Michelle Ranavat, a guest speaker hosted by the South Asian Student Alliance (SASA), was invited to speak about her journey as a female beauty entrepreneur of color on November 17. Ranavat founded her company, Ranavat Beauty, in 2017. She spoke about the inspiration behind it.
“[When I started] I was questioning my path and deeper purpose in life,” Ranavat said. “I realized there’s something in our culture I can tap into to solve problems [regarding skin care]” Ranavat said.
Ranavat discussed her professional journey, mentioning how she originally wanted to become an engineer.
“I want you to be inspired by the story you create yourself,” Ranavat said. My story wasn’t made until I was 33… do what’s right for your story.”
Not only did Ranavat discuss her own journey, but also her journey with her team at Ranavat Beauty and how the company came to be. She spoke about how she didn’t find many people interested in what she was doing, until she met her colleagues today.
“Passion is transferable,” Ranavat said. When you build something with passion, people who didn’t start believing it will gravitate towards it.”
Ranavat offered advice to students in their educational journey. She connected her experience with business and told students to
“Take feedback, but don’t get run over [in the process],” Ranavat said. You fail when you do something new – it’s a natural part of evolving and growing.”
“I plan on taking this advice by standing my ground when needed to, and in life staying determined and having my eye on the prize,” Asmanideep Singh ’29 said. “One big takeaway I have is to stay ambitious, to know your goals and aspirations, and eventually the hard work will pay off.”
Maddy Tao ’29, said “[She] taught me that in school when I fail, like on a test, its not just failing, and that I can make myself better because of it.”
