We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Naina Jain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Naina, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Brand Founder information/Story – Marigoldbub began when I was looking for a rash solution for my 6 month old daughter in October of 2020. The solutions offered to me, such as steroids and topical creams, didn’t take into consideration the sensitiveness of a baby’s skin and I was extremely worried about the side-effects (Covid epidemic didn’t help with that either). I went back to my roots of being raised on principles of Ayurveda, and thought what would my grand father do, he was an ayurvedic practioner and I grew up going to nature before anything else. I found myself making oil for her infused with Ayurvedic herbs that I could trust – this was the birth of Calming Baby Massage Oil. Since then, I have gone back to Ayurveda to look for holistic solutions, for my kiddos and myself (the skincare line was my solution to safe but effective skin routine while nursing). Each of the products is personal and special, it is what I use for our family. With Marigoldbub, I want to make the ancient science of Ayurveda relevant into the daily lives of people.
Meaning/Explanation Behind Brand Name -In India, marigold flowers hold a special place, they symbolize purity and the divine. It is also used in Ayurveda due to its antioxidant properties. When I was thinking of the brand, Marigold stood to me as the pure essence, and Bub is what I call my kiddos. This name symbolizes the pure and innocence of plant based solutions that have stood around the test of time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Through Marigoldbub I offer parents and mothers, a proven plant based solutions for the needs of parenthood. Marigoldbub is the only Ayurveda (5,000-year-old natural wellness system from India) based skincare line for mothers and babies. Our two product lines, Anti-Aging Skincare for mothers and Gentle Skincare for babies are cruelty-free, vegan, with no paraben or sulphates, and are safe for pregnant and postpartum women. We believe that every baby and parent deserve a joyful beginning and as a mom founded business, we understand that the journey into parenthood is as thrilling as it is challenging. Our mission is to make the parenting journey smoother, more delightful, and filled with joy with thoughtfully curated and trusted products.
True to our mission on spreading the wisdom of Ayurveda, through social media , we partner with parents on educating them on Ayurveda and how they can incorporate some fundamental principles into their parenting journey.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
I didn’t know the first thing about manufacturing products on a large scale but what I realized (as a parent myself) was that if I were to gain the trust of other parents, I had to lock in production that could extensive testing on quality. In searching for a manufacturer, there were a few things that were non negotiable, firstly I wanted them to be manufactured in United States where I could trust the quality through a certified facility, second I wanted a manufacturer who would comply with my Cruelty Free standards and thirdly, I didn’t want to compromise on my formulations – I didn’t want someone asking me to sub a different herb for cost reasons.
With the above in mind, I reached out to a series of manufacturers, conducted interviews, understood their process. One thing I learnt is that the way we do business and treat folks, is a true reflection of how the long term partnership will be. I wasn’t even a tiny fish in this market and there were clearly manufacturers who were not interested in working with me (and that is okay) but how you treat someone was a telling sign for a potential future together.
After about six months of search, I found a manufacturer who understood Ayurveda and my mission, and we began working together on the baby skincare line. We did a series of iteration on the baby massage oil and diaper rash cream till I was satisfied (I had completely underestimated this part of the process) and then we were off to the races. This experience taught me some lessons about the manufacturing process, timelines and expectations that made my search for the skincare manufacturer much smoother.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I don’t think one can own a business without resilience as a key strength. From the very beginning in the journey, I had to learn new skills (like content creation, blogging, etc – these were all foreign to me) and be very patient with myself. Once I had my product and my vision, it wasn’t (and still isn’t) a smooth road upward; the world is constantly evolving and you have to keep up.
I recall a friend introduced me to a marketer to assist with client reach and I recall receiving his analysis, it was 3 pages on why I wasn’t going to succeed. The first time I read it, I was defeated (for days) and then looked at it closer, there were elements of the analysis that were true and some parts in which I could tell we weren’t aligned on the long term vision. As a founder and owner, you have to be selective (objective while being emotional) on what you should incorporate and understand where the feedback is coming from before you begin to action. While you want to lean on experts (and I am not one in Marketing) you really have to be able to take the knocks and pick yourself back up, look at things objectively again and learn something from it. I truly believe that the only failure is the one you don’t learn from; that experience taught me to look a deeper on marketing tactics though I didn’t want to hear it. As a business owner, there isn’t a roadmap that you can adopt and you have to be able to move forward one step at a time, particularly if you are offering something in a market that hasn’t been offered before.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marigoldbub.com
- Instagram: @marigoldbub
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marigoldbub
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/marigoldbub
