Check Out Harpreet Bhullar’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Harpreet Bhullar.

Hi Harpreet, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Chaithentic began with a simple belief: chai should taste as authentic at home as it does in an Indian kitchen. I grew up in Canada making chai daily for my grandmother and mom, a ritual full of warmth, tradition, and love.

After moving to California, I noticed that cafés were serving syrupy versions that didn’t reflect the real spices or flavors I knew. That stayed with me. But the spark to actually build something came during one of the most vulnerable and transformative seasons of my life.

I launched Chaithentic in my first year of postpartum, in the middle of a pandemic. It was an incredibly isolating time. My family was in Canada, and with the borders shut, they couldn’t be there with me. After years of navigating infertility to bring my son into the world, finally holding him was everything I had prayed for. And yet, I was doing it largely alone, far from the people who loved me most, in a world that had gone quiet in the strangest way.

I was deeply in love with my son, and I was also quietly searching for something that was entirely my own. Not tied to a career, not defined by anyone else’s world. Just mine. I needed to create something from a place of pure intention, and chai was the thread that had always connected me to who I truly was. To my grandmother. To my mom. To home.

And home also meant cookies. Growing up, my mom would make thin, crispy Punjabi chai cookies, the kind meant to be dipped into a warm cup and savored slowly. That tradition was just as sacred to me as the chai itself. When I built Chaithentic, I knew those cookies had to be part of the story. My recipe honors that same ritual but with a modern twist, made with locally milled flour and crafted with the same care and intention as everything else we create. They are not just a product. They are a memory you can taste.

That is how Chaithentic was born. A brand that makes true chai blends and those beloved crispy chai cookies, rooted in the flavors I grew up honoring and made with only a handful of high-quality ingredients. As a South Asian woman-owned business, my vision is to share the beauty of chai while celebrating my roots. Our branding, peacock feathers in bold blue, reflects Indian heritage with modern elegance.

Chaithentic is more than chai and cookies. It is about authenticity, connection, and a luxury experience that reminds you to slow down. Each sip is meant to feel like a hug in a mug. And every cookie is meant to take you back to somewhere that felt like home.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? Not even close. And I say that with a full heart because every difficult moment has shaped what Chaithentic is today.

The hardest part had nothing to do with business plans or branding. It was life. I was raising my son with my husband, who was working full time as an engineer, which meant that so much of the day to day fell on me. Without family nearby, without the village that every mother deserves, I was navigating new motherhood largely on my own. No grandparents to call over. No mom to sit with me on a hard day. Just me, figuring it out in real time.

Postpartum is one of the most profound identity shifts a woman can go through, and I don’t think we talk about it honestly enough. You are recovering physically, emotionally, and spiritually, all while showing up for a tiny human who needs everything from you. I was still finding out who I was as a mother when I had to return to work at four months postpartum. Four months. That transition was jarring in ways that are hard to put into words.
And yet somewhere in the middle of all of that, I built Chaithentic. Not because the timing was perfect. Because I needed something that was mine. Something that reminded me I was still a whole person with a vision and a purpose beyond the exhaustion.

Looking back, those struggles are not separate from the brand. They are the brand. Every blend, every cookie, every carefully chosen ingredient carries the energy of a woman who refused to disappear into the hard parts of her story.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Chaithentic is a premium Punjabi chai and cookie brand based in Northern California, serving the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. We specialize in authentic chai blends made from real spices and traditional recipes, alongside our signature cookies, including our crispy Punjabi chai cookies rooted in generations of tradition and our Ted Lasso inspired Scottish shortbread that took on a life of its own.

That shortbread is actually one of our proudest moments. We went viral within the Ted Lasso fan base, and suddenly we were shipping our cookies nationwide to people who had never heard of us before. It was one of those moments that reminded me that when you make something with real love and real ingredients, people feel it. No matter where they are.

What I specialize in is taking something deeply cultural and presenting it with the elegance and quality it has always deserved. Chai is not a trend to me. It is a ritual, a language, a form of love that I grew up speaking every single day. My job is to make sure that when someone sips a cup of Chaithentic chai or bites into one of our cookies, they feel that truth immediately.

What sets Chaithentic apart comes down to three things I refuse to compromise on. Authenticity, because every product we make is rooted in real tradition and real ingredients, never a shortcut version of the culture. Integrity, because I built this brand from the ground up with no outside backing, just a deep belief in what I was creating. And roots, because staying connected to my South Asian heritage is not just part of the brand story, it is the whole foundation.

What I am most proud of is not just the viral moment or the nationwide reach. It is that I built something entirely my own, from one of the hardest seasons of my life, that now carries a little piece of home to people all over the country.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
? I don’t have a traditional mentor, and for a long time I thought that was something I was missing. But I have come to see it differently.

What I have learned is that mentorship does not always look like one person sitting across from you with all the answers. Sometimes it looks like reaching out to anyone in your network who knows something you don’t, asking real questions, and being genuinely open to learning. That is exactly what I have done. Whenever I have needed guidance, whether it was about branding, operations, outreach, or just navigating the world of running a small business, I have reached out to people I know and trusted them to point me in the right direction. And people show up when you ask sincerely.

My biggest piece of advice is to stop waiting for the perfect mentor to find you. Start with who you already know. Your network is more powerful than you realize, and most people are willing to help when you approach them with humility and a specific ask. A five minute conversation with the right person can shift everything.

I would also say that community matters more than credentials. Being around other founders, other women building something, other people who understand the loneliness and the fire of entrepreneurship, that has been its own form of mentorship. You learn by being in the room, by listening, and by being willing to share what you know in return.

Give generously. Ask boldly. And never underestimate the wisdom sitting right inside your own network.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Chaithentic.co
• Instagram: Chaithentic.co
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/vnO2QL2fUC