Shahnaz Husain,

Asuccess story is always fascinating, more so when it is about a lone woman in a fiercely competitive arena. A wife at 15 and a mother at 16, Shahnaz Husain braved all odds and stuck to her guns. While training in London, when she came across damage caused by chemical treatments, it changed the course of her career. “I wanted to find a safe alternative and knew that I must have my own enterprise in order to translate my ideas into reality. So, I opened my first herbal salon in the verandah of my own home after borrowing `35,000 from my father. I started making my own formulations, using plant products and natural ingredients. I made the products at night, filled them in jars, wrote labels by hand and stuck them on the jars,” recollects Husain who became a case study at Harvard Business School for Brand Creation. Over the next four decades, Husain marketed India’s 5,000 year old civilisation in a jar and created an international market for Ayurvedic beauty care. Having adopted a totally new concept of herbal care and cures, Husain had to increase awareness of the healing powers of herbs and dangers of chemical and synthetic ingredients. The stalwart did this by contributing articles in leading newspapers and magazines. She also made it a point to personally respond to letters seeking solutions for skin and hair problems. Four decades later, she still maintains this personal touch. “Entering the international market was the biggest challenge. India was not even represented at that time, but I attended International Beauty Congresses on my own steam, speaking on Ayurveda and trying to popularise Ayurvedic beauty care.” Shahnaz Husain was the first Indian beauty brand to snag a permanent counter at the Selfridges store in London. From there, the brand moved on to Harrods in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, the Seibu chain in Japan, Bloomindales in New York, La Rinascente in Milan and El Corte Inglis in Spain. The Shahnaz Husain franchise is at the core of the success of the Shahnaz Husain brand. The company has over 1,000 shop-in shops, as well as 15,000 salon outlets, and about 35,000 other points of purchase.