Mandakini Bhatia Interview: Mrs India on Leaving Corporate, Building a Business and Solo Travel

Mandakini Bhatia spent more than 15 years in medtech sales before she walked away from a secure corporate career. In 2025, she won Mrs India (Below 45 category) at The International Glamour Project Season 4 in her very first pageant. She then represented India on an international stage in Florida.
Today, Mandakini Bhatia runs her own business with KOW Skin, the exclusive India partner for Italian professional haircare brand Teotema. In this BalleBolly interview, she talks about reinvention, mom’s guilt, the crown, and the solo trip that changed her.

Meet Mandakini Bhatia

For readers meeting you for the first time, how would you introduce yourself today — as a corporate leader, an entrepreneur, a pageant queen, or something else entirely?
Honestly? A small-town girl from Kanpur who’s still figuring it out, just with a lot more courage now. I spent more than 15 years in medtech sales, I wear national and international crowns, and today I run my own business. But if I had to pick one word, I’d say a “Builder”. I left a secure career because I wanted to create something of my own, something that solves a real, everyday problem.

Mandakini Bhatia on Leaving the Corporate World

You spent more than 15 years in the corporate world. What moment made you realise it was time to leave?
There wasn’t one dramatic moment. It was a quiet feeling that kept getting louder: I was building targets for someone else while my own dream sat on hold.
Winning the pageant in 2025 showed me I could start from zero and still win! After all, they say growth only happens outside your comfort zone, and it was high time I gave it a chance!

You’ve written that the hardest thing to leave behind isn’t the job — it’s the version of yourself you became because of it. Who was that version of you?
She was capable, dependable and very used to having a clear role, a plan and a measure of success. I had learned to be composed and perform well, but I was also looking for validation through the next title or achievement or incentive. Leaving meant finding out who I was when those familiar labels were no longer doing the introducing.

What She Kept, and the First Weeks After Leaving

Which parts of that corporate self have you kept, and which have you let go of?
I’ve kept the discipline, the execution, the way I read a room and my respect for numbers. I still track my sales register product by product! What I’ve let go of is the need for someone else’s approval and that constant fear of a bad quarter. Now the only appraisal that matters is winning customers’ trust!

What did the first few weeks after leaving feel like — freedom, fear, or both?
Both, and on the same day! Mornings felt like freedom: no review calls, no reports, my own calendar. By evening the fear would creep in: “Did I just give up a stable income?” What saved me was keeping myself busy. I kept making calls, meeting customers and coming up with creative, practical solutions to their queries. Action is the best cure for fear.

Advice for Women Who Want to Build Something of Their Own

What would you say to a woman who feels stuck in a secure job but wants to build something of her own?
My advice to her would be “look around”. Your first step doesn’t have to be a brand-new idea. It can be a business, a brand or a partnership that already exists and just needs someone like you to take it further. We often forget how much our jobs have already taught us. Years of selling, negotiating, managing people and handling pressure are exactly what a growing business needs. For me, it was 17 years of building relationships and knowing how to sell, and those skills mattered more to Teotema than any fancy business plan. And stop waiting for permission. If you have the skills and the hunger, you’re more ready than you think.

Family & the Juggle

You’ve spoken about “mom’s guilt” during your pageant training. How do you deal with that feeling today?
I don’t think mom’s guilt ever disappears completely, but I’ve learnt to deal with it with a little more kindness. I remind myself that being a present mother doesn’t mean putting every part of myself on hold. I want my son to see that love and ambition can exist in the same woman. Quality over quantity!

How has your son reacted to seeing his mother win a crown and start a business?
He has always been so happy and proud of me! But I hope he remembers the work behind the crown as much as the moment itself — the preparation, the nerves and the courage it took to stand there.
Leaving a stable job and joining a business has shown him another side of me: learning as I go, making mistakes and trying again. More than anything, I want him to know it’s never too late to begin something new. Self-belief is the key, always!

Mandakini Bhatia’s Support System

Your husband and son travelled with you to Florida. What role has your family played in this new chapter?
They’re one of my biggest anchors. My husband is often travelling overseas, but when it mattered, they both showed up. Having them in the audience in Florida meant more than the title itself.
My brother has been a big support too, especially with my trainings. And of course my parents and my in-laws stood as pillars, taking care of my home while I was away. Nobody builds anything alone.

You once wrote about a gift from someone who quietly sees and supports your new venture. What does that kind of support mean to you?
It means everything. Loud support is easy, but quiet support comes from someone who notices without being asked. When you’re starting out, there are many days when you doubt yourself, and one gesture like that can carry you for weeks. It tells you someone believes in you even when you’re not sure you do.

Mandakini Bhatia on Winning Mrs India

You won Mrs India in your very first pageant, with about three months of preparation. What did pageantry teach you that your corporate career never did?
Pageantry taught me to take up space in a different way. In corporate life, I was used to proving myself through work and results; on that stage, I had to be present, expressive and comfortable being seen. Winning in my first pageant after about three months of preparation reminded me that we can be beginners and still surprise ourselves.

You were the only Indian contestant across all categories in Florida. How did it feel to represent India on that stage?
I was proud and nervous equally! Walking out alone with India’s name behind me felt huge, like carrying 1.4 billion people on my shoulders. But it also made me stand taller.
I knew I wasn’t only walking out as Mandakini; I was carrying a little piece of home with me. I felt proud, grateful and very aware of how much it meant to represent India on an international stage.

What does the crown allow you to do now that you couldn’t do before?
The crown gives me a platform and a reason for people to listen, but what I do with that attention is up to me. I want to use it to speak honestly about reinvention, confidence and women creating room for themselves. For me, the title matters most when it can open a door for someone else too.

Mandakini Bhatia and Teotema India

What is Teotema India, and how did the India–Italy connection come about?
Teotema is a professional Italian haircare brand, and we (as in KOW Skin) are its exclusive channel partner for India. I’ve always loved personal grooming and good haircare, and when I came across Teotema’s quality, especially its PPD-free colours, I immediately knew Indian women deserved access to it. Italy has the craftsmanship and India has the demand. I’m simply the bridge.

What gap in the market are you trying to fill with Teotema India?
Indian women deserve professional-quality, safer hair colours and care, but a lot of what’s available in the market is either harsh chemicals or overpriced products. Teotema offers PPD-free colours and genuinely premium European products at a sensible price. I’m working closely so that professionals and home users both get quality they can trust.

Life as a Founder

What has been the biggest surprise about being your own boss?
The biggest surprise is how many jobs come with the word “founder”. One moment I’m thinking about the bigger picture; the next I’m handling sales, customers, events, travel or a problem that needs fixing. It’s demanding, but it has also made me resourceful in ways I didn’t expect.

Which skill from your corporate years has helped you most as a founder?
The ability to think strategically and bring different people together has helped me most. Corporate life taught me how to prepare, communicate clearly and keep sight of the larger objective, even when there are many moving parts. I still rely on those skills — just now, the outcome feels much more personal.

Mandakini Bhatia’s Solo Travel Story

When did you take your first solo trip, and what made you decide to go alone?
My first solo trip will always be a trip to remember! It wasn’t planned at all. It happened almost by accident. In March 2026, I was supposed to travel with a team to Paris Fashion Week. Then, given the war and the geopolitical situation, flights were being cancelled massively, and one by one everyone in the group backed out.

At that moment, I had two choices: cancel my tickets like everyone else, or go ahead alone and take a chance. I’ll admit I was scared. I had never travelled this far alone before, and the news wasn’t exactly reassuring. But still, I listened to my instinct and took the flight!

That one decision turned into Paris, Milan and Prague, all on my own. I found my way around new cities, figured things out when plans changed, and enjoyed my own company.
Today, when I look back at that trip as the first chapter of my solo travel story, I feel so proud of that one courageous decision, because it taught me more about myself than years of playing it safe ever did!

Lessons From Travelling Alone

You’ve written that peace isn’t found in a city, a relationship or a vacation — it’s built within yourself. How did solo travel teach you that?
Solo travel gives you quiet enough to notice what you’re carrying within. A beautiful place can lift your mood, but it can’t do the inner work for you. Being on my own taught me that peace isn’t something I have to find in the perfect destination or circumstance; it’s something I can practise building within myself.

For you, what is the difference between being alone and being lonely?
Being alone is a choice. Being lonely is a feeling. I can sit alone at a café in Milano and feel completely full, and I can feel lonely even in a crowded conference hall. Once you start enjoying your own company, being alone stops scaring you. It becomes a gift. I feel that is when I connect the most with myself.

What would you tell women who want to travel solo but are held back by fear — their own or their family’s?
Start small with a weekend trip to a nearby city. Share your itinerary, stay somewhere safe and trust your instincts. Your family’s fear usually comes from love, so show them you’ve planned well and keep them posted. Once you come back safe and glowing, they’ll become your biggest cheerleaders. Mine did!

What’s Next for Mandakini Bhatia

Where do you see yourself — and your businesses — five years from now?
Five years from now, I hope I’m building businesses that are stronger, more trusted and more empowered! I’d love for Teotema to have a real place in India’s professional haircare market, and for my work in speaking, training and women’s leadership to grow alongside it. I also hope I finally feel at home in all my versions — the corporate woman, the queen, the traveller, the founder — that once seemed so separate.

But my biggest dream is a simple one. One day I’d love to go back to Kanpur, where a little girl once dreamt big without knowing how, and feel that my hometown is proud of me. That would be my real crown.

— Mandakini Bhatia

Thank You

Thank you so much, Mandakini Bhatia, for taking the time to share your journey with BalleBolly Magazine. Your story — from the corporate world to the Mrs India crown to building your own business — will inspire many women to take a leap of faith and start their next chapter. We wish you all the very best for everything ahead!

Mandakini Bhatia Interview: Mrs India on Leaving Corporate