With the growing stress of daily-life, and ever-changing diet habits, it takes a toll on skin, and
hair. Especially for women who are sensitive to their hormonal changes. As the worries of hair
and skincare grow, there’s also a rise of brands producing products that harm the skin, and/or
have side-effects because of the harsh chemicals used in the products. The products that are
seemingly better, are of a higher cost.
This called for a solution that adapted the philosophy of Cleanbeauty. Soulflower is one such
brand that noticed this gap way back in 2007, and bridged it under the leadership of the founder
Natasha Tuli. Unbeknownst to the people of India that their own country is a mass producer of
essential oils, they keep gravitating towards the foreign companies. Someone had to open their
eyes and minds to acknowledge our age-old traditions.
Natasha Tuli studied architecture from JJ School of Architecture, Mumbai. Although she comes
from a film family, she always wanted to do something of her own. So she decided to blend the
two things she is most passionate about- architecture and nature. As the initial steps were taken,
the market research brought forward harsh truths of how a lot of brands were not able to meet
the needs of customers and the customers kept experiencing dissatisfaction.
Along with her co-founder Amit Sarda, she decided to start Soulflower as a bootstrapped brand
that sells essential oils in the form of diffusers. They became the ‘David amongst Goliaths’ to
solve the problems and provide the customers satisfaction with the results. At first they started
as an offline B2B brand that sold their products to retail stores like Shopperstop, and Lifestyle.
Anyone who walked in the store would be their customer. However, as COVID-19 hit, and the
retail stores locked-down, the brand hit a roadblock. “We knew that the lockdown would be
eased and malls would open up again. But we also knew that we couldn’t cater to a large base
of customers until we came online. This is when we strategized a shift from pure B2B brand to
a mix of B2C and D2C”, Natasha shares.
The brand’s Rosemary hair growth oil quickly became an Amazon best-seller surpassing
Parachute in online sales. Gradually, Natasha Tuli and Amit Sarda started striving towards
making Soulflower a farm-to-face clean beauty brand. They taught the school teachers of a small
tribal area in Rajasthan how to make oils and used the farm to grow their very own organic
herbs that are used in formulations. The company holds all the quality control to ensure their
customer’s get the results only with the best. From hair-growth oils, Soulflower has now grown
to produce natural hair serums, shampoos, shampoo bars, conditioners, face wash, face serums,
soaps, sunscreen, and skin-oils.
In 2013, Soulflower received a Rs. 15 crore funding from Wipro that boosted the growth of the
brand. “WIPRO approached us and asked if we required funds to build the brand’s online
presence. We were very grateful to be backed by them. The interesting story is that the CEO
approached us because he had seen our products in his daughter’s bedroom and was
immediately interested in knowing more”, Natasha recalls.
Unfortunately, in 2022 Natasha met with an accident that caused a Brain Hemorrhage, and to
recover her doctor recommended to not indulge in physical activities and a complete rest.
However, Natasha thought otherwise. Running was in her bones and she could not wait to get
back to her routine after the medical procedures were over. In November of the same year, she
participated in a 21.1 km marathon and completed it, truly bending the universe to surrender to
her wish.
Natasha Tuli and Soulflower’s story is of innovation, resilience, and determination. A story of
grit that refuses to accept anything less than what they truly deserve. It truly is inspiring to force
the universe to accept our wishes. No matter how many obstacles one encounters along the way,
one must stop not till the goal is reached. Want more such stories? Subscribe to our website for
more inspiring startup stories now!
