Creating Disruption and Opportunities With Miki Agrawal
Miki Agrawal first broke into the entrepreneurial world in the early aughts with her farm-to-table eatery, WILD. Now considered a true industry disruptor and a leader in several different fields, Miki Agrawal has grown a following interest in learning from her methods of success.
From the world of TUSHY, America’s #1 bathroom bidet, to the life-changing benefits of THINX, sustainable period-proof underwear, let’s seek to understand and explore the businesses and ideas that Miki Agrawal has created.
Meeting a Disruptor
Industry leaders don’t simply appear out of nowhere, and they work diligently to a point where their skills are recognized. For Miki Agrawal, founder of multiple successful companies as well as one of INC’s Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs, the path to success has been as winding and curvy as you could expect.
Agrawal began her career in the financial services field, working for Deutsche Bank. After the tragic events of 9/11, Agrawal would engineer a change in her career path as she sought instead to build something of her own. In a few short years, Agrawal would have established businesses in several fields. Along the way, Agrawal would land on professional lists like Fast Company’s Most Creative People and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Miki Agrawal would find the most enduring success through her efforts at TUSHY, a bidet company that came to life during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Agrawal was pulled from her mixed cultural household as a half-Indian and half-Japanese child to bring bidets to America. Agrawal said, “I wanted to make the best-in-class, sleek, modern bidet and, of course, make it relevant to American culture.”
Overcoming Personal Hurdles
Finding success in an industry that is as ready to spit people out as the entrepreneurial world can be difficult. Miki Agrawal found her path to success by focusing on the things that she could control, and that meant working on herself.
Agrawal advocates for a mindset that allows you to fail or to look bad, learning what is acceptable and what is impossible along the way. Agrawal pointed to her past, attempting to try out for the NY Magic soccer team. Agrawal said, “I was going to try even if I made a fool out of myself.”
Even though she felt like an imposter, Agrawal attended the tryout and made it clear that she belonged in the room with those other athletes. This leads to Agrawal’s other personal hurdle that she had to overcome to succeed: being too harsh on herself. Agrawal said one of her most significant moments came after she decided to trust herself and listen intently to her inner knowing. Agrawal says, “These moments of recalibration are so important to reset.”
