From a 15-year-old taking on the world alone to building a multi-crore business, Chinu Kala's success story is an extraordinary tale of survival.
India is a land of many inspiring rags-to-riches stories. One such belongs to fashion jewellery queen Chinu Kala. The 40-year-old self-made woman entrepreneur is the founder of Rubans Accessories, one of the fastest growing fashion labels in India. Chinu is today a renowned businesswoman, recently named in the 40 under 40 list by one of the most prestigious business magazines in the country. However, her success story was built on a path of hardships and setbacks which only made stronger her resolve to move forward.
Here’s the inspiring success story of Chinu Kala, who went from a 15-year-old girl taking on the world all alone to being the boss of a thriving business empire.
1. A tale of extraordinary courage
)
Differences with her family forced Chinu to leave her home in Mumbai and set about to figure out life on her own at the tender age of 15. With only Rs 300 in her pocket, a bag of clothes and no educational qualification or any other support, she had to sleep at the railway station. Her first job was a salesgirl earning Rs 20 a day, going door-to-door selling knives and coasters. She strengthened her independence over the years, making ends meet by doing odd jobs, becoming proficient in the art of survival.
2. Entering the world of modelling
)
Chinu moved to Bengaluru after marriage in 2004. Her passion for modelling took her to the Gladrags Mrs India Pageant of 2008, going on to become one of the top 10 finalists. It had been a decade since Chinu had left home to carve out her own destiny. Her foray into modelling led her to start her entrepreneurial journey. She founded Fonte Corporate Solutions which reached its peak making corporate merchandising for leading brands like Airtel, Sony and ESPN. From Rs 300 in pocket, Chinu had reached a long way. But her success story was just beginning.
3. The making of Rubans
)
After Gladrags success, Chinu realised a gap in India’s jewellery market and how important the product was to the fashion industry. In 2014, she decided to move out of corporate merchandising and dived into the fashion industry, founding her brand Rubans Accessories with a personal saving of Rs 3 lakh. Beginning with a 36-square-feet kiosk, Rubans and Chinu grew fast. In just a year, the brand had retail stores across multiple cities. In 6 years of business, her company is churning out a turnover to the tune of Rs 30 crore and growing fiercely at 10% year-on-year. Chinu aims to fire up the growth rate further to 150% with the ambitious target of Rs 140 crore turnover by 2024.
4. Advice from the jewellery fashion queen
)
On her journey to success, Chinu recently said in an interview that one thing she did was to not let her curiosity die down and still holds it with her like day one. Failing many times, she always gathered herself with “double the vigour and bounced back stronger than before,” China said in the interview. She asserted that it happened because she never had a Plan B. Success has been her survival mantra since the tender years of childhood.
Pics Courtesy: Instagram screengrab/ @chinu_kala
