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S3 E19 - 900 CUSTOMER CALLS CHANGED EVERYTHING. · The Collaborative Canvas Podcast

• speaker-0: 900 conversations like it's a huge sample size. All customers speaker-1: All of these were customers who were not buying from me again. This is a very common problem with women that they are always filled with insecurity. What I wear What should What should I wear? What should I not wear? I don't want them to feel that frustration every day in the morning. speaker-0: When you were actually transitioning into the entrepreneurship, what was the problem that you initially identified that you really wanted to solve? speaker-1: I wanted to build products for bigger bodies. I wanted that they should also have trendy clothes in their wardrobes. They should also feel beautiful. Are they secure enough to wear a strapless dress? Are they secure enough to feel confident in it? That's what was missing. Virality can't make you build a brand. You can't think, okay, I'll make lot of content today. I'll go viral and my brand is speaker-0: Welcome to another episode of the Collaborative Canvas podcast. Every successful product begins with an idea, but every meaningful company begins with a problem worth solving. Today's guest is someone who chose an unconventional path. She studied computer science, discovered her passion in marketing and brand building, built a successful career in enterprise sales, and then took a leap into entrepreneurship. But what makes her story remarkable isn't just she started a company. It's that she had the courage to shut down her first venture after realizing it wasn't truly solving the customer's problem. Instead of relying on assumptions, she personally spoke with nearly 900 individual women to understand what was missing. Those conversations led her to rethink women's everyday fashion and ultimately built KDOT, a brand on a mission to make clothing simpler, more comfortable, and more empowering through built-in shapewear apparel. Joining me today is Kamiya Mehra, founder of KDOT. Kamiya, welcome to the Collaborative Canvas Podcast. So I'll start with the same question. 900 women, why did you choose to see that you're not solving a customer problem when it was a big scaling business that you already started? speaker-1: Thank you. Thank you so much. So actually a lot of people have asked me this that why did you shut down one revenue making business and started another? And I think those 900 women spoke for me before even I could. When I spoke to those people what I was thinking was that I'll get feedbacks like you know make give me good fabrics, me good colors, give me good silhouettes, good designs, trendy stuff but I did not hear that from them. What I actually heard from them was much more deeper. It was more about their insecurities, their confidence. They were talking about, ⁓ can't wear fitted clothes anymore. I can't wear the same thing that I used to wear before I delivered a baby or after I gained a little weight. I can't wear the same dresses, the same body suits. I just can't wear all of those things. They say that, you know, we... We go out and we keep looking at ourselves in the mirror. We keep looking at ourselves from the side. Are we looking okay? Are the bulges showing? Is the strap coming out? What is happening? You know. They keep becoming under confident and insecure about their own bodies and their own fashion sense. And I think that thing hit me a lot after speaking to those 900 people. I understood that this is what I have to change. I don't have to just make clothes. I have to... self confidence and that is what I have built and I building with KDOT. speaker-0: Nice. Coming from a market research background, it always excites me when I hear people are talking to people again. for 900 conversations, it's a huge sample size. All customers or they were kind of open customers? speaker-1: Most of them were customers, about 60-70 % of them were customers from my previous venture and all of these were customers who were not buying from me again. They had taken my dresses, my body suits, everything but they were just hanging in their wardrobes and they were not really wearing them. And when I ask them that, you know, why are you not wearing? They're like, it doesn't look the same as it looked on the model. I don't look the same in it. Your dress is pretty. Everything is beautiful. But I'm just not feeling confident enough to wear it outside. And that hit me that the dress is good. What I'm making is not bad. But if they're still not able to wear it, what's the point? What's the point of generating revenue while having customer dissatisfaction? Beautiful. Building a brand means generating revenue while the customer is being satisfied. I think that's what builds a business and helps me scale. speaker-0: But inquisitive question that you know when people actually buy they look at the model when they buy and when they try they do they feel that they actually look like that model one and two you know say let's say over a period of time people gain weight and they don't remain in the shape and to be in the shape to just look like a model and then wear it makes more sense. How many of your customers were actually were in shape even after some time when they start realizing that I fitting because I have gained weight and stuff like that speaker-1: There were a lot. Actually, this is a very common problem with women that they are always filled with insecurities. Even if they are of the perfect shape and you see them as the perfect shape, they still feel that we have some kind of bulge somewhere, our arms are looking fat, our little bulges are showing, I have a double chin, you know, something or the other keeps troubling them in their minds. And those insecurities are what we are trying to touch with our content. We are trying to tell you that we hear you. We listen to we know what you are saying. And we actually want to make you feel confident enough by wearing KDOT. We don't want you to feel every day. We don't want you to have that frustration every day in the morning when you wake up. That okay, what should wear What should I wear What should I wear? What should I not wear? I don't want them to feel that frustration every day in the morning. I want them to just take that one KDOT piece, wear it, move freely, live boldly and breathe deeply. speaker-0: That was more of the conversations actually gave you a clue ki yaar kya saihi hai aur kya galat nahi Again, I respect to the fact that you actually looked into the customer journey overall. At what point of time they are not wearing. It's not about the same old business matrix ki repeat orders nahi aare hai. But nahi aare toh kyu nahi aare hai? Aaja mujhe ek baad batao, I'll just switch you back to the founder story that I generally cover in most of my podcasts ki you started your journey just after the graduation. by working as a marketing executive. When did you realize that this is the end of the story and I don't want it to work because you still at a very young age and you started and then you closed down the high paid revenue job and then you started again. And where come from? How much Chavanprash do you Plus what exactly do you do? speaker-1: I think one thing that made me quit that job was that frustration that I was facing myself. I knew one thing always like since I had started doing my engineering, I knew always that I want to solve a problem. I was, I am obsessed with solving problems. That is the reason why I started engineering as well because engineering is all about solving problems practically. And that's when I knew that I love problem solving. And Once I started engineering, I lost the interest of computer science. So then I was looking for the next problem to solve. At that point of time, my next problem was more towards influencer marketing, brands and collaborations and all of those things. So was solving that problem. That's where I learned that ⁓ selling products is not about making great or beautiful products. It's about having that desire for the products. And I think that's what I learned while doing the ⁓ influencer marketing and everything and that's when I started with my job as well that was also in the marketing and sales part. In my job I knew one thing that ⁓ what I am doing is not just you know convincing people to buy a tech and a SaaS based product what I am doing is first listening to them. There also I did the same thing. I listened to them and their problem first. Because there are millions of other tech products that people can buy and people can have in their businesses. But what I was doing was I was actually listening to their problem first, understanding it and then giving them a specific solution to that problem so it increases their ROAS and it makes their life simple. That's what exactly I copied and pasted in KDOT that I just want to make your life simple and that... gave me the nudge that okay now I'm ready to quit my job, do something of my own and I always wanted to do something in fashion. So that's how I started. speaker-0: Okay, one problem that you solving right now with the shape wear is of course you know understood that we did. When you were actually transitioning into the entrepreneurship, what was the problem that you initially identified that you really wanted to solve? speaker-1: So initially when I started with my previous venture, it was not about shapewear anywhere. It was just about selling plus sizes. It was about selling sizes from XS up till 10XL because I wanted to build products for bigger bodies. I wanted that they should also have trendy clothes in their wardrobes. They should also feel beautiful. They should also have that. But what I did not understand was that, yeah, I'm selling pretty clothes, but am I actually understanding whether they need them also or not? Are they secure enough to wear a strapless dress? Are they secure enough to feel confident in it? That's what was missing in my clothing in my previous venture that I was selling great clothes. People were buying it also from me. They were liking my content and everything, but they were not convinced enough to wear it outside and feel confident. And I think that's one thing that was missing in my previous venture, which I understood and applied in my current venture KDOT. speaker-0: How does this name came k dot? speaker-1: I KDOT is all about me because I started it, I always wanted it to start with K and it is all about my customers which is bringing a full stop to everything else and only having KDOT. So that's that. speaker-0: pretty influential in the way that you actually thought of, very Gen Z kind of a name. speaker-1: No, not really. I wanted a name which is very rememberable. I wanted a name which people just hear it and they remember it. I wanted that name. I wanted a name which is easy to pronounce. I want a name which is very versatile. So it can have multiple things. That's what I'm building with KDOT. You will have... It's not like you will not have trendy clothes or you will not have great silhouettes and great designs. You will have all of that but with the functionality that we offer which is... everything as layerless, one layerless piece that you need to wear. speaker-0: And then don't worry about anything else. Because there's a lot of things that you have to choose from your wardrobe. you to that. So you ensure that the wardrobe should only be filled with one layer of the clothing. Correct. We talked about the influencer, the falling in love with the influencer part of marketing and social media. Let's talk about... No, of course, there's so many things that you had just mentioned and I was like, this little girl knows So, what was that biggest lesson that you actually learned during your social media days? speaker-1: ⁓ I think there were a lot of lessons but one thing that I majorly learnt was that virality can't make you build a brand. You can't think that today I lot of content, I'll go viral and my brand is I think Instagram has romanticised virality so much that people are not realising that what we actually need as customers is trust. We need that trust in you that Can I trust you enough that I'll buy this? I will not see the views and buy a product. I will see that are you able to gauge that trust in me? Are you able to give me that trust and confidence that yes, I can buy your product? I think that's one thing that I've learned majorly from social media. I used to work with so many influencers and there was one very common thing that used to happen that there was one influencer promoting two different products in two different reels. is gone. One, no, one product is selling. and the other product is not selling. And she is the same influencer, same following, same engagement, but only one product is selling. That's when I realised that it's not about building just products, it's about building the need for it, building the desire for it. That is there even a desire and a need for that product or not. speaker-0: But does it matter that the same influencer is selling two different products, two different brands altogether? And people are saying that she this and that. I have a trust on one buyer. I can't go because I know that influencer is using it. speaker-1: I believe one influencer can definitely promote multiple products, that's not a problem. But the problem comes when they try to promote the same solution via two different brands. That okay, bhi aapko fair karega aur ye bhi aapko fair karega. So I think that's something which is very wrong. You need to sell the product's need that in your daily life, you are having a normal day, regular day, how it fits in your life. That's exactly what we are also building that how in your normal life we are just fitting K-Rot out of nowhere and it is making your life easier, simpler. You know like there's this one thing that even like if you imagine yourself, just imagine 20-30 years back when you had to order food, you were going through physical menus and then you speaker-0: 30 years back. Yeah, they were not menus. speaker-1: Yeah, there were not even physical menus. Not 30-20 years back when I was young, very young. I remember my father used to get these menus and he used to say that, look at this number, call this number and here order one chicken tikka, order then he used to call them up and they used to come and deliver. We never could have thought that there can be one platform giving us everything together. We never thought about it. It was a habit that we had that every Sunday we... and order from Zomato broke that habit. 20-30 years of habit and conditioning that a person has of ordering food, Zomato broke that. That's exactly what we are trying to break. We are trying to break that habit and that 20 years of conditioning of a woman wearing a bra and a shapewear inside every wardrobe and just giving her one piece which does everything for her. speaker-0: So it's very exciting. mean, consumer deep research that you did and with talking to 900 women. So I'm again trying to understand from such a young entrepreneur, one, sales apne karhiye, two, you have seen the consumer behavior overall, and then you have shut down one business completely because you are not meeting the right customer requirements. Now, considering that you really need to scale this business, how and what ideas or you know those transition biggest mistakes that you have seen, you are trying to improvise on it because you still have a lot of time to do that. speaker-1: Yeah. I think one thing that I hear from still a lot of people because it's just been 11 months since we have started. And one thing that we hear a lot is you know you are yourself a size S. What do you know about you know curvy bodies and bigger busts and bigger tummies? What do you know about it? And you know that's one thing I get a lot. And that's something and one thing that they don't know is that... speaker-0: So they used to tell you that what do you know about those. speaker-1: Exactly and even when I was doing my previous venture since I was selling up till 10XL they used to be like okay you are a perfect body type how do you know that you what problems does a 10XL person feel but what they don't realize is that if there is one plus-size person they will only know their own insecurities they will not know another person's maybe another person does not have the same insecurity she has some other insecurity what I have done is spoken to all of you What I have done is try to understand to each and every one of you that what exactly are your insecurities. I have tried to live each person's insecurity and try to bring a solution for you. Because if I would have just gotten a solution for me if I was a plus size and if I just got a solution for myself that's not solving a problem. That's just solving my problem. So I need to solve everyone's problem and that's what I did. So I think that's one major thing that I hear from everyone. So yeah. speaker-0: When you spoke to a very fundamental question. Did you put down every single question with the answer on an excel sheet and then evaluated it? speaker-1: Yeah, I have the excel sheet where I have literally... I down each and point of The they are the way they are saying things. They are saying and I typing, typing, typing, typing. And sometimes I am recording in a different phone and I am typing later. speaker-0: And then ⁓ the specific demographic as well. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, like I used to go demographic wise only. Like I went first Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, the smaller cities everywhere. speaker-0: Tell bit, how does a Delhi behavior changes from Bangalore or Mumbai or for any other city? What did you actually find out the biggest gap? speaker-1: I think one biggest gap that I found was that metro cities and the smaller cities, the biggest gap was that the smaller cities, honestly their paying capacity, I felt was more at a certain point of time. Why? Because they don't have those many options. They don't get those many options specially offline. Online, yes they do get options but because it's a smaller city, the exposure is very less. There are very less people who actually want to look fashionable. There are less people who are actually going out or who are actually you know confident enough. I would say the right word would be confident enough. So they have more of an urge to get good clothes. So the way they spoke to me it was like they were speaking to a sister. That please do something like this. Yeah. So they were the ones who were asking me even more and speaker-0: Their needs get filled up. speaker-1: There are conversations I've literally had for 30 minutes. Like there was this one customer I still remember. She spoke to me for 30 minutes and she's like, you can call me if you any other problem. You can to your studio. I'll come and try with I'll show you how I'm looking. Then you take, you know, bring something for me. And that's when, this is how I was realising and getting motivated that yes, I to speaker-0: So, how are you solving the logistical problem? in the reason why I asking this question, so when you evaluate two different cities, one a small town and a bigger town, so we know the dynamics of a bigger town is always dynamic in nature. There are so many brands who coming down to the bigger towns, they selling it to almost everybody and every other consumer is actually trying the new brands by themselves. But the smaller towns have not that luxury of seeing too many brands even when at an era where Blink It is there and so many others. First of all, what is your biggest market? Is the bigger town or the smaller? speaker-1: So right now our niche and our focus is on the metro cities because right now they are the easiest to capture. They require less marketing spend and of course since we are a new brand we have to consider profitability as well. So that's why we are focusing more on the bigger cities first and of course there are some small budget which is also going to pan India. Logistically see the blink it and the fast delivery systems. They work well for things you need impulse. speaker-0: Yeah, of course, so quick commerce is not for you, understood. Correct. But still how are you solving that? So even if you were selling it to Bangalore, are you telling them that this would gonna take you about 10 to 12 days for the... speaker-1: No, no, our deliveries are fixed there within a week's time. So, I made sure that if someone is ordering, their experience should not be hampered just because the delivery is delayed. What we do is we have our stock ready and we sell it once and how the order comes. If it's in Delhi only, it reaches them the next day and if it's in say Chennai or Tamil Nadu or somewhere like that, then of course it takes four or five days for them to receive the product. speaker-0: ⁓ It is more of a customizable dress or is it like you have already decided the size? speaker-1: No, we work on standard sizing but that standard sizing has been made through a lot of research. have, so a lot of people like before I started this when I was in my research time, I used to speak to a lot of manufacturers in India and I got rejected by about 60 to 70 manufacturers that we can't make your product. You such product only China. We can't it. And that's when I was like, I have decided that I India. Why? Because if I anything that will be according to global sizing. It will not be according to Indian body types. And Indian body types, Indian weathers, everything is very different here. So I have to make something which suits them. And for that I need someone who can understand what I trying to build. Who can make a lot of different pieces for me to make sure that every body type can wear it. What happens in clothing is that if suppose I am an S size and there are two more people who are S sizes their sizes can be different, their body types can be different as compared to me. So I have to make sure that my S size fits all of us. So that's exactly what I did when I manufactured it in India that I have to make sure that it fits every body type. We have four different sizes. One is XSS, one is ML, one is XL XXL and another is XXL XXL. So I have made sure that So, whatever your body type is, if you are a 3XL, 4XL, it will fit you. That's what basically I have. speaker-0: There's a meds behind it. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, there is a lot ⁓ of patterns and lot of numbers behind it. speaker-0: ⁓ And since I remember I saw the website and it caters to almost every sizes. It doesn't and you just mentioned about 3X as well. But you were going up to 10X in Kiara. speaker-1: Yes, I will, I have a plan of going up till 10XL in KDOT as well, but I want to go one step at a time. I want to make sure that everyone in this size range is satisfied enough. I have a good customer database so I can speak to them also. I can make the changes, I can improvise it and then I will launch even bigger size. speaker-0: So another founder story question. From Kiara to K dot, how long did speaker-1: It took me almost 10 months. speaker-0: including the 900 conversations. speaker-1: Yeah, 900 conversations had started 2 months before shutting down Kiara because we were speaker-0: Why not keep running our own K-RAV? speaker-1: No, I am not that person who can build multiple businesses at one time. I can only focus on one. And the point is that there are two different things. Like, Chiara was just making clothes and I could have increased my revenue there. I could have, you know, put in more marketing spend, decreased my CAG, got a lot of influencers and, you know, build that product also. But if there is no retention coming, if there is... ⁓ speaker-0: ⁓ got it. So it's more like, you you're investing, investing, investing. You're still getting profit, every time there's a challenge that you have to find new. speaker-1: Yeah, then when I reach about 10 CR or 12 CR of revenue, then the scaling will stop. It will only bring me losses. And that's something I knew it. I just knew that this is going to bring me losses. I can't do this. There were a lot of people who saying, no, don't do this. You're already doing a great business. Are you shutting it down? It took me, it was a very hard decision. But the hardest decision for me was not shutting down Kiara. The hardest decision for me was... accepting that all my assumptions around apparel were wrong. So I think that was one thing that was very hard for me. But I just knew that no matter what, I have quit my job for a reason. I have not quit my job just to fail the business. I have quit my job to actually solve problems. speaker-0: ⁓ Kamiya, the way you started K.DOT, you have a lot of ambition about how to solve a certain problem. How your whole day's schedule? speaker-1: So, day schedule is okay. So, ⁓ I wake up at around 6 and in the morning I ⁓ have a routine of reading a book and then I go to the gym. I have recently started doing gym. I have tried of but, gym is something which I have started doing since past 8-9 months and I think that's something which is a major part of my day now because that's one time when I am not with my phone. I'm with my own self, I'm building that... I'm getting ready for the day basically. And I'm putting all my energy in, you know, gymming. And that's one thing that I do. After that, I make breakfast for myself. I eat breakfast. I plan my day. I plan my entire day that these are the list of tasks that I need to do. I usually do a couple of shoots at my home as well before leaving for office. And then I reach my office, I... have my entire day, I connect with my employees, I have meetings with them and then I do some deep work. So like 4 to 7.30 ish, I have my deep work time where you know I have these certain music that I play ⁓ and that music that goes on in the background that gives me that... speaker-0: meditative environment. speaker-1: Yeah, it's some kind of music which brings that intensity and that focus in me and then I'm deeply involved in that. Yeah, I feel relaxed and I feel more focused because when I'm just sitting on my table and working, I get distracted easily because there is some shoot going on or maybe some employee is coming or something else is happening. I need those two. speaker-0: Then you feel relaxed. speaker-1: two and a half hours in a day where I am doing my deep work because that's when I come out of great solutions. I do great stuff in those two, two and a half hours which I am not able to in the entire day. So I think that's one thing that I do and after that I go back home by around 7.30-8 and I spend time with my family, eat dinner, sleep. No, no, I sleep by around 10.30ish. speaker-0: by 9ish. 10-30 years and you again wake up at 6. So you don't 24 hours, You must right? No, no. After Okay, so what kind of books do you read? speaker-1: So, right now I'm reading Never Split the Difference. It's all about negotiation and ⁓ how to listen to people. It's a lot about that. I read a lot of books. I read Essentialism. I've read ⁓ 5am Club. I'm not able to wake up at 5am right now, but I'm trying. But yeah, I read a lot of brand building books. I think books are something that can change your life. I keep telling my employees as well that you are young right now, you are much younger than me, so you should definitely read books because books is something that can make you get that 30 years of experience of one person in those two pages. You know, so that is one thing that is very important. Like imagine having one hour of session. with a person and in one hour how much can he say, right? Of But in those hours of reading how much information you can get from that single book. I think that's something that's changed me a lot, that's made me learn so much and I think in your entire day there should be at least one hour that you devote to learning something new. speaker-0: one hour of devotion goes to the books. 3 hours are for the gym. Okay, one hour for gym. So that's 2 hours and then you sleep by 10.30 then family time is like 2 hours and then your meditation and deep work is like 2 hours. speaker-1: No, no, one half for... hours. Either I meditate or I go for a walk. speaker-0: So 6 hours of the day from 6 to 10.30 are gone. Rest is all company. speaker-1: Yeah, of course, what else? speaker-0: Tell me something, mean see this is lot to learn from you to be honest. mean at an age of 30, you have explored like enormous amount of information. You read a lot of books, you know exactly how things are and I've rarely seen people go deep into their actual ⁓ work with when it comes to their business. Marketing main of boss are a dynamics so that you do a lot of shoots in your own company as well and you really do find out you know how you can optimize them and most of those founders are actually do that. What exactly have you noticed that these founders who generally optimize their marketing strategies to ensure that their brand stays at the top and remaining of the fact that the same example that you said, two ⁓ products and same influencer, but one is working, one it is not, they're two different brands altogether. What is that they are missing and you have learned from it and then now you're implementing on speaker-1: think from brands what I learn is that there are lot of brands out there in the market especially in apparel. I think one thing that everyone is missing is getting an emotion in their product. I think people are only focusing on just making and launching new clothes, new clothes, new clothes. That today we new collection, next week we new collection. They are just increasing their SKUs. What they are not doing is bringing that emotion in their content and in their products. I think that's one thing that is missing ⁓ and one thing I am trying to implement in KDOT bringing that emotion of why you actually need this product because there you today you seeing KDOT you will also see hundred different brands. What will make KDOT different from those hundred brands? That is that emotion. If I touch your emotion that one emotion that you are feeling right now if I touch that then you will remember me you will not remember those hundred others. So I think that's one thing that ⁓ I'm learning which I feel that they are missing. ⁓ Another thing could be that ⁓ I think people are focusing a lot on just ⁓ making content, content, content, content. They are not focusing on ⁓ talking to people, talking to real time people. So what we do at KDOT, we do a lot of Vox pops. So we go out and we speak to random people. We have a lot of pop-ups in pickleball courts and offices. We do all of that. We recently did one pop-up as well. And we speak to real life people. I think that helps us a lot because when we show them our product at time, they us real review. That you can and that. You know you can this that. is very good. You this and that. Those insights we I think that's very important. I think that's one thing that is also missing. People are just focusing on creating nice storytelling videos and professional videos but they are not ⁓ focusing on the rawness of your brand. Actually a human being is only building a brand for human beings. So focus on them first and not on just AI and building great videos through AI. speaker-0: Sameh, when you were actually going out and meeting these folks and this is all about K.M.A.Z.U. So, shapewear and know, built-in bras is one of your categories, right? Yes. Are people open to speak to you just like that? I because I see there's still a lot of taboo even in Delhi and people don't, on the camera or even offline, they don't want to speak about, you know, what they're facing. How did you actually got through that? speaker-1: I think one thing that helped me was that I started speaking by speaking about my insecurities first. That these are my insecurities, this is what I go through everyday. What is your insecurity? Yes, I think that helps me a lot. Not every time the same question, we speak different questions like, ⁓ like there was one thing that we did where we asked them that do you think I am wearing a bra right now? And then they are like, yeah of course. speaker-0: Is that an ice breaker question? Every time the same question? speaker-1: And then we are like, no we are not and I am sure that you are but this is how we can help you not wear a bra and not feel this uncomfortable that you must be feeling right now. I think that's one ice breaker question ⁓ that really helps us. speaker-0: Who is basically that audience that they are so open to hear from you? Are you recording it on the phone? speaker-1: We record it, we record everything, we post it as our content also. Of course, we first take their permission if we can post it or not. But most of the people are open to it now because once they see what we are doing, they are actually so intrigued that yeah okay, this is also something that was possible. And you know we get questions like, you know just wearing one layerless piece we'll feel... Like we're not wearing anything if we go outside, know. It very strange feeling. Like how can you tell us to just wear one piece and go out? speaker-0: And then your tagline that know when boys can wear just a t-shirt and speaker-1: Exactly, I actually use that a lot now that why should men have all the fun? You know, they get to wear just one t-shirt and go out, why can't you do the same? You can do the same and we are building that for you. So I think that's one thing that actually makes them feel that wow, this can too. speaker-0: What kind of a demographic? mean, who do you talk to? speaker-1: So I talk to a lot of working women. I talk to a lot of mothers. I talk to people who I see are not confident enough, are very shy and they need a little boost from me. I talk to those kind of people because I understand that okay because I talked that I have speaker-0: So tell me a secret where you the shyness and talk to speaker-1: First, I praise him. You look so pretty today. I really want to... speaker-0: She will randomly bump up into them. Yeah! Anywhere. speaker-1: Yeah, I've been to so many places. go to CP, go to Horsesca, I go to Basantlok. Then I recently did my pop-up, so that was in Noida. So we go to everywhere. speaker-0: Mostly these places are like malls and crowded places? Yeah. speaker-1: mostly crowded places so we get a lot of options to speak to people. Of course there is not, we don't get all positive reactions. There are some rejections also that no we are not comfortable or we are busy or whatever but I try to... speaker-0: And how often do you do that? Because one of my guests who came and he has a different business altogether, he does it in his own studios. He calls, selects recruits and then calls them up because that's where he believes that he live test and they will know. So how often do you see that ⁓ as a value proposition when you go? speaker-1: So I think we usually go out ⁓ around three times in a month. Either that's through pop-ups or it's through just random vox pops outside. We also, since we do a lot of shoots, we call a lot of influencers and UGCs at our studio itself. So when people come and they, even if they are models and they shooting for us, even then we record them and ask them how you feeling in this? Like, do you like it? What difference do you see in this? So that's also... a person giving us a review. So we try to gather as many people into that system as we can. So I recently did this one more thing. I don't know if it's silly or what but there is this one SKU which was not selling a lot which is our skirt. So that skirt was not selling a lot and I thought that okay I have my customers and there were certain set of customers who had bought from us three to four times. So I chose those customers, I took a list of about 50 odd customers, I made a group of them, a WhatsApp group. I told them that hey I'm Kame, I'm the founder of the brand and I know that you guys have loved KDOT's products but you have never tried our skirt. And it's one of those pieces which has not sold a lot for us but we really want you to try it, experience it. So we want to send it to you for free, just pay the shipping cost, take it, experience it, style it. If you like it, keep it, us later. If you don't like it, then just return it. So I think that helped me connect with my audience so much. There were so many people replying, were like, wow, that's great. You would love to try it. So I've recently done it like a week back. So I'm now going to send them the products and see how it goes. speaker-0: ⁓ okay. So, the skirts are like? What kind of skirts are? speaker-1: It's a long skirt, it's a maxi skirt, it's like a fitted skirt. speaker-0: And for anybody type, are you? Yeah, yeah. speaker-1: I chose customer database like that only that it has all sizes. I even told them to that if you like the video if you like the skirt just record a video I'll give you some credits on the K-Rot. speaker-0: God! And when you actually chose those 50 customers, you exactly knew what kind of a size they were. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, I have the database with me. speaker-0: And when they came back asking for a specific, so they came on the same group or they came individual to you? speaker-1: No, no, was all happening on the one WhatsApp group. Wonderful. Basically, I am trying to create a community of people. Even if I do any future launches, anything, I can always take their suggestions. They will be open to giving me the feedbacks, the suggestions or anything that they want from us. speaker-0: ⁓ Let's again talk about the resistance when you were actually moving from Kiara to KDOT. What were the basic assumptions when you actually started? Other than the fact that there only layer and I wanted people to be easing out. Other than that, what was the other assumption, the basic one that you thought that you understood that Kiara for a time so you to start What the skepticism? What other issues you thought could be workable for KDOT? speaker-1: think one major issue was this that people were buying Kiara's products very impulsively. Like ⁓ I noticed this one thing that if suppose today somebody bought from Kiara and if I deliver even two days late they would not accept the product because they bought it for a party or for an occasion. Right. And that is one thing that I did not want with KDOT. I I starting KDOT that if today Instagram did not exist Will people still want KDOT? And my answer to that was yes. But Kiara, they might not want. Because trend is something which they can find anywhere. One day they like a product from Kiara, tomorrow they like it from Zara or anywhere else. I wanted them to feel and buy a product which is actually a need of their wardrobe. And that's what I wanted to solve with KDOT and that's where I knew that Kiara is not going to work. I have to do something which is need and not an impulsive, just a trendy product buy. speaker-0: You sound very ⁓ marketing ⁓ words like impulsive buying and the need and stuff. Let's say KDOT achieves the vision that you've seen over a period of time. Do you still believe women will be more inclined to stay connected with you and they would still live within that same confidence zone that you're thinking your vision is towards them? speaker-1: think my vision for KDOT is always this only that like today wherever a girl is getting dressed for any occasion she has this thing going on in her mind that okay she has like these five six dresses and she's like okay I'll wear this but underneath this I have to this and then this okay fine it will and then okay then second option is this third option is this fourth option is this I think that is one constant struggle that is going on in her mind on an everyday basis My vision and dream is that I remove those questions from her mind. I just want that she should have a very good wardrobe where she just picks up one KDOT piece, she wears it and she is all confident out there making her best moves. I think that's something that I envision for KDOT that people should not have their constant struggle. I don't want to just build another clothing brand. I want to build a habit that you know... This is my habit. I just pick that piece up, I wear it, go. I feel supportive enough. I feel confident enough. I don't need anything else. I think that's one vision that I have. speaker-0: How much time will you that vision, to your maths? speaker-1: I think roughly in three years down the line we'll be there. speaker-0: I wish you all the success in that case. In three years is a good amount of time to understand the consumer overall because ⁓ internet is changing, things are changing and again at some point of time ⁓ the likelihood of buying a certain kind of ⁓ material will also change and I think what you are wearing right now, it's soothing enough. I I think you can adjust it in any weather and specifically you know that you know the climate conditions in India across the entire geography is different. speaker-1: Yes, definitely. mean, right now I'm wearing pure nylon and the shapewear that I have inside, built inside this, it's made of a mesh fabric. It's also nylon only but it's mesh. Mesh basically means it has pores in them. So those pores makes it so breathable. If you wear a normal shapewear, that will make you feel so compression and tight and snug that you will not be able to breathe. And that's exactly what we have, you know, studied and researched for at KDOT that how should the shapewear that even if in my tummy goes inside. So that's exactly what I built with this and I gave a fabric for shapewear which is breathable enough to wear all day. You know in shapewear brands they especially mention this as a line that don't sleep wearing this. Don't wear it for more than 12 hours or whatever number of hours. speaker-0: But that's Fandex and Lion, what else? mean think there are multiple. speaker-1: They also have nylon but they have that thick nylon fabric because they have to make it very compressive. I did not want to build a brand like this that you can't sleep wearing it. It's just a piece of cloth. So I wanted to make something which you can sleep in it as well. It's fine even if you sleep. speaker-0: It's been said that if you continuously wear a nylon, your itching will or you will feel sweaty or it's not that breathable as well. Looking at your material, it's like very soft. It's like very thin as well. speaker-1: Exactly, so there are two types of fabrics, one is polyester, one is nylon. Polyester is ⁓ like it does not absorb your sweat. basically makes you... plastic here. Yeah, it's plastic. ⁓ But in nylon, it is not like that. Nylon and also nylon also has a lot of different variety of nylons. Nylon is essential, there's normal nylon, there's polyamide, there lot of different types of nylons existing. So the nylon that we have used is sweat resistant, it is buttery soft. And ⁓ in summers we use for summer collections we use only 170 to 180 gsm fabrics. So it makes it very thin, very easy to wear. You will not feel any kind of chafing, any kind of itching, nothing on your skin even if you going in extreme heats. speaker-0: Because again in the extreme heat wearing a black which absorbs a lot of heat you feel sweaty. So that would be it's more like a cooler on your body. speaker-1: Yeah, because that's my motto. You have to live boldly, move freely and breathe deeply. speaker-0: Yeah, I I think I put up that one question here which says that the thinking of a woman of being comfort, confident and still in the fashion remains with KDOT. That's what the vision is all about. So, I think that rounds up to the last set of few questions which is more of a rapid fire. I generally do that with almost every founder and specifically I should have more for you because now looking at your deep research speaker-1: Exactly, exactly. speaker-0: Looks like you have already aced a lot of grounds when it comes to shaping K dot into the market. know, I know and apparently somehow I was wondering that you are probably like 23. You look like one. So, my question is again at the same time. One word that describes a 23 year old Kambhya versus a 30 year old Kambhya. speaker-1: There's a lot. be the same only. Just my thinking style might have changed but I think I've always been very relentless. I think that's one thing that has stayed with me that if I want to do something, I want to achieve something, I will be absolutely shalant about it. Like I'll be like, karna hi hai, kaise bhi karna hai. No matter how many people I have to speak to, how many learnings I have to do, I will not give up. I will just keep going, going, going. I think that's one thing that I was as a 23 year old as well and as a 30 year old as well. Age is just number, it doesn't matter. speaker-0: A lot many people have answered this question in, basically they say it's a combination. So I wanted to know from you because you've been through these different departments across different companies, sales or marketing. speaker-1: think marketing gives you all the attention but sales is something that forces you to make a lot of different decisions and I think I love making decisions so sales for me. speaker-0: Okay, and you're not actually, you're subtly going towards the combination as well. One skill every founder should master. speaker-1: Kind of. Hmm. I think one skill which I have learned from my experience is listening. I think listening to your customers is going to help you a lot. Try, like I have this habit of speaking to at least 10 customers every weekend. I pick up the phone on a Sunday and I am speaking to 10 different customers just to understand why they are wearing my product, where are they wearing my product, are they feeling comfortable enough, are they feeling supportive enough, what more do they want from me. I try to speak to as many people as I can. Even if I meet, if I go somewhere, I am speaking to my friends, I am speaking to strangers, I am telling them about my product and I want to hear some criticism. I want to hear something that they have to say because I think that makes me learn a lot. So think that curiousness should always be there in you because that's what will make you learn and build and grow. speaker-0: multitasking or one task at a time. speaker-1: one task at a time. speaker-0: That's what Kamiya is all about. Kiara to K dot. A lot of founders actually pick up multiple things. I mean, I am surprised when I actually read through you that you know, you have a good job as in sorry, good business going on, Kiara. I would have kept it separate and let others manage it so that my revenue goes up. Even you know, I know that at certain point of time it would not scale, but I would still let it continue and then thought about, would have, you know, think about kiyaar chal ab K dot shuru kartaam because this is the problem. which I have not yet solved and should be... Why didn't you speaker-1: I because I to a revenue generating clothing brand. I have been privileged enough that I have a family who has given me a home and where I can live, I can stay. I am not responsible for anybody's life or survival. So I think I used it to my advantage. Because I am in hurry I want to first... build something which is meaningful. I'd rather build a business which solves one meaningful problem rather than building a business which is just making more and more products and making profits out of it. So I think that's exactly one reason that I did it. speaker-0: Toughest customer feedback you ever received. I'm sure you must be remembering one of them because you spoke to 900 and you almost know every 900. speaker-1: Ya ya. I am just thinking which one should I say. I think one was this that I remember there was this one plus size girl only. She had purchased something some dress in size 6, 7XL and she mentioned that it doesn't fit me right. You should not run this clothing business and it is not... You don't know. This is not meant for me. I am not feeling confident to wear it and I to wear You should close your business. speaker-0: I what's speaker-1: And I did it. I closed it. speaker-0: I was to did she converted? speaker-1: Bye. speaker-0: one business decision that looked crazy at the time but proved right? I think K. of course. I didn't answer. Trend chasing brand or problem solving brand? speaker-1: Yeah, I think it's very simple, yeah. definitely problem solving brand because trends can come and go but the problem will always stay. Like one problem cannot be solved with a trend. If I today launch a trending product, it will solve just for a few set of people and just one set of time. But the problem will stay forever. So like if suppose I have solved a problem for a person and she has K dot in her wardrobe today, she will also have it after 10 years. but she might not have that trending dress after 10 years because the trend has changed. speaker-0: But Kameya, that actually comes to another question that know, shapewear is already there in the market and you know, less with any few of seven of those who are actually some good names and to be honest. Where do you fit there? I mean, you're actually solving a very vital problem which these guys may or may not, know, some may have that kind of a that inbuilt bra and I know I've interviewed almost two of them already and then the biggest of them I am not sure whether I will reach at some point of time to her or not but the point is ⁓ where do you see yourself amongst those 7-8 people who are already there in the market. speaker-1: See, I am not building a shapewear brand. This is something I keep repeating again and again through my content as well. I am building a layerless functional clothing brand. What I am building is just like any other clothing brand but with all the functionalities that you'll need in your clothes. If today you decide to buy a dress, you will also decide to buy a bra and you will also decide to buy a shapewear along with it. But with my dress, you don't have to think anything. With KDOT, you will not have to think anything. You will just have to buy that one dress and you're good to go. So I am not building a shapewear brand and I am not competing with shapewear brands or innerwear brands. I am... Basically, they are building my market. speaker-0: I would say K.DOT is more of a make in India brand. speaker-1: Yes, it's a made in India brand for Indian body types and plus we all the shapewear brands that are coming, they are kind of increasing my market because they are ⁓ making people like custom to wearing shapewear. I'm just giving them a more comfortable version of it and a layerless version of it. speaker-0: So one founder that you admire the most and why. speaker-1: There are lot of founders I admire and I look at. But I think there's one who actually motivated me to start KDOT. She's Sarah Blakely. She's the founder of Spanx. It's a US based brand. I think that ⁓ founder is someone who actually built a category. And I think that's what I'm also doing with KDOT, a category creation. I think she, before starting, she did not think, okay, which ship, where should I launch and what should I do. What she must have thought would be that how do I solve this problem that people face on an everyday basis? And I think that one thing stayed with me and that's what I'm aspiring to do with KDOT as well. speaker-0: piece of advice for young women looking to start a business. speaker-1: I think one advice I would give everyone who is looking to start business is that don't start just because you have a very fancy business idea which no one has ever done before. Start only if you actually have a major problem to solve. And that problem should not only be your own, it should be of a lot of people. So first research, talk to people, talk to a lot of people, understand if that problem exists also or not and if it exists, go for it. when you are problem, you are solving a problem now, then no matter what happens in the business, you will reach there. You will make the business grow no matter what. speaker-0: Beautiful. And ladies and gentlemen, that's where we end the conversation with Kamiya. Unfortunately, I think there's lot to explore with Kamiya to be honest. I I believe at such an age, at an age of 30, Kamiya knows And we her that Thank you so much for making time, Kamiya. I I think the books did change your life. The decision that you've made for KDOT, of course, you they are changing. And I wish you all the success for the next three years because Of course, star should shine. And I think one of that stars is on my couch right now next to me. So every founder's journey teaches us something different. And today's conversation reminded us that building a business isn't just about having a great product. Like Kamya said, she wanted to solve a problem. is about being willing to question your own assumptions. Listen to your customers. 900 people is lonely and that too hats off Kamya. And sometimes make decisions that don't make sense to anyone else. Kamiya could have continued growing her first business. Instead, she choose to understand why customers weren't coming back. Those conversations eventually became the foundation of KDOT. And of course, I would propose, you you go to their website and check out the line of product that they have and one of which she's already wearing here. Of course, if I could I definitely buy. I would recommend you to And that to me is what customer centricity really looks like. I hope this conversation gave you something to think about whether you're building a company, launching a product, growing a brand or simply trying to understand your customers a little better. And if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to like, subscribe, share, the collaborative Canvas podcast. It helps us continue to bring such beautiful conversations with the founders and leaders across the globe who are building businesses by solving real people's problems. Thank you so much for watching and until next time, stay curious, stay collaborative and keep building What Next. Thank you so much for coming. speaker-1: Thank you, Ankesh. speaker-0: you you