The image of brown-skinned Indians walking along the roadside carrying a basket of nuts – a Baboo selling nuts – is one of the oldest derogatory and prejudicial representations of a hard-working immigrant class in Thailand. What Jane Tawntida Komalsingsakul has managed to do is to turn it all this around and transform it into a success story of great brand recognition and acceptance in Thailand as well as overseas.
Amazing.
Genup: Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Jane: My name is Tawntida Komalsingsakul, and I am also called Jane. I completed my Bachelor’s degree at Assumption University, Thailand and my Master’s at University of Wollongong, Australia.
I worked for my family since I was 18-19, designing denim apparel and I also did further studies in Australia, where I discovered a lot of health-related products which inspired me to work in this business.
Genup : What is your business about?
Jane: My business is based on the basis of a plant-based lifestyle. Inspired by the diet I grew up with, I decided to create a brand out of it and provide people with the same nutritious beans, legumes and nuts I had been fed all my life. As for the snacks, I essentially created them with a Thai / Indian twist, such as Baboonuts TomYum flavor. There are also premium superfood products, which are beneficial to boost your health, especially if you are a vegan / vegetarian. Recently, we have been developing a low GI flour, suitable for diabetics, often times diabetes is caused by lifestyle and if we can offer a product to improve that even by the slightest bit, it would make us happy.
Genup: Did you have outside funding for your business?
Jane: My family backed me up 100 percent and even went as far as providing me with the initial funding.
Genup: What was your biggest hurdle when you started?
Jane: The biggest hurdle was spreading my message / awareness on health care and lifestyle. Furthermore, it was particularly difficult for people to believe in the movement of a plant based lifestyle, people are often unaware what they put into their bodies, be it animal products, fried foods etc., so it was not easy finding creative ways to spread awareness of that feat. The journey to a healthy lifestyle is not an easy one, and there will be setbacks – but it is important to remain positive and to believe in yourself. Our main duty has been to be that positive pillar in people’s journeys and being that gentle push for people to eat healthy. We try to find ways to do that by creating delicious and healthy recipes, by spreading awareness on our social media pages as well as creating products that are beneficial to health and taste buds.
Genup: Did you have any failures and how did you bounce back?
Jane: It wasn’t exactly failure per se, but it was the fact that our business growth wasn’t going as predicted. We aimed to do simply snacks in the beginning, which were peanuts done in 2 flavors, TomYum and Thai Herbs, but we felt that it was not enough. We bounced back by giving our company a brand-new goal, which are clean foods, super foods- and of course we paid attention to our customers and their needs in order to create something that would benefit them.
Genup: What is your main drive? What motivates you?
Jane: My main drive is to promote a plant-based lifestyle and aid people in creating better health for themselves. My motivation is staying true to myself, my brand and being an independent woman – as I come from a long line of them.
Genup: Who do you admire?
Jane: I admire female entrepreneurs who strive to succeed every day. Today, women are establishing their businesses as household names in a variety of industries, and I am proud to be a part of that.
Genup: What don’t you like about being an entrepreneur?
Jane: I love everything about being an entrepreneur. I’m even grateful for the hard work and long hours as well as the endless multitasking, no matter how tiring it is. It is a blessing to be able to work, to do what I love and to create beautiful, healthy products for everyone to enjoy.
Genup: What does success in life mean to you?
Jane: Success in life means to be happy. To help others succeed as much as possible and lift others up. I do not believe in pushing others down to lift yourself up, I believe that if you truly want to make it in this world, you need to be able to have a heart that is big enough to help other people rise to the same ordeals.
Genup: What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
Jane: Go for it. Innovate your life by creating a business. Be your own boss, if I can do it, you can do it. Do not fear failure, for it is inevitable – look failure in the eye and thank it, because it is due to failure that you know the steps to success. It is better to have tried and failed than to have done nothing at all.
Genup: Thank you so much Jane!
Jane: Thank you!
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