Story of Rubens Accessories
We have heard many exciting stories of entrepreneurship. What about a person who ran away from home to return as an entrepreneur? This may sound like a movie story, but, this is the life of Chinu Kala, the founder of Rubens Accessories. Chinu was 15 years old when she ran away from home in Mumbai due to differences in the family. She did not have a degree or a certificate. She had a few clothes and 300 rupees with her. After spending a night at the railway station, Chinu found a job as a salesgirl selling coasters and knives, earning Rs 20 a day. The next few years saw her taking up odd jobs to earn an income and pay her rent. Thus, she learned her survival skills.
In 2007, a decade after she left home, she became a finalist at Gladrags Mrs India Pageant 2008. Chinu‘s training in the modelling world inspired her to start her first company Fonte Corporate Solutions, which dealt with corporate merchandising. She worked with clients like Airtel, Sony, ESPN and Aaj Tak. In 2014, she shut down Fonte Corporate Solutions.
Stores in major locations
Through Gladrags, Chinu realized the importance of jewellery in the fashion industry and how a good piece of jewellery can change a person’s entire appearance. She combined her flair for business along with her love for fashion and curated her own fashion jewellery brand Rubans. Rubans in French means ribbons.
Chinu started Rubans with the desire to make quality jewellery available to everyone at an affordable price and with the dream of owning her own brand. In 2014, the first store of Rubans started as a 36 sq ft kiosk at Phoenix Mall in Bengaluru. By 2015, the brand had stores in major locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kochi. By 2017, Rubans had made its way into the online space. Today the jewellery is available on Flipkart, Myntra and Ruban’s website. According to Chinu, Rubans grow over 150% every year, Rs 3.34 crores in 2017 and Rs. 30 crores in 2020-2021. The target is to achieve Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.1 billion) by 2024. Rubans has over 2,000 designs curated by top craftsmen across the country to suit the diverse tastes of those who wish. A catalogue of new collections is updated every 15 days to ensure that new launches can be viewed and purchased.
Chinu believes that every business will have its phase of ups and downs, but it’s up to the team and the leader to adapt and innovate to sustain long.”Life is my greatest teacher; I have learned everything through hardships and struggles,” Chinu said about her inspiring entrepreneurial career. According to Chinu, the three mantras of her life are the insatiable desire to succeed, insight into finding opportunities, and confidence in hard work.
