my dad invest in stocks. He’d read balance sheets, charts and annual reports at home. He’d make one into one hundred. That had a big influence on me.”

Shradha loves ambition but hates competitiveness. Her ambition is for a serious career and a legacy that inspires and supports. What others are doing is inconsequential to her. She took the plunge into entrepreneurship when a big need became personally apparent. “I was working 18-hour days with travel and meetings,” she explained. “There's a certain image to project as a lawyer but when you get pregnant, you look terrible. I thought, ‘This is crazy! There has to be a homegrown Indian brand for maternity given the number of kids we produce.’”

“I saw a business case for a cause close to my heart. I loved fashion but I didn’t understand the business of fashion. I decided to figure it out.”

It was 2015. Life thus far had been smooth sailing. But at six months pregnant, Shradha took disruption by the horns and registered her company. At eight months, she was still working in her job but with the added responsibility of starting a business.

She spoke candidly, “It was hard from the word ‘go.’ I had two feet and I was on three boats—my job, my baby and my venture. I was going crazy missing interviews and deadlines. It was like having twins. I remember when I was nine months pregnant, I was in a meeting and my shoe literally came off while I was walking. I bent to fix my socks and I couldn't get up!”

She continued, “No one tells you what shit you go through as a new mom. The minute I had my baby, I was simply not myself.”

“For example, the gynecologist asked me whether I had been taking my multivitamins. I hadn't even turned the page to see that she'd prescribed multivitamins! The first year and a half was a struggle mentally and physically. I finally negotiated to quit my job after maternity leave. It was just too much.”

Shradha survived the best way she knew how—by staying focused on keeping her new baby and her new venture alive. She had help at home but somehow the stress of the situation made it extraordinarily hard to navigate. Especially in those early weeks postpartum.

She shared her frustration, “No one tells you what those first three weeks will be like. My baby was once crying all night with colic. The next morning, the driver didn’t show and I couldn’t drive so we had to wait for my husband to come home to go to the doctor. The doctor’s office kept calling to say we’d lose our appointment.”

“I've never felt so helpless. I remember thinking, ‘This is ridiculous. When does it stop? What has happened to my brain?’ I could handle a hundred people in a room but here, I had lost control. This is something I can laugh about now but in that moment, it felt serious.”

Building a business from scratch takes extraordinary courage, no matter the circumstance. Shradha’s first brand, Mamacouture, is India’s first e-commerce maternity fashion brand. Her second brand, MVSE, is a patented solution for tummy control. Both are female-led and thriving. Both are a product of Shradha’s unique personality. She is refreshingly positive and easygoing but she is also hard-headed and determined.

She recounted one of the hardest lessons in her start up journey. “We encountered a cash flow issue three years into starting the first brand and to my dismay, we had zero cash for salaries. The thought of telling everybody that we were finished was eating me up inside. I remember that day in December—my colleague and I literally got up and went for a movie, hoping that Coke and popcorn would calm our nerves. I didn’t want to just throw money at the problem. I needed to see what would happen if I simply left it to sort itself out. We didn’t pull through until March but we survived. I went through many emotions but because of that experience, we were ready during COVID. We laid off nobody, we paid everybody, we stayed intact.”

Experience has taught Shradha that sometimes the best course of action is to take no action at all. That there are times when you must let go, distance yourself or take a pause because not everything is within your circle of control. One especially important piece of advice that she gives aspiring entrepreneurs is that it is a mistake to quit your job right away.

“99% of ventures fail,” she explained. “You’ve go to account not just for the starting but for the failing. Can you survive? Can you afford your lifestyle?”

“People say that if you have faith in your idea, you should quit your job and focus. I think this is backwards. If you have that much faith, work on the weekends and do not upset your life. Make sure you already have revenue and a four-year plan. Hold on to the sanity of a salary.”

One of Shradha’s favorite entrepreneurs is Spanx founder Sarah Blakely. She shared Sarah’s advice on failure, “Sarah’s dad would ask, ‘What did you fail at today?’ Failure may feel like a negative but you learned something. I wish this acceptance of failure had been taught in our schools. I tell my daughter that it’s better to try than not to try. My second brand would not be where it is today if I had not learned from my failures.”

When asked about her life purpose, Shradha immediately responded, “My purpose is do good, be good. Be brave for someone else if you don't need to be brave for yourself. It’s the easiest to be kind.”

“Be kind to everybody but be a little kinder to yourself. There is beauty in knowing when to ask for help.”

She went on to share a story, “I start and end with kindness because it's much bigger than anything else that one can do. Kindness is a weapon. It is humility and strength. It is a flywheel. When we go to the grocery store, my now eight-year-old daughter buys chocolate for two people—one for who is billing and one for who is packing. A store employee once told my daughter that she would gift the chocolate to her grandson. My daughter used to feel shy but now she comes out beaming.”

Seven years ago, Shradha met her pivotal moment and transformed her career into an uplifting force for mothers, daughters and women. Last year, Shradha hired a new CEO and moved from New Delhi to Palo Alto for her husband’s job. “Being there for loved ones is how I define success. If I am not able to do that then what’s all this for?” she asked.

Her business continues to grow despite the distance because she has founded it on trust and empathy. She understands that power is not about extreme control but rather, about acting in the best interests of others. “I define power as great responsibility,” she said.

“Having the knowledge to change things may feel like power but you have to act in order for it to make a difference. I ask myself, ‘Where can I apply my power?’”

Great question, Shradha and one we can use as a mirror unto ourselves. Where might we apply our own power and what might be possible if we have the courage to do so? I, for one, am inspired to find out.