I am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

This week the ladies of the tailoring workshop made an excursion to Manathavady. One by one, they entered the Profugo rental house donned in some of their most beautiful sarees. We talked a bit about Onam and then we sat in a circle and got down to business, literally. We began with the question, “What is business?” Sabeena answered that it is when you buy or sell something. Spot on. Although a simple explanation, that is what business boils down to. The exchange of a good or service for money, based on its perceived worth. To get in to the more nitty gritty, a business needs a customer base, financial investment, and a profit must be made in order to be successful. In our trainings, we are starting with the more simple, basic notions of business and working towards the nitty gritty. We are all agreed, we want the tailoring workshop’s business, whatever shape it may take, to succeed.

Next, I asked, “What is the purpose of a business?” I was expecting to get the answer, “to make money.” I was delightfully surprised when Margaret, our teacher, responded with “It is an outlet, a way to leave reality for a little.” Of course, the women all agreed that one enters business in order to make money. They talked about how they need money so their children can get a good education and have a good life. One of the many attributes these women possess is they are always thinking of others, especially their children, first. This is part of the reason that empowering women is so important. With more power and more ability to use that power, they incrementally better the lives of so many around them, not only themselves.

Moving on to the next question, “What are the characteristics that make a business successful?” I again was very pleased with the responses. Each woman’s first thought was to have a good team, to be happy with everyone you are working with, to have unity. One woman added that you must be sincere and honest. Being dedicated and passionate was another response. May I reiterate that giving these women more influence can only make this world a better place, honestly. I contributed some additional characteristics such as having good timing. I used the recent holiday Onam and the tradition of creating a pookalam as an example. A pookalam, is a beautiful work of art created by arranging different colored flower petals in to a design, situated at the entrance of your home. In the days leading up to Onam, walking down the streets you see vendors with their multi-colored mountains of flowers just waiting to be bought and turned into a pookalam. This is a good time to be selling flowers on the market. If you tried to sell flowers in the days following Onam, you would find the demand to be much less. This is an example of bad timing. The woman all nodded in agreement. Other characteristics such as having a good idea or product, careful planning, and good marketing were also covered.

Moving on to the challenges one faces when starting a business. The woman discussed in Malayalam for a bit. Jessy explained to me that they were talking about others in the community being jealous. She used an analogy that when you see a dog doing well and you yourself are not, a natural inclination is to throw rocks at that dog, to take it down a few notches. I suppose in English, it is similar to the saying, “Misery loves company.” We discussed how we can transform people being jealous of them in to people looking to them as role models. For some people, they explained, it takes time to come around. They all seemed confident that eventually, everyone would do just that. Other challenges they thought of were; having sufficient money for start up, overcoming competition, and dealing with troublesome partners, employees. We went on to discuss sacrifices that are made to start a business and ended with skills that are needed to start a business. After discussing, we went around the room and each woman had to state one skill she possessed that is needed to make a business successful. Lajita responded first that she is eager to learn more and is excited for the future. Sabita talked about her good management skills in relation to her family. Running a business is like running a family. Sabeena has a desire to always improve, especially her stitching skills. Sachika responded that she has a desire to be loved and to love others, to work in harmony with others. Minu spoke of her desire to do well in order for her two daughters to have a good life, she has dedication. Our teacher Margaret spoke of her strong desire to stitch and to always learn how to make new products.

They asked what my skill was. I said, I work well in a team and that I am willing to take risks when necessary. I talked about coming to India. Before I came I had mixed emotions, I was nervous, excited, scared, and so on. But, when I got here all these emotions were assuaged and I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I am learning so much and growing as a person because I took a risk. Starting a business can be like that, full of mixed emotions and even with the most careful planning there is some risk involved. From my story, the women expressed a difference between the USA and India. They talked about how women have more independence in the USA and the fact that I have the ability and freedom to be here working is very lucky. In India, women are taught to rely on men, whether it be their father, husband, brother, or son. This mindset is slowly changing they said and they are a part of this evolution. Of course men are a very important part of society, but the women really are the backbone of the community. Without them and their hard work and dedication, it would fall. The women all agree. I could feel their pride and strength when having the discussion. It was contagious. Being a part of the tailoring workshop and having a say in they and their families future is opening up many doors for these women, doors that will lead to great things for Prashanthagiri as a whole.

From this solid foundation of women, we will continue to grow; in strength, sewing skills, and expertise, both in business and marketing. I am so honored and excited to be with these women along this journey. The future looks bright. I will end this blog with the same statement we ended our training, “I am woman, hear me roar!”