“I am a verb; I am a work in progress.” — Amy Schmidt 

This one quote embodies Chanaya’s journey as a founder which has been anything but predictable. While the rest of the world around her talked about “results”, Chanaya chose to focus on the journey of growth and discovery. At Decoding Draupadi, we aim to push forward more female voices and share stories of SUPER women who are rewriting their stories.

Chanaya Gupta is the founder of Lazo Store, a women’s fashion brand rooted in empowerment and community. She’s a dancer by heart, an entrepreneur by soul, and a fitness freak by her muscles xD. We recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Chanaya about her journey of building LAZO, what it’s like building a community of women who feel comfortable and free to dress however they like and lots more. 

Here are our key takeaways from our chat: 

1. You must learn to respect yourself before expecting others to do it. 

Chanaya shares that one of her key learnings while figuring out how to lead a team and build Lazo has been to respect herself. This is incredibly important as a founder because it creates a space where team members feel encouraged to respect themselves. Here’s a LinkedIn post on this that deeply resonated with us. 

When you focus on your growth and prioritize yourself, you send a strong message to the team that while building and growing the company remains a priority for everyone on the team, their mental health and peace are just as important. This approach ultimately culminates in a culture of mutual respect, which plays a huge role when you’re in it together for the long haul. 

At Decoding Draupadi, one of our core principles is mutual respect. You treat everyone the way you want to be treated. And this is truly non-negotiable for anybody who is a part of the team. Respect might differ for everybody but for us, it’s being polite with your words, compassionate with your team, and mindful of your actions. 

2. You have to have faith in the people you choose to work with.

Trust is at the heart of any workplace. Chanaya points out that when you hand off tasks, you need to trust your team, just like they’re trusting you with their jobs. This two-way trust helps make sure that everyone grows. It lets team members feel like they can own their roles and take risks without stressing about failing.

This is exactly how we like to work here at Decoding Draupadi too. Instead of defining a process and step-by-step action for the team, we only define the end goal and let everybody choose and create their process for it. Want to work at night, do it. Want to take handwritten notes or get AI to transcribe the meeting for you, the choice is yours. 

3. You can never fully avoid risk and failure but there’s beauty in that. 

Chanaya recognizes that when you delegate tasks, there’s always a chance things might not go perfectly. However, she believes that letting team members have the space to grow means being okay with a few stumbles along the way. You have to let your team make and then learn from their own mistakes, and find their way around it next time. It’s very much like being a parent, as much as you want to protect your baby, you have to let them fly and even fall occasionally

One thing that most of us have struggled with is this idea of “perfection” and “success”. But you have to understand, that failure and success are not mutually exclusive. There are hardly ever decisions that are irreversible and hardly ever mistakes that can not be fixed. This means there are hardly ever failures that you cannot turn into success.

4. Build your business but also stick to your purpose. 

In her journey, Chanaya also talks about the tough challenge of making a business profitable while staying committed to inclusivity, especially when it comes to offering diverse sizes in products. She points out that investing in inclusivity isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s essential, even if it risks impacting profits. Finding this balance helps the brand connect with more people and truly live out its mission.

Inclusivity isn’t just accommodating when it is comfortable for you but rather building a space and environment where everybody feels comfortable and empowered because of each other. This is exactly what we’re trying to build with our community. Want to join? Fill out the form and we will get back to you 🙂

5. Building a community doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time but most of all it takes someone who is listening to what the people have to say. 

Chanaya shares that while building Lazo and its community there was no strategic plan; and the only intent was to have genuine connections and real conversations. When brands take the time to engage with their customers and truly listen to what they need, it creates a sense of belonging that hits home. This down-to-earth approach helps foster loyalty and makes the whole customer experience feel much more personal and meaningful.

Having conversations with powerhouses of women like Chanaya is our way of having those conversations and building connections that support each other and grow together.

6. We need support to grow. It’s the key to being empowered. 

At the heart of Chanaya’s philosophy is the idea that women—and really, everyone—crave support in different ways. Whether it’s through kindness, a little extra attention, or just someone willing to listen, this kind of support can make a huge difference. When businesses offer that support, they empower their customers and help them feel valued and understood. It’s all about creating connections that matter.

One of the key motivating factors while building Decoding Draupadi as well has been the support and love we have received from our community. It turns every doubt, every bad day, every “what if” into a fire that keeps on burning and keeps on pushing us to move forward. 

That’s everything we have for today but there’s so much that we learnt from Chanaya during our chat. It’s not just about being a leader but a very real human experience that all of us would face in one way or another. Chanaya’s journey with Lazo teaches us that being open, building real connections, and prioritizing inclusivity can make a brand truly successful and create a strong community. In the end, it all comes down to being authentic and caring. Business is more than just numbers; it’s about the people and relationships that make it meaningful. 

And on that note, we want to sit back and reflect on all the connections and relationships we have had the honor of building through Decoding Draupadi ♥️

Until next time

Team Decoding Draupadi