I love their fun, yet practical approach to skincare and initiatives that give back to local communities. Read on to hear more about Nikhil and Nirav’s story and how their creative efforts are rethinking natural skincare.
Where were you born and where have you lived?
Nikhil: We were both born, and grew up, in Woodbridge, Connecticut (near New Haven). I’ve been in CT until moving down to North Carolina for Jivi.
Nirav: I went to school in New York (NYU) and was there for 7 years, before moving to NC.
What aspects of your cultural background have impacted your lives and your work with Jivi?
Nikhil: Indian culture definitely influences our lives. Both of our parents came to the US for graduate school, so we were surrounded with an immigrant work-hard-and-study-mindset growing up. Lots of Kumon and music lessons.
Nirav: Our products are also influenced by Ayurvedic traditions: both in a general sense that plant-based medicine is viable and more specifically in some of the ingredients we chose for our products.
What inspired you to start Jivi?
Nirav: I got eczema in college and didn’t want to put chemicals/steroid cream on myself every day. That was the problem that started this: we couldn’t find anything effective and natural in stores. Our dad, who’s a molecular biologist, started throwing herbs and aloe juice in a Vitamix, and sending me jars of stuff to try. It took a couple of years to get it right, but it worked.
Nikhil: We were both working in healthcare when we took a trip to India last year and saw the apartment in Mumbai where Dad grew up. He told us stories about how his mom, Jivi, who had raised him and his 9 brothers and sisters, using Ayurvedic medicine. We realized we had this product that worked, and that was natural, and let us directly influence people’s health. So we created a company and called it Jivi.
What do you do to stay inspired and to encourage creativity?
Nirav: About once a week we spend an afternoon/evening out of the office being as ridiculous as possible. A few days ago we spent an afternoon at a brewery coming up with skin puns for classic book titles, which turned into a series we’ll be posting on Instagram. We’re also fairly ridiculous at work.
Nikhil: We’ve also been traveling a lot recently, which gets us in new environments, and interacting with different cultures, which helps.
If you weren’t an entrepreneur, what would you be doing?
Nikhil: Trying to get healthcare to be reimbursed based on value over volume.
Nirav: Living on a vineyard…making wine and fresh pasta.
In your own words, what’s the mission of Jivi?
Nikhil: To make truly natural skin care products that positively impact your health and the world.
Nirav: And to make it affordable, so people don’t have to choose between safe, effective, and affordable.
Do you have any advice for young creatives/entrepreneurs?
Nirav: Don’t wait for perfection. Find a way to get your product or idea out to lots of customers quickly and ask for their opinions. Feedback will lead to a better result than anything you can create on a white board.
Nikhil: You’re going to fail at a lot of different things, so figure out how to learn from it and fail at a scale that you can recover from quickly.
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Nikhil and Nirav!
Find out more about Jivi and shop for their products here.
Stay tuned for more stories from leading Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) creatives!
Photos courtesy of Jivi.
