Vineeta Singh says she wore oversized men’s shirts to internship after being told her tight tops were not okay

Vineeta Singh is one of the judges alongside Aman Gupta, Amit Jain, Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal and Namita Thapar on the business reality show Shark Tank India. The entrepreneur and co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics recently shared how early on in her career she faced discrimination because she was a woman. She had sexist encounters in the workforce with potential investors and her bosses at an internship when she was starting out. She had to change her outfits at the internship just to fit in and not risk receiving a job offer. (Also read: Shark Tank’s Vineeta Singh recalls moving to Mumbai with ₹10,000 salary at 23: ‘First few months were really hard’)

The businesswoman co-founded her company with her husband Kaushik Mukherjee and have worked together for over a decade. The couple has two young sons. Vineeta, who has a net worth of around ₹600 crore, was named one of the most powerful women in India according to Forbes India Magazine in 2021. Originally from Delhi, she moved to Mumbai in her 20s to kick start her business dream.

Speaking to actor Kareena Kapoor on her talk show What Women Want, Vineeta spoke about the instances she was discriminated against for her gender. She shared, “I have had various types of sexist encounters, starting with the fact that I was told, we don’t invest in women founded companies. Only when your husband joins the business, we will give you a cheque. Two, when I was doing my internship at ITC, I was told that the jeans and tight tops that I wear to the factory was not okay. I remember overnight I had called my mother from Delhi to Saharanpur with big baggy shirts, men’s shirts and every single day of my two-month internship, I wore those oversized men’s shirts because I didn’t want that to be the reason I don’t get an offer.”

She also added that this happened to her 20 years ago and now she would fight back and say something. Back then, people openly said these things, but now people are slightly better, she felt.

The second season of Shark Tank India, hosted by comedian Rahul Dia, premiered on 2 January 2023. This season, Vineeta and Kaushik pitched their company on the last episode to the rest of the judges.