Hibiscus Monkey is a first-of-its-kind body specialist brand in India that brings highly targeted solutions to niche problem areas on the skin on the body. Hibiscus Monkey was founded by a mother and her twin daughters, Mona, Naina, and Roshni.
Mona, Naina, and Roshni, you come from diverse professional backgrounds. What was your journey to Hibiscus Monkey?
Mona: I am a CA and a former corporate banker, I quit working in the prime of my career to look after my twin daughters – Naina and Roshni - they were two little girls and before I knew it, 20 years went by. For me, Hibiscus Monkey is so much more than a profession, it has been an emotional journey of getting back into the workforce and finding my own purpose again, this time as a 60 year old! The world has changed dramatically and I am finding myself in it again. It has been all kinds of wonderful! While accounts and finance are the backbone of any business, I am particularly drawn to the art of storytelling that comes with building a brand ground up.
Roshni: I spent the last 10 years in the US. Post my undergrad at Cornell, I started off as a Management Consultant in corporate America, but very quickly pivoted and decided to move to India to work for the Indian Government. I realized at a young age, I wanted to be a part of India’s growth story and do meaningful work that would contribute to its development. In the Government, I was part of a high-action war room that rolled out Prime Minister’s priority welfare projects. During my time in the government, I realized the necessity for India to shift to a job creator economy from a job seeker one. This led me back to the US to pursue a double masters, getting my MBA and Master in Public Policy jointly at Harvard and MIT. My education equipped me with the skills necessary to build a sustainable business rooted in the success of the Indian economy and the community.
Naina: I too spent the last 10 years in the US. While I am an engineer from MIT, I ended up working for several luxury beauty clients as a Management Consultant in New York City. The engineer in me became fascinated with how prestige beauty brands used technology to create meaningful consumer experiences and this led me to Unilever Arabia where I joined the first-ever Marketing Digital Transformation team. Later, I managed iconic beauty brands like Dove and Simple as Assistant Brand Manager. Post getting my MBA at Harvard, I was clear I wanted to build in beauty and moved to India to build Hibiscus Monkey with my mother and Roshni.
In a crowded beauty and brand market does Hibiscus Monkey stand out?
Roshni: Hibiscus Monkey was founded on the belief that body care deserves higher standards. Over time the beauty industry has normalized bringing innovations to face care products, while putting minimal regard to formulations for body care. As a result of this, we have accepted substandard care for our body and continue to neglect the remaining 95% of skin on our body beyond our face.
Naina: While we were in grad school, we got to incubate Hibiscus Monkey in some of the most prestigious accelerators in the world, at Harvard and MIT. During this incubation period, we did extensive primary research, connecting with hundreds of Indian women to identify pain points and identified a critical gap in the market - products that solve for skin issues on the body. Hibiscus Monkey is now challenging the status quo by bringing face-grade care to the body. Hibiscus Monkey is committed to providing targeted solutions for specific body concerns such as strawberry skin, discoloration, and ingrown hair.
Do you have plans to expand your product portfolio or enter new markets? If so, could you give us a sneak peek into what’s next?
Naina: We are building an Indian beauty brand for the world. We want to show the world the highest quality of personal care can come out of India. We have a tight portfolio of products because we are very intentional about the innovations we are putting out. As founders, all three of us are extremely demanding of our formulations and fastidious about every ingredient that goes into our products. Our formulations are plant powered and clean and we do not use any filler ingredient that serves no functional purpose for the skin. All products are dermatologically tested and formulated without synthetic fragrances, dyes, parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde, or other harmful additives.
Why did you choose glass and aluminium packaging over plastic alternatives, and what challenges have you faced in this transition?
Roshni: Our packaging is consciously sustainable, we opt for reusable glass and aluminium alternatives over plastic wherever possible. This has come with its challenges, particularly in transit. However, through multiple iterations we have mastered secure packaging for our bottles. For our in-shower products, where plastic is more prudent for safety, we opted for recyclable PET bottles and have recently launched a “Circle of Sustainability” program – through this program we help our consumers close the loop on their Hibiscus Monkey empty bottles. We take back the bottles from our consumers to pass them on to local manufacturers to recycle the bottles into brand new plastic packaging.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of building Hibiscus Monkey, both as entrepreneurs and as a family?
Mona: As I said earlier, for me, Hibiscus Monkey is so much more than a company. It is truly a whole new inning in my life, where I get to rediscover myself and my purpose. It is a full-circle moment for me, I left my job to look after my twins and now I am back in the workforce with my adult twins as my business partners. Being able to find founders in daughters has been a blessing. We dream together, we fail together and we build together – just as we do in life. In the last 2 years, we have been able to create a company that reflects our family values and our passion for body care, while creating memories for a lifetime.
As a mother-daughters team, how has your personal dynamic influenced the brand’s journey and decision-making?
Roshni: Working with my mother and sister is a riot! We are a loud Punjabi family and the Hibiscus Monkey workplace is boisterous, chatty and filled with banter just how our dinner table conversations are. Truth be told, there are a lot of fundamentals in terms of values and trust that seamlessly align when working with close family members and that gives us so much comfort as co-founders.
What inspired the name?
Naina: This is a cute story! Hibiscus is the hero ingredient in our very first launch, which is our beloved HM Love Scalp & Hair Oil. Every batch of this oil is made with fresh Hibiscus flowers that are in full bloom – inspired by a potion our nani would make and put on us growing up. Now our nani refers to both Roshni and I as “bandarias”, which is hindi for monkey! Hence Hibiscus Monkey – the name is an ode to our nani!
