Mira Kulkarni, 

On the face of it, Kulkarni is an unlikely businessperson. She confesses: “There was no business plan, no organised structure. It was like a passionate hobby I had, which has evolved.” Today her company, Mountain Valley Springs, is behind one of the most successful brands in the organic skin care products space—Forest Essentials. The brand is seen as ‘luxury ayurveda’, and hotel chains such as the Oberoi group and Indian Hotels offer Forest Essentials products in their rooms. This year, Kulkarni expanded her company by 30% and added six stores across tier I cities. Estée Lauder, the U.S. manufacturer and marketer of skin care, cosmetics, hair care, and perfume products, picked up a minority stake in the company in 2008. That’s a milestone given the ready availability of international brands such as L’Occitane and Moulton Brown in India. Kulkarni doesn’t disclose the turnover but says “the Forest Essentials store in Khan Market, New Delhi, has a turnover of about Rs 1 lakh a day”.