Wabi Babi is here to empower first-time moms with the correct knowledge and product

Parenting is a beautiful yet troublesome task. It requires a good amount of knowledge and practice to become a good parent. You should comprehend the needs of your baby at each stage. At times, it’s hard to meet the needs and may even end up in a state of dilemma when you hear advice on parenting from every nook and corner. 

Wabi Babi is a brand that focuses on first-time mothers and newborns, particularly from 0 to 1 year. They provide products, information, services and everything a mother needs to understand herself and for her baby. Head over to the interview with Vijay Kakar and Kangna Kakar, Founders of Wabi Babi, to know more about this brand.

Give a brief info about your startup?

Kangna Kakar: Wabi Babi is the first brand in India that is focused on a newborn mother and a newborn baby. Our aim is to provide everything a first-time mom needs for herself and her baby in the first year of motherhood whether it is products, information, knowledge and services. 

We launched with 9 products which include 4 handmade soaps specially
formulated for a first-time mother and 5 infant skincare products.
The R&D for our infant range has been done in Canada keeping in mind the skin
type of a newborn. We have just launched our 10th product which is an Apron Hooded Towel which we feel will be one of our hero products as it will make post baby bath time experience much better for a new mother (The towel will be available from September 10th).

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

Kangna Kakar: One of the major reasons for us to start Wabi Babi, was to be a support system for first-time mothers who are always in constant confusion and doubt about where to find the right information from and how to educate themselves in this motherhood journey. Whether it is selecting the right products or being informed about milestones that a baby achieves in their first-year journey. 

Wabi Babi aims at solving the problem of doubt and confusion that usually a mother goes through in their Year 0 to 1 journey.

Vijay Kakar: I have always wondered how can I make every child’s future happy and peaceful, is there any way through which I can impact the life of every child in the world. I believe if we empower mothers they will raise empowered children. I saw Kangna struggle as a first-time mother. As a first-time mom, she was very anxious about doing the right thing, finding the right information, finding the right products. That’s when we realized that life as a first-time mom is extremely difficult and we decided to solve this problem. That’s how Wabi Babi was born ‘with the intention to empower first-time moms’.

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

Kangna Kakar: My name is Kangna Kakar(31), a first-time mom, Co-founder of Wabi Babi and a certified Early Childhood Educator. 

Before launching our brand I was studying in Canada and gaining more knowledge and experiences about child development (especially infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers). 

I have also worked as a teacher in one of the leading pre-schools of Delhi for more than 5 years. 

Vijay Kakar: I belong to a business family and have always been on a self-discovery journey. The human mind is what fascinates me the most. I was running my family business in Ukraine and I am also a former Life Coach. I lived in Canada for a couple of years before moving back to India in 2020. 

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

Ans: Kangna Kakar- Our startup is based out of Delhi. Delhi is the best place for our start-up because it is our birthplace and we have our friends and family here.

We are a D2C brand and our products are available pan India. 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

Ans: Kangna Kakar: We want to be a support system for every first-time mother and every first-time mom who goes through a different journey. As a founder and a first-time mom, I want to meet the needs of every first-time mother through Wabi Babi which means end-to-end solution and that usually keeps my brain occupied and thinking. Apart from this my 21 months old daughter keeps me awake at night after every few hours.

Vijay Kakar: More than being paranoid about business or numbers what I think about most is how do I make a child’s life better through Wabi Babi. What can we do as a brand to empower every mother; these are the questions that keep me awake at night. Overall I am a positive person; no matter what the situation is I always have a positive outlook and see what I can learn in any given situation.

Who are your competitors and how are you better than them?

Ans: Kangna Kakar: We are the only brand probably in the whole world which is completely focussed only on the 1st year journey of a first-time mom and her baby.

There are brands like Mothercare and Chicco that provide many products for children. However, we are looking at providing everything that a first-time mom needs. Be it knowledge, services and products in the first year journey of her motherhood. We aim to handhold every first-time mother in bringing up their baby with the support of Wabi Babi. 

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

Vijay Kakar: As a start-up founder you are working 24/7 and being a digital-first brand issues can come anytime. Being organised and flexible at the same time is something which helps us manage things in an effective manner.

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If not then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

Kangna Kakar: No, we are currently bootstrapped. In order for us to make a global impact funding will definitely help us in achieving the global scale. Not just funding it’s the mentorship, the guidance and different playbooks that could help us create a global impact by having the right VC as our partner. 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

Kangna Kakar: We have just launched in August 2021 and so far people have loved our intention and approach and are liking what we are trying to achieve. 

What gets you excited about this company?

Kangna Kakar: The whole idea about supporting the first-time mom excites me the most. To be able to add value to their journey through us is the most joyful feeling ever.  The first-year journey for both mother and a baby is the year of discovery and learning and sets the foundation for the rest of their lives. To be able to be a part of that journey is the most exciting feeling.

Vijay Kakar: Well building something from scratch and seeing it evolve and grow is what excites me the most.

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

Kangna Kakar: Every day looks different in a working moms life, specially who’s running a start-up, my routine from the time I wake up to the time I sleep totally depends upon my 21-month-old daughter and work commitments, which means meeting her needs and dedicating time to work. I try to maintain a schedule for both my daughter and myself so it’s easier for me to strike that perfect balance. 

I usually plan my next day before going to bed and usually stick to it. 

Vijay Kakar: The good thing we have done is that we have created processes and systems from day 1. Things are pretty organised. We are working from home so first of all, there is no concept of a weekend in our lives. We do basic things like checking our emails, calls with the vendors or agencies who are working with us. We spend a lot of time on product research and what should we come up with next. I also spend my time learning as it is equally important to grow my start-up further.

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

Kangna Kakar: My founding team includes my husband – Vijay Kakar (Founder) and I Kangna Kakar (Co-Founder). We are business partners, life partners and parents to our 21-month-old daughter. We met back in 2008 and have been friends since then.