An Entrepreneur’s Journey
Yvon Chouinard. Jen Rubio. Brian Chesky. Amazing founders who have built industry changing businesses. But how? Most stories we hear about them highlight the struggles later on in these founder’s journeys, once they had achieved millions in sales or once they were several years into their journey. We rarely hear about the early days. How did they come up with their ideas? What was the first step they took to start? Did they ever doubt themselves? What kept them going through the hardships?
As someone who launched her business, MOR Collections, less than six months ago, I wish I had these early day stories to refer to. So, I decided to document mine. Regardless of where this business takes me, I hope these stories help future entrepreneurs feel a sense of comfort that the good days, the bad days, the exciting days, and the frustrating days – it’s all normal. It’s all a part of the journey.
Upon getting my undergraduate business degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I ended up in a career that most do when they lack direction, consulting. I learned a lot, but after four years, I was waking up unmotivated and bored. Something had to change and to do some soul searching, I ended up at business school. Coming from a family of business owners, the world of entrepreneurship always fascinated me and it’s what I focused on during my two years of graduate school. I dabbled in venture capital, participated in an accelerator program trying to launch a food business, and ended up joining a mid-sized startup post-graduation. But my dream, I had realized, was to start my own business as my father had. I just hadn’t found a problem that I felt compelled to solve. That is, till the end of wedding season 2019.
In 2019, I attended about eight weddings and at every one, women would complain about the same two things. One, finding modern Desi clothing is so difficult. Two, it’s ridiculous how we spend so much money on outfits we only wear once or twice. I resonated with both issues but kept thinking, why? These clothes are beautiful and they’re a big part of our South Asian heritage. There had to be a way to make modern versions of these clothes more accessible and usable beyond just a few times. There had to be a better way to incorporate this part of our culture into our everyday lives.
With this thought, MOR was born. From October 2019 to July the following year, I was working on my business idea on the evenings and weekends while working my “real job” during the day. During these months, I was trying to figure out everything from manufacturing, to building a website, to the legal side of starting a business. Then there came a point where I was waking up more excited to work on MOR than I was at my day job. It took a month speaking to mentors and making endless pros and cons lists, but on July 31, 2020, I quit my day job to pursue MOR full time. Fast forward to October 20, I launched MOR Collections for the world to see.
The journey has been incredible so far, and while I absolutely want this business to be successful, only time will tell if that happens. We’ve all heard the saying, life is about the journey, not the destination. Instead of obsessing, over the destination, I hope to use this platform as a way of reflecting, cherishing, and sharing with you my entrepreneurship journey
Till next time,
Mayuri Baheti
Bio: Mayuri is the founder and CEO of MOR Collections and currently resides in downtown Chicago. When she’s not working, you can find her trying to whip up something in the kitchen, attempting to learn the next TikTok dance trend, or listening to a podcast while at the gym!
Business Website: http://www.morcollections.com
Business Instagram: @mor.collections
Personal Instagram: @mayuri.baheti
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayuribaheti/
Email: mayuri.baheti@morcollections.com