Leaders

The FMCG and personal care landscape is evolving as consumers increasingly seek products that combine convenience, efficacy, personalisation and purpose. In men’s grooming, this shift is creating demand for solutions that understand modern lifestyles, active routines and evolving expressions of identity.

Her entrepreneurial journey with Unbound emerged from identifying a gap in men’s personal care around product relevance, trust and emotional connection. Today, the brand is building its identity by integrating itself into India’s sports, fitness and movement ecosystem. Unbound has partnered with platforms including IAMGame, One8 & Peskst8’s No Parking, Ironman Expo and HRX Marathon, while expanding into grooming partnerships with HYROX athletes and running clubs. Through these touchpoints, Mittal is positioning Unbound beyond conventional grooming— as a performance-care brand designed around the lifestyle of the modern, active man.

What leadership philosophy guides you while building Unbound Lifestyle?

For me, leadership and brand building ultimately come down to three Cs: conviction, creativity and consumer focus. First, I believe in having conviction in myself, the idea, the business and the proposition I am prepared to build for years. The second is creativity. In a competitive FMCG landscape, differentiation comes from how creatively and authentically a brand tells its story. Finally, I believe deeply in staying consumer-focused and insight-driven. Rather than blindly following trends or global data, I believe brands need to understand their consumers closely and identify what genuinely matters to them. That is what guides my decisions.

Which FMCG trends will shape the future, and how is Unbound responding?

Wellness and recovery are set to become increasingly important, and Unbound is expanding its ‘performance care’ proposition across skincare, body health and hair health for the active man. The brand stays ahead by closely tracking consumer insights, studying search and purchase behaviour on platforms such as Amazon and engaging directly with consumers in gyms and sporting environments to understand evolving needs. This insight-led approach fuels innovation, including its Hard Water Detox Hair Mask, which combines chelation technology, peptides, Saw Palmetto and berry extracts to address hard-water impact, breakage and dryness. Its Under Eye + Dark Spot Repair Roll-On combines targeted actives such as Haloxyl, Chromabright, Tranexamic Acid, Azelaic Acid, Vitamin K and Caffeine. Together, consumer insight, science-backed formulations and technology enable Unbound to create multifunctional, high-performance solutions for the active man.

What makes Unbound’s product portfolio relevant to modern men?

Our portfolio is built around three principles. First, our products are designed specifically for men's biology, addressing concerns such as shaving stress, excess sebum and oil. Second, they are created for the active man, who experiences environmental stress from sweat, sun, pollution, dust and grime. Third, our products offer multiple benefits in a single application. For instance, our SPF provides sun protection, hydration, brightening and pollution defence while addressing acne marks. Our face wash cleanses the skin while conditioning the beard and providing post-shave calming and hydration. From our Overnight Recharge Gel to the Volumising Head Mist, every product is designed to be multi functional, convenient and efficient.

What advice would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs?

I consider myself a young entrepreneur, so I am still learning and would honestly take advice from everyone around me. Rather than positioning myself as someone who has all the answers, I would share the principle that guides me personally: put in the effort, do the hard work with conviction, and trust that things will follow. I believe this effort needs to be backed by good intentions, creativity and genuine consumer insight. Entrepreneurship is a continuous learning journey, and conviction helps you stay the course when things become difficult. For me, combining hard work with creativity, consumer understanding and good intent is what truly matters.

What is your long-term vision for Unbound Lifestyle?

Our long-term vision for Unbound is simple: we want to build a brand that men genuinely love. We want consumers to feel proud to associate themselves with the brand and confidently say, “I am Unbound.” Consumer love, loyalty and emotional affinity are therefore at the heart of our mission.

We want to build this through consistent product innovation, authentic community outreach and strong brand storytelling. Even our first campaign focused on the spirit of being unfiltered, unleashed and Unbound. We believe the modern Indian man is looking beyond fame or money; he is also seeking identity. We want Unbound to become an expression of that identity, confidence and individuality.

Kanika Mittal, CO-Founder & CEO, Unbound Lifestyle

Kanika Mittal, Co-Founder & CEO of Unbound Lifestyle, brings over two decades of experience across consumer brands and technology. An alumna of Shri Ram College of Commerce and MICA, she has held leadership roles at Adidas Group, Twitter and Taboola. Today, she is building Unbound as an innovative men’s personal care brand; alongside Atul Arora who brings extensive experience in Omnichannel & Digital commerce across India and the Middle East. Over the years, he has held senior leadership roles at Reebok, Benetton, Namshi and Landmark Group, where he played a key role in scaling e-commerce businesses across sports, fitness and lifestyle categories. His strength lies in building and scaling consumer-focused businesses.