We have always been told that ‘health is wealth’. As cliché as it may sound, this proverb resonates with a large majority of the world’s population, especially post the pandemic. However, it becomes difficult for people to focus on health and nutrition in today’s fast paced life. But when a health regiment is easy, fun, and delicious, it’s easier for people to stick with it till fulfilment. This is exactly what 2018 founded Power Gummies focuses on. A nutraceutical brand, Power Gummies introduced chewable vitamin gummies to empower Indian millennials and adults with good health. The brand provides clinically tested, FSSAI certified, and FDA compliant, over-the-counter products that address consumers’ common health concerns while seamlessly integrating into their lifestyle.

One of the strong pillars of the pioneering organization is Ankita Chaudhary. A dynamic leader, Ankita is currently the COO of Power Gummies and is committed to making the brand a market success. She is currently tasked with day-to-day operations at the firm while also steering its strategy. Ankita specializes in defining and executing the brand’s e-Commerce vision, branding, and marketing strategy pertaining to specific products as well as the overall brand.

As a leader Ankita is passionate about helping others reach their potential, and she believes that Power Gummies can make a difference in people’s lives. She believes that ‘jugaad’ and building contingency plans has been the secret sauce to her success as a leader apart from hard-work and perseverance. In a conversation with the Women entrepreneur India team Ankita speaks to us about her journey at Power Gummies and the brand’s dream run in the market.

Take us through your early educational journey and the prior industry experience. Tell us about your journey with the brand Power Gummies.

I started my career in graphic designing after receiving an MSc in Mass Communications Science & Technology from Lucknow. I then worked as a Vice President at Just Dakhila.com, a website dedicated to making the admissions process easier.

I've spent the last four years at Power Gummies as a problem-solving COO, focusing on the company's culture of innovation, agility, and adaptability to customer needs. I joined Divij while he was analysing the vision for the brand Power Gummies and we launched our first variant- Gorgeous Hair & Nails vitamin gummies. Since then my commitment to Power Gummies for people's wellness has grown in heaps.

We built our brand value as India's largest gummy brand with the most collaborative and capable team, breaking the stigma amongst the people that nutraceutical has to be boring, bland or bitter with right awareness, customer trust and utmost commitment. We grew to a 6X increase in company valuation in 2020 even after the pandemic affecting businesses.

What are the various responsibilities you shoulder as the COO of Power Gummies?

As COO of Power Gummies, I am responsible for e-commerce expansion, product availability, marketing strategy and initiatives including social media, product launches and more. As my role requires, I have a significant responsibility to contribute to the future direction of Power Gummies and ensure that our initiatives align with the brand's vision and philosophy of 'Health powered by happiness & backed by science' to come into existence through our every variant. I create core campaigns from the scratch to pique consumer interest in hair nutrition, post-covid recovery, and wellness.

My role also includes designing and implementing business operations to promote company culture and vision in a cyclical and seamless manner, with an eye toward e-Commerce and offline business presence and performance.

We currently have an offering for six variants to cater to the market, and we're working on bringing up 40+ variants in the coming years.

Tell us about the most critical business challenges you face in your current role. What steps do you take to overcome the roadblocks that you encounter?

This enduring journey has had its share of difficulties. However, I was able to keep the cycle moving through the course with smooth communication and open interactions, ensuring optimum utilisation while also allowing enough space to maintain self-happiness. One of the toughest challenges in these years was establishing a work from home business and running it digitally at a time when global demands were increasing and marketing investments were decreasing. As a COO, I had to foresee what’s coming ahead and we nailed it. We created campaigns about the importance of nutrition for hair, wellness, and knowledge to raise awareness and set the right demand for our clinically proven products. Influencer marketing became our core strategy.

Under my supervision, we collaborated with over 1200 influencers to increase awareness, engagement, and conversion. We used the same planner to launch our second variant after lockdown in October 2020.

"We dispelled the myth That nutraceuticals are Boring, bland, or bitter. We gained customer Trust by proving that Gummies are tasty, Effective, and nutritious All at the same time"

Tell us about some of the most significant milestones you have achieved in your professional journey so far? What has been your success mantra?

Power Gummies has established the gummy market in India and has collaborated with over 5000+ influencers from various categories and demographics, reaching a milestone of touching over 10,00,000+ lives and selling over 30,00,000+ gummies. We roped in the ever-gorgeous beauty Shraddha Kapoor as our Brand Ambassador and face for Gorgeous Hair & Nails Vitamin gummies, and raised $6 million in funding from 9Unicorns, Wipro Consumers, DSG, Sharp Ventures, Vcats, and NB Ventures as we plan to launch 40+ variants in the next 5 years catering to everyday health starting from Kids' gummies segment. We have gone international, setting our focus on Dubai and other Asian countries.

What would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

No reason is enough for you to stop trying until you stop believing in your vision, especially when the purpose is to give back to the people. As my brand Power Gummies also advocates embracing your body from inside with nutrition, I too encourage the young budding entrepreneurs and business women to stop paying attention to the stigma of ‘How women can be good at business?’ and bring their inner power because they have got every skill to do it.

Ankita Chaudhary, COO, Power Gummies

Ankita Chaudhary is a dynamic leader who is committed to making nutraceutical brand, Power Gummies a success. Under her guidance, the company has launched six variants to cater to the market, and is working on bringing up 40+ variants in the coming years.