Today we’d like to introduce you to Eshal Lakhani.
Hi Eshal, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In a world obsessed with fast success, Veloura was created slowly, intentionally, and with heart. In 2024, while most high school seniors were still searching for what came next, I was spending late nights in my parents’ kitchen testing recipes, packaging orders, and unknowingly laying the foundation for what would one day become Veloura Desserts. What began as a small passion project under the name Heavenly Pops slowly evolved into something far greater than I could have imagined. At the time, there was no commercial kitchen, no team, and no carefully mapped out plan. Just a deep love for creating, a quiet obsession with detail, and the feeling that something beautiful was being built long before I had the words for it.
But the story really started long before that.
Growing up, the kitchen was always the heart of our home. I was the kid constantly standing beside my mom, asking questions, mixing ingredients, and wanting to try every recipe possible. Baking became more than just a hobby for me. It became comfort. Creativity. A way to express love without needing words. Some of my favorite memories were made through desserts shared at family gatherings, celebrations, and quiet nights at home.
As I got older, I realized the moments I loved most always revolved around creating something for others. I loved seeing people pause after the first bite. I loved how desserts could instantly make moments feel warmer, softer, more memorable. And one day I asked myself a simple question: what if I turned this passion into something real?
That idea became Heavenly Pops, the first version of my business. It started small, but with every order, every customer message, and every late night in the kitchen, I began to realize I was building more than just a dessert brand. I was building an experience. Something personal. Something intentional.
As my vision evolved, so did the business. Eventually, Heavenly Pops no longer reflected the feeling I wanted the brand to embody. I wanted something elevated yet comforting. Luxurious yet deeply personal. That’s when Veloura Desserts was born. Inspired by the word “velvet,” the name Veloura represents softness, richness, depth, and quiet luxury. It became the perfect reflection of the atmosphere I wanted every customer to feel from the moment they interacted with the brand.
Today, Veloura operates out of a commercial kitchen, something that once felt impossibly far away while baking in my parents’ home. Looking back, it’s surreal to see how much has changed, but at the same time, the heart behind it all remains exactly the same. Every dessert is still created with the same intention, passion, and care that existed from day one.
This journey hasn’t been perfect. There have been moments of exhaustion, uncertainty, and sacrifice. Moments where balancing school, business, and personal life felt overwhelming. But there has also been beauty in watching an idea grow from something so small into something people genuinely connect with.
Veloura is more than dessert to me. It’s proof that some of the most meaningful things begin quietly. In small kitchens. In late night ideas. In moments where nobody sees the vision yet except you. And sometimes, all it takes is believing in that vision long enough to watch it become real.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. In many ways, the hardest part wasn’t the baking, the long nights, or even balancing school while building a business, it was continuing to believe in my vision during moments when nobody else seemed to.
There were seasons where I genuinely questioned if I should give up. Moments where the support I thought I would receive never came, and people I expected to believe in me watched from a distance like strangers. When you’re building something from nothing, especially at a young age, it’s easy for people to underestimate the vision because they only see where you are currently, not where you’re trying to go.
I remember nights spent packaging orders alone in my parents’ kitchen after finishing schoolwork, exhausted yet still pushing forward because something in me refused to let the dream go. Behind every polished photo and curated dessert was a girl trying to hold onto faith in something she could already see in her mind, even when nobody else could yet.
One of the biggest challenges was navigating the business side completely on my own. I had no mentor walking me through permits, licenses, taxes, legal paperwork, or how to properly build and structure a business. I was learning everything in real time, researching late at night, making mistakes, figuring out city requirements, understanding commercial kitchen regulations, and teaching myself things most people never realize exist behind a brand. It was overwhelming at times because I wasn’t just trying to become a better baker, I was trying to become a business owner with no roadmap in front of me.
There were setbacks, disappointments, collaborations that fell through, moments of burnout, and periods where progress felt painfully slow. Rebranding from Heavenly Pops into Veloura was also deeply emotional because it felt like stepping into a completely new identity, one that reflected the elevated vision I had always imagined but was initially afraid to fully pursue.
But those difficult moments became defining moments. They taught me how to build quietly, how to stay consistent without external validation, and how to trust my creativity even when the results weren’t immediate. Looking back now, I realize Veloura was never built solely from success. It was built from resilience, from late nights no one saw, from choosing to continue despite doubt, and from believing that softness and ambition could exist in the same space.
And in many ways, that is the heart of Veloura itself. Quiet luxury. Quiet resilience. Something beautiful being built long before the world fully notices it.
As you know, we’re big fans of Veloura Desserts . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Veloura Desserts is a luxury dessert brand built on the idea that desserts should feel both deeply comforting and beautifully elevated. At its core, Veloura blends storytelling, culture, and intentional craftsmanship into every product and experience we create.
One of the things we’re most known for is our South Asian inspired tres leches collection, where traditional flavors are reimagined in a more modern and refined way. From our rose infused tres leches to rasmalai and chai inspired creations, each dessert is designed to feel nostalgic while still offering something unexpected and elevated. That balance between cultural familiarity and luxury presentation has become a defining part of the Veloura identity.
Veloura is also home to San Antonio’s first matcha stuffed cookie, something that quickly became a signature product for the brand. Alongside that, we’ve become known for our protein cookies made without added sugars or unnecessary additives, our blueberry lemon loaf made with natural ingredients, and our loaded brownies layered with rich flavors like pistachio, biscoff, and Nutella.
What truly sets Veloura apart is the intention behind everything we create. In a market where so many desserts are overprocessed or mass produced, we focus on quality, freshness, and creating products that feel homemade yet elevated. We prioritize natural ingredients, thoughtful flavor combinations, and desserts that not only look beautiful, but genuinely taste comforting and memorable.
But beyond the desserts themselves, I’m most proud of the feeling the brand has created. Veloura was built to feel immersive from the first interaction to the final bite. The branding, packaging, photography, and customer experience are all curated to reflect softness, warmth, and quiet luxury. I never wanted Veloura to feel transactional. I wanted people to feel like they were receiving something personal, intentional, and made with heart.
More than anything, I want readers to know that Veloura is a reflection of passion, culture, and resilience. Every dessert carries a piece of the story behind the brand, from the late nights in my parents’ kitchen to becoming a growing business operating out of a commercial kitchen today. Veloura is proof that meaningful brands don’t have to start big to become impactful.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think entrepreneurship itself is a form of risk taking. Choosing to believe in an idea before there’s proof it will succeed is one of the biggest risks someone can take. For me, risk has never looked reckless, it’s looked like believing in my vision enough to keep investing into it even when the outcome wasn’t guaranteed.
One of the biggest risks I took was transitioning from baking in my parents’ kitchen into investing in a commercial kitchen space. At the time, it felt overwhelming because it meant stepping into an entirely different level of responsibility financially, legally, and operationally. There’s a huge difference between loving to bake and officially operating as a business with permits, regulations, production schedules, and overhead costs. It was intimidating, especially because I was navigating most of it on my own while still being young and learning everything in real time.
Rebranding from Heavenly Pops into Veloura was another major risk emotionally and creatively. Heavenly Pops was familiar and comfortable, but deep down I knew the vision I had for the brand had evolved far beyond what it originally started as. Choosing to completely rebuild the identity of the business into something more elevated and intentional was terrifying because there’s always the fear of starting over or people not understanding the vision. But I knew growth sometimes requires letting go of what feels safe in order to create something more aligned with who you’re becoming.
Another risk was putting myself out there and reaching out to cafés, coffee shops, and other businesses to carry our desserts. As a young business owner, rejection can feel very personal in the beginning. There were times I walked into spaces not knowing if anyone would take me seriously. But I’ve learned that growth requires visibility, and opportunities only happen when you’re willing to ask, introduce yourself, and believe your work deserves to be seen.
I think my perspective on risk has changed a lot throughout this journey. Early on, I viewed risk as something scary and uncertain. Now, I view it as necessary for growth. Every major step that helped Veloura evolve came with discomfort first. The commercial kitchen, the rebrand, wholesale partnerships, investing back into the brand, all of it required trusting myself before there was certainty attached to the outcome.
At the end of the day, I think the biggest risk would have been never trying at all. I would rather fail while pursuing something I genuinely love than spend my life wondering what could have happened if I had believed in myself just a little more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/velouradesserts
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velouradesserts_?igsh=MXAxdGluaWQxdmkwbg==
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/veloura.unveiled?igsh=MTFxaHVhajBldHY0Nw==
