The idea of starting an online maternity fashion brand cropped up when my childhood friend and co-founder Kriti and I were having a conversation with a friend who was expecting and was upset because she was having difficulty finding clothes for a party, it really hit her self-esteem. And it got us thinking of how pregnancy is so underrated and how it deserves much more importance. On researching further we found out that although tradition too tells us that being a mother is a blessing and we vouch for it, yet it’s tough to negate the worries that accompany pregnancy. A 2015 research of expecting Indian mothers found expecting mothers to be as anxious about breastfeeding as their attractiveness during and post-pregnancy. Several studies prove the effect of clothes on self-confidence and self-love. We realised how we could use the power of fashion to solve these problems by creating the right kind of trendy, fashionable yet comfortable maternity wear with easy nursing accesses and how this would be a step towards resolving these worries. We conducted a research and surveyed over 100 expecting mothers and doctors only to find the need to have fashionable yet comfortable and functional maternity clothes and we decided to take a plunge leaving our lucrative jobs and start our own maternity fashion brand MOMZJOY. We create thoughtfully designed chic, innovative and functional clothing that provides style and comfort to nursing and pregnant mothers-to-be. We take pride in being a “Make in India” brand – from the raw materials used to the extensive in-house manufacturing, everything is indigenous. Currently bootstrapped, our portal and products went live online in Mid-November 2015. In a short span, Momzjoy has received great reviews on our products from our customers, parenting bloggers etc. The popularity of Momzjoy can be gauged by the fact that even before our launch, we started receiving orders and in the first month itself, crossed over 200 orders.
Both Kriti and I are computer science engineers turned fashion designers and entrepreneurs, who believed in our idea and intention to add value to individuals and impact their lives positively. This is what motivated us to take the plunge to follow what we truly are passionate about. We’re not saying this didn’t come with its share of challenges. For me, coming from a non – business background, being a computer science engineer and then leaving my lucrative job to start up a maternity fashion brand was a challenge and initially a big step for my family to accept. But they understood the concept and inspiration of my startup and have been 100% supportive. For Divya - being married and balancing home and a full-time startup was challenging at first, but her husband and family have been a great support throughout. Moreover, we knew we knew we had to take a step. If you’re determined to achieve something you’ll find a way out. Keeping the big picture in mind has been instrumental in overcoming any challenges. We don’t look at any challenges as problems, and we know that challenges are faced in every new business every day, and we’re no different, but we see each one of them as stepping stones to reach our goal of empowering millions of pregnant moms and new moms. It’s also important to remember when you start your business you are “Chief Everything Officers” and assume every role and it can be overwhelming at times but persistence, perseverance and patience is the key and in due course when you see the results there is no better reward. There is no bigger joy than when expecting mothers and new mothers come up to us and tell us how confident and beautiful they feel when they wear our designs. Just being a part of their journey to create life is our biggest payoff, after all, we too owe our existence to our mothers.
