Throughout her childhood in India, Prabaarja (Aarja) Bedi would not have guessed she would end up where she is today: a motivational speaker, a strategic marketer, and an entrepreneur. Growing up, Prabaarja was very aware of the patriarchy, as men were the sole breadwinners in her home and women were frustratingly limited in their roles. Simultaneously, she was inspired by her father and grandfather, who worked hard to grow their family business. This is why she chose to pursue business and entrepreneurship. After finishing her undergraduate degree in India, she worked with a global consulting firm for a few years. She always believed in building for herself, rather than jumping onto the family business, which is why she co-founded her first business, in wellness living products. After working on this business for about a year and a half, Prabaarja decided to go for her further education. She completed her MBA at Babson College in Boston, the No. 1 undergraduate school and MBA for entrepreneurship 27 and 31 times in a row (U.S. News & World Report).
At Babson College, she took a class on the supply-chain and came across the concept of a circular economy, which essentially asked how many times we can utilize a product further and further instead of dumping it in a landfill. Her family business was in textile manufacturing, and her knowledge of this industry ultimately sparked the idea for UNfabricated. She realized that textile manufacturers in India have a lot of surplus fabric, fabric that is in good condition to be used but is not picked up by clients because of very small defects that can be mended. She decided to start upcycling that fabric. That is how her current startup came to life; UNfabricated is a socially and environmentally sustainable fashion and home brand that empowers women and reduces textile waste. All of their products are hand stitched by women artisans in India.
A large part of Prabaarja’s mission is to give a plethora of opportunities to women in India and around the globe. In fact, she says her goal for UNfabricated is to make it the #1 women-owned and women-run social enterprise in the world. Prabaarja has partnered with a lot of women-owned production houses in India, most of whom are focused on offering meaningful employment to women – that is, a stable income at minimum wage, offered in a safe environment. This is, of course, only the first step in helping these women. After speaking to these women one-on-one, Prabaarja realized that their problems range from children with disabilities who they cannot care for to alcoholic, abusive spouses. They need more than just meaningful employment to flourish. They need childcare, healthcare, mental health resources, financial literacy, and more. She envisions to offer women all of these opportunities, through partnerships and collaborations.
Prabaarja is already putting her words to action. UNfabricated’s co-founder, Rachna Bedi, is Prabaarja’s mother. She emphasized how important it was to her to give back to her mother, who has given up so much for her and her siblings. She says that, with everything she does, she makes an active effort to involve her mother as much as possible. She deserves these opportunities, too.
Starting UNfabricated has been a long, and at times difficult, journey. In March of 2020, Prabaarja planned to launch UNfabricated at a trunk show in Boston. Before doing this, however, she wanted to visit her husband (then boyfriend) in Canada. During her visit, the country went into COVID lockdown. At the same time, the remote job she had lined up in the US told her they could no longer sponsor her. This left Prabaarja in Canada with no job and only a visitor’s Visa. On top of that, she did not get to launch UNfabricated how she planned. She did not, however, quit. Instead, she shifted all of her focus to UNfabricated, and figured out a new way to launch. She realized that people needed fabric masks, so she set up her Shopify website and started a buy-one donate-one campaign. Through this, she launched her brand and managed to donate more than 800 masks to people in India.
After this launch, Prabaarja found much commercial success. She has attended many pop-ups and events, and has raised a ton of brand awareness. However, by the end of last year, she realized that the economy is not doing great, which means people have less and less disposable income to spend on products they deem luxuries, like UNfabricated’s products. She realized her current business model was not scalable, and she would struggle to meet her goals of helping women. This is when she decided to switch to a new business model. In addition to selling direct to consumers through their Shopify store, UNfabricated now creates sustainable merchandise for businesses. It is a great choice for corporations who prioritize CSR, startups who want to launch merchandise, and even fashion companies who want to promote sustainability.
Prabaarja has managed to overcome hurdles that many cannot imagine, breaking gender roles and defying odds along the way. Her business helps not only the environment, but also underprivileged women. She calls herself a “Passionate Change-Maker”, and lives up to the title.
To learn more about Prabaarja Bedi and UNfabricated, check out the links below:
https://www.instagram.com/the_UNfabricated
