From leaping to fear-inducing heights in Khatron Ke Khiladi to jumping on the business bandwagon, a household name completely flipped her career trajectory, leaving behind her once-cherished and headlining TV gigs. The actress in question is none other than Aashka Goradia!
Just weeks ago, Goradia’s one-time TV colleagues Sakshi Tanwar and Ronit Roy earned the status of trending keywords following Ram Kapoor’s admission about how their professional tracks had led to the vast accumulation of generational wealth and impressive real estate portfolios. Aashka, on the other hand, entirely flipped that conversation upside down with her one specific move that made headway in 2021.
At one point in her professional graph, she was winning hearts with her Indian soap performances in the cult classic Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and other popular TV hits like Naagini and Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka, while juggling reality TV opportunities in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 4, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4, Bigg Boss 6, and Nach Baliye 8. However, all those TV credits now seem to have made waves over a lifetime ago, with Goradia pulling the plug on her acting career four years ago and announcing her retirement.
Goodbye TV, business world here I come: Aashka Goradia announced retirement from acting in 2021
Some of her final performances came though in the 2019 show Daayan and the reality outing Kitchen Champion Season 5. Having built two decades-worth credits in the industry, she jumped career trains, confessing that “business” had always been in her “blood.” Despite having a highly-sought-after TV fixture, the ex-actress spilled in her retirement announcement that acting actually “happened by chance” and she simply went along with it.
And yet, the serendipitous undertaking is exactly what “introduced” her to makeup, an elseworld industry she sits at the top of among many others. She ultimately went on to launch one of India’s timeless beauty brands, Renee Cosmetics, in 2018, a year before her final TV appearances.
In a LinkedIn post, she even acknowledged how being in the spotlight for all these years taught her that makeup “has the power to transform an individual.” Renee was finally born as a “venture that sums up my entrepreneurial spirit and the essence of my artistic soul,” she penned at the time.
TV actress-turned-beauty boss’ business empire
Aashka’s major business leap happened in Ahmedabad, where she joined forces with Priyank Shah and Ashutosh Valani as a co-founder. Jumping onboard the internet-first approach, Renee Cosmetics took off the ground after being backed by an initial Rs 50 lakh investment. Its digital footprint eventually expanded to e-marketplaces, including, Nykaa, Myntra, Amazon and Flipkart, positioning it as a leading rival against contemporary big names like Sugar Cosmetics, Lakme, Maybelline and MyGlamm.
Within the very first two years of coming into existence, the beauty brand reportedly amassed a Rs 100 crore-worth revenue. As the Financial Express reported earlier, Aashka’s brand skyrocketed to being valued in the mindboggling range between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,400 crore in 2024 after it raised Rs 100 crore in a funding round. And so, the yoga enthusiast / genius entrepreneur behind the brand continues to reap fruitful results of a career switch thanks to a personal net worth that directly profits from her multi-crore business empire.
Recent reports indicate that Goradia’s company is eyeing even bigger things ahead. With a larger funding round (estimated over Rs 200 crore) as its focus, the makeup brand may soon tap a new group of investors backing its operations, as per Mint.
In her personal life, Aashka moved to Goa in 2019 after getting hitched to her American boyfriend Brent Goble (who was also seen on Nach Baliye with her) in 2017. Two years after announcing her retirement, the former TV actress and her loving partner welcomed their baby son. She was also featured on the 2023 Fortune India 40 Under 40 list alongside her Renee Cosmetics partners Valani and Shah. Over on Instagram, Aashka Goradia Goble boasts a following of over 1.2 million supporters.