How Jessica Jayne’s love for all things pahadi led to a new wellness brand

Mesmerised by the mountains, this entrepreneur is in the midst of scaling up a brand that is quintessentially slow yet meaningful and mindful

When dyed-in-the-wool Mumbaikar Jessica Jayne moved to Shimla a decade ago, she had no idea that it was going to be the start of her journey as a wellness entrepreneur. “I've run a merchandising business since I was 21, so moving to Shimla meant a lot of travel back and forth. This also meant that sometimes I was only carrying ‘gutti ka tel’ in my suitcase for family and friends!” she laughs when describing the genesis of Pahadi Local, the brand she founded six years ago.

Jayne not only fell in love with all things pahadi, she also became a passionate believer of the healing power of natural produce. After small sales to friends and family, she slowly scaled up, and last year, secured the first round of funding worth ₹5 crore from Mudhra Ventures for Pahadi Local.

“I believe make-up is a choice but skincare is essential. For the last few years, I have been drawn to clean and organic beauty and wellness. I came across Pahadi Local products during the first lockdown [in 2020] and instantly fell in love with the quality. The honesty in the products and people at Pahadi Local drew me towards this exciting opportunity,” states Swathi Reddy, managing partner at Mudhra Ventures when asked what attracted the investment.

Edited excerpts from an interview with Jayne, on what the past six years have been like trying to grow and yet stay true to the vision she has for the brand.

Tell us the genesis of the brand Pahadi Local.

I moved to Shimla in the winter and my skin began to peel and I looked horrible. Everyone I knew in the mountains had pink cheeks and the typical pahadi, strong, beautiful skin. I would think, “What is happening to my skin?” I have sisters who live overseas –one is in Germany and the other in London and they would keep sending fancy products and serums to try out for my skin. And absolutely nothing worked. I started asking people–my house staff, my mother-in-law, everyone possible and the unanimous answer was “gutti ka tel” [apricot kernel oil]. I had no idea what it meant but I knew I had to try it out. Soon enough, this muddied jerry can of ‘gutti ka tel’ sourced from an uncle’s orchard landed up in my house. I was very sceptical about it. How was I supposed to put this on my face? It took me two days to start using it. I finally did and within a week, I had skin like the locals. It healed me and kept me warm. I became the biggest believer of the healing power of the oil.

How did it become a brand?

I had a merchandising business in Mumbai at the time, I would travel frequently to the city. While shopping for gifts from Shimla was a tad restrictive, I started getting these bottles of apricot oil for my mum and my friends. All of them loved it and kept asking for more. At one point, I had around 60 bottles of oil in my suitcase and no clothes! This is when I thought that it is a very expensive affair and decided to do a pilot project, selling some bottles. Me and my friend Kanika emailed our friends and asked if they would want to buy it. It was pricd really well at ₹ 500 and so it did very well. Suddenly I happened to come across a picture of one of my bottles next to a Forest Essentials one in a spread in Elle magazine and thought to myself, that’s it, I am going to jail now.

The beauty business is a regulated one, and I realised I could not do this unsupervised or on the scale that I was operating at. I took six months off and actually developed the brand–Pahadi Local. I started travelling across Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

Tell us about Pahadi Local’s products.

The way I found my products, eventually, was through opening people’s dabbas in their kitchens and poking my nose into their bathrooms–asking “what is this”. For them, it’s not a novelty–the ingredients are all from their backyard. Meanwhile for us, it’s like–are you serious? You are using salt that is only found in extreme winters in the Siachen Glacier on your face?

For two years I only sold gutti ka tel under the brand name and then slowly started adding more products to the portfolio. I got a partner in, began working with one of my best friends Udit Sheth and started sharing resources. I am an audio engineer by training and don’t really have a business background. He was very patient and allowed me the space to position the brand.

What have the last six years been like?

I would say that my journey has been one of extreme patience. We are not in the race to be number one or to be the most popular. What I want to do with Pahadi Local is give consumers a 100 per cent product from the mountains.

So you are the quintessential slow brand?

Yes, [laughs] extremely slow brand! All the other brands that started with us are really going places and I keep telling myself that there is no need to panic. We have a different route, a different vision and it’s much slower. There is only that much you can take from the mountains and we are a pure farm-to-face brand. This is our ideology.

How did you teach yourself the ropes of the wellness business?

In the beginning, I was my own guinea pig. I use all the products on myself for six months. The evolution of trying to figure out and research the products was a massive exercise. As you know, I went across the mountain states looking for local products and knowledge–being mesmerised by all things pahadi! Of course, we have scientists, we have market research studies on what is going to sell, what are the skin concerns of consumers? But now it’s a more mindful business, whereas earlier it was comparatively exploratory in nature, like an adventure.

Is the essence of Pahadi Local that of a total mountain brand?

Yes, I would rather have a small portfolio of products and excel at them and also focus on the commitment back to the source–that is very important to me.

How do you empower the communities you work with?

In Ladakh, we work with women’s self-help groups who collect the ingredients of some of our products, such as the teas. In Parwanoo, we only hire local talent. We work closely with the forest department and the government in both Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. We take part in afforestation drives annually; no matter how small we are, every bit of work will go towards community-building.

What is your sourcing process like?

We work with orchards and farmers who specifically grow [produce] for us. The idea is to empower the local farmer to work with us and earn along with us. In a personal capacity, I also try to work with local youth to encourage them to stay in the mountains instead of doing jobs in the city or driving buses and trucks. I guarantee the buying of their produce and assist with natural fertilisers.

What is it like to be an entrepreneur?

As a founder/entrepreneur, I found myself too proprietary about everything. There is so much to learn when you take on an investor who you can trust and who trusts you. These are people who are putting their money in you. The way to do it is to just embrace [the collaborative efforts]. While I know everything about my product and how it’s sourced, I have learned so much about running a business from the investors.

Initially I was very close-minded about it all. If someone even suggested inserting a purple line into the product, in a manner of speaking, I would have a fit. Now I am like,let’s talk about it. Let me see where this purple can lead to and why it has to be present. But it’s been a journey to get here. Pahadi Local was my baby first but now I understand the baby has many well-meaning guardians!

What has been your learning in the retail space?

Being small, I strongly believe in brand positioning. Initially we only sold at Good Earth and Taj hotels. Now we are slowly opening to a larger retail presence. We don’t really want to be everywhere, anywhere and anyhow. Now that we have spent enough time positioning ourselves we have to widen our reach.

Everyday is a new day for me. Our warehousing is in Ahmedabad, the factory is in Parwanoo, the marketing is in Mumbai. Now we have investors from Hyderabad, so it’s been great to amalgamate these disparate cultural spaces into a single brand and company. This is a “Made in India” brand and it makes me really happy that we are inclusive and beyond the myopic Delhi-Mumbai mentality. It is still surreal when folks identify and are aware of Pahadi Local.

As an entrepreneur what’s been the biggest challenge/learning for you?

Every day is a challenge. Every day I wake up to a fresh crisis. But for me, being consistent at what I do, and what we do at Pahadi Local, is the biggest challenge. This is a product you want to give 100 per cent to and to maintain that consistency and quality and keeping your word is extremely challenging as it applies to the processes of testing, sourcing, production and quality control. If you bought a Pahadi Local product four years ago, and you buy it today, I would like the consumer to have the same experience with the brand. Working with natural products also means maintaining consistency is very difficult.

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