Orabelle

If you are looking for high quality, sophisticated and sustainable, yet affordable everyday jewelry, Orabelle may just be the best up and coming jewelry brand in the business in that regard. This company was founded in 2020 by three close friends aiming to be an inclusive online retailer for fashion statement pieces currently targeted to the 18-25 age group. Orabelle creates durable, quality pieces that are sustainably made at prices that wouldn’t make you lose your mind. The instagram based business aims to be the leading sustainable and affordable jewelry brand.

The story of Orabelle begins from 2020, just a few months before the global pandemic hit Nepal. The founders were first year Information Technology students with a drive to do something bigger than themselves. They utilized their semester break to anticipate the prospects of owning their own business. Since none of them were from a business background, they started researching, reading and deriving inspiration from every source they could find. In a matter of weeks, Orabelle hit the Nepali instagram business market. At that time, the company offered fashion jewelry imported from foreign countries. Even though unique and quality pieces were imported, the company faced the problem of jewelry tarnishing. As replating is not common in Nepal, the company could not provide this service. “We didn’t want to sell ephemeral products to our customers.” says Arju Adhikari, one of the co-founders of Orabelle. The founders relentlessly involved in searching for the solution. After months of research, they decided, instead of importing products, they would manufacture sustainable, recyclable and handmade products in Nepal itself.

A year after the inception, Orabelle rebranded itself and started the sustainability journey. The transition was not easy with one of the 3 friends leaving the venture. Arju Adhikari and Mavira Bhattrai spent days searching for artisans in the streets of Kathmandu. After rebranding, the customers had a problem related to the product as well. Through collaboration with different social media influencers, content creators, and word of mouth from the few initial customers, Orabelle got back on track. Their jewelry is made from panchadhatu (an alloy of five metals) or brass, and coated with 24 carat gold. Each piece is handcrafted and marked by a very manual production process using traditional Nepalese techniques. The rebrand started with the Dawn Collection, and to this day, they have launched five different collections of rings, earrings, pendants, and bracelets. The products are packaged in aesthetic pouches inspired by traditional Nepali ‘thailo’. The pouches are made of cotton or jute to promote sustainability in their packaging as well. But it is not just the products Orabelle wants to stand out for, it is the feeling of community and inclusiveness they want to provide to their customers. Love wins, which both Arju and Mavira claim to be their best collection was their attempt to reach people of every gender and sexual orientation by potraying the different kinds of love through their products.

“Orabelle is like our baby. We have been so involved in starting and operating this business that we are emotionally connected to it.” says Bhattrai. Without a single idea of how to operate a business, three college students embarked the journey of entrepreneurship. In the beginning, they were manually involved in every single business process from content creation to modeling to interacting with customers and packaging the products. Today, the company has employed artisans, social media handlers, and delivery personnel. Even though, Orabelle has collaborated with a delivery company, they have one in-house rider standby in case of emergency. Mavira Bhattrai, cofounder of Orabelle, is involved in the jewelry designing process. As a jewelry enthusiast, Bhattrai researches designs that speak to her and adds her personal touch to them. But in their next collection, we may be viewing the designs of an in house jewelry designer. While Bhattrai is more involved with the products, Adhikari indulges herself in the business aspect. With increasing demand, the company is in the process of including additional members.

As students, business owners, and other different roles they play in their life, we might as well say that the founders of Orabelle have cracked the time management skill. According to them, the cheat sheet includes prioritizing activities for each day, communicating with their partner and time chunking. Sometimes this may have been hectic but not taking work as a burden is their key to a balanced life. Both Bhattrai and Adhikari feel blessed to have supportive friends and family who have made this journey easier. Working with a friend who has a similar passion, willingness and motive in life has made professional life for the two young entrepreneurs quite pleasant. The quiet and ambivert nature of Bhattrai is perfectly complemented by the extroverted personality of Adhikari. While Arju speaks out with people, Mavira is an observer. That being said, they claim to have always separated their professional and personal aspects of life.

The two young entrepreneurs regard their team to be a core part of the company. In Orabelle, the well-being of the employees is highly emphasized. These young business owners believe in the motto,“ Employees are the representatives of the company. When employees are happy and motivated, they ensure that the customers are too.” While communicating with the social media representative, you may notice the reflection of their treatment in the form of the warmth and human touch they intend to add along with the text messages. They aim to make every potential customer feel like they are a part of the Orabelle family. As the company grows, they intend to keep the sense of community with both employees and customers. “We were nothing before Orabelle. We made Orabelle but in some way, Orabelle made us. While growing Orabelle, we ourselves have had sustancial growth as well.” says Bhattrai. For her, the things she gained from this experience are countless. Adhikari, on the other hand, is grateful to meet and interact with different people with a vision similar to hers. One thing that the duo could completely agree on is the delight of being able to provide employment opportunities to people.

In BizStyle we believe that, "Fashion fades, but style is eternal." In a similar sense, Orabelle is continuing its effort to bring the latest fashion for your innate style. If you don't believe us, why not try it for yourself.

- Smarika Thapa Editorial Team

Think about your wardrobe while you are reading this. How many clothes do you possibly have in it? How many clothes have you properly used? How many old and unused clothes are just lying there? Can you possibly make better use of them?

When we talk about waste and discard them, we often forget to consider the waste that exists due to the fashion industry. More importantly, we do not even realize that we as consumers have so much clothing waste accumulated with us. These clothing wastes are not just the ones that are old withered and damaged items, but also the ones which we barely use and are staying idle in our wardrobe.

The principle of reducing, reusing, and recycling has been a very familiar bandaid for the issue of managing waste, even for the waste caused due to fashion. Within these concepts lie the concept of upcycling. Although new, the concept has been gaining momentum over the globe. Upcycling is the process of creatively transforming by-products, useless or unwanted materials of production, into something new and desirable in a new form.

Re-कृित (Rekriti) is an upcycling brand that gives new life to discarded jeans by transforming them into high utility bags. As the name reflects the meaning, Re stands for Reused, Repurposed & Recycled, and कृित (kriti) means Work of Art. Founded by a business graduate and sustainable lifestyle enthusiast Nasana Bajracharya, Re-Kriti brings together the skills of local women artisans to bring environmentally friendly upcycled products which are fashionable and of high utility. Before starting the brand, Miss Bajracharya was curious about the clothing waste that she witnessed after every Dashain sale in experiments of building prototypes, she decided to launch her brand Re-कृित with upcycled denim jeans products in February 2022. Now, Re-कृित is being led by Miss Bajracharya along with her business partner Himanshu Shrestha.

Re-कृित aims to give customer a joyful experience of making an environmentally friendly purchase, provide products that reflect the hard work of women artisan who make them, and deliver high functioning durable products that are made to sustain for a long time. They retail a growing range of products which include drawstring bags, travel/makeup pouches, laptop sleeves, coasters, table mats, and a lot more. Products use post-consumer jeans, post-industrial jeans fabrics, discarded packaging plastics, and used flex banners as raw materials.

Taking the customer’s experience of making an environmentally conscious purchase a step further, Re-कृित has introduced upcycling service. With this service, customers can choose to upcycle their own old unused clothes into the product of their choice. They have a full-fledged customization option in terms of size, design, number of pockets, along with a free pickup service. With this service, customers can get a custom-made bag that specifically fits their needs. It is for everyone who loves to have an organized bag and extra pockets as their best friends, or those who want to own a one-of-a-kind statement bag that people cannot find in the market (literally).

Choosing upcycled products and upcycling own unused items not only reduces the immediate waste in the landfills, but also reduces the carbon footprint of the entire production cycle of a new product from sourcing the raw materials to distributing the products. To know more about Re-कृित’s products and how you can be a part of their movement, you can check their social media handles on Instagram and TikTok: @re.kriti.

- Samikshya Shrestha, LACM

The girl born and raised in Kathmandu, with a middle-class background, startled the world with her gracious work and won millions of hearts. She achieved the titles of CNN Hero in 2012 and CNN Super Hero in 2016. She is also the founder of the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and the Butterfly home. She is none other than Ms. Pushpa Basnet. We had the honor of talking with her, so this is how things went.

Before her career started, she was doing her diploma at Kathmandu University, where she got her chance to visit the children in the fieldwork and built a strong bond with them. Then and there, she saw the living conditions of the children born and raised behind bars. The triggering event inspired her to help the children compelled to live with their parents behindbars. There she started her journey and hasn't stopped since. At that time, she never imagined her journey would be this successful. We all are human beings, and like everyone’s journey, she had her hurdles and troubles She says, "Until and unless you encounter yourself, nothing will work out." She always felt privileged to have a family who supported her and wanted to help others. She believes that just because of parents' deeds, no one should get treated as children living in bars.

The challenges she initially encountered were from her parents. You know the looks we get from our parents when we want to do something different than others? Our perspective on life would differ from theirs; we can all relate to that. We must prove to everyone that what we do is the right thing in life. She claims the only justification is to be your-self and have faith in them.

It is a long journey to become a butterfly. Starting from an egg in the beginning; followed by a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and finally reaching to become a mesmerizing beautiful butterfly. She also believed that children needed all the care and nourishment they could get to be good flying butterflies. She named her foundation "the butterfly home," where kids get love and warmth from their mother figure (the stability needed for their growth). During this journey, she believes that every day is a new experience; dealing with kids is like learning something new every day. She claims that there is a system to run an organization. It must be systematic, and dealing with the government presents some difficulties. The government changes frequently and it must justify its actions. It's challenging, and many people believe that things can change instantly and have high expectations. Another challenge is the responses from the children's parents; it is a significant responsibility for her to justify what she is doing. She gives updates on the kids to their parents. She has to explain fund providers, too, like what they are spending money, where the cash flow is directed towards, and how efficiently and effectively funds are being provided.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a crucial factor for the children’s cognitive skills, so the butterfly home ensures the children get an everyday life as normal children should. And she ensures they bring everything they need and an environment where they feel safe expressing themselves. She provides a good living standard for the child and believes the self-esteem and confidence of a child depends on what kind of childhood they have. And she feels blessed to be referred to as the mother of every child residing at the butterfly home.

Currently, she is running a juvenile home too. It has been six months since the juvenile home opened. It takes much responsibility, but she feels good about it. She believes in taking one step at a time, which keeps her grounded even when she achieves success. She sees how things turned out at the end of the day and trusts the process, the mission, and the vision she set for the day.

“Believe in yourself - everything is not about social media. Whatever you have in life, be respectful to it and be happy. Have a family time.”

“I always respect the present and learn from the future”.

Pramila Thapa is a student of Nursing and Public Organization with Masters Degrees. She completed her schooling level from Gorkha district and completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Nursing from Dr. MGR College, Tamil Nadu, India and her Masters in Public Administration and Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Amid the course of her proficient career, Pramila Thapa has been involved in different organizations such as: Deputy Dean at PurvanchalUniversity,Nepal. Founder Member/Board of Director of Green City Hospital. Founder Campus Chief of Yeti Health Science Academy. Mrs. Pramila Thapa has been an incredible inspiration to most Nepalese people, especially to women. We had an incredible opportunity to sit down and talk with Mrs.

Pramila Thapa where she talked about her childhood, challenges, compromises etc.

Q1. How did you find your way to the role of being registrar?

“I started out being involved in various roles like management, administration, hospital project management, etc. I’ve already had experiences in many roles. My career started as a department head. Then I started working as a Campus Chief in Hope International college. After that I got a chance to work as a Founder campus chief in Yeti Health Science Academy. While working at Yeti Science Health Academy, I had a chance to send a proposal to start Green City hospital as a founder/ director. After that I got an offer at University level. I had to start my own University level college and I had the opportunity to work as a deputy dean. I find myself lucky as I got many chances and opportunities as a deputy dean. I was the founder Campus Chief at Constitute College of Nepal Purbanchal University in medical faculty. In my total four years of appointment, I got an offer of registrar by the Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal. This is how my academic achievements came to light and success”.

Q2. Challenges you faced as a woman.

“Working as an academic in my field as a woman is a challenging task. But amid the challenges, there are lots of opportunities as well. In my case, thankfully I’ve not faced a huge challenge. I've gotten more opportunities than I had to face challenges. I always stayed true to my routine, my responsibilities, my commitments and honesty.”

Q3. Compromises you made on your journey that man would not have to make.

“In our society, women have responsibilities as a mother. We cannot ignore what is expected from us women. I believe that a lot of women have to compromise a little bit of everything while being on the same journey as me. Talking about me, I luckily with the support of my family did not have to compromise a lot. But there definitely were days when I questioned my decisions on this journey. Questions such as, am I missing out on my role as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter in-law, as a daughter to my parents, as a sister to my siblings? Am I being selfish?, etc did dwell upon me from time to time. But I never let those questions consume me. I never let being a woman stop me from achieving my goals.

Q4. Looking back in your career, what were the key drivers that kept you going?

“Every stage we face in life has its own ups and downs. I think that up until now the key driver that got me up to this point is my educational background and my competency. I always respect the opportunity I am given. I find my purpose while focusing on my present”.

Q5. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career?

“I have faced many challenges along the way. During the starting of my journey I had little to no competency at decision making. I had little experience and no leadership skills. Apart from that, there were a lot of challenges I faced as a woman. Our conserved society does not want a leader who is a woman. So that was definitely challenging.

Q6. How do you turn challenge into opportunity?

“Failure is your best teacher but fear of failure is your worst enemy. I’ve failed many times. I’ve struggled many times. But I’ve never let those circumstances get in the way of my goals. I’ve never pointed to my past and I have never hoped for the future. All I ever did was focus on my present. That way I’ve created challenges into opportunities”.

Q7. Describe the management style you prefer.

“I prefer a transformational management style. In this era, I believe this style works as a thriving role. In this age, people prefer the power of the subconscious mind. People should prefer mind management over time management. I respect 4 elements: Idolize influence, Expression motivation, Intellectual stimulation, and Individual Consideration. With the combination of these four elements I believe that we can perform leadership in any place. I believe that a leader is made, not born”.

Q8. While managing your professional life, did you feel like you are losing your personal life? How do you manage your professional life and personal life?

“When my son was just 3 years old, I had to go to India for my studies. At that time, my husband was in the military field during the time of conflict. During that time I had to be with them but I was in India completing my studies. I do regret not being a part of my son’s childhood. I still talk to my son about missing his childhood. There are some regrets but I see this as an opportunity to do better.

As per managing my personal and professional life, I am always strict to my routine and my schedule. I plan my day while giving priority to both professional and personal life so that I get to be actively involved in both”.

Q9. Message you would like to give to all of the working women out there

“People believe that women have limited skills. Men and women are two sides of the same coin. No one is stronger or weaker. Don't let being a woman stop you from achieving your goals. Let’s focus on the present and not regret the past and appreciate you. Women can have it all”.

- Dikshya Khadgi Editiorial Team

The Nepalese Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS) is a governmental body of Nepal that oversees and directs the nation's industrial sectors. The ministry's pivotal duties include fostering an environment favorable for business growth and investment promotion, regulating and facilitating domestic, international, and regional commerce, and safeguarding and constructing industrial infrastructure and intellectual property rights. Six departments make up MoICS: the department of industry, the department of commerce, supply, and consumer protection, the company registrar's office, the department of mines and geology, the micro, cottage, and small industry promotion center, and the department institute committee board. We got an opportunity to speak with Mr. Bishwo Babu Pudasaini, state Secretary from Bagmati State Government (MoICS), regarding various roles of MoICS in emphasizing the Nepalese industrial sector.

While discussing the primary responsibilities played by MoICS in nurturing the development of the industrial sector in Nepal with Mr.Pudasaini, he noted that the organization had taken a proactive role in fostering the growth of indigenous production and employment. Additionally, the administration's responsibility is to empower people to become independent businesspeople and successful industrialists. The administration has also focused on creating the industry's essential infrastructure, technology-related cooperation, and various training and engagement programs. Despite efforts by the ministry to maintain a clean and healthy market, it has yet to make much progress in the commercial sector.

Moreover, Mr. Bishwo babu Pudasaini added, "Based on Industrial Infrastructure Development, MoICS has Identified Two Industrial Zones and is Continuously Moving

toward the Construction of Those Industrial Zones."The administration is focusing on creating the industrial sector because industrialists have had trouble operating their businesses in private spaces, and the industry has not been booming for a long time. In Sindhuli and Makwanpur, respectively, the ministry has advanced two industrial projects. Along with this, it has developed more than 20 industries in this province, which has further helped improve the business atmosphere.

Overall, increasing domestic production in the industrial sector has been the foremost priority of MoICS. In essence, the ministry is keeping up with how to digitize the overall administrative work. The ministry fosters a climate conducive to Nepal's businesses and industrial sector.

- Swechhya Pradhan Editiorial Team