Note: This article was originally published on shakticollaborative.co.  Some information may be dated given the original publish date.

Meet Avani Modi Sarkar, co-founder of Modi Toys, a toy company focused on spreading Hindu culture (and the makers of the super cute Ganesh and Hanuman plush toys that you’ve probably seen on Instagram!). Avani spent over 15 years accumulating B2B marketing and brand-building experience at various corporations before bringing her expertise to Modi Toys. Read on to learn more about how she honed in on her strengths throughout her career, how she’s building a generational brand, and why she’s so focused on sparking cultural curiosity from a young age. 

The Beginning

“I was born and raised in Ahmedabad and went to school there until I was 8 years old. I went to a Gujarati speaking school, so when we moved to America, I didn’t speak a word of English. It was really difficult to adjust, and I was so in tune with how different I was. 

But at home, things felt normal. I grew up in a town in New Jersey that’s heavily populated with Indians, and I felt more Indian than American growing up. We always spoke in Gujarati at home, which I completely appreciate now. We always ate at home too for the most part. We didn’t have cable, but we had all the Indian channels! In some ways, India was very much a part of us even though we had left it for many years.”

Discovering Marketing

“I never cared about the game, but I loved the ads and seeing the power of storytelling in 30 seconds or less…I wanted to create stories that would get people talking.”

“Being the youngest of three siblings, I was always drawn to creative things so I guess it’s no surprise that I wanted to major in graphic design when applying to colleges. I didn’t have a portfolio though, so I ultimately chose marketing as my major. The way I decided is actually funny; I’m not athletic at all, but I remember watching the Superbowl. I never cared about the game, but I loved the ads and seeing the power of storytelling in 30 seconds or less. I loved that everyone would talk about their favorite ads the next day around the proverbial watercooler. I wanted to create stories that would get people talking. 

Ironically enough, I never did end up pursuing a career in advertising or art direction because I decided to chase money over passion, and instead accepted job offers within the financial services industry. To be honest, I was never really happy in my roles, but I tried to find peace where I could. At one point, I worked at a company that gave me the chance to travel around the world. I was able to grow in that role, both professionally and personally, because in the midst of those travels, I managed to complete my MBA and perform in the Sa Dance Company’s inaugural show. Now, most recently (in addition to Modi Toys), I’m still very much in B2B marketing, but I’ve stepped away from the financial services world.” 

Starting Modi Toys

“It was just days before I went into labor with my first daughter. My brother’s wife was also due around the same time so my brother had been busy shopping for a gift for his baby-on-the-way. But each time he’d go shopping, he would return disappointed and empty handed. He didn’t know what he wanted but knew it needed to be special and really meaningful. One day, as he was returning home from yet another failed shopping trip, he said, ‘You know, why isn’t there a plush Ganesh toy or something that sings mantras?’ 

At first, I was pretty dismissive of his idea and didn’t even know who would want something like that. But if you think about it, we have all these stuffed animals of elephants and puppies that sing and jump around. Ganesh is so central in Hindu households, and we don’t have any toys to represent him for kids. My brother searched the internet for variations of ‘plush Ganesh (or similar deity) toys,’ and he saw options with six arms that were not kid friendly at all. Whoever had created them was focused on accuracy, but missed the mark overall.”

“A few days later, I had my baby and was so fully consumed with being a new mom that I forgot about the plush Ganesh for a while. But my brother kept going after it. He started looking at manufacturers and what would be required to produce such a toy. Luckily, one of our cousins is pretty artistic so she sketched a design for us. We then sent it off to manufacturers who created a 3D rendering. We finally got the prototype in December 2017 — nearly a year after my daughter and niece were born — and that’s how it all got started.

This is when I put my marketing hat on and realized we needed to see if our idea had any merit. I posted a photo of my daughter holding the prototype on a local Mommies group on Facebook, just to see if anyone would have any feedback or actually buy it. I got a ton of great feedback so I decided to replicate that process and joined over a dozen other mom groups all over the world to continue gathering feedback and build a waitlist. We ended up having 2,000 people on the waitlist before we formally launched.

Toys are the one thing that kids are surrounded by. Now we’ve given parents the option to choose between a regular teddy bear vs. one that is truly steeped in meaning. Our brand can become a cultural carrier to pass down the learnings of our parents to our children. We want to become the go-to place for all cultural toys for kids of all ages!”

On Building a Brand

“One of my biggest learnings since starting Modi Toys is the idea that people don’t remember what you say, but how you make them feel. So I’ve really honed in on the types of messages I want our followers to see on social media. If all you are showing them is your product and a sales pitch, it’s hard to make them feel a certain way. What will ultimately ‘sell’ your product is your ability to demonstrate how it positively impacted someone’s life — the more profound the impact, the more powerful your message will be. Although I take solace and comfort in the loyalty and community we have built, it didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a year and a half’s worth of me sharing authentic content. The conversations I share with my customers have come up organically. If I had just focused on the toy in all our marketing, I don’t think I would have built the community that we have today.”

On Working with Family

“With my family, we have this innate, built-in trust. We didn’t sign formal agreements, or talk about money or labor in a formal way. We naturally fell into our roles given our backgrounds and interests. My brother and I are both good at what we do, and I don’t think we could continue operating without one another. If I hadn’t built the community we have, we wouldn’t have the sales that we do. If he hadn’t figured out the logistics that went into building the product, we wouldn’t have anything to offer to this community.

What I will say about side-hustling is that you have to be really thoughtful. A lot of people decide to quit their jobs and say go big or home. Investors often say that if you don’t believe in yourself, why would you expect me to believe in you? If you are too scared to quit your job, why should I pursue this with you?” 

“We have received similar advice that we should focus on this full time. But I’m still thinking through it. My brother did take the plunge and quit his job eventually to focus on Modi Toys full time, given the fact that he keeps the engine running on the backend. For anyone that is on the fence, I would say test the market first. Keep burning that midnight oil. It’s going to be a difficult phase of juggling multiple balls, but if your product has enough merit, you will see the demand for it. 

In the early days of your business, think about whether it’s the product or lack of awareness that is your hurdle. For us, it’s the lack of awareness. If I focused on this full-time, I could spend all day every day getting our brand out there, but if I am able to do this much on a part-time basis, we know we can grow with additional part time resources, in the interim. I want to see how much more we can keep stretching. Ultimately, you have to determine what works for you because it’s really easy to compare your chapter 1 with someone else’s chapter 35. Every journey will be different!”

On Culture

“Working on Modi Toys has, of course, brought forward a lot of thinking around how we maintain our Hindu culture. My husband has a fairly different outlook on the importance of preserving our Hindu culture, so I feel like I have to work extra hard to compensate for that. I want our daughter to appreciate and be aware of her roots. The way I see it is that I should introduce her to our culture, plant the seeds, and just see how they bloom. Overall, I want to make it really easy and simple for our kids to gravitate towards our culture in a seamless manner. The best way to teach kids is when they feel curious enough to learn more, as opposed to being didactic with them.” 

On Love

“I come from a very traditional family (with the whole ‘don’t talk to guys until you are 25!’ mentality). I did feel pressured to get married, but I’m not sure how much of it came from society or how much of it was self-rooted. I remember being really depressed about all this when I was turning 30. At the time, I was on a break with my now-husband. I thought we would have been married by then, but it just felt like we were done during that break. I felt like my life was heading towards a dead end and that nothing was really going right. 

I had envisioned by the time I was 30 that I would have been married and had a kid. Watching that dream break was really soul crushing. Looking back, if we hadn’t gone through the ups and downs, we probably wouldn’t have been as strong as we are now. I’m, of course, a bit annoyed that it took my husband and me five years to get married, but we got through it and now we’ve built the life that I had always wanted.”

Just for Fun

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Author Bio:

Shakti Collaborative illuminates narratives of strength, choice, and culture in the South Asian community.