We live in a world of excess today. Inundated by choices and options galore, consumption patterns in our modern life have transitioned from being need-based to convenience-based. Shailaja Rangarajan also observed the same in her own consumption habits over the years. Inspired by this realisation, she ventured on a personal journey of incorporating conscious consumption in her everyday life. This shift in her perspective consequently led to her finding a solution for handling solid waste management in Urban Bengaluru area. This is how Rimagined was born.

Having completed her engineering followed by an MBA, Shailajahas worked as a supply chain business consultant for 15 years where she was working on improving and setting up the supply chain processes.

Coming from a family of academicians and being a first-gen entrepreneur she imbibed a lot of corporate learning that she eventually implemented into her enterprise. Employing a clear process-oriented approach, she believes that it is extremely critical for any enterprise or an entrepreneur to respond to unforeseen challenges. It is essential to have a strong backend team. She believes, people will come and go but resilience should be built in the enterprise to face any and every challenge that may befall one’s way.

In an interview with the Women Entrepreneur Team, Shailaja shares with us the various facets of her entrepreneurial journey and her tryst with promoting conscious consumption. Here are a few snippets from the conversation.

How did you develop an interest in conscious consumption, mindful living and sustainable living? In your opinion how can these concepts impact our individual as well as collective lives?

My prior experience compelled me to think about my consumption pattern and how it had changed over the years 3March2March20212021from being need-based consumption to convenience-based consumption. That’s where my journey about conscious consumption started. I started purchasing things only when it was needed. Fortunately, today information is available everywhere. I focussed more on better understanding and learning what I am buying and about ethical consumption.

When we see a problem in totality it is overwhelming. But I thought of contributing towards this problem because this is how we can collectively make a difference. And I eventually got the idea of handling, disposal and environmental impact of waste.

Tell us about your brainchild, rimagined and the various products that the company is known for creating. What was your objective behind establishing the company?

Rimagined is a conglomerate of up-cycling. We repurpose various types of discarded material and transform them into high-quality utility products. We manufacture products that people can use for their everyday requirements. When something is discarded as waste, the material often has a lot of life left in it and we create products through it by transforming the product. The objective here is that we don’t need to over-consume virgin resources. A lot can be done with innovative design and creativity which ensures consumption along with the sustainability.

My journey started with solid waste management and a change in my personal consumption. When I realized that as an individual consumer I can bring about a change then why not bring more people on-board to look at things differently. I believe that people should consume in a way that does not hurt the planet earth. When I started looking at the discarded material from a different perspective, I saw a lot of potential in that material. That’s how Rimagined was born.

What business lessons did you imbibe in your years as a corporate professional that are still a part of your approach to being an entrepreneur?

Mywork required me to travel extensively which gave me exposure to the best practices and the challenges in the supply chain. Since we are also a manufacturing company, we have adopted these best practices in terms of the process from day one. It is a highly structured approach where we talk about sourcing materials and the entire supply chain is streamlined by us. To handle any business scenario, every decision we make is concerning long term gains. Any decision making has to be focused on a long term mission. This is a key lesson which I have carried throughout my corporate and entrepreneurial journey.

“When i realized that as an individual consumer i can bring about a change, then why not bring more people on-board to look at things differently”

What have been some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved over the years? Tell us about the driving force behind your success as an entrepreneur?

Since the inception of the company six years ago, we started as a marketplace where we were resellers. After some time we transitioned into becoming a manufacturing company where we started making products ourselves. This evolution of our business model is a big milestone for me.

As we keep working towards more and more waste being repurposed, each of those accomplishments is a milestone for us. Another big achievement is that we have gotten forged a partnership with a German brand and Reimagine’s story is now becoming global. For me Reimagined is a platform to make a difference. The day I decided to get into in-house production, I was very clear that the organization would be run very professional. I also wanted to ensure that every team member grew along with the company’s growth. We take pride in saying that our labour costs are a major contributor to our product costs. There has been zero compromise on the value system that is put into place in our company from day one.

As a successful business leader, what advice would you present to young women and girls who aspire to become business leaders or entrepreneurs in the future?

I believe that all that is needed is a leap of faith. Everything about tomorrow is uncertain. So just take that leap of faith; unless you try something, it’s always a 50-50 per cent possibility. But if you do not try it’s a 100 percent failure. Women know how to deal with uncertainties and challenges. They are equipped because resilience is in-built in them.

Shailaja Rangarajan, Founder, Rimagined

She ventured on a personal journey of incorporating conscious consumption in her everyday life. This shift in her perspective consequently led to her finding a solution for handling solid waste management in Urban Bengaluru area. This is how Rimagined was born. Having completed her engineering followed by an MBA, Shailajahas worked as a supply chain business consultant for 15 years where she was working on improving and setting up the supply chain processes.