A personal story of difficult beginnings, a business idea written in a journal, and the ongoing work of building a life with purpose.
From a Difficult Past to a Business Built on Purpose
My name is Vikrum Singh Kandola, though most people know me as Rocky. I’m an entrepreneur, a philosophy graduate, and a person who has had to rebuild his life more than once.
My past includes experiences I would never wish on anyone. As a teenager, I was sent to a series of locked facilities, schools, and programs in different countries. Later, I faced prison, addiction, homelessness, serious injuries, and years of trying to understand how those experiences shaped me. Some of the places connected to my youth have since faced serious allegations of abuse.
For a long time, I thought my past defined what I could become. It took time, hard choices, and support from other people to see that it did not have to define the rest of my life.
Starting again
While serving a prison sentence in Alabama, I began thinking about what I might do differently when I got out. I researched business ideas and tried to picture a future beyond the one I knew. After my release, changing direction was still difficult. Eventually, I left the United States and went to India.
While I was there, I returned to an idea I had written in my journal: building a business around Indian hair. I shared the idea online, began developing the company, and kept going one step at a time. That idea became Hair Maiden India, a business focused on human hair extensions and on helping stylists and other business owners find products and support for their work.
Starting a business gave me a practical reason to keep moving forward. It also taught me patience. Building something worthwhile takes more than a good idea. It takes learning the details, listening to customers, improving the work, and showing up consistently.
Learning to live differently
Leaving behind old patterns has been a long process. Therapy, yoga, breathwork, coaching, tennis, and changes to my daily habits have helped me build a steadier life. Healing has not followed a perfect schedule. There have been difficult days, setbacks, and things I am still working through.
I have found meaning in speaking openly about parts of my story. I hope sharing it can help someone else feel less alone, or help a parent think carefully before sending a young person into a program they do not fully understand. I want people to know that a painful past does not have to become a permanent identity.
Building with purpose
Business has allowed me to connect with people across different cultures and countries. It has also given me a way to turn an idea into something useful. Through Hair Maiden India, I work with customers and business owners who are building their own livelihoods. Helping someone else move forward is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do.
I have made mistakes, and I keep learning from them. I do not see my journey as a neat story with every chapter resolved. I see it as a continuing effort to take responsibility, make better choices, and use what I have learned in a way that serves others.
Books shaped by lived experience
Writing has become another way for me to reflect on what I have lived through and share what I continue to learn. My books explore heartbreak, recovery, identity, and the search for a way forward.
You can explore all books and products in my shop.
Keep going, one decision at a time
If there is one thing I hope people take from my story, it is that change can begin before you feel ready. You do not need your whole future mapped out. You can start with one honest decision, one useful idea, and the willingness to keep going.
My journey continues. I am still learning, building, and finding new ways to turn difficult experiences into something meaningful.
Read the original stories: Bold Journey and VoyageLA.
Explore my work: Hair Maiden India · Books and products.