The co-founder continues to lead by example with her beauty brand that makes natural, freshly made hygiene and wellness products
Swagatika Das, Co-founder and CEO, Nat Habit
Image: Madhu Kapparath
Quite early, a barrage of powerful messages got drilled into her impressionable mind. “You are equal. You must speak your mind. You can do anything.” This is what Swagatika Das’s school teachers taught her. What was sowed into their heads 30 years ago, the IIT-Kharagpur graduate underlines, is being reaped now. If you find a steady stream of women entering the workspace, moving up the ladder, taking up senior roles, and speaking their minds, then it’s not a sudden change, reckons Das. You live with bold messages for years, and you end up internalising them. “That’s what changes lives,” she says.
In June 2006, Das was about to exhibit a bold and distinctive behaviour. She was starting her professional stint by joining Schlumberger—the world’s largest offshore drilling company—as a lead engineer in Mumbai. For ages, sectors like oil, gas and drilling have been fortresses ruled by men.
Das was seen as the odd one out. In reality, though, she was merely doing what she has always been taught: You can do anything. She did everything that a young engineer was asked to do. After six years, she quit, completed her MBA from Insead, and did something that not many would do: Changed her stream and joined Apple in 2013.
Apple radically changed her job profile. From heading hardcore drilling operations for years, Das now started building sales strategy across online and reseller channels in Singapore. She also established distribution strategy across Asia-Pacific countries. The shift to a consumer brand came naturally. “I was always fascinated with FMCG brands, and their advertising jingles and tags,” she recalls. Apple looked like the best option to complete the transition from oil and gas to FMCG.
(This story appears in the 24 March, 2023 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)