#130 - Notes on Ghazal Alagh and Lori Greinor
Education Coffee is a 2xWeekly Newsletter on People, Ideas and Culture.
Why #LearningStories?
In 2020, I started a podcast called #LearningStories to understand how people acquired a set of skills and knowledge in a creative and innovative manner. In the process I hoped to uncover a new understanding of learning as conceptualized, narrated, and imagined by our guests. I recently completed #50 episodes and you can find the archives here.
I then started writing about the #LearningStories of individuals that have inspired me over time. I know I won’t be able to interview them on my podcast, but I can research their lives and try my best to paint a portrait of how they learned and built their careers and lives over time. This a new series I hope to publish and release periodically through this newsletter. You can find other such posts in the archive section of my blog. Here is the learning story of two such individuals in the field of entrepreneurship. I always wondered what an ideal learning environment would look like for these two individuals? Let us find out what worked for them.
Ghazal Alagh Learning Story
Ghazal Alagh (1988 to present) is corporate trainer turned artist and a mom-preneur, who’s changing the Indian beauty landscape by building brands that cater to the evolving consumers’ needs via D2C strategy. This is her #LearningStory.
Curiousity
Ghazal Alagh was born on September 2, 1988, in Chandigarh, India, and was raised in Gurgaon, Haryana. owever, she was born and raised in India, where she developed a strong academic foundation in Information Technology before later exploring her passion for art and entrepreneurship. Her journey reflects a blend of creativity and business acumen, which she later applied in co-founding Mamaearth and building it into a successful personal care brand.
Competence
Ghazal Alagh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and later pursued her passion for art by studying Modern Art & Design at the School of Visual Arts, New York, and Intensive Figurative Art at the New York Academy of Art. Her diverse educational background blends technology, design, and creativity, which she leveraged in building Mamaearth’s brand identity and product innovation. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Ghazal worked as a corporate trainer at NIIT, where she trained managers and engineers from various IT companies. Her diverse educational background and professional experiences laid a strong foundation for her future endeavors.
Creation
Ghazal Alagh is an Indian entrepreneur and co-founder of Mamaearth, a leading brand in the natural and toxin-free personal care space. Launched in 2016 with her husband, Varun Alagh, Mamaearth quickly gained popularity for its safe, eco-friendly products, becoming India’s first brand to receive the Made Safe certification. Under her leadership, the company expanded into a house of brands model under Honasa Consumer Ltd., which later went public in 2023. Ghazal, known for her expertise in product innovation and brand building, was also a judge on Shark Tank India, further cementing her influence in India’s startup ecosystem.
Lori Greinor Learning Story
Lori Greiner (1969 to present) is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is known for her QVC show Clever & Unique Creations for which she has been called the “Queen of QVC”, and for being an investor on the reality series Shark Tank. She has hundreds of inventions and holds over 120 patents. This is her #LearningStory.
Curiosity
Lori Greiner grew up in Chicago, Illinois, in a middle-class family with a strong work ethic. As a child, she showed early signs of creativity and entrepreneurship. She loved to invent things and had a knack for spotting opportunities, which later shaped her success. One of her defining childhood traits was her resourcefulness—she would make and sell handmade jewelry to friends and classmates, foreshadowing her future as a product innovator. Her parents’ divorce when she was eight taught her independence and resilience.
Competence
Lori Greiner developed her entrepreneurial skills through a combination of creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on experience in business. She studied communications and journalism at Loyola University Chicago, which helped her develop strong communication and persuasion skills—essential for marketing and sales. She initially believed she might become a playwright or journalist. However, her entrepreneurial instincts took over when she came up with her first big invention—a plastic jewelry organizer—which catapulted her into business. These early experiences of creativity, independence, and problem-solving helped lay the foundation for her journey as a successful inventor and investor.
Creation
Greiner is a highly successful entrepreneur, inventor, and investor, best known as a “Shark” on Shark Tank. Lori Greiner founded For Your Ease Only, Inc., a product development and marketing company through which she has created and launched hundreds of successful inventions. As an investor on Shark Tank, she has backed numerous startups, including Scrub Daddy (a best-selling sponge brand), Squatty Potty (a bathroom posture aid), Simply Fit Board (a fitness balance board), Sleep Styler (heat-free hair curlers), and Readerest (eyeglass holders). Many of her investments have turned into multi-million-dollar businesses, leveraging her expertise in retail, QVC, and direct-to-consumer sales. Dubbed the “Queen of QVC,” she has created and patented over 1,000 products, with many becoming multi-million-dollar successes. She built her empire by launching a jewelry organizer that led to a thriving career in retail, licensing, and direct response marketing. Greiner is also an author and philanthropist, mentoring aspiring business owners and supporting various charitable causes.
Notes and Links
Lori Greinor Website – https://lorigreiner.com/
Ghazal Alagh Profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghazal-alagh-9755a0128/
Abhishek