When most people inherit a business legacy, the instinct is to preserve it, work within the existing system, and gradually grow it. However, speaking with Ms. Vaishali Shetty Oza immediately revealed that her journey has been the opposite. She chose to go off the script.

As a second-generation entrepreneur, she had a framework at her disposal. Despite this, she didn’t take the conventional path. “I flipped the chessboard around,” she said, describing how she chose to question every assumption and challenge every standard. For her, entrepreneurship wasn’t about maintaining what was passed down; it was about redefining value creation on her terms.

She moved the company she inherited away from a dependency on third-party manufacturing. Instead, she doubled down on developing in-house production infrastructure, ensuring greater quality control, supply chain integrity, and long-term scalability. This decision was beyond being operational. It was a strategic choice. It positioned the company to own its process end-to-end and differentiate itself in a sector often defined by commoditization.

However, what truly sets her apart is her commitment to research and development. In an industry where R&D is often treated as a cost, she viewed it as an investment, one that could build intellectual property, strengthen product design, and establish a sustainable competitive advantage. “We converted passion into feasible ideas,” she said, reflecting on the importance of channelling emotional conviction into executable, data-backed innovation.

Her philosophy is simple but rarely followed: if you want to lead in a crowded market, you can’t just be louder. You have to be smarter, faster, and more thoughtful. And that takes vision, capital, and courage.

The Learnings: Building Institutions, Not Just Businesses

Ms. Oza’s background from the London School of Economics to building a science-driven Indian food and pharmaceutical brand gives her a global outlook grounded in local understanding. Her leadership style blends professional discipline with intellectual humility. “I always surround myself with people who are smarter than me,” she said, not as a passing remark but as a core principle that shapes how she hires, learns, and evolves.

This mindset has enabled her to make significant progress and escape the “Sahab culture,” as she calls it. She has dismantled traditional hierarchies, encouraging open and flat communication. Layers of red tape don’t guard her office; anyone can walk in and speak with her directly. In her words, “I make myself available.” Showing the amount of clarity she possesses.

When it comes to work ethic, she is unflinching. “I don’t believe in the five-day workweek,” she told me, adding without hesitation: “There is no substitute for hard work.” In a time when hustle is often romanticized but rarely practiced with intention, her discipline feels rare. Her success isn’t built on hype. It’s built on exceptional intensity, day after day, quarter after quarter.

And yet, beneath all of this operational sharpness is someone who deeply values culture, not the posters-on-the-wall kind, but the lived, everyday kind that shapes decisions, relationships, and standards. The culture she leads with is one of merit, integrity, and constant learning.

The Personal Connect: Leading with Grit and Grace

What made this meeting more than just an exchange of ideas was how deeply personal Ms. Oza allowed the conversation to become. Her story isn’t clean-cut. It’s layered like most real journeys are. She has balanced multiple roles: entrepreneur, wife, and mother, and in a world that hasn’t made it easy.

She discusses societal norms not with anger but with realism. “I had to claw my way to success,” she said. It wasn’t handed to her. And through that process, she learned that resilience is not something you are born with. It’s something you build. “Grit and tenacity are the only things that lead to success,” she told me, a belief she’s worked to instil in her daughter.

She’s also remarkably unafraid of failure. She embraces it. “Failure is the best teacher,” she said, not as a cliché, but as someone who’s lived through the hard lessons and come out stronger. To her, failure is an opportunity for self-reflection and growth and should be cherished.

When I asked her what she would tell young people trying to navigate choices in an increasingly chaotic world, her advice was simple: “Carve out your path. Experience everything before making decisions.” That is sound advice, considering the amount of uncertainty the incoming generation faces.

Beyond the strategy, beyond the grit, there’s a softness to Ms. Oza, a deep commitment to humanity. She treats people with dignity, no matter their background. She places family above all. And she leads not just with sharpness but with soul.

For me, this conversation wasn’t just about learning how to build a business. It was about learning how to live a life of integrity, resilience, and purpose. Ms. Oza is not only a formidable entrepreneur, she is a force of kindness, clarity, and courage. In a world that often chases speed, she reminded me of the quiet power of building something slowly, intentionally, and with heart