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“Every time a lady stands up for herself, she stands up for all girls.”
Ruma Devi’s story of turning into a globally acknowledged model begins along with her personal.
From what began as a small group of girls artisans contributing INR 100 to purchase materials like fabric, threads and plastic wrappers for making cushions and luggage, Ruma Devi’s grit changed into “Ruma – The Craft of India”, a flourishing on-line enterprise, with a much bigger trigger fuelling the fervour of girls throughout tribes.
At this time, Ruma Devi is greater than only a identify of an individual. It is called an artisan-made platform which connects rural India to City India immediately. The model has one imaginative and prescient assertion – “For the artisans. By the artisans.”
We at Shopify are glad to be part of their journey, by being the platform for his or her on-line storefront that takes their merchandise to clients far and broad.
“Once we began making our web site on Shopify, we have been actually scared nevertheless it proved to be a blessing for all of our artisans. We’re overwhelmed to be part of Shopify.”
From ghoonghat to glory: The journey of Ruma Devi
The change maker of rural India, Ruma Devi is an emblem of girls empowerment who’s empowering artisans from rural India to earn with dignity.
A journey that was began out by a person with solely a thread and needle at hand to passionately craft village artwork, has at this time been acknowledged by the style business throughout the globe.
She has additionally been awarded the Nari Shakti Award by the President of India for her exemplary work within the area. The Nari Shakti Puraskar or Award is an annual award given by the Ministry of Ladies and Little one Growth of the Authorities of India to particular person girls or establishments that actively work in direction of the reason for girls empowerment.
‘NariShakti Award’ offered by President of India
Designer of the yr Award
Being born within the desert area in Rawatsar village of Barmer district, Ruma Devi needed to drop out of faculty in school 8th whereas at this time she is somebody who has been invited by Harvard College for her exemplary work within the area of girls empowerment by innovation within the conventional craft apply.
Ruma Devi on the India Convention at Harvard 2020
Her extraordinary instance was offered within the British Parliament Home of Lords on Worldwide Ladies’s Day 2019.
At this time, she has modified the lives of greater than 25,000 rural girls artisans residing within the villages of the foremost Thar desert.
Her transition from ghoonghat, a standard head protecting or scarf, to glory began when she misplaced her mom at 4 and acquired married on the minor age of 17 years. Life turned tougher with the unstable household circumstances that additionally led to Ruma Devi dropping her first born baby inside 48 hours as she couldn’t avail primary medical amenities.
Like the opposite girls within the desert, her life was additionally restricted to the boundary of their properties, veiled and dwelling in household and social fetters. She was left with no different possibility besides labor work to help her household again then, which was the case of many different girls within the villages.
However as an alternative of getting pissed off, she took the foremost step of creating her artwork of conventional craft her energy in 2007 which she realized from her grandmother in childhood. Beginning small – all by herself, she determined to step out to bodily occasions, and commerce reveals, and enterprise into promoting the craft full time by looping in additional girls artisans from the village to assist her scale manufacturing.
She quickly deserted the veil, moved over household restrictions and turned craft right into a life-saving and life-changing pursuit. At this time, her leap of religion and braveness has led to altering the lives of greater than 22,000 rural girls artisans.
And that’s how ‘Ruma – The Craft of India’ was born.
Right here’s a video that shares the story of the artisans, the place they arrive from and the way they create each single piece you see on Ruma Devi at this time:
The target and the imaginative and prescient behind Ruma – The Craft of India
The imaginative and prescient of the model is to bridge the hole between rural and concrete existence, giving these artisans their very own platform to make a dwelling that may assist them develop in all elements of life.
In their very own phrases, the imaginative and prescient is acknowledged as:
“‘From rural to city’ – linking the artisanal neighborhood on to the client neighborhood and creating consciousness among the many youth about ‘The Crafts of India’.”
However with greater visions, come their very own challenges
In the course of the pandemic, the lives of artisans got here to a standstill with no style reveals, public gatherings or occasions taking place to promote their craftwork at. From the haats to festive seasons like Diwali and extra, many artisans misplaced their livelihood to not getting a possibility to current their work.
Because of lack of digital literacy, lots of the artisans that Ruma Devi labored with weren’t conscious of the net promoting portals. Proper from understanding what they have been to having the ability to showcase their artwork and craft, Ruma Devi needed to begin from scratch to supply Digital Literacy workshops. She even went a step forward and offered artisans freed from price smartphones to get accustomed to the altering dynamics of digital.
Because the merchandise began to take type, there have been additionally restricted sources for skilled companies obtainable at floor degree like pictures, web site improvement, digital advertising and many others. that might assist the artisans current their work in the perfect gentle. Add to that warehouse administration, stock administration, web site dealing with and the dearth of funds through the pandemic, Ruma Devi confronted a sea of challenges in taking the artisanal work on-line.
Beginning their on-line journey with Shopify
The Edelgive Basis got here ahead to assist Ruma Devi and her initiatives take form on-line. However the eCommerce platform the preliminary storefront was developed on, got here with its personal complexities and lack of ability to scale simply with the dearth of help.
Round this time, Ruma Devi and her group have been launched to Shopify. In their very own phrases, “Once we began making our web site on Shopify, we have been actually scared nevertheless it proved to be a blessing for all of our artisans. We’re overwhelmed to be part of Shopify.”
With the assistance of Shopify’s eCommerce platform, Ruma Devi was in a position to arrange a web based retailer to not simply showcase the merchandise created by artisans, but additionally join them to clients sooner, letting them promote their merchandise far and broad. At this time, their handmade merchandise are purchased by shoppers throughout India by a storefront that we’re proud is part of our household, www.rumadevi.com.
Aside from organising a storefront for the artisanal work, the Shopify ecosystem additionally enabled Ruma Devi’s group to ship an up-to-date buyer buying expertise with the assistance of free apps for advertising, design and different elements.
Because the group states, “We added free apps by Shopify which helped us improve the technological effectivity of the web site to reply to what clients anticipated to see on the storefront. The flexibility to begin advertising campaigns and preserve monitor of our gross sales, made it simple for us to develop our on-line presence and optimize the methods to achieve extra consumers.”
The journey onwards and upwards
As Ruma Devi says, “All of us have a novel expertise and talent. We simply have to acknowledge it and transfer ahead with it confidently. No work is small or massive. I began this smallest thread and needle work for my very own sake, nevertheless it has now modified the lives of many different girls in villages. Simply consider in your self and carry on following your ardour. Seize every alternative you get. Don’t be afraid of failures as they’re simply steps to our success.”
As Ruma Devi makes an impression on the lives of many throughout India, and conjures up everybody throughout the globe, right here’s to a journey collectively for a lot of extra years to come back.
To help Ruma Devi and her initiatives to deliver ahead the work of girls artisans, go to their retailer at this time: http://www.rumadevi.com.
In case you’re somebody who has been holding again from following your ardour or a interest, it’s time to take a leap of religion and begin your individual enterprise on-line. From promoting handicrafts to programs, companies like advertising and even handloom from completely different corners of India, you can begin your individual on-line retailer with Shopify very quickly. And Ruma Devi’s story right here is an instance of how commerce is the best way to succeed at this time.
Able to take step one? Join a free trial on Shopify at this time.
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