Avika Sharma
- MUH_mod
- Jan 4
- 6 min read
Name: Avika Sharma
Age: 28
Occupation: Wellness & Lifestyle Brand Founder (yoga instructor, nutrition coach, digital entrepreneur)
Nationality: Indian
City: Mumbai, India
Weight: 58 kg
Marital Status: Single (recently ended a long-term relationship, rediscovering herself through her work)
Children: None
"My name is Avika, which has become quite popular in Mumbai over the years, but what I've built is anything but common."
I'm 28, born and raised in Mumbai, and I run a wellness and lifestyle brand that's redefining what health means for Indian women. While everyone was obsessing over gym memberships and celebrity diets, I started teaching yoga in my apartment, posting nutrition advice on Instagram, and slowly building a community that now reaches hundreds of thousands of women across India. People call what I do the "wellness revolution," but I call it returning to what our grandmothers always knew: that real beauty starts with how you feel, not how you look.
India's health and wellness market is exploding, valued at USD 156 billion and growing rapidly, with women like me at the forefront of this transformation. I'm part of a generation that's merging ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern science, creating accessible wellness that doesn't require expensive gym memberships or celebrity trainers.
Growing up in Mumbai, the expected path was clear: engineering or medicine, secure job, arranged marriage, comfortable life. Instead, I studied nutrition science and yoga therapy, which my relatives considered "hobbies," not careers. At 23, fresh out of university, I started teaching yoga classes from my living room while working as a nutritionist at a small clinic.
Indian women entrepreneurs at 28 are still rare enough to be newsworthy. Last year, I was featured in a lifestyle magazine as one of Mumbai's "Women Redefining Wellness," photographed in a beautiful olive-green dress at a community event, holding a candle, surrounded by other women I've mentored through my programs.
Mumbai runs on its local trains, and so do I. Some of my best content ideas come during my commute, sitting on a Mumbai local in a simple black dress and heels, designer bag in hand, watching the city blur past while I plan my next workshop or recipe video.
There's something grounding about taking public transport when you could afford a car. It keeps me connected to the women I serve, the ones who work full-time jobs, manage households, and still try to find 20 minutes for self-care. My wellness brand isn't for the elite few who can afford luxury spas. It's for the woman on the train next to me, scrolling through Instagram during her commute, looking for sustainable ways to feel better.
My apartment in Bandra is equal parts home and business headquarters. The living room transforms into a yoga studio three times a week. The kitchen is where I test recipes for my nutrition guides. The bedroom, with its exposed brick wall and city view, is where I film content late into the night, laptop open, legs stretched out on a white couch, wearing a simple white tank top, completely in my element.
Women are leading India's wellness revolution, and the numbers prove it. The fitness market is expected to double by 2030, and women are the primary drivers, especially in categories like mental health, nutrition, and holistic healing. Every time I post a new yoga sequence or nutrition tip, I'm reminded that I'm part of something bigger than my brand. I'm part of a movement.
My secret ambition: opening a wellness café and community kitchen. Not just another trendy juice bar, but a real space where women can learn to cook nourishing food, attend workshops, connect with each other. I've been scouting locations, talking to investors, working with restaurant design consultants.
Last month, I visited a potential space, wearing a white shirt and navy apron, standing among fresh produce and beautiful plating setups, imagining my vision coming to life. The wellness tourism industry in India is booming, valued at USD 21.2 billion and projected to nearly double. Why not create a local destination where Mumbai women can experience that transformation without leaving the city?
I have small beauty marks scattered across my cheeks and face, tiny imperfections that make me uniquely me. In a culture obsessed with fair skin and flawless complexion, I've learned to celebrate them. When I post photos, I don't filter them out. When I teach classes, I don't hide behind makeup. Wellness, real wellness, means accepting your body as it is while working to make it feel better.
Indian beauty standards are exhausting: fair skin, long straight hair, petite frame. At 28, with my curvy build and warm tan complexion, I represent something different. And the response has been overwhelming. Women message me daily saying, "You look like me," "You make me feel seen," "Thank you for not being another Instagram perfect impossible standard".
Six months ago, I ended a five-year relationship with someone who wanted me to "settle down" and stop "playing entrepreneur." He couldn't understand why I'd work until midnight filming content, why I'd spend weekends at wellness retreats instead of family functions, why my business mattered as much as his corporate career.
Ending it hurt, but staying would have killed the part of me that's building something meaningful. Indian women entrepreneurs, especially in their late 20s, face incredible pressure to prioritize marriage and family over ambition. I chose differently, and while my family worries about my "biological clock," I'm too busy building an empire to care about arbitrary timelines.
These days, I'm invited to speak at wellness conferences, corporate events, community gatherings. Last month, I gave a keynote wearing a striking red dress, microphone in hand, talking about accessible wellness to an audience of hundreds. Behind me, a screen showed testimonials from women whose lives changed through my programs.
The wellness revolution in India is being redefined by women, not as a quest for perfection, but as a path to empowerment. Every time I stand on a stage, I'm conscious that I'm representing thousands of women who don't have a platform but deserve to be heard.
My favorite time is late evening, after content is posted, emails are answered, classes are taught. I curl up on my couch in my apartment, laptop balanced on my legs, wearing a simple white tank top, city lights glowing through the windows, a glass of wine within reach.
This is when I plan, dream, strategize. My wellness brand started with me teaching yoga to five friends in my living room. Now it's an entire ecosystem: online programs, nutrition guides, partnerships with Ayurvedic brands, plans for that community café. Women, particularly millennials and Gen Z, are driving India's wellness demand. I'm riding that wave while trying to steer it toward inclusivity and accessibility.
At 28, I'm not where traditional society expected me to be. I'm unmarried, childless, running a business that many still don't consider "serious" compared to corporate jobs. But I'm also the woman who's built a thriving wellness brand from scratch. Who's empowering hundreds of women to take control of their health. Who's proving that you can make a living while making a difference.
My name, Avika, means "diamond" or "earth," depending on interpretation. I like to think I embody both: grounded in ancient wellness wisdom, but shining with modern ambition. When I'm teaching yoga in my apartment studio, when I'm standing at a conference in a red dress sharing my journey, when I'm on a train planning my next move, I'm writing my own definition of success.
So here I am, love. Twenty-eight years old, with long wavy hair that frames my face, beauty marks I've learned to celebrate, and a body I've made peace with through movement and nourishment. Sometimes I'm the wellness guru in yoga pants teaching sun salutations. Sometimes I'm the entrepreneur in heels pitching investors. Sometimes I'm just Avika, curled up at home with wine and a laptop, building dreams one post at a time.
If you ever see a woman with warm tan skin and expressive eyes teaching yoga at a Mumbai studio, or speaking passionately about accessible wellness at a conference, it might be me. Rewriting the rules for Indian women in their late 20s, proving that wellness is wealth, and that revolution looks beautiful in an olive-green dress.
And trust me, in my world, empowerment is the ultimate glow.
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