Shirin Dörig | Co-Founder of ABHATI Suisse

Glow Journal

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1+ y ago 33:06

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In episode 107 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the co-founder of ABHATI Suisse, Shirin Dörig.

A British-born Indian who now lives with her family in Switzerland, Shirin’s mother Anju has been described as a serial entrepreneur. She studied sociology and ethnology, she worked as a social worker in the UK, and was instrumental in setting up a shelter for victims of domestic violence.

Her interest in beauty began in the same way her daughter, Shirin’s, did, with both women being introduced to the time honoured beauty rituals of their Indian heritage from a young age.

After relocating to Switzerland, Anju traveled to the Himalayas whilst working with an NGO and learnt about native plants from the tribal farmers she met. Inspired to combine their teachings and Swiss science with the aforementioned time honoured Indian rituals, Anju launched altitude-active beauty company ABHATI Suisse in 2015 with Shirin officially joining the brand as both co-founder and trade marketing manager last year.

Each ABHATI Suisse purchase funds days of school for girls in India through the brand’s partnership with Educate Girls, with the brand having enabled over 530,000 school days at the time of recording. In something of a full circle moment, 1% of the brand’s revenue is given to environmental organisations like WeForest in partnership with 1% for the Planet- WeForest being one of the organisations Shirin’s mother co-founded.

In this conversation, Shirin shares the importance of retailing through true brand builders, how her mother inspired so many people to aid the brand pro bono, and the surprising connection between ABHATI Suisse and a perfume brand with a particularly cult following.