Shriya Rajgarhia
Shriya Rajgarhia talks business in her latest interview, showing us a glimpse of her passion for a sustainable and eco-friendly future.
Shriya Rajgarhia, the founder of House of Spruce and Label: Villa 1320 is a Business and Management graduate with her thesis being in Social Entrepreneurship from Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK). Shriya combined her childhood love for art and her inclination for business and finance to create her ethical home-grown brand. During her time at a university exchange excursion dated back to 2017, she visited and explored the different realms of the Indian textile industry based off Rajasthan, which was her source of inspiration and eventually led to the establishment of her successful sustainable textile ventures.
House of Spruce emerged in 2018, as Shriya ventured further into the rich cultural heritage of the local Indian textile industry. Here, she wanted to create a niche that brought the focus to back home and its underlying beauty. A year later, she launched her fashion brand Label: Villa 1320. Managing everything from graphics to finance and even marketing on her own, she aimed to provide a sustainable fashion and lifestyle alternative for the consumers.
“My entire venture is based on social entrepreneurship and I wanted to give back to society and make a difference with the work I do. Glorifying the native Indian culture and heritage and promoting the richness of the local artisan curations and craftsmanship that the home grounds have to offer is the value my ventures hold. All our products are sustainable, zero-waste, made of natural, vegan ingredients, and are cruelty-free,” Shriya describes.
When we asked about the difference she wants to see through her efforts, this is what she said, “The prime motive of my ventures is to promote an ecological lifestyle and help the environment by providing affordable eco-friendly products to consumers as an alternative to fast fashion and home segments. Then comes promoting the richness of our Indian handloom heritage on a global scale. And as we stick to the home grounds, it is to encourage the rural artisans and craftsmen and alleviate the economic gap, help them get the recognition they deserve, thus, contributing to the community. We are an ethically conscious brand that prioritise purpose over profit and CSR is not just a part of our venture but the roots of it. After all, that is the basis of any social entrepreneurship organization.”
Early on in her career, Shriya experienced her fair share of hardships and obstacles laid on the pathway, as is true for any entrepreneur, be it in the form of competitors or tapping the Indian markets. But the zeal to keep pushing forward helped her cast aside the negative influence and with a never give up attitude she moved forward. Shriya believes that it is her artisans and customers that keep her going. The fact that she made someone happy and made a difference at the end of the day is what adds fuel to her passion. “It’s no cakewalk to tread down the path of entrepreneurship. It requires consistent dedication and hard work and involves blood, sweat, and tears. But at the end of the day, it’s rewarding and fulfilling, the toughness of it is worth it,” she added.
This was her advice for the female entrepreneurs,
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. Every time that you feel the inevitable turbulence in this world of start-ups and especially when you’re following the footsteps of social entrepreneurship, remind yourself of the significance of your beliefs and values and why you started in the first place. That path you paved from your dream to reality is going to guide you further too. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Much love!”
