Meet woman who quit high-paying job in US, took loan from mother to establish Rs 120 crore company at 30, she is from…

Self-made women are most inspirational as they have the courage to create something which is extraordinary. One such inspiring success story is of Ahana Gautam, founder of Open Secret, a healthy snacking option, in India. 

After completing her chemical engineering graduation from IIT Bombay, she moved to US. She then pursued her MBA at Harvard Business School from 2014 to 2016. Subsequently, she spent four years working at Procter and Gamble (P&G) in numerous positions at General Mills. 

However, she left her high-paying US job to build her business in India. In 2019, she founded Open Secret with her mother sponsoring the initial funding. Ahana selected this startup as she was inspired by this idea after learning about eating healthily upon visiting a Whole Foods store in the US. Her company sells nutritious snacks and aims to provide a substitute to junk foods that are high in artificial colours, flavours, and refined sugar.

As per reports, her startup in 2023 made Rs 120 crore in revenue, which is proof of her amazing business acumen. However, Ahana's entrepreneurship journey wasn't easy, but she beat all odds with her persistence to succeed in just 3 years. 

While talking about her journey, Ahana said, "Whatever I am today is because of my mother. She always used to tell me two things: Number one is that education levels the field. It doesn't matter what your gender is, or which small city you come from, if you have a great education, you can make a difference in the world. Those words inspired me and were the fuel for me to go to IIT-Bombay and Harvard Business School." 

"The second thing she always told me was to be financially independent. 'Once you're financially independent, you can make the decisions of your life,'" she added.