In our latest edition of #Soulpreneurs, we had the chance to interview the Co-founders of PoweredByPlant, Krishna Apoorva and Ramya Ramesh, who are recent fresh graduates running their own business. PoweredByPlant is an eco-vegan beauty platform in Singapore that was created with the inspiration to connect consumers with environmentally friendly skin-care goods. The brand aims to provide easier access and bridge consumers with beauty brands that are transparent about their initiatives. Ultimately, Krishna and Ramya’s goal is to become a highly reliable source of beauty retail products as well as help raise awareness about the concept and importance of investing in sustainable beauty goods. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and what inspires you to be part of PoweredByPlant?
PoweredByPlant, an eco vegan beauty platform founded by Krishna Apoorva and Ramya Ramesh, is on a mission to make nature come alive through vegan, cruelty-free, and non toxic beauty products focused on the core values of sustainability.

As two young women who have gone through bottles and boxes of commercial beauty products, we realised how big beauty brands largely impact the environment. This brought us to our point that we are essentially part of a human experiment that will most likely have a devastating ending. We needed a way to consume consciously.

The story behind PoweredByPlant is simple: to provide transparency. We do the research behind ingredients, sourcing and packaging so no one has to.

What does a typical day look like?
A typical day in our work includes lots of brainstorming, meetings with brands, and days out with our interns.

Krish’s typical day involves communicating with potential clients, handling logistics, operations and finances. She begins her day by checking her orders, sending out emails, going for a short lunch break before attending business or collaboration meetings. She then enjoys cooking a vegan dinner for her family before handling logistics for the next day.

Ramya’s typical day involves connecting with people from various walks of life via social media. She begins her day by planning out the content created for the week before filming her content. After lunch, she takes calls with potential customers to understand their concerns in the industry. Her evenings are filled with meetings with the team to strategize campaigns and initiatives.

As a full-time individual running your business, what kind of difficulties do you face?
As two fresh graduates running PoweredByPlant full time, some difficulties we faced included finding and sourcing effective skincare products by brands that are transparent about their initiatives. Logistics and operations can be unpredictable so we try to be agile and open to last-minute changes.

Favourite part of your job?
Knowing that both of us are encouraging general consumers to make a change is one of our favourite things about running PBP. Along this journey, we have met many conscious, like-minded people like us, along with excellent leaders and mentors in the conscious community.

Most challenging part of doing the business?
The most challenging part during this journey is definitely communicating information to consumers who are misinformed of brands and the industry - for us, it is always about putting together information that is clear, concise, easy to understand and is backed by evidence, because we never want to spread misinformation. However, we might make mistakes along the way but we always strive to be better in this dynamic industry.

What do you envision your brand to be?
We envision our brand to be a highly reliable and curated beauty retail with only 100% vegan and cruelty free products while ensuring a high level of efficacy and environmental sustainability.

What does success mean to you?
Success for us is when people understand that adopting a conscious lifestyle is not just about shopping for more expensive items and brands, but the fact that they are making a huge change by investing in the right brands that are doing good for your skin and the planet.

How do you motivate yourself?
We keep ourselves motivated by having the end goal in mind - to transform beauty rituals into ones where an inner sense of satisfaction and peace is attained for anyone and everyone. Sustainable beauty should be accessible for all.

What’s your morning routine or daily ritual?
Krish: Wakes up to the sun every morning, inner manifestation mantra, and listens to Beyonce to start off the day with the right mindset

Ramya: Goes for a morning run to activate her energy levels, takes a quick shower before making her favourite smoothie

Things you wish you knew before starting your entrepreneurship journey?
Processes were harder than we thought.
We have to make difficult decisions. Sometimes, we have to try and fail before succeeding.

What’s your advice to those who aspire to be an entrepreneur especially those who're into natural and sustainable business?
The key to connect with the conscious community is to be as transparent as possible with their initiatives and efforts. It’s also important to stay focused on the efficacy of products i.e, how it helps peoples’ skin and health in the long term as well as sustainability i.e, how ingredients are sourced, how to optimize the packaging to minimize waste.

What’s your must-have self-care essentials?
Krish: UpCircle Face Serum with Coffee Oil + Oasis Skin Essential Moisture Oil with Hyaluronic Acid + Oasis Skin Bakuchiol Serum

Ramya: Oasis Skin Bakuchiol Serum + Soul Good Project 100% Squalane Oil + Soapaholic Himalayan Pink Salt Body Bar

What’s your favourite book/podcast/music that you live by? (If you have any)
Krish: Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rihanna Ramya: Jahnavi Harrison, Jazz