A espresso cup in the back of the cabinet, a pen gathering mud in a junk drawer, a tote bag languishing on a closet shelf. Whereas meant to have fun a milestone or anniversary, these company items are sometimes lackluster objects which can be not often given a second thought, if not dumped within the trash inside days. This leaves the recipient feeling empty and the setting additional taxed—and it’s a missed alternative for companies to additional strengthen connections too.
However what in the event you may give or obtain a present so significant that even years later, you considered it with a smile? A present that advantages the setting and helps the artisan who made it? That’s the place Priya Ravindra Kalyanimath’s Australia-based startup Punar is available in. The corporate is remodeling the company giving trade by creating sustainable items and homewares handcrafted by feminine artisans in India.
In her earlier company life, founder and CEO Kalyanimath advocated for extra feminine involvement in expertise initiatives and likewise served as an elected board director. Now, she leverages her ardour, company governance expertise and the ability of media to deliver Punar into the hearts and houses of people, manufacturers and companies trying to give thoughtfully and assist drive systemic change.
“Not solely are you investing within the makers by sourcing from an moral and sustainable model, however you might be additionally giving that prolonged expertise to your family members,” Kalyanimath says.
From ideation to launch
Whilst a toddler in India, the imbalance of ladies being paid lower than males troubled Kalyanimath. But it surely was the customarily senseless consumption she noticed throughout the pandemic that gave her the push she wanted to create her firm.
Whereas her networks in India included entrepreneurs who have been attempting to eradicate textile waste, she noticed a spot in corporations who have been bringing sustainability and equality collectively to weave a brand new narrative. Over the following two years, she constructed Punar to fill that hole.
“Creating materials, failing quick and creating long-lasting, high-quality materials took time as a result of we didn’t wish to create one more product that was ending up in a landfill,” she says.
Punar has upskilled 12 girls artisans since 2021, instructing them how you can create zero-emission materials, paying them honest wages and giving them secure and supportive jobs in an trade that Kalyanimath says is infamous for mistreating employees. And through the use of recycled yarn to create the materials, in addition to different recycled and upcycled supplies, Punar provides textile waste new life.
Kalyanimath additionally desires to supply customers with the choice to present extra sustainably. “When you’ve acquired 10 issues to purchase this quarter, are you able to placed on an investigative hat and search for the label, actually perceive the story, the aim, after which purchase perhaps one or two [sustainable] merchandise?” she asks. “Are you able to spend money on an moral, impartial model, girls founders [and] sustainable vogue?”
Since its founding, Punar has reported diverting over 450 kilos of clothes from ending up in a landfill and saving practically 200,000 gallons of water. The corporate additionally creates an influence card that accompanies every bought present so customers can see the face of the artisan who made their product and the place their cash goes.
Punar’s dedication to conscious vogue
Whereas quick vogue could also be thought-about moderately priced, Kalyanimath says that points with longevity can happen. “How lengthy is it truly going to final? A few years?” she asks. “Whereas in the event you decide that increased worth level however [it’s] moral and sustainable, it will final 5 to 10 occasions longer.”
She doesn’t consider in guilting individuals about their lack of a sustainable way of life. As an alternative, she desires to indicate them the ability they’ve as a aware shopper.
“What are you able to do to decide on proper, to scrub up this planet, to pay individuals the proper sum of money?” Kalyanimath provides. “Everyone knows once we lower corners or once we are slicing prices, any individual someplace is paying the value. Both an environmental worth or the customers who’re utilizing poisonous supplies and materials, or the Earth is being impacted by this waste being dumped on [it].”
Media acts as a unifier and a storyteller
Punar doesn’t promote its merchandise. As an alternative, it depends on the ability of media to attach people and communities all world wide. Along with pitching her firm, Kalyanimath additionally works with media as a thought chief to supply ongoing consciousness and training round moral vogue and sustainability.
After studying an article that featured Kalyanimath as a contributor, a person residing in Australia’s countryside transformed to a buyer. It was his first time listening to of Punar.
“That’s the ability of media,” Kalyanimath says.
She provides that ladies don’t increase their palms for these alternatives as a lot as males do. “That is how girls are raised: to be well mannered, to simply quietly do the work and preserve issues ticking alongside moderately than standing up and asking for that recognition,” she says. “Sure, it’s altering, however at a sluggish tempo!”
For Kalyanimath, media placements present Punar with a number of advantages: extra credibility, an introduction to new clients and one other avenue that can construct belief and create aware consumerism. “Once you construct that belief and heart-based connections, I can guarantee you income will come,” she says.
She additionally considers the media to be a robust ally for storytelling, one that provides a win-win for everybody concerned. “I feel all of us have the accountability of lifting the frequency… given all of the issues which can be [going on],” she says.
This yr, Punar will launch a brand new assortment and solely use a portion of the earnings for artisan well-being and self-care actions. Kalyanimath additionally desires to construct on Punar’s present success to create sustainable hubs exterior India, in addition to secure jobs and monetary freedom for 10,000 girls across the globe. She is going to proceed partnering with media to additional unfold excellent news tales that enable us to return collectively as collective humanity.
“That is the place… media performs such a robust software by way of communication,” she says. “It doesn’t matter what nook of the world you’re sitting in. It’s the ability of media, expertise and communication which unites us as people.”
This text initially appeared within the September/October 2025 difficulty of SUCCESS® journal.
Photograph by cottonbro studio/Pexels.com
