Pabi bags – an Incredible Story of Inspirational Entrepreneurial Success
This episode of inspiring entrepreneurial success and empowerment left me spellbound. It’s a magical and inspiring story of an extraordinary woman from Kutch, who transformed her struggles and challenges to a brilliant global entrepreneurial venture. She had no elaborate academic degrees or corporate experience to back her entrepreneurial dream, yet her outstanding success is a lesson to even the most experienced entrepreneur. I am talking about Pabiben Rabari, who founded pabiben.com, a motivating women’s artisan initiative that is much sought after for its designer bags and accessories using a unique form of embroidery called hari jari.
The initial difficult days Pabiben belongs to the Rabari community of Gujarat, where art and craft were part of her growing days. However, her childhood was not easy. She had to drop out of school at an early age to help her widowed mother take care of her sisters. Being the eldest in her family, Pabiben had to sacrifice her education for her family. But this also led her to the unique skill set that was destined to make her name a global brand.
An interesting tradition of the Rabaris required women to create and give works of embroidery as dowry. This meant that girls had to learn embroidery and create beautiful