Shrankhla Holecek, Founder of UMA Oils: On Creating An Authentic Wellness Brand With A Social Mission

Farming and crafting the world’s finest organic oils, doesn’t come easy. From the time spent plucking and drying the rose petals to hand blowing and painting the decorative glass containers, each bottle of expertly formulated UMA Oil takes months to perfect. But, for Shrankhla Holecek that’s the simple part.

Raised in India, and immersed in the knowledge and cultural tradition of Ayurvedic wellness, the entrepreneur has long understood the impact of holistic medicine, but it wasn’t until she moved to Los Angeles that she discovered the rest of the world wasn’t quite as in tune.

Inspired to create an authentic wellness brand built on the principles she grew up with, the then McKinsey consultant decided to combine her business expertise with the pristine ingredients farmed on her family’s estate, to produce a line of handcrafted wellness products that deliver dramatic results.

As a trusted supplier to some of the world’s most prestigious beauty brands, including Tom Ford and Estée Lauder, Holecek was confident she had access to the world’s finest organic oils. But, launching a brand with integrity and sustainability in an industry full of smoke and mirrors has been harder to market.

For Holecek, creating an authentic wellness line that competes with today’s premium beauty brands goes far beyond the products, but when done well, has the potential to capture a growing audience.

Stocked by online beauty store Cult Beauty, this month the brand’s range of unique face and wellness oils launched in Fenwick in the UK. In the US it’s already a cult favourite, available in department stores and upmarket beauty retailers across the country.

With plans to focus on international growth, Holecek says educating retailers and consumers on Uma’s lifestyle philosophies will be key to the brand’s success.

Here, the visionary reveals what inspired her to create an authentic brand with a social mission and why the wellness world is on the cusp of a transformation…..

On bringing the Uma brand to life…..

I was in a really unique position because typically when you’re a startup you have to work within the constraints of your finances and raw materials, but I had access to my family’s incredible essential oils, which meant that didn’t apply. At the same time, having worked in the consulting industry I’d gained valuable insight into how the business world worked so I was able to marry the two.

I was still a little nervous about how many beauty and oil companies already existed, and whether there was demand for another product. But, I spent time testing the product first and soon found that Uma was in a unique space in the market place.

In fact, for 4 or 5 months I didn’t do any branding or marketing, I just took the formulas (that have been in my family for many hundreds of years) to experts, who I asked for honest feedback.

When I felt like it was something that would make sense for the broader market I went back to the drawing board to conceptualise the line, create the branding and produce the packaging,  before finally launching in April 2016.

On the value of Ayurvedic principles…..

Wellness is always getting recreated in the marketplace but with Uma I thought, instead of reinventing the wheel in the west, why not go backward and incorporate the ayurvedic principles that I grew up with.

Having been brought up in India in a family that have been ayurvedic practitioners for the royal family for hundreds of years, it gave me a unique understanding into the principles of Ayurveda. But, I wanted to offer it in a contemporary bite-sized fashion as opposed to something that is viewed in a negative or rigid light.

It’s important to acknowledge that age old sciences need a contemporary way of making it into our lives and that’s what I wanted to do with Uma. For me, it’s about moderation, balance and a complete lack of judgment on your lifestyle.

On the mission behind the business…..

Uma’s mission is really about three things. The first is to supply rare, organic ingredients directly from our farms to the consumer, and in doing so be the first company in the wellness space to say that 100% of our ingredients are grown, harvested, distilled and formulated by us.

We know exactly what type of land it grew on, when it was harvested, when we distilled it and exactly how much time it took to get to you, and there is something special about that.

The second is to provide consumers with really nuanced, efficacious formulas, that have been perfected for over 800 years. Our ability to bring these to market is something very important to us.

And the third, is about presenting ayurvedic practices in an authentic format to the mass market.

On choosing to self-fund the business…..

The decision to remain self-funded has been a very pivotal one in the growth of Uma and one that has allowed the brand to remain extremely authentic.

During my role as a Mckinsey consultant I advised many companies about how to ‘go big’ and invest money in projects, but I also know the flip side of taking VC money.

For startups, once you show growth of a certain size that often means you will need to make some tough decisions that may go against the grain. In the case of Uma that could have meant partnering up with a retailer that I didn’t think would tell our story well, or cutting the amount of rose oil we use in order to save money.

My decision to stay self-funded means I haven’t had to make those type of decisions.

I’m not in 600 stores within the course of six months but I’m ok with that. I’m ok with being in 50 stores because I can say I have individually spoken to every store owner and each sales person and I know that every Uma customer is receiving top notch information.

On redefining luxury…..

The concept of redefining luxury, for me is very cultural. It’s something that I grew up with in a big way, and it means that when you extend luxury to me it’s about the time you’ve spent.

Think about what makes a great manicure in relation to a not so great manicure. It’s when the aesthetician has taken the time to go through your nails during a lengthy 60 or 70-minute process that’s customised for you and your own personal needs.

When you spend time to understand someone’s issues and handcraft something for them, that is when you’ve truly invested in that person and shown them that you have respect and love for them. That to me is a departure from the labeling, marketing and branding, which is often recognised as being luxury within the western world.

Obviously you have to look the part, but looking the part is much easier than playing the part.

What happens in the background is what I want to push people to consider. At Uma it’s about the service we think each customer should receive when they buy a wellness oil. It’s about the fact every oil takes months to perfect because that’s what I think is the real mark of respect and luxury.

On the convergence of wellness and beauty…..

The concept of beauty is extremely tied to the concept of wellness. You need to feel good to look good and feeling good is sleeping well, feeling energised and not feeling depressed.

At the moment I think that the ecosystem is working together to convey this message. Educators in the marketplace are having real conversations about what is being put in and on the body, mainstream medicine is becoming more attuned to going beyond solving for symptoms, and consumers are studying the reasons their body might be behaving differently to how it was five years ago.

The level of scrutiny around products is so much higher now.  It’s a full frontal attack and I think we’re on the cusp of something pretty amazing.

On the importance of brand authenticity…..

The beauty market is such an inundated space and a lot of brands are saying the same thing, so it’s hard to tell what’s authentic and what isn’t.

In an industry that’s full of smoke and mirrors, staying authentic while standing out has been a challenge, but my work goes way beyond the product.

Uma and Ayurveda are not the kind of things you shout from the rooftops. It’s a subtle understanding, a conversation, and a journey that you take the consumer on. It’s about taking people through the lifestyle of which the product is a part of, but there are so many other things they need to be aware of to be ‘well’.

To stand out without screaming, in order to take people through that journey has been a struggle, but the deep devotion we receive from our customers makes it worthwhile.

Hearing customers say they have seen a huge difference in their lives and that Uma has been a part of that feels so much better than getting a great month of sales.

On Uma’s social impact…..

I was very fortunate to have inherited a sound set of values when it comes to the social impact a business can have.

My family has always been very aware that the formulators and the farmers who work for us invest so much in us, so it’s important that we always invest back.

We’ve helped to create a lot of the infrastructure in our community in India, and have invested in medical research to support the region. We have done so because we understand that you cannot create an exceptional product unless the workforce creating it is exceptional.

Gender inequality is also very important to my family. We were among the first in the country to enforce equal pay for equal work, as well as create the infrastructure that it takes for women to be able to come to work.

I have inherited these values and have been able to carry them on through my own business practices. My personal commitment to gender equality has always been about challenging the traditional roles of women, and so Uma is made up of an exceptional community of women.