Get That Life: How I Became The CEO of My Own Fashion Company

Akta Adani, 31, is the founder and CEO of India Boulevard, a website that designs, creates and deliveries customized Indian outfits for all occasions. She has build an loyal customer base in a matter of months and now works solely for herself. How did she do it? She saw a gap in the market and decided to fill it!  

I was born in Mumbai and lived there for the majority of my life. I was exposed to the fashion industry at a young age because my mother, Swati Adani, was a fashion designer and was constantly creating beautiful pieces that I admired so much. Although I studied Business Management in college, my love for fashion was always in my heart. However, I actually didn't even pursue a career in the fashion industry until after my wedding.

The start of my dream didn't materialize until I was shopping for my wedding outfits. I knew I wanted high quality, glamorous pieces but I was on a tight budget. Going around shop after shop in Mumbai, I always found myself making a trade-off between quality and price. All the showrooms that I visited had the same issue: the quality of styles were limited and offered no custom designs within my budget. My quest for something more personal, made extremely well at a reasonable price lead me to build India Boulevard. 

I realized there was a huge gap in the market and there were women all over the world who wanted the same thing I did, high quality, custom styles at an affordable price, and I knew I could bring it to them. After my wedding, I made a big leap and moved to the US to pour my heart into India Boulevard. I collaborated with local designers all over India, including my mother, and started creating custom pieces from start to finish for my clients. The whole mission of India Boulevard is to bring my clients' vision to life at an affordable price. 

[pullquote align="C"]I live my life by these three words: passion, purpose and perseverance. [/pullquote]

My company has grown organically as I have not spend any money on advertising. I collaborated with bloggers to get India Boulevard's name out, but we have since had repeated customers or those who found us by word of mouth. I also think what makes India Boulevard unique is our amazing website interface. We have used amazing technology to ensure the website is user friendly and the measurements are as accurate as possible. I definitely believe in filling a gap in the industry you want to go into and find your niche. Figure out what makes you different and focus all of your energy on that. I live my life by these three words: passion, purpose and perseverance. 

[pullquote align="C"]I definitely believe in filling a gap in the industry.[/pullquote]

Although it is not easy to be an entrepreneur, and you face many challenges on your own, it is extremely rewarding to see happy customers. A huge inspiration for me is my mom and her resilience, persistence and patience are qualities that I admire most and they have now become the pillars of India Boulevard. ​Anytime things get hard, I read this line from one of my favourite poems - Invictus by William Ernest Henley: "It matters not how strait the gate, how charge with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul".

Follow Akta on her website and Instagram

​Get That Life is a weekly series that reveals how successful, talented, creative women got to where they are now. Check back each Friday for the latest interview.​