Shark Tank–Fame Actress–Turned–CEO Parul Gulati Didn’t Plan to Be a Founder. Now She’s Building for the ‘Malkins’ of the World

When Parul Gulati launched her first company, she had no brand bible, no B-school jargon, and no investors backing her hunch. What she did have was a deeply personal problem—hair loss—and the instinct that she wasn’t the only one hiding it.

Years later, that instinct turned into Nish Hair, a bootstrapped extensions brand that carved out a space in a previously taboo category. Today, Gulati is stepping into her next act not just as a founder but as someone actively shaping the narrative around what entrepreneurial success looks and sounds like.

Her latest venture, Malkin, is a co-living space in Goa. On paper, it’s part of the same new economy wave that’s spawning aesthetic hostels, digital detox retreats, and creator getaways. But for Gulati, it’s less about market opportunity and more about what it means to design a life around autonomy—a recurring theme in her journey.

Her ability to be real, playful, and unapologetically visible turned Nish Hair from a niche idea into a national conversation. “I didn’t know if this would work. I didn’t have a backup plan. But I knew I had to try. And over time, I got more comfortable in front of the camera. I didn’t wait for someone else to validate my product—I became my own spokesperson,” she said at a recent TechHR panel hosted by People Matters, where she spoke alongside legacy F&B entrepreneur Sohrab Sitaram.

“My breakthrough happened when I went on Shark Tank. Before that, not many people knew me or my business. And honestly, a lot of businesses go on Shark Tank, but something clicked with my pitch. I think people connected with it, not just as a business pitch, but as a human story. Maybe not everyone in the business world thought, ‘Oh, she’s talking about me,’ but as a consumer, people related to it. I didn’t follow a textbook approach, but the important business basics like proper taxation, HR systems, software setups came in after that. Earlier, I was literally running everything from social media to hiring and branding.”

That dancing and singing now includes a soundtrack—literally. While she launched her new hostel, Gulati also released an anthem titled Marzi Ki Malkin, composed by Yashraj Mukhate and sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, both internet phenomena in their own right. But beyond virality, the song taps into something more interesting—a cultural moment where female ambition isn’t whispered, it’s belted out.

Gulati is part of a new crop of founders who are not just building companies—they’re redefining public-facing entrepreneurship. And unlike traditional D2C playbooks that rely on ad spends or influencer partnerships, she’s placed herself at the center of the conversation—flaws, fumbles, and all.

The result? A business model where authenticity isn’t a strategy, it’s the product.

What sets Gulati apart isn’t just the pivot from screen to startup, but the way she’s approached visibility. There’s no distance between the founder and the face—she is both. And in an era of authenticity-led branding, that may be her biggest advantage.

The irony? Parul Gulati didn’t start out trying to be a founder. She just wanted to solve a problem. Somewhere along the way, she became the face of something more expansive—a new kind of founder: hyper-visible, unapologetically personal, and radically self-authored.

And as the song suggests, she’s doing it entirely on her own terms.