Bhargavi Arrunategui, known as Barbie Patel, did her own makeup on her wedding day because she could not find a single makeup artist who knew how to work with her skin tone. She was at LexisNexis. South Asian and first generation in a community where choosing beauty over medicine or engineering was not something accepted as norm. She kept her corporate job when she started Cinderella Bridez on the side. Every week I talk to women founders doing exactly what Barbie did. Keeping their job. Keeping their corporate salary and not yet ready to take a full leap into entrepreneurship. And this is where her story gets interesting. She built one compounding loop around one customer in her 3 businesses. The bride who books her for the wedding becomes a travel client for the destination honeymoon. The artist she trains in her school becomes a partner in her network. Every customer generates multiple revenue moments across the same relationship. She worked with 2500 brides over 157 weddings in 2024 alone. She has over 400 students with 30% reporting 2 to 5x income growth. She’s also made over $1 million in annual venue bookings. For so many women who grew up being told exactly what success should look like; forging your own path comes with so many hurdles. I grew up being told architecture (like designing buildings) was not a real career. I chose Computer Science instead and never wrote a single line of code in 18 years of corporate work. Now I am building Vela. Most of us have a Barbie story. We just stopped telling it to ourselves.
📌 Barbie did not put her life on hold to build her business. She built it around her life. Most advice out there for women says go all in. Quit your job. Clear everything. Burn the boats. Easy to say when nobody is waiting for you at school pickup. Founders Edge is for the woman who has real things depending on her and is building anyway. Applications are open: https://www.shetrailblazes.com/founders-edge-program
Nobody teaches you how to build a loop. But you can figure that out. What takes forever is getting out of your own way long enough to start. Bhargavi Arrunategui, such an inspiring story especially for women of color. 👏
Wow, the compounding loop across the 3 businesses is brilliant!
The business idea is not what stops most women. It is the voice that says not yet. Wait until you know more. Wait until it is the right time. That voice has never once been right. Are you building on the side? Drop a 👋 below. Would love to know what you are working on.