Layering Tee - Black

From Sewing To Management: Becoming A Leader

To help support her family, Savita Vishwakarma worked for 15 years as a tailor in a Mumbai factory. She left school in ninth grade and married at early age. She is now 32 and has 2 children, 13 and 14. After they moved to a new town, she had to look for another job. Thanks to her sewing experience, she became a member of Pragati Cooperative.

"I thought it would be easy," she reflects, "But it was very different from the factory set‐up. There you only did your work, but here we are running a business." Sometimes the transition frustrated her, but she learned to deal with issues and carry on. "Now I see this as a growth path for me. I have learned so many new things." Currently she is the group's accounts supervisor and in charge of internal quality control.

"My earnings have improved manyfold due to these new opportunities. One month I earned close to my husband's salary!"