Source: Vogue
Meet Shilpa Yarlagadda, the 24-year-old Harvard University student and founder of Shiffon Co.
BY PRIYANKA KHANNA
A few weeks ago, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, made it to the cover of the Time100 issue. Of course, the cover was scrutinised, memed and pontificated over. And as is now par the course, fashion followers scrambled to identify Meghan’s wardrobe choices from head, to well, pinky finger.
Spotted on her left hand, was the dainty Duet pinky ring, by Shiffon Co. The jewellery label, started by the then 20-year-old Shilpa Yarlagadda, between her freshman and sophomore year at Harvard University was founded on the idea of jewellery, an important and emotional part of Indian culture, empowering women.
This ring in particular, has also been worn by Michelle Obama and Serena Williams. Set with a tiny diamond beside a larger diamond, this adjustable ring represents one woman supporting another through a “pinky promise, to pay it forward to support other women. 50% of the profits from sale, then through the company’s nonprofit, the StartUp Girl Foundation, seeds grants to female entrepreneurs.
No surprises, that the Meghan effect is in full swing; the ring is currently sold out. We spoke to Yarlagadda on paying it forward, on balancing school and entrepreneurship and what the future holds for her.
What was the impetus in starting your label, especially while in school? Why the pinky ring?
I grew up in Silicon Valley around entrepreneurship which was in itself very inspiring but I was aware from a very young age that there were not enough women in the fields that I hoped to one day get into which were tech, investment, entrepreneurship. Today, less than 2.3% of venture funding goes to women.
On starting school I started to ponder this concept more, and when thinking about rings (I didn’t know my own ring size and couldn’t quite figure it out) I thought about the idea of an adjustable ring that everyone could wear. This idea grew, along with that of creating a community where women could support other women.
Shiffon Co. was a way to create opportunity through the concept of the ‘pinky promise’ – our Duet Ring design features a spiral – representative of the upward and sometimes downward spirals of life, and the smaller and bigger diamond, of the act of paying it forward. Women deserve an equal opportunity in both failure and success, but those opportunities are rarely there to start with, and yet it has been proven that female led businesses have a higher chance of success. Since founding Shiffon, we have been able to garner an incredible board of mentors and create opportunities for a group of mission focused female founders through our not for profit Start Up Girl Foundation — our hope is to continue to support and inspire positive change here!
What are you most proud of at ShiffonCo?
I am so lucky to have an incredible group of mentors – one of whom, Rebecca Selva, Chief Creative Officer of Fred Leighton, taught me that beauty, function and purpose can all be a part of the same thing. Women are so multifaceted — we can be beautiful, powerful and purposeful all at the same time – and everything we put into Shiffon Co. is built on these pillars. Our philosophy is that individual and group success are more or less the same thing — we just want to be there to create the initial opportunity.
Your Instagram bio says, you are on a mission to fund more female founders.
“We are so proud of our current portfolio companies. We were the first female investors for Trisha Goyal’s startup Break The Love which is creating the Bumble of Sports as well as in Pepper, a bra company centred on body positivity. Pepper has since created an annual fund for black female entrepreneurs and we are so happy to support this initiative through Startup Girl Foundation. It’s amazing to see a cycle of paying it forward especially for women of colour who we believe deserve equal opportunities but aren’t always given them especially in the world of business.
Not only do we need more female founders, we especially need to see more women of colour as founders. The journey to entrepreneurship is worthwhile but so much more of an uphill struggle for women, than it is for men. The most rewarding piece for us is seeing our philosophy of paying it forward coming to life with the women and businesses we have supported — through their own success they are in turn supporting others. We are never too small to make a difference and together we can make an even bigger difference — that is really what we embody.
You are still a student at Harvard. How do you divide your time?
When I am at school, I study Economics, but since founding Shiffon Co, my focus has had to shift depending on the priorities at hand. Another mentor, Celine Khavarani once told me that in life you can have everything, just not necessarily all at the same time. I really try to be fully present in the moment, so of course when I have exams I put my focus into my studies and when Shiffon Co has an important campaign or launch, I shift accordingly. I am in my final year and will be wrapping up school soon, but it has been a wonderful learning experience applying my studies in real time to my business. That said, I am really looking forward to being able to put more time and attention into Shiffon Co and hopefully make an even bigger impact for the women we support.
What do you see yourself doing next?
Making a difference in gender equality — there is so much more work to do!
