Lekha Vyas is the founder and CEO of SynQ Wellness, building sublingual supplement strips designed to make it easier for people to actually get the nutrients their bodies need. Before that, she spent years moving up the corporate ladder fast at P&G, L’Oréal Luxury, Chanel, Estée Lauder, and a stint in private equity doing M&A.
But her path to becoming a founder was anything but conventional.
Lekha was born in India and moved constantly growing up before landing in Michigan for school. Out of the twelve jobs she applied for, she got eleven offers; by every conventional measure, she’d made it.
Everything changed when her mother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Lekha built her first company, Elvy Lab, with her mom working on it together in the hospital during her treatment. A trademark dispute with a much larger brand eventually forced her to legally separate the two ventures, and what would become SynQ Wellness was born directly out of watching her mom struggle to get basic nutrition through a feeding tube during chemo. Her mother passed away two years ago. Instead of stepping back from building, Lekha built her way through the grief.
This conversation goes far beyond wellness startups. We talk about:
Why Lekha walked away from a fast-rising corporate career at P&G, L’Oréal, Chanel, and Estée Lauder
Growing up in a matriarchy and how it shaped who she became as an adult
Building her first company with her mom in a hospital room during chemo
The trademark dispute that forced her to legally split her business in two
Why she built SynQ Wellness directly out of watching her mom struggle to get nutrition through a feeding tube
Hitting rock bottom more than once, and what it actually takes to come back from it
Why women are taught to hold their emotions in, and what happens when you do it for years
Being a sponge for feedback, and why taking it well disarms people
Leaning on friends and learning not to push people away when she’s struggling
Finding her way back through dance, creativity, and small daily rituals for her inner child
The Bhagavad Gita, The Alchemist, and what grief taught her about faith
What she’s building next in female hormone health
Lekha’s story is a powerful reminder that having it all was never something you could actually measure. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do with an unbearable loss is build something real out of it.
🎧 Listen to the episode
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Favorite Quote
“You gotta save yourself, because nobody else is gonna come save you.”
Favorite Books
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Bhagavad Gita — a childhood ritual with her nani that she’s returned to since a solo trip to Varanasi
In This Episode
In this conversation:
(00:00) Intro — Lekha’s unconventional journey
(02:51) Moving, adapting & growing up in a matriarchal family
(07:31) Grief, loss & becoming a different version of yourself
(16:01) Being the “black sheep” & learning to prove yourself
(17:15) Gender bias and the assumptions women face
(19:24) From P&G to climbing the corporate ladder
(25:08) Losing her mother & hitting rock bottom
(27:27) Varanasi, spirituality & learning to surrender
(30:12) How her mother’s illness inspired her founder journey
(32:18) Building Sync Wellness around a real problem
(35:07) Building credibility outside your traditional expertise
(38:51) Women’s health, hormones & the future of wellness
(42:28) The reality of leaving corporate to become a founder
(44:39) What it really costs to build something of your own
(45:35) The support system you need to take the leap
(47:28) Why being “strong” can make it harder to ask for help
(55:38) The inner child, the parent & the adult
(59:39) The quote and book that guide Lekha now
Lekha’s story reminds us that strength isn’t about doing everything alone.
Sometimes, it’s about knowing when to let people in.
If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re taking the “right” path, this conversation is for you.
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