As a young entrepreneur from a humble background, JuiSalunkhe’s tale is an example of budding entrepreneurs who dare to dream. Jui, hailing from Pune, resides with her father, who works as an auto-rickshaw driver, and her mom, a homemaker, dreamed of defying the odds and building something for herself that she would pilot. From the tender age of 14, she was inclined to the beauty and wellness sector. She had an opportunity to attend a 60-hour skills training courtesy of the Salaam Bombay Foundation. With the training, Jui was awarded a starter kit, which laid the foundation for realizing her dream of starting a makeup studio.
Jui honed her skills by interning with local salons, which helped her develop a perspective and understand the industry. For almost a year and a half, she worked with those salons, which helped her earn a stipend of Rs.10,000 monthly. Also, she took orders in her locality to further support her family and her dream.
As they say, “Dreamers never have it easy.” Jui’s path was not meant to be a cakewalk; she had her share of setbacks, which proved to be an essential learning curve in her journey. She contested in Dolphin Tanki 2.0; a seed funding platform that helps resource-challenged entrepreneurs get support for their businesses. Although bagging the runner-up prize was a milestone in 2023, she saw this as the cannon event of her life. Her determination to overcome these setbacks and keep moving forward is truly inspiring.
Currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in arts, Jui looks up to the former Indian cricket team Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, known to turn the tide even in the most adverse situations. She was further mentored by the School of Business Management, NMIMS Mumbai, to look at the bigger picture and develop a solid way forward for her dreams. With a fresh approach and renewed confidence, she pitched her brainchild to the jury at the third edition of Dolphin Tanki, where she was deemed a Gold Prize winner with a grand prize worth Rs.50,000 along with mentorship support. After winning the gold award, she moved to Mumbai from Pune and financed 50% of the course fee to complete her cosmetology and makeup course to upgrade her skills.
In a short time, after securing her prize, she earned a respectable sum of Rs.69,900 from July 2024 to November 2024. Her earnings from June 2022 multiplied by almost 3 times and rose to Rs 2,19,217, after receiving the Dolphin Tanki support. December 2024 was the month when her tree of hard work started to bear fruits as she kickstarted her makeup studio “Aura Aesthetic Wellness” in Pune with cutting-edge equipment. Jui Means to pass on her gained wisdom to the next batch of the entrepreneurship incubator program of Salaam Bombay Foundation by mentoring them in their journey.