Thriive Art & Soul was founded in 2017 by Ms. Pinky Daga after a curated quest of over two decades of spiritual exploration coupled with meeting the world’s leading gurus, masters, speakers that eventually inspired me to create a holistic platform where every soul in their journey could find people with answers. We are publishing an interview with Ms. Pinky Daga, CEO, Thriive Art & Soul:
Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Ans: Ours is a health platform that ideally thrives on people’s wellness. When we say this, I mean that today people are looking for preventive medicine that can work alongside complementary medicine. That’s where Thriive comes in. We are a platform that connects users with verified therapists. We instill the attitude of a wellness lifestyle through our blogs and other contents. It is a package that is more like a one-stop solution for your woes. My husband, Shreans Daga and I have traveled the world attending workshops and learning to transform lives with the tools that globally renowned speakers have equipped us with.
Q.: Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: Thriive is a space that’s unique, trustworthy, open-minded and it emphasizes on creating an experience that can help one in personal growth. I believe it is important to grow at a mind, body and soul level so that you can create a transformation.
Beyond this, there is so much that needs to be done in terms of gaining peace that creating holistic- wellness communities are the key to growth. That’s how I came about this idea of being instrumental for the change. Thriive does exactly this.
The Global Festival of Spiritual Sciences (GFSS), Moon Magic Meditation and Sacred Whirling Community are some of the flagship events of Thriive Art & Soul that can help us in creating a peaceful and happy globe.
Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution. Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: As I mentioned, we are trying to create a holistic community that is more about having more and more people to participate in wellness. The idea is to get people what they may need in terms of preventing ailments and at the same time providing them with alternate and complete solutions for their woes.
We are India’s only state-of-art global, digital wellness platform that tries to connect verified therapists to users. We are a network of therapists from 160+ alternative health therapies coupled with 1000+ therapist community that spawns each day. Moreover, we offer blogs or curated content that is targeted to spread holistic health.
Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: Thriive Art & Soul is India’s first digital wellness platform that verifies and lists alternative therapists across 160+ types of alternative therapies. Its state-of-the-art digital verification system ensures that only credible, trust-worthy therapists are listed. It is also one of the only platforms that lets users search for alternative and integrated health cures for any physical, mental, or emotional ailments.
On Thriive’s platform, a user can also explore original, well-researched, holistic wellness content, lighting up ways to wellness for the body, mind, and soul.
Wellness begins through Thriive as it truly plays the role of a wellness guide that connects a vibrant ecosystem of seekers, healers, therapists, and experts to share their paths with each other.
The Global Festival of Spiritual Sciences (GFSS), Moon Magic Meditation and Sacred Whirling Community are some of the flagship events of Thriive Art & Soul.
Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: My assumption was that everyone is looking for an alternative health solution alongside their general allopathic treatments. I wanted to educate the users and teach them that they can use a combination of therapies to achieve optimum health results.
So my ideal user is the person who is looking for a deeper answer to anything that they identify as a problem—health, wealth, career, relationships–and who knows that there is so much more out there than they can do to drastically improve all areas of their lives. He or she is the true seeker, and we have all the alternative answers on our fingertips. We have 10000 + registered users who all fit this bill.
Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: My biggest failure as an entrepreneur was that I took the tech aspect of our startup too casually. I assumed that the tech experts will take care of all the nitty-gritty and I just need to sign the cheque. Big mistake. In a startup there is not one aspect of the work that you can’t be involved in–be it tech, creative, marketing anything at all. It’s really like your baby, and to keep it healthy you have to do everything and know everything.
Q.: How are you pricing the Product?
Ans: Currently the users can connect with verified therapists for free.
Q.: How did you get your first customer?
Ans: The first customers are always friends and family. Let nobody tell you anything different.
Q.: Is there any interesting success story? If yes, please write about it.
Ans: Once we failed miserably at the first version of our website, we worked hard on the second avatar. With many tweaks and misses and hair pulling we came up with a much better user-friendly version. Within the first two months, we had over 500 therapists registered and verified and 100,000 visitors. Our social media and google ranking shot through the roof.
Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: Finding the right and trustworthy alternative therapist is difficult. So, Thriive as a platform has a list of alternative therapists who are verified through 16 step process by our therapist relationship management team.
Our platform allows the user to connect with verified therapists from across 150 + therapies via different communication modes.
Alternative medicine market in India has been growing consistently and Thriive has been growing 100% month on month in terms of users and we look forward to filling the demand that is there.
If estimates are to be believed, the wellness industry will grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% for the coming 5 years. Moreover, it will reach an estimated high of Rs 1.5 trillion by 2020. These are stats that you’ll find by the reliable EY and FICCI.
Q.: Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture? Please explain in details:
Ans: Currently we have around 50,000 + visitors per month of which 10% – 15% are registering on our platform
Q.: What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: I believe wellness is a booming field. There’s a lot of growth in terms of revenue as well as satisfaction. Thriive is a frontrunner in terms of wellness space. With alternative therapy, as well as therapist-verification, being our forte, we are set to be successful.
Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles.
Ans: I started the venture in January 2017 after which the team has grown manifolds. Currently, we have a team of 13 highly-qualified professionals. Manish Lamba joined us recently as the Chief Revenue Officer. He has vast experience in the field of business management, analytics, and strategy.
Apart from him, the others on board are Kaivan Bhavsar (Head of Business & Marketing), Manish Jadhav (Product Manager), Mishika Munot (Head of Therapists Relationship Management) and Balaji Golekar (Head of Events).
Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: Currently Thriive is the only platform operating in alternative wellness space which connects users with trusted alternative therapists verified by Thriive.
Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months?
Ans: The goal is to provide convenience to user helping them to discover best therapists around them.
Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: Today’s business model has moved from a customer-centric to relationship-centric so it’s very important to provide the right service to the users and the partners.
Q.: Any other information you would like to share?
Ans: We always strive to build a relationship with our users and partners not just online as a platform but also by building communities through events. We feel it is important to have a human connection, especially in the wellness space.
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Thanks. Ms. Pinky. Best wishes!
