A person’s hair is more than just a part of the body. It’s a source of confidence and a tool to express oneself. Therefore, hair loss can be a big deal for some. Parul Gulati learned the scarcity of affordable and high-quality natural hair extensions and took this opportunity to create the first D2C Indian natural hair extension brand.
Our moderator and partner, Mr. Mehul Shah had an insightful fireside chat on her journey and lessons to learn to manage and build a brand. We will discuss the snippets of her amazing fireside chat and also learn to juggle multiple hats as an actor cum entrepreneur and win customers’ attention.
Who is Parul Gulati?
Parul Gulati is an Indian actor cum entrepreneur, the Malkin (owner) of Nish Hair. While she was creating her career in acting and modeling, she turned a struggle she faced into an international business. Nish Hair offers premium natural hair extensions and accessories. Parul Gulati’s vision, creativity, and dedication have helped her create an eco-friendly beauty solution to empower people to look beautiful and be creative with their styles without breaking the bank. Nish Hair offers natural hair extensions in a diverse range, from the classic to the premium, so everyone has access to quality hair products!
Ms. Parul’s journey from being in the entertainment industry to establishing herself as a successful business owner and a credible actress is an inspiration. We are honored that we could have a fireside chat with her at the International Investor Summit in Abu Dhabi, as she has also set up her store in Dubai. She shared her story, insights, and journey with our attendees to understand how
you can thrive with your business.
Learning Brand Management with Parul Gulati at IIS Season 1
To expand a startup, you must understand diverse markets’ unique needs and opportunities. Parul Gulati’s Nish Hair is known for its high-quality natural hair extensions and other solutions. When she decided to expand her business, she found that the UAE hair care market was her perfect choice. The harsh water in the UAE has caused severe hair damage, and her products will benefit the
culturally diverse people in the UAE. Therefore, she has opened a Nish Hair studio in Dubai to help people try the products and find their perfect fit!
When asked about her struggles as an actress and an entrepreneur and how she made a name for herself in the business world, she shares that while men dominate the business world, women are no less, taking up their deserved positions and making a mark in their industries. Ms. Parul Gulati shares that her work as an actress is a boon as she gets to promote her brand better. Anyone who interacts with her content as an actress knows about her Nish Hair products. Another thing to learn from her is that if you want to build your name in the startup ecosystem, promote it at every chance!
Nish Hair is India’s first natural hair extension specialist firm, and Parul Gulati successfully created a category for her brand. When asked how she will tackle the competition or offer innovative solutions, she remarks that being a D2C brand, her focus remains on her consumers. She plans to provide her target audience with the best and most relatable content, as social media has been the core pillar of Nish Hair’s success. Ms. Parul has expanded her business from digital-first to physical stores in beauty products markets in the UAE and other countries.
The use of AI in the beauty industry has still growth potential. Parul Gulati is open to integrating AI into her Nish Hair website to enable her clients to try the extensions virtually and see if they suit their faces and styles. There is a gap and opportunities for AI startups to grow in the UAE haircare market.
Every entrepreneur has struggles and moments where growth seems stuck, and the startup’s future is far away. Nish Hair is no different. When Nish Hair decided to expand its business globally, it targeted Dubai to open its physical studio. However, Ms. Parul was not ready for the startup challenges in UAE, such as the lengthy legal procedures and struggle to find the right place and build her studio from the ground up. It was critical and straining because she expanded through bootstrapping without any VC investment.
She expresses how emotionally draining that journey has been for her. However, her perseverance and dedication helped her achieve her dream, and she even opened a store in Dubai! Furthermore, she expresses how she never lets social media trolling get to her head as she takes pride in being un-ignorable. In her words, ‘Whether you like it or not, you are going to watch it anyway!’.
Time is a scarce resource, especially for entrepreneurs. For Ms. Parul, it was even more scarce as she was an entrepreneur and an actress! When one of our attendees asked her how she could juggle all these hats and ace it all, she pointed out that the secret was her all-women team. Parul utilizes every small moment of time, and her core team helps her manage the business like pros.
She emphasizes that an efficient and synergetic squad is a must for startups.
During the fireside chat, our moderator Mehul Shah took the opportunity to use Ms. Parul’s witty style and spontaneousness to create a rapid-fire round to create a few potential collab taglines between Nish Hair and some of our attendees. You can check out her replies and quick taglines in the video of her chat here.
The International Investor Summit is a place for investors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to gather and share their knowledge while learning about industry trends and diverse topics! The IIS season 1 in 2024 was a great success with the panel discussions on wealth, health, growing industries in UAE, and the pitching and fireside chats. We aim to contribute to the growing startup ecosystem in the UAE to create a network, raise funds, and build strategic brand deals.
We will return this year with another stunning summit in the UAE. Stay tuned for more updates on how you can build your global presence throughout the summit!
