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 Sneakers, Smiles, and Sleepless Nights: Balancing Business and Babies


Sneakers, Smiles, and Sleepless Nights: Balancing Business and Babies

Just as I began reading "The Rise of Homegrown Sneaker Brands in India," I was interrupted by a familiar cry, "Ooommaa..." My one-month-old needed me, so I paused the article to breastfeed him for the next twenty minutes. I had eagerly anticipated reading this piece,

not because it was my first interview, but because it was my first after a significant gap or so it felt. It hadn’t been that long—just eight months ago, I was at the Lakme Fashion Week, representing my brand while battling nausea in the first trimester of my second pregnancy. Despite feeling sick, my soul was happy. This was the moment I had dreamed of since starting design school at 18.


As I resumed reading, I found the section where various founders of homegrown sneaker brands shared their journeys into the sneaker industry in India. There was my name, Shrutee Kasat, founder of The Saree Sneakers, accompanied by an image of me in a saree, holding up my sneakers. A sigh of relief washed over me. I was still this person—a founder, a creator, a dreamer.


The past two months of maternity leave had been a whirlwind of patting and rocking my baby to sleep, bending to pick him up with twitching pain of the stitches from my C-section, enduring sleepless nights, and being woken up by my firstborn who also craved my attention. Amidst all this, I had briefly forgotten who I was. Meeting my children's needs and maintaining my health had consumed every moment of the last 2 months. 


I’m not a first-time mom, and I knew that this too shall pass, yet this article reignited a spark within me. It brought back a smile like never before. Soon, amidst all the juggling, I will be at my desk, creating a new sneaker. For now, this smile is enough to brighten my day. I am a proud mom of two boys and a business.


P.S. This piece was crafted amidst two baby breaks, a bathroom break, and a session of typing with my baby nestled on a feeding pillow as my fingers barely reaching the keyboard. Lol.


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