During an episode of Shark Tank India Season 4, shark Anupam Mittal met Iaishah Rymbai, a single mother from Meghalaya who built a business against all odds. Her story shook him, making him question the role of opportunity in success. And now Anupam Mittal, through his LinkedIn, is amplifying the conversation around women¡¯s empowerment, privilege, and the power of a single chance.
When Anupam Mittal, the founder of People Group and a familiar face on Shark Tank India, met Iaishah Rymbai, he was not prepared for how her story would shake him to the core. In a world where success is often equated with ¡°hustle,¡± this encounter forced him to look deeper¡ªat privilege, at opportunity, and at the stark reality of women trying to break barriers without a safety net.
Iaishah, a single mother of four girls from a small village in Meghalaya, had no financial backing, no connections, and no generational wealth to fall back on. Her world wasn¡¯t built to support ambitious women¡ªit was designed to keep them in their place. But she refused to accept that fate. She founded Eri Weave, a business that wasn¡¯t just about survival but about rewriting the script for other women like her. Women who had been told that their futures ended at their doorstep.
For someone like Mittal, who has spent years surrounded by founders, investors, and entrepreneurs dissecting success into strategies and frameworks, this was a stark wake-up call. Would he have been able to make it if he didn¡¯t have access to top-tier education? If he wasn¡¯t exposed to the opportunities in the US? If he grew up in a society that taught him not to dream? The answer, he admitted, was humbling.
He pointed out a fundamental truth¡ªmost times, the gap between success and failure isn¡¯t about talent or merit, but simply about access. Opportunity. The chance to even be in the game. "And if there¡¯s no mauka, how do you even hit a chauka?"
The Iaishah Rymbai special episode of Shark Tank India aired last month, and let¡¯s just say¡ªit was an emotional rollercoaster. Iaishah stepped into the tank to pitch Eri Weave, her silk clothing brand. But what truly struck a chord with the sharks wasn¡¯t just her business¡ªit was her sheer resilience.
Opening up about her struggles, she revealed that she was married off at just 20, but after a tough divorce, she was left to raise four daughters on her own. With no financial security and a future that seemed uncertain, she turned to weaving to provide for her family. Her story of survival and determination moved the sharks, proving that she is not just an entrepreneur¡ªshe is a fighter.
However, the biggest shocker came when she revealed that she was drowning in a ?35 lakh debt, making it nearly impossible for her to scale her business. As she laid bare her financial struggles, Peyush Bansal sympathized with her situation, acknowledging that she was caught in a crippling debt cycle. With emotions running high, viewers were left on edge, wondering if the sharks would step in to help Iaishah break free and take Eri Weave to the next level.