Bunny & Taran Ghatrora are the founders of Blume, a Canadian self care and period products brand that is building a safe space for young women to "learn, grow and become their badass selves." Bunny & Taran are experts in fundraising and brand building and are recipients of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Award.
Whether for a teen or parents of a teen, what are 5 pieces of advice you’d give to young females as they embark on their journey with puberty?
Remember that you're not going through this alone! Everyone has or will go through puberty and what you're experiencing is *normal*!!
Keep doing the things that make you feel good, whether this be painting, running, playing sports or riding horses. If you have hobbies you love, keep doing them!
Make time for self care! Prioritize it!
Keep away from things that don't make you feel good. This could be friends that make you feel bad, social media or other. If it doesn't make you feel good, you don't need it!
If you have questions about the changes your body is going through, ask a friend, family member, guardian, teacher, doctor or other adult you feel comfortable speaking to!
Many siblings are great friends but you have taken it one step further! What are 5 tips/tricks for running a business with your sibling?
Communicate often & clearly. Sometimes it's easy to assume the other person *knows* what you're thinking, and sometimes that is totally the case (one of the benefits of running a biz with a sibling) BUT that's not always the case and can get you into trouble if you lean on short hand communication too often.
Prioritize your meetings the same way you would with someone else on your team. Show up on time, be attentive, have an agenda, etc…
Set time aside to hang as just siblings! Keep that time separate from work time.
Always remember that you're on the same team when it comes the business. You always have each other's backs and you're both rowing in the same direction.
Be mindful of the other person's schedule: Running a biz with a sibling can often feel like the two of you do *everything* together, so when/if ever one person has plans or is doing something else, or taking some much needed time off, be sure not to bombard them with work related questions.
You have raised some serious money for Blume over the years. What are 5 tips you'd share to someone looking to raise money for their startup?
You have to raise money FULL TIME. Tightly pack your meetings into a concentrated period of time and devote all of your energy to this. You ideally will have a co-founder/employee who will keep things running while you're devoting your time to this. Otherwise, this can drag on and diminish your sense of urgency.
Ask for a yes or a no! Investors will always say maybe, because they don't want to say no. They want to keep the conversation open and might change their mind. They want to see if someone else invests or something changes. But saying, kindly but firmly, that "I really need a decision from you so I can move on" forces people to make a decision.
Create a sense of scarcity. Say up front that you have "X" amount committed (only if you have, of course!) and that there's only this much left in the round. Blume specifically was only looking to raise about 1.5K, and through creating the sense of scarcity, ended up raising more!
Be very clear about what impact that money is going to have your business. i.e. "I am doing "X" amount of revenue now, and with this much invested, I'm going to do "Y" amount. It is going to come from these specific channels and my team is going to be this big." Don't just say "I'm going to use the money to grow my business", be hyper-specific!
Find a lead investor. People are going to ask you who your lead is, and they want someone to take the lead and start the trend. Tier 1 or Tier 2 investor is best, but also make certain that there's value alignment, that you've checked their references and - if it makes sense for you - ensured that they have follow up capital.
What are 5 must-see/try spots when visiting Vancouver?
Bike or rollerblade the seawall (a must!)
Day trip to Whistler
Whytecliff Park or Jericho Beach for a picnic and views!
Earnest Ice Cream & Miku Sushi are both amazing
Brunch at Jam Cafe!
Last but not least, which one of you fits each of the 5 following categories?
The Partier - Bunny
The Dancer - Both
The Clumsy one - Taran
The Bookworm - Taran
The Foodie. - Both