A quiet evening changed it all! ANUSHA, the proud mom of twins with full of responsibilities and changed priorities decided to follow her desire to build something new and her own. “If I can help so many brands grow, why not create something of my own?” Thus, ADYASHREE EMPORIUM was born.
Anusha was born and raised in Dharwad, a city steeped in culture and simplicity, she grew up surrounded by the richness of tradition. A state-level classical dancer trained for over 15 years and a learner of Carnatic music, she was deeply rooted in India’s artistic heritage from a young age. Her upbringing instilled values of discipline, resilience, and a strong work ethic, while also nurturing her love for beauty, tradition, temple jewellery, and ethnic home décor. These early influences shaped her aesthetic sensibilities and planted the seeds of her creative journey.
Entrepreneurship wasn’t always part of her plan. With a degree in Engineering in Information Science, followed by an MBA in Finance and a Ph.D., she began her career in digital marketing, working with clients across India and mastering branding, customer psychology, and online marketplaces. Anusha find her true instincts and combined her professional expertise and passion for culture to build Adyashree Emporium, a brand that blends tradition, creativity, and digital know-how, where every product is a celebration of India’s timeless heritage.
Beginning the Entrepreneurial Journey
Anusha, in her earlier life started off as a digital marketer and helped a lot of brands reach their target customers online. After a thorough research and understanding the customers need she manifested to start her own product segment that combines tradition with modern commerce. She also noticed the escalating demand in authentic ethnic products online. Her robust experience in digital marketing helped to comprehend the true opportunity in culturally rooted products and introduce to wider customers.
Online shopping has changed the way people buy jewellery, making it more accessible and trend-driven. It has become a fashion statement as people like to wear it for every occasion and match it with their outfits, whether its a festival celebration, wedding or a casual gathering. Thus, Anusha’s Adyashree Emporium dispenses imitation temple jewellery and festive decor like — Handmade decorative hangings and torans, crafted by local artisans. This initiative has provided part-time income to semi-skilled workers.
Currently, jewellery contributes to nearly 80% of total sales. Adyashree Emporium isn’t an in-house designing brand; instead, their collections are carefully curated from trusted vendors, ensuring they align with e-commerce market trends. The focus is on premium quality at affordable
prices. Their products are sourced from reputed manufacturers and wholesalers across Surat, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai. Once packaged under their brand, they are dispatched to Amazon FBA warehouses located in Bangalore, Telangana, and Mumbai.
Certain temple jewellery designs has become consistent bestsellers under Adyashree. Some of their jewellery designs have successfully sold over 10,000+ units of a single style, reflecting their timeless appeal and customer trust.
Anusha’s initial three important steps she took to get her idea off the ground are as follows:
- Understanding legalities of starting business /Researching the market and identifying product categories with cultural relevance.
- Sourcing high-quality, authentic products from artisans and manufacturers.
- Setting up listings on Amazon and Flipkart with SEO-optimized content and professional visuals.
Digital marketing knowledge helped her to validate her products as well by monitoring their performance on different market places. Gradually, she noticed positive reviews and repeat purchases that grew her confidence and strongly stepped into the e-commerce and now fearlessly building her brand.
Overcoming Challenges and Building the Foundation
As every other startup Anusha also found it difficult and experienced challenges from every possible direction — from finding the right suppliers to standing out in highly competitive online marketplaces. She stayed calm and emotionally stable as the journey was trust dependent. Financially, she took wise step by reinvesting her earnings to grow organically. Anusha started off her business by bootstrapping with her personal savings, this gave her complete freedom and control to grow at her own pace. Later, she also availed support through government’s MUDRA Scheme for women entrepreneurs, which further strengthened her journey.
Get Desi_Udyoginis’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.Subscribe
Though she comes from a non-business family, she placed her hesitation aside and she noticed more of appreciation and encouragement. Her family was incredible supporters especially her husband, Srinivas Chavan.
Their belief in me, especially while raising young twin children, gave me the confidence and determination to pursue my vision without fear. — Anusha chavan
Initially Anusha managed everything on her own but as the brand took off and as customers increased she on-boarded freelancers and part-time support who resonated with her ethos. It was a time consuming process to search people who align with your brand ethics but a clear sense of purpose made it possible!
Ecosystem, Support & Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs
Anusha is a beneficiary under Government’s MUDRA scheme and she has successfully closed the loan. She also mentioned about Indian startup ecosystem that is growing swiftly. There are a lot of women stepping forward in the ocean of ‘Entrepreneurship’ and they are still challenges like access to funding, mentorship, visibility and ecosystem support. Thus building a stronger, inclusive startup system is crucial to bridge the gap. In her case she was fortunate enough to have a benevolent family and understanding husband. Her husband being a businessman himself played a pivotal role in shaping her entrepreneurial journey. Anusha still stood strong and grounded without an actual ‘Mentor’, she didn’t distress but relied on online courses and peer conversations which turned down to be a valuable resource for learning, guidance and adaptability throughout her journey.
Growth, Scale and Vision
Anusha was thrilled to receive her first sales order through Amazon just after her listing, it was a aha moment for her to see someone trusting in your products and ordering it. The digital marketing knowledge helped to expand her sales thereafter, she used tools like SEO, Paid ads (Google and Facebook) and AI based visual content worked best for her. She gained good trust and visibility through organic influencer support. Today, Adyashree has reached every girl’s snuffboxes. As she has delivered her products successfully from Jammu Kashmir to Kerala. For quick service to customers she has built FBA warehouses in Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra. Today ‘digital’ has helped people sit at one place and manage everything online likewise Anusha she uses digital tools to manage logistics, order management and customer communication without physical presence but going digital.
Anusha aims to build a D2C platform and eventually an international brand. The everyday customer reviews is worth her efforts and her successful delivery to one lakh + customers has earned her Flipkart’s Gold Seller status. These are all achievable goal with just adopting small steps like prioritizing and planning your day properly. Anusha’s skill to delegate the tasks and leveraging automation tools has allowed her to balance work and personal life. The love for digital marketing and e-commerce keeps her motivated in her work; also a disciplined life, continuous learning and staying rooted has answered all her why’s. Books like Traffic Secrets and Funnels by Russell Brunson; Atomic Habits by James clear has been instrumental in shaping her mindset ans work habits.
Start small, but start. You don’t need everything figured out on day one. Trust your instincts, learn from your mistakes, and remember: your journey is your strength. Believe in yourself — you are more capable than you think. Just look at next step that you need to conquer and accomplish it. Every small step builds a larger picture that you cant even imagine. — Anusha Chavan
The world of Entrepreneurship is growing at high pace and we see a lot of players coming in and going out but the only mantra to stay there and stay rooted is start slow, believe in your baby steps and keep yourself motivated to learn and understand things around. There might be a lot of competitors to Anusha but a girl from small town reaching Pan-India and enjoying her every milestone still with the same zeal to learn and adopt is truely inspiring.
What do you say?
Also read my previous blog https://medium.com/@chaitramountainflower/bridging-the-gap-how-an-assistant-professor-is-pioneering-ai-and-machine-learning-education-in-f97b9a56a9cd
