Vandana Luthra is founder and owner of VLCC Health Care Limited, a major name in India’s Wellness field. With a staff strength of nearly 6,000, over two-third of whom are specialists including medical doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, cosmetologists and physiotherapists VLCC claims to have served over 10 million customers since 1989.
Vandana Luthra came from a service-class background with no business links and no inherited wealth. When she was a child, she had an obsession to cut everybody’s hair and also experimented with facials on her family members. During her college years, she came across many friends who wanted to lose weight and look beautiful. This made her realize that there is a market for her business proposition. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Delhi University, she took training in nutrition and cosmetology in Germany. Vandana Luthra took a series of specialized courses and modules in beauty care, fitness, food and nutrition and skin care in London, Munich and Paris. Then, she returned to India and started a neighbourhood parlor.
Vandana Luthra made her entrepreneurial debut in 1989 by opening India’s first “Transformation Center” in New Delhi with the help of her husband, Mukesh. Her daughter was only three years old at that time.
Vandana Luthra believes in three ideologies transforming future, transforming self and spreading happiness. VLCC went international in 2006, when its first location abroad opened up in Dubai. Today the company is strong across South Asia & Middle East, with a presence of 300 locations across 109 cities in 10 countries: India, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Nepal.
Vandana Luthra’s Curls and Curves offers separate men and women salons, and individual cubicles for therapy. Apart from weight-loss programs the company also sells an assortment of skin care treatments.
Vandana Luthra is a trustee of the National Children’s Fund, constituted by the Government of India’s Ministry for Women & Child Development. She has been awarded ‘Amity Woman Achiever Award, 2006’ for promoting Health and Fitness solutions. She has received ‘Rajiv Gandhi Women Achiever’ in 2008. She was honoured by the ‘Women Leaders in India Forum in 2009. Vandana Luthra has been listed as one of the 100 most powerful Indians in 2009 by Indian Express. The Government of India has appointed her as a member on the Special Task Force for Empowerment of Women. Vandana Luthra has been conferred the Padma Shri Award on the occasion of India’s 64th Republic Day on January 26, 2013.
