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I founded Nook Nook Industries because I believed too many of us waste decades on careers that cost more than they're worth—trading finite, fleeting time for the promise of someday. I didn't want to defer traveling the world until retirement, or wait to truly live only to receive a terminal diagnosis and understand, too late, the futility of postponement.
What began as a simple idea evolved into a frothy milkshake of life lessons, risky bets, frames of glory, ice cold failures, and six years of my life. The concept was straightforward: your doormat didn't have to be ugly, wasteful, or made in exploitative conditions. Inspired by traditional Indian craftsmanship, I designed coconut coir doormats that were hand-woven by artisans near Kochi. Each mat was made from organic, biodegradable coconut fiber and printed with water-based ink. I partnered with suppliers who prioritized fair wages, women's employment, and the preservation of hand-loom techniques against the tide of mass production.
The product was beautiful.
The ethics were sound.
The paper airplane was launched.
Best-Selling Doormat on Amazon
out of 40,000+ listings
Annual revenue
Behind these numbers lived a different story. I worked a full-time job while running the business.
Amazon changed seller policies at will and support for sellers made you want to smash your head through a wall.
Shipping sabered through my profit margins, while a once an epoch pandemic dropkicked anything that was left.
Scaling orders, logistics, and storage without drowning in debt proved nearly impossible.
The venture wasn't moving me toward more life but less of it.
What it actually took to get a mat to your door
· · ·
Then came the lows.
A miscalculation in an Excel spreadsheet.
A $50,000 loan about to double that amount in debt
A $50,000 loan about to double that amount in debt.
The floor of my apartment where I sat crying, certain I had ruined everything.
I closed Nook Nook Industries in 2023. The new designs I'd sketched, the expanded website, the additional eco-friendly home goods I'd planned to source, none of it came to pass.
I learned how difficult it is to start, run, and expand a business. I learned about the triad of quality, ethics, and profitability, and how our world works, since manufacturing and trade, behind the scenes, enables our modern convenient life. I learned how to manage time when there never seems to be enough of it.
Most importantly, I learned resilience, gratitude, and the kind of positivity that can only be forged in the furnace of real failure, real triumph, and real acceptance.
Nook Nook Industries · 2017–2023.
