In The Spotlight: Vira

My background isn’t what you’d expect for someone who started a sexual care brand. I am a first-generation Indian-American, born in the USA. I currently work a full-time corporate job in retail finance, which taught me a lot regarding hard work, but what it didn’t teach me was how to take care of myself in a full, embodied way. n my early thirties, I started exploring Ayurveda and really digging into how to balance my body and feel good, inside and out. That led me to get my Holistic Ayurvedic Coach certification. I also completed an Ayurvedic Cosmetology course, and honestly, that’s where the spark happened. I started making my own lubricants and body care products in my kitchen, and sharing them with friends and family. The deeper I got into understanding my body, what I wanted for my self-care, and what I wanted sexually, the clearer Vira became. I was looking for products that felt rooted in something real and cultured and that didn’t treat intimacy like it was something to be performative or hidden. I couldn’t find them, so I made them!

THE JOURNEY:

The sexual wellness space has grown a lot, but it still skews very Western, very clinical, very performative or very kitschy. There was nothing that felt like me. Nothing that spoke to a woman who wants sensuality to be part of her wellness practice in a grounded, beautiful way. Nothing with a real cultural identity behind it. Vira fills that white space. We're not just selling products, we’re examining a whole philosophy around sensual care as self-care and that your physical body, pleasure and spirit are all connected.

Telling my family was honestly the conversation I was most nervous about. Coming from a South Asian background, intimacy just isn't something that comes up at the dinner table, so walking into that conversation felt like uncharted territory. But it ended up being one of the most beautiful surprises of this whole journey. They got it. They were proud. That moment gave me so much fuel. Beyond family, there's resistance in other places: platforms, retailers, investors who don't quite know what category to put you in, this list can do on. You learn fast how much the world still treats pleasure like it's dangerous. But having my people in my corner made all of that so much easier to navigate.

There’s no playbook out there for this. I am figuring out the formulations, the branding, the compliance, the marketing, the social media, all on my own and at the same time. And all in a category that is still male-dominated. There were so many moments where I had to just trust the vision when there was no external validation to lean on. Learning to be my own compass and trusting my gut has been the hardest and most important thing I’ve built.

THE BRAND:

To me, intimacy is presence. It's the moments when you're fully in your body, fully connected, whether that's with a partner or completely alone. I think the most intimate relationship any of us has is with ourselves, and most of us have never been taught how to tend to that. Intimacy is knowing what you want, being able to ask for it, and giving yourself permission to receive it.

One of the biggest misconceptions about sexual wellness that frustrates me, both as a founder and consumer, is that it's only about the act of having sex. Sensuality is so much broader than that. It’s about being in your body, feeling alive, feeling pleasure in everyday moments. When people hear "sexual wellness," they immediately go to a very narrow place, and it shuts down the conversation before it even starts. Your relationship with your own body is foundational to everything: your confidence, your relationships, your mental health. Vira exists to make that case.

Early customer feedback has showed me that people were so ready for this. That's been the most emotional part, honestly. Women reaching out to say they finally feel seen, that they didn't know they were allowed to want something this beautiful for themselves, that hits differently than any metric.

ON AYURVEDA:

I think for a lot of us, especially women of color, we grow up learning that our bodies are either functional or shameful. There’s not a lot of in-between and I had hit a point where I was just done with that narrative. When I started exploring what it could look like to care for myself intimately, with the same intention I’d put into a skincare routine or a wellness ritual, Ayurveda kept coming up. Ayurveda doesn’t separate sexual wellness from overall wellbeing. It treats pleasure, vitality, and emotional connection as essential to health. That philosophy is the foundation of Vira. Our formulations draw on traditional Ayurvedic botanicals known to support lubrication, skin health and overall balance. We’re not recreating ancient recipes verbatim, but translating their function and intention into formats that feel intuitive and relevant for a modern consumer.

I grew up in a household where Ayurvedic remedies were just part of life — oils, herbs, rituals. It was never exotic or trendy to me, it was just a normal part of our day. When I started building Vira, it felt natural, and important, to root it in that tradition. There’s also something really powerful about reclaiming an ancient South Asian system of healing and placing it in a conversation where South Asian voices have historically been absent. That feels meaningful to me beyond just the formulations.

THE INTERSECTION OF AYURVEDA AND PLEASURE:

The most authentic intersection of Ayurveda and pleasure for me is in the philosophy. Ayurveda is fundamentally about balance, about the relationship between the body and its environment, about pleasure as a path to wellbeing. And that's not new. The Kama Sutra, which most people reduce to a sex manual, is actually a deeply philosophical text rooted in the same cultural tradition. It treats pleasure as one of the four pillars of a meaningful life. Ayurveda and sensuality have always been intertwined in South Asian culture. We just forgot or were made to forget. For me, this isn't a gimmick or a trend I'm borrowing for aesthetic purposes. I'm a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, I put in the work and studied the texts. I live this! Where it becomes pure marketing is when brands slap the word "Ayurvedic" on a product that has one token ingredient and no real understanding of the system behind it. For Vira, the Ayurvedic lens shapes how we think about formulation, ritual, and most importantly, the intention behind each product.

THE PRODUCTS:

Each of our products is inspired by classical Ayurveda but adapted with a lot of care and thought for a modern context. The classical texts weren’t written about intimate care products in the way we’re formulating them today. What we draw from is the underlying philosophy — specific botanicals and their properties, the concept of balance, the role of ritual in wellness. We take that wisdom seriously and let it guide our choices, but we’re not claiming to be a clinical replication of something ancient. We’re a bridge.

Bloom Play Oil came first and from the desire of wanting an oil-based lubricant that did not cause vaginal irritation or infections. It’s the product that most clearly says what Vira is about: it’s sensual, it’s intentional, it’s for your body and your pleasure. The Ember Arousal Oil took the longest to perfect. The formulation requirements for a product that's used during foreplay and sex is very specific since it warms on contact and is external use only. It must perform in a particular way, it must be safe for a range of body chemistries, it must feel luxurious without compromising function. Getting that balance right took a long time and a lot of iterations. I'm so proud of where it landed.

THE FUTURE:

In five years, I see sexual wellness becoming fully mainstream. As the stigma fades, the space will favor brands with depth, identity and staying power. Vira is building to be one of those defining brands — rooted in heritage, driven by purpose and trusted for the long term. I hope Vira contributes to a shift where women’s pleasure is recognized as valid and worthy of care. Not hidden or stigmatized. Especially for South Asian women, but for all women, it’s about creating space for deeper self-understanding, intentional care and unapologetic expression.

I want my customers to feel alive every time they use a product from Vira. Like they’ve discovered something beautiful and personal, a ritual that reminds them to care for themselves. I want them to feel present in the moment, comfortable in their own skin, and fully at ease in their own company. That’s what matters most.