Voices of Tomorrow is a recurring monthly feature highlighting PoC who are reshaping the retail industry.
Let’s take a quick journey back to 1978 in India, where a young man named Nand Kishore Chaudhary decided to revitalize the textiles and furnishing industry with two looms and nine artisans. The result: Jaipur Living, a rug and furnishings company where artisans had full autonomy as the business involved no middleman.
More than forty-five years later, Asha Chaudhary, the founder’s daughter and now the company’s CEO, is at the center of it all the way over in Acworth, Georgia, where she oversees its US operations. Chaudhary moved to the US in 2007 after learning the ins and outs of the business in India and currently works with ~10,000 retail partners and interior designers in the US alone.
While Jaipur Living continues to thrive overseas, at the heart of it all are still the artisans (85% of whom are women) who, per Chaudhary, are ensured a living wage, and receive health and education benefits.
How does she do it? In an exclusive chat with Retail Brew, the executive told all.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
How do you feel like that business has changed since you came on?
The core of the business hasn’t changed. It’s still rooted in love and compassion for the artisans.
However, we have obviously evolved to be a much more customer-centric business…just providing really high-quality products. I’d also say that we have expanded our distribution now at a global scale as well, so I run the US operations. And now we also have stores in Milan, Dubai, and quite a few retail stores in India. This year, we’ll be opening stores in London, and Singapore. So I would say our footprint is a lot larger.
Tell me a bit about your work with the artisans in India.
My dad not only provided them with sustainable wages and livelihood, but really he helped them build their creative capabilities. He has really elevated their pride—the pride and dignity that they feel in the work that they do—which has really made a huge impact on them as entrepreneurs.
We’ve also done a lot of capability-building programs for the artisans. One called Manchaha, which is really where we take some of our unused raw materials, some of our most talented artisans, and let them make any designs that come to their mind…Seeing their journey from being a worker to an artisan to an artist is really an incredibly powerful, empowering story. We also do a lot of work around providing them with basic necessities…like healthcare [and] alternative education for some of the artists and women that are in the villages.
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What do you find challenging as a woman of color in retail?
I grew up in a way with a father that worked with some of the most underserved people in the community. And he always talked about how he could never differentiate a human being based on their color, caste, or creed. So I grew up with that mindset.
I’ve always been very passionate about our business, about the people behind the business, our products…When I came here, for me, it was really building on Dad’s legacy and getting their work into the hands of a lot of consumers. I personally never thought that, “OK, I’m a woman; I’m a woman of color.” I never had that mindset. I always make sure I’m working hard and doing my best. But when I go to conferences, or sit in a boardroom, I can see that I’m the odd man out. Sometimes I feel like, “Oh, do I really belong here?” I can see myself and it’s during those times that I get reminded that, fine, I might be the only woman in the rug category, for example. That’s leading a business.
What advice would you have to young women of color who want to become entrepreneurs or succeed in retail?
No. 1 is believe in yourself…I doubted myself all along the way, and I remember my dad telling me that as a woman, you are more receptive, you’re more compassionate, you’re efficient, and you can, in fact, not just be equal, but better than men.
If you don’t have the passion, it’s really hard to get through those days, especially when they are not good days. I’ve also learned that, as a woman, we all need people that believe in us, and having a strong network around us of mentors [and] sounding boards…that care about our success and are invested.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. I’ve always said that actual growth happens when you get outside of your comfort zone and take on things you thought might be a little scary.