Hyderabad: The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health status is a highly important end in itself. In addition, it is essential for the achievement of sustainable development.

Anjali Aggarwal decided to start her own venture after 12 years in the corporate world by innovating the traditional Kota Doria fabric. Her business www.kotadoriasilk.com has turned into a 4-crore turnover company. Her journey started with a vision to empower women to sell from home and encouraging artisans to work based on new age demand from a young experimentative audience.

Anjali Agrawal was a software engineer by profession and was a part of the corporate world before she began her business inspired by her love for wearing her favorite traditional Indian fabric Kota Doria.

Having achieved highly in the corporate world she felt like she needed to achieve more for her soul. So, she decided to take a plunge for her passion by creating a Facebook page and an initial investment of just of Rs. 25000/- in 2014. Hence her brain child KDS was born and rest is history.

As time went by her small home venture grew from strength to strength and within a short span of one-year KDS launched its full-fledged e commerce website due to increased demand. In her words “the journey has been very rewarding, and has consummated my creative and intellectual needs and still motivates me to create more employment”.

Being a woman even in the 21st century is not as smooth as we would like it to be. Despite the challenges and various pressures that are embedded in our society for women in general and when it comes to career, Anjali worked hard enough to rise above it all to become an inspiration for many females and become a beacon of hope for many women who aspire to become independent. She worked hard to learn everything there is to learn about the art weaving. As her experience and exposure grew her knowledge of her business multiplied. Anjali was soon able to understand the science of weaving deeply and she immersed herself fully into training and aligning the weavers with KDS’s specific business requirements.

Her business gave artisans the opportunity to work steadily on orders placed by admirers of Kota Doria Silk across India. Her focus was on growing the demand for her niche product as well as on her collaboration with weavers and craftsmen families so that they have a steady and secure financial independence. This added to the value of her business and encouraged the associated artisans to work diligently, and gradually the KDS family grew from a handful to 72 craftspeople with an equal 50%: 50% ratio of female and male artisans. As we speak, there are over 25 looms working exclusively for Anjali.

Even during the changing times of the pandemic, KDS played its part by donating nearly 25,000 triple-layered cotton masks to NGOs in addition to including several pieces with each order. “The Pandemic taught all of us new lessons, that brought all of us together and taught us the value of being together. It was more about holding hands and working as one big family, and single mindedly working towards cutting down wastage and costs during those unprecedented times”, she added emphatically. Anjali played her part on behalf of women business owners in curbing the spread of the virus by providing masks that are comfortable and effective. “By offering effective yet comfortable masks, I am trying to ensure that more people wear them, thus reducing the spread of the virus”, Anjali adds.

Since the beginning of KDS, Anjali’s product attracted attention of resellers, who further fueled its journey across the country. She has turned it around for several women who were never part of the corporate workforce or chose to drop out over time have found their feet through KDS.

Over the years, countless women have been empowered as resellers which has in turn boosted their self-esteem and given them a purpose in life that they were searching for. Through these women, KDS reaches customers in different parts of the country with minimal efforts. With a journey of over six years, KDS has become a symbol of tradition making a mark in the digital space. Anjali proudly salutes the effort of associated women business partners from across India.