Brightland Founder Aishwarya Tyler Talks About Her Entrepreneurial Journey

The week’s episode of The Tartare Project hosted by Phil Toronto welcomes special guest Aishwarya Iyer, founder and CEO of Brightland, a modern pantry essentials company that launched in the summer of 2018. Offering an assortment of authentic oils and vinegars, Brightland sources their products from a California-ran family farm, assuring customers that they will only be consuming products straight from the Earth with no fillers or artificial preservatives.

Prior to founding Brightland, Iyer was the co-founder of Elephant Partners, a communications consultancy for technology companies, and served stints as the head of communications for Whisper and ffVC. Iver also worked as a public affairs manager at Second Market for over three years and started her career in public relations at Lancôme after obtaining a Bachelors in Arts from NYU.

Born in India and growing up in Houston, Toronto and Iyer chatted about Iyer's childhood, balancing both American and Indian customs and her awakening from being a party student at UT Austin to finding her calling at NYU. “I found a little more of my purpose because I joined the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU,” Iyer says as she recalls her final two years of undergrad. “Gallatin is a school within the university where you create your own major, and it is very entrepreneurial. No two people have the same major, and you have to bring something together that makes sense while also knowing that you are charting your own path. I had a blast with it!”

At that particular time, Iyer didn’t necessarily have her sights set on starting a business. The idea of Brightland was one that came gradually over time. “I wasn’t seeking out an entrepreneurial endeavor’ Iyer tells Phil. “That wasn’t a part of my thinking, and you start automatically thinking about what you don’t have. It took me about two-and-a-half years to wrap my head around the concept that I could do this.”

We certainly don’t want to spoil this conversation, so be sure to check out the full episode of The Tartare Project above. You can follow Brightland on Instagram and check out their products on the company’s official website.