- Rashmi’s precarious plunge into entrepreneurship in 2018 with Meemansa, enabled skilling thousands of rural women into the sustainable lively hood
- Over the years, Rashmi Kothari has never been intimidated from taking careful risks to sail through unprecedented challenges and making space for women in manufacturing
True to its etymological meaning, Meemansa which means reflection, is the entrepreneurial achievement of a woman whose life also reflects determination and grit. Meemansa manufactures, trades, and outsources accessories, ready-made garments, and apparel to major retail brands in India. They made headlines during the recent pandemic, by tying up with IIT Bombay to manufacture Duraprot Face Masks which gives not only protection from the virus but offer great comfort and breathability.
Married to Manish Kothari, from an industrialist family, a gold medalist in B.Com & M.Com from Jabalpur, Rashmi had started her professional career in accounting and book-keeping at Rhino Machines in the early 2000s. Within a decade, in 2010, she took complete ownership of handling the finance department of Rhino Machines, and but kept the distance from the shop floor activities.
Manish remembers having heard about the Dark, Dusty & Dirty foundry, Rashmi was averse to visiting any Foundry. “It was in 2015, that she visited one of Rhino’s benchmark plants and sat in the working plant for eight hours just to validate and check if our claims of a clean, noiseless workplace for women were validated”, says Manish. She has been a neutral validator for Rhino’s quality and commitment representing the sensitivities and a fresh outlook towards the foundry.
The Journey towards Social Entrepreneurship & Women Empowerment
In 2018, Rashmi got an opportunity to collaborate with her sister-in-law Priyanka Bapna, founder of Meemansa, to help her grapple with financial challenges. Priyanka Bapna had a visionary dream to become a zero-waste garments manufacturer and the experiments which started in 2017, moved into a product line. Priyanka’s passion for the environment and social commitments resulted in upcycling of garment waste generated and also skilling thousands of rural women into the sustainable lively hood through making jholas (bags), kurtas/ kurtis, fashion accessories from the upcycled garments.
Rashmi from a front-end support, entered into her entrepreneur journey with Priyanka as a partner to give more wings to her dreams. Rashmi was able to successfully manage the finances of Meemansa based at Anand, Gujarat, and the operations took place in Mumbai. Not just herself, Rashmi was successful in bringing her husband Manish Kothari, as well as his brother Rohit Kothari onboard Meemansa to revive the textile business. The team was able to rebuild MEEMANSA as an SME by the veracity of their previous experience at Rhino Machines.
Transition from Desk to Shopfloor
Manish Kothari and daughter Nandita took a keen interest in the Upcycling project, and this got Rashmi further involved in the manufacturing and marketing side of the business. Rashmi started participating in exhibitions promoting Meemansa products, and the exposure bore success by the virtue of her patience, perseverance, and expertise.
The idea to set up a manufacturing unit in Anand strengthened and fortified as this project was shifting from commercial to a socio-economic model. The upcycling was done by NGOs, and supply chains for women in manufacturing were set in rural and/or urban areas. The initiative generated employment opportunities for women, who were trained to convert the waste fabric into saleable designer wear at affordable rates.
Priyanka Bapna applauds Rashmi’s far-sightedness and resilience, “I cannot be grateful enough to Rashmi for when she agreed to invest in my business, we were mere acquaintances. This bond is far more precious to me since Manish being my brother has always shared a strong family alliance with me, and I have never for once doubted his trust”. Together, Rashmi, Manish, and Priyanka have shared a journey with many ups and downs. Rashmi has emerged victorious from her battle and she proudly stands strong as the founder of Meemansa.
Masking India: Responding in Distress
By 2019, the unit at Anand was fully operational which further reinforced Rashmi’s ties with manufacturing. The year 2020 brought another upheaval—COVID19. “Rashmi’s immense poise and energy, brought to the fore her strong, systematic working and planning behaviors, understanding and taking risks and responsibly building the mask inventory from scratch”, remembers Manish Kothari.
As Meemansa got access to the license from IIT Bombay for the unique Duraprot Technology – a mask that was easy to breathe and made with special disinfecting properties, Rashmi took charge of the entire mask production and quality management and was slowly able to work towards ISO 9001:2015 certification for the production unit at Anand.
“Rashmi was more of a back-office finance person, but over the last year I have seen a new version of Rashmi, her role in manufacturing management became extremely decisive. The sudden swell in responsibilities might not have been entirely thrilling for Rashmi as she had undergone kidney transplant only a year back in 2018”, added Manish, who was instrumental throughout her professional career.
Rashmi perfectly grasped the relevance of mask production along with its fit and quality standards as she had herself endured nagging discomfort by wearing masks following her operation in 2018. “Rashmi’s two-fold responsibility towards managing her health and plant operations has been awe-inspiring’, adds Manish. Adding another achievement in her kitty, Rashmi opened the first Meemansa Factory-owned outlet at Anand on the 20th of February 2021.
Keen Financial Acumen
What Rashmi brings to the business are a very keen and critical eye for cost monitoring and system building. “She has simultaneously been a critique and out-of-the-box thinker, and over the years did not shy away from carefully taking a few risks”, says Manish. There have been occasions when people suddenly deciding to quit during adversities.
Over years Rashmi has taken up the responsibility, stood firm in crisis, and used these occasions to get back into the system and find how to improve the glitches. Her commitment to quality for the customers, employees, and community is unrelenting, irrespective of countless setbacks. “She is the strongest pillar of Meemansa and the most meticulous, reliable, and hardworking person I know. She is a star sparkling in the galaxy of Meemansa”, comments Priyanka Bapna.
Entrepreneurship Excellence through Empretec Foundation
Following the path of Manish Kothari, an Empretec HiEERa – (High Impact Entrepreneurs from Emerging Regions for Action) and their daughter Nandita, Rashmi took the EMPRETEC Primer during 2020 and brought in several transitions in her entrepreneurial skill through the PEC awareness. In 2020, after attending the Empretec workshop, she started diving deeper into understanding where her Ikigai or happiness lay.
Working for herself, for her enterprise, and the society, Rashmi invested quality time & discipline towards the UN-supported EMPRETEC program and has since been debating & using the PECs as a tool, recognizing her own strengths, her Ikigai and taking the risks, lifting her self-confidence to another level, being able to stand & deliver. She has used the Empretec framework in her daily life, keeps moving between the behaviors of planning, achievement, and power, taking personal responsibility to the goal of Meemansa.
Rashmi, who strongly believes in herself, imbibed the same courage in their daughter Nandita to travel alone at the age of 16, live abroad and to be self-dependent. The professional responsibilities never stopped Rashmi to indulge in her treasure trove of happiness in knitting knockers for breast cancer patients, looking after her garden, and taking care of Goofy the Labrador.
