This Entrepreneur has Undying Passion For Garment Business Sheela Kochouseph was determined to establish her brand that could win a woman's heart.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Whatever you do, be different! That was the advice my mother gave me and I can't think of a better advice for an entrepreneur. "If you are different, you'll standout" -Anita Roddick
Entrepreneur brings lives of 23 women achievers between its cover to celebrate womanhood
Almost at a time when there were no good quality lingerie available in the South Indian market and the Malyalam society would look down upon her as if she was doing something wrong- a dirty business, Sheela Kochouseph was determined to establish her brand that could win a woman's heart. She started V-Star Creations in 1995 with an initial loan of Rs. 20 lakhs from her husband, took four years to establish her brand and turned the company profitable to reach revenue of over Rs 81crore.
Today. V-Star is the best selling lingerie brand in South India with over 20 exclusive brand outlets in Kerala and soon expanding to other southern states, but the journey was not so easy. V-Star creations made national headlines in 2011, when it stood against the unofficial labour practice of Nokku kooli, akin to extortionism in Kerala and has been famously defined by Malayalam writer, Paul Zakaria, as "A kind of worker's paradise which even Marx did not anticipate."
What has kept Sheela moving is her undying passion for the garment and design business along with her belief that, "Every person should be independent whether a woman or a man which will make us courageous, confident and will give us a lot of acceptance in the society."
(To know more about these women entrepreneurs, subscribe here)