About SnazzCares
SnazzCares is a social impact initiative that aims to encourage body positivity and self-acceptance among adolescents and teenagers. The initiative is an extension of Snazz’s existing work which entails a personal care product line tailored to the specific needs of young adults, undertaking the development, manufacturing, and marketing of customized, sustainable hair care products suited for teenage hair and skin types. SnazzCares aims to complement these efforts by promoting self-love and acceptance of growing and changing teenage bodies and emotions by creating and disseminating original educational content such as children’s storybooks and activity books, as well as through engaging, interactive workshops with adolescents, and the curation and donation of specialized kits that facilitate body positivity.
Background
In today’s fast-paced world, the standards of beauty and acceptance can be heavily influenced by societal norms and the ever-present impact of social media. During adolescence, a crucial stage of development, young individuals go through significant physical and emotional changes. It is a period when they begin to shape their identities and cultivate a sense of self-worth. However, this transformative phase can also be accompanied by insecurities and self-doubt, particularly when faced with unrealistic beauty standards.
Unfortunately, the current state of body positivity and self-acceptance among adolescents leaves much to be desired. Numerous young people grapple with body image concerns, feeling compelled to conform to narrow definitions of beauty perpetuated by the media. These ideals often appear unattainable, leading to detrimental effects such as diminished self-esteem, mental health issues, and even the development of eating disorders. Clearly, there is an urgent need to foster a culture that not only embraces diversity but also encourages self-love among teenagers.
This is where SnazzCares comes in. The social impact initiative understands the significance of tackling these issues head-on. Leveraging the groundwork laid by Snazz in providing customized personal care products for young adults, SnazzCares takes an additional step forward by focusing on the emotional and physical well-being of adolescents. Its primary objective is to help individuals learn to appreciate and accept themselves, their bodies, and their unique qualities, just as they are.
About the founder
Anoushka Poddar
Anoushka Poddar is a student at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai where she studies English, World Literature, Spanish, Global Perspectives, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, and Business Studies as part of the IGCSE curriculum. She has a keen interest in the fields of Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship, as a budding young entrepreneur herself.
Anoushka participated in the 6-month-long Young Entrepreneurs Academy in 2021, where she developed and pitched a business proposal for Snazz which secured 2nd place in the program and received seed funding of INR 30,000. Taking her vision to reality in 2022, she launched Snazz as India’s first personal care product line customized exclusively for teenagers. Since its inception, Snazz has received the ‘Best Emerging Personal Care Product Start Up’ National Award, awarded by Business Mint, as well as extensive media coverage in publications such as YourStory, Shesight, DailyHunt, Entrepreneurs Today, and TimesApplaud.
Beyond her entrepreneurial interests, Anoushka is deeply passionate about social impact through volunteering, having organized fundraising campaigns to help organizations providing support to pediatric cancer patients as well as medical consultations for COVID-19 relief in India. Her desire to drive positive social change led her to incorporate SnazzCares as an extension of her business venture.
Anoushka is also skilled in Python programming and Computer-Aided Design, and is an active member of her school’s robotics team. Her other extracurricular interests include participating in MUNs and competing in intra- and inter-school matches as part of the DAIS under-16 girl’s basketball team.
