Miki Agrawal on Disruption, Business Authenticity, and Success as a Mindful Entrepreneur

Miki Agrawal is an experienced entrepreneur and disruptor with years of experience in the field. Coming to the forefront of her industry as the founder of THINX and WILD, Miki Agrawal would earn her stripes as a true industry mover-and-shaker with the success of her pandemic-driven bathroom bidet, Tushy.

Labeled as an innovator and creator, disruptor of major brands, Miki Agrawal took time out of her day to speak on what makes her, well, her during an appearance on The Big Silence podcast.

Miki Agrawal on Innovation and Disruption

Miki Agrawal has made a habit out of appearing on entrepreneurial podcasts, working diligently to share the insights and techniques that have helped her to become so successful. More than just a hustling entrepreneur, Agrawal opened up on what made her tick during her interview with Karena Dawn on The Big Silence.

During the appearance, host Karena Dawn asked Miki about her upbringing saying, “You’ve been an innovator and disruptor of so many things that people don’t want to talk about. What was your childhood like?”

Agrawal would go on to detail her mixed-culture upbringing and how she was raised in French Montreal in an Indian and Japanese household. Agrawal said, “I just grew up with every type of culture, opinion, and perspective. It was a very multicultural neighborhood.”

Miki would go on to say, “We were allowed to argue. There was deep permission to argue perspectives and see the world through various lenses.”

An Early Start in Entrepreneurial Excellence

Speaking of ‘firsts’, Kareena Dawn would ask Miki Agrawal about her early innovations, or the ideas that helped her to leap from the frying pan and into the fire.

Agrawal would say, “We’ve always been involved in science fair projects. We built all kinds of things, from digital slot machines (…) Our dad and mom started little companies when we were kids growing up.”

Miki would go on to say, “The very first project I raised money for was when my twin sister and I were 18 years old and we wanted to make our first short film named ‘Soccer Dads.”

Miki Agrawal went on to disclose how she and her sister worked hard to collect talent from the local community. They hired local actors and sourced local supplies until they had a production worth more than $9,000 in costs.

Agrawal said of the project, “It was a really fun thing to raise the money, figure it out, solve the problem. That was the first thing.”

Doing Cool Sh*t

After getting her feet wet in the world of entrepreneurial efforts as a child, Miki Agrawal would find herself quickly diving into new waters where she would explore even newer concepts. After exploring a bunch of different business concepts in her youth, Agrawal would eventually attend and graduate from Cornell University in 2001 with her Bachelor of Science in Business and Communication.

Agrawal would shift her focus to the world of finance, working for Deutsche Bank in New York City. Agrawal would go point to her time with Deutsche Bank as well as the impending events of 9/11 as one of the most important times of her life. Agrawal called the time an ‘Aha moment’.

Sleeping through her alarm for the first time, Agrawal would not be in her office during the tragic events of 9/11, surviving seemingly out of sheer luck. Agrawal would not be able to stay working in the financial field for much longer, understanding that there was something better out there for her.

At this point, Agrawal would begin exploring restaurant investments. Agrawal would establish THINX as a sustainable underwear company for women to use during their menstrual cycles. The success of THINX would lead directly to opportunities in the culinary world, allowing Miki Agrawal to develop a gluten-free and farm-to-table pizzeria known as Slice.

Agrawal said, “Creative marketing. Dreaming up the next big campaigns, I love that.”

Establishing TUSHY and Building an Empire

Miki Agrawal has been a hard-working entrepreneur for the vast majority of her life, beginning as a child and growing into the position through hard work and repetition. Agrawal understood that she wanted to create something that would make a difference not just in her life but in the lives of others.

TUSHY was brought forth as a bathroom solution to help in the hygiene and health of individuals all over the world. Pulling from her mixed-culture household and her affinity for bidets at home, Agrawal would propose the business first to her husband before finding further support.

Recalling her own health issues, Agrawal pointed to a time in her life when she was in the bathroom upwards of eight times a day, rapidly losing weight and dealing with the raw repercussions related to so much bathroom use.

Agrawal says of TUSHY, “It’s a modern bidet that you easily attach to your toilet in 10 minutes. It comes with all the tools. There’s no plumbing or electrical. Anyone who can barely hang a painting like me can install one.”

Agrawal went on to describe how the TUSHY device is hooked up to fresh water from the sink to provide instant cleansing support with every flush. Miki would go on to describe the Tushy bidet as a “shower for your butt” with a laugh, though the concept is anything but a joke.

Building Successful Endeavors

Responding positively to Agrawal’s concepts, Karena Dawn would detail her own success with the Tushy bidet. Karena would discuss how she took the Tushy bidet with her on the go due to the availability of the Tushy Travel Bidet. This concept was mirrored with enthusiasm by Miki Agrawal.

For her part, Agrawal described NOT using her Tushy bidet as akin to skipping brushing her teeth. Agrawal said with a laugh, “Dirty butt, dirty mind. Clean butt, clean mind”

Agrawal and her husband would work diligently in the early years of the TUSHY development so that they could one day dream of this outcome.

Agrawal said, “It was another DING DING DING moment in my life where I said to myself, “I need to create the best-in-class version of this bidet product and bring it to America.” Tushy would be borne thereafter.

During the far-ranging conversation with Karena, Miki would disclose her thoughts on relationships, uncoupling, and pursuing new opportunities as they presented themselves. Along the way, Agrawal would discuss her romances, the end of her 11-year marriage, and the birth of a new relationship at Burning Man just hours later.

Throughout the passionate and sprawling conversation, Agrawal continued to hone in and double down on the core concept of disruption, no matter where and when the opportunity presents itself. This mindset and successful outreach have followed Agrawal throughout her career, leading to success in a number of key industries.

About Miki Agrawal

Miki Agrawal is more than just another entrepreneur and disruptor, she is a determined facilitator of ideas and inventions. Agrawal was born and raised in a mixed-culture household where she was taught the ins and outs of an exciting life. Agrawal would describe these early life moments as liberating while calling her childhood one of ‘permission and opportunity’.

Miki Agrawal would go on to attend Cornell University before working at Deutsche Bank in New York City. The tragic events of 9/11 would fundamentally shift her mindset as well as her future, causing her to focus on positively impacting the world around her.

After leaving the financial world behind, Miki Agrawal would become a facilitator of disrupting ideas, new businesses, and broader enterprises. Agrwawal has since made a name for herself in a variety of niche industries with THIXN, a sustainable underwear company, and TUSHY, a best-in-class bathroom bidet product.

In addition to her work as an entrepreneur, Miki Agrawal has often shared her thoughts and insights in her bestselling books, including “Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman” and “Do Cool Sh*t.”

Thanks to her steadfast efforts in the field, Agrawal has found herself recognized by a number of outlets and with several awards. Agrawal’s efforts would land her on lists such as Forbes’ Top 20. Millennials on a Mission and Inc Magazine’s Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs of 2016. Most recently, Miki Agrawal released a series of books including Heart Wisdom which seeks to explore the thoughts, ideas, and concepts that have turned Miki Agrawal into a true disruptor in her industry.