Tell us about yourself and your background
I am a conscious woman, tuned into the spirit of nature and universal spirit. I idolise my mother; the epitome of womanhood, a healer, a keeper, a generous, kind and compassionate woman, mother to all… That’s what I have imbibed from her. I follow the path of practise given by my Guru, Yogi Ashwini and that has taught me to keep myself attuned to nature, yoga, Ayurveda, herbalism and service. All of this completes the circle of life. Giving back to nature what we receive and evolve – it multiplies manifold.
Tell us about the company you have set up – when did you set it up, what products or services do you provide, what is your target market?
My company started as a hobby and a necessity. When I refused to accept what market offered as natural or organic but failed to deliver the purity I looked for, I started to make my own things, for myself, and people close to me. They were received well; they worked better than things that compromised on quality and ingredients.
I make essentials for the body, foods for skin. These are not cosmetics, because we don’t need a cosmetic life. Not all of us, not our children, our future generations, not our elders, not anyone who wants to live in tune with nature and switch to organic. Cosmetics are artificial; we make skincare, hair care, tonics with real ingredients, without artificial preservatives, without the nasty bits, things that are safe for children, the elderly and the rest of us.
It’s farcical when you eat organic and spray, rub or wash your largest organ (your skin) with chemicals. You’re wasting all of it.
Having studied Ayurveda, Herbalism, Aromatherapy, about foods and nutrition and practising it in life, I was able to create a diverse range of organic products suitable for everyone.
The uniqueness of my creation is that I can customise it according to individual’s requirement. We are unique in our constitutions. Products are largely created to suit general constitutions but we give the option of choosing from what suits you, individually.
Why did you set up the company? / What drove you to become an Entrepreneur?
My belief in what I do and that there are takers for it. It’s the quality of the product, which speaks for itself. It is also the necessity of the time. When someone like me looked for solutions and a means of shutting chemicals out of my life and routine, I couldn’t find suitable or easy answers. There are many like me, who face the hazard or understand the hazard of consuming poisons or toxins in the form of cosmetics, foods, radiation and then the medicines to counter the effects of it, equally hazardous. I came up with the solution. When somebody says I want to switch to organic completely, I fill the gap. I give you everything you need for shunning “anything cosmetic” out of your lives. It’s not just the food that you consume and accumulate toxins from. Your skin, your largest organ and the barrier between you and the outside environment, literally sucks everything it comes in contact with. I offer complete skincare and detox solutions, inside out, with everything natural, organic. It’s the labour of more than a decade understanding and collecting this knowledge. It is everyone’s need today – a chemical free option.
I have also introduced in the Indian market the only organic, safe, eco-friendly, biodegradable and successful brand of sanitary napkins – Drion. Drion is an Australian brand. Since I could not produce an alternative to the highly toxic and dangerous sanitary napkins available in our market, I had no option but to seek it from elsewhere.
After reading, researching and experimenting with a lot of personal hygiene products from the world market, I zeroed down on Drion. With its unique features like a healing Infrared chip and Anion chip, it has brought women’s health, hygiene and safety concerns to another level. It’s a boon to women who put health, hygiene and safety at preference.
Well apart from food and application, a safe hygiene product is also required to banish the poisons finding their way into women’s bodies.
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving your success?
We’re still far from commercial success. There have been innumerable challenges. To be able to create a line of organic skincare with absolutely no synthetic preservatives was a humungous task. No one ever believed that anything which has water or organic (plant) ingredients in it, could have a shelf life without adding synthetic preservatives. I wasn’t ready to compromise there. What was the point switching to organic if you have to add chemical preservatives?
It took me years to create these products with infinite numbers of experiments, sometimes failures, and dissatisfaction, in comparison to commercially available products, for example the fragrance part. Cosmetics contain perfume fragrances, innumerable varieties, how do you match that with limited natural and more specifically organic options available? Colours, appealing to the senses, again limiting the variety in comparison with commercially available options, these are serious challenges.
Licensing has been yet another challenge. It’s ironic here, when you want to create something pure, organic, environmental friendly, that it’s mandatory to have your production facility in an industrial area. Our government needs to take notice of this fact, that in an industrial area, air, water, the whole environment is polluted with industrial waste. Yet you cannot obtain a manufacturing license outside an industrial area to commercially manufacture even an organic product. It’s impossible to even breathe in such an environment.
Most importantly the comparisons in prices from the unaware consumer. I procure and import my ingredients from their native habitats, one variety of lavender from highlands of France, another from Spain, essential oils of the same plant with different components from different parts of the world, clays from around the world with different mineral contents, edible varieties of clays and oils and herbs. The amount of effort and hours, days, and sometimes months of research that goes into selecting the best variety and identifying the real components from hidden ingredients, just to create something which is highest, purest grade. When it gets compared with something a commercial brand creates just to make profits for its own company, with false promises, it’s kind of disheartening. We all know why businesses exist, primarily to make profits. How many ethical businesses are successful these days? Large scale commercial companies mass produce things and have no choice but to add synthetics to increase the shelf lives of the products, add dangerous ingredients to give them instant smoothness, finish and sheen. I prefer to buy from small companies, where quality control and ethics are not difficult to practise and small batches are produced. That’s what I do, to maintain the quality and keep away from nasty toxic ingredients in my products.
What has been your greatest achievement so far?
God’s grace. I have been able to create a unique range strictly adhering to my principles, without adulteration, without compromise. Sticking to nature and my roots.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
My Guru, Yogi Ashwini. He made me believe in the power of thought, and the purer it is, the stronger it is. He set my principles, on the principles of Yoga. No compromise, no adulteration, be it in Yoga, life or business. He taught me the principles of Ayurveda, ways to lead an organic life and the relevance of all of this in today’s time.
How do you balance your work life and home life?
My work is no different from the life I live. I live in nature; I live with animals, plants, birds and forces of nature. I grow things, I use a lot of my produce, and I create things, which have no element of synthetics in them, be it in cooking, healing, application or thought. My work is an extension of my home life.
What advice do you have for women starting out on their own?
Believe in your abilities, women are a reflection of nature, Prakriti, there’s nothing stronger than nature. There’s nothing you cannot achieve once you set your eyes on it. Honesty pays in the long run. Think beyond your friends and families, extend your help and abilities to those who need it. It is important to contribute, to give back in order to complete the circle of life.
Can you recommend any organisations or networking groups that have particularly helped you on your journey?
The Dhyan Foundation is my partner in my journey. My co-volunteers who blindly trust in what I do, what I say and what I create even against their doctors’ advice at times.
Quinta Essentia Organic had not been born without the loving demands and appreciation of my friends and co-volunteers at Dhyan Foundation.
What does Dhyan Foundation do?
Dhyan Foundation is a volunteer based spiritual and charitable organization, which teaches authentic practices of Yoga and Vedic sciences in entirety. As our social and spiritual responsibility, we run schools for underprivileged children and provide them free meals, uniforms and education. We have animal shelters under our campaigns, Feed a dog, Save a cow, free daily food distribution at centres across India for people and animals, treatments and sterilization drives for injured and abandoned strays, We rescue animals illegally smuggled or sold for slaughter and work towards their sustenance. As practitioners of yoga and believers of holistic sciences like Ayurveda and herbalism we encourage a holistic lifestyle, organic foods and organic way of life. We encourage farmers to go back to ancient organic farming practices, we raise desi Indian cows to get pure cow’s milk and milk products for its’ amazing medicinal and nutritional values.
We take responsibility of our neighbourhoods and encourage people and children to address environmental issues. We try to do as much as we can to make it possible for our future generations to live a healthy, meaningful and successful life in a beautiful healthy environment.
If you could ask for one thing to help propel your business what would it be?
Awareness.
It’s not just my business that is my concern. I work for or represent each one who understands the catastrophic effects of the number of toxins, which find way into our bodies today. Never has life been so affected by man-made artificial products in the history of mankind. There are toxins in the soil we grow our food in, antibiotics and hormones in milk that we drink, the air fresheners and sprays we put on or breathe, the utensils we cook in, the methods of cooking-microwave ovens, Styrofoam and plastics cups, synthetic fibers in our clothes and bedding, processed foods laced with carcinogenic preservatives and flavour enhancers, colors and aromas in foods and cosmetics, plasticisers, parabens, dyes in shampoos, conditioners and soaps, bleach, petrochemicals and dangerous DNA altering chemicals in sanitary napkins, tampons and diapers, in every basic necessity of the modern life. The list doesn’t end here. The number of toxic substances which have leeched into our lives are beyond imagination and the scope of this page to accommodate. If looking at the number of diseases and auto-immune disorders which have become so common these days, cancers of various kinds, deformities, hormonal disorders, genetic disorders, bacterial, viral, fungal diseases etc etc doesn’t ring an alarm bell in our ears, then there’s some serious dearth of right information the common man needs to have access of.
It’s only awareness, which can help ethical businesses grow and make a difference in the environment, future lives and health of the society.
What does the future hold for you?
I hope the future is clean, pure and pristine. I hope the coming generations are more aware of their environment and do everything necessary to preserve it. I hope we bring back the same glory and beauty back to our rivers, mountains, grain-fields and habitat as God bestowed us with. If we manage to reach there, Future is bright for me…
About Arti Gaur:
I come from a humble middle class Brahmin family. Having lost them at the age of 20 I got some hard and real life experiences. From an emotional and physical (health) wreck with a number of ailments in my history, when I met my Guru, Yogi Ashwini, who changed the course of my life, I have come this far, to be able to do something for those who need, desire or appreciate. Completely turning to nature cures and remedies I took to the path of Yoga and Ayurveda. I gave myself a purpose to aid creation and do whatever in my means and scope of understanding and enhancing quality of life, for my friends, co-volunteers and animals which need assistance, help and support. Life is a constant journey and I endeavour to enhance and improve it, stage by stage on the ladder of evolution.
Contacting Arti:
Website – Quinta Essentia Organics
Telephone number: 91-999-999-4574
