STORY BEHIND ‘WSOL’
1.
Story behind 'WSol'
My story is about the passion for fashion and
grooming that took me to places. After my masters
in organic chemistry, I got married. I was never
interested in chemistry. Luckily I was given the
freedom to what I want to do after marriage. I
pursued diploma in fashion technology from GIFT
(Gandhi Institute of Fashion and Textile Design),
Ahmedabad. In 1998-99, I started freelancing. Back
then there was no term as 'entrepreneur' as such.
That time, I got an order for designing western
formals for an Australian lady. That was the time
when I got to know that I was expecting my first
baby. I took a break from work and soon after that
we moved to US. In US, I
did a certification in
'skin and color
consultant'. I realized
that we should be really
proud of our Indian skin
tone. We moved back to
India 2007. Then I
started putting things
together. Connecting
the dots is very
important. I did a
c o u r s e
i n
entrepreneurship from
IIM Bangalore in 2007.
This course gave me a green signal. That time there
was no referral point, no one was doing something
in 'image make over' space. Everything was trial and
error. So, IIM B course was very useful for validating
my idea. Being a working mom, freelancing was a
good option. I used to meet my clients at CCDs and
cafes and then take them out for shopping. In 2009, I
came across iReboot. iReboot lets people test right
their dream jobs. They bring in mentors from
different fields. This gave me more reach to people
and place also. I also happened to share the office
space there. I used to meet clients and talk to them
there. This shared space was technically my first
office. I was still a freelance consultant and haven't
registered my company yet. My clients and friends
to whom I was catering to asked me that 'what are
you wearing?'
12
That time did you Pinterest was introduced. This
looked like an awesome opportunity for me. I
started a board there – 'what I m I wearing today'.
Everyday a pin used to happen on that. There were
people around who used to question – 'Why? What?
…weird thing, what are you doing?' I didn't care
about all that. I was following my passion. While this
was happening, I started getting queries regarding –
'How do I get those dresses?'
I realized then that I should start making dresses
(apart from making for myself) I met Amrutha John
(my co-founder) long back in Delhi. She had a
merchandising background and was a working
mom. Nothing happened then. I reconnected with
her and WSol (a fashion and image makeover
company) was officially born. We then introduced
BAJA (our product). I am the MD of WSol and
Amrutha is the Director. BAJA, unlike other fashion
labels, also emphasizes on the essence of WSol i.e
we also help choose outfit. We have both the online
and offline stores. Soon, BAJA will be on Amazon n
Snapdeal. BAJA's music has gone as remote as a
place like Jharkhand (where a store has BAJA
dresses) and also to international locations like
Dubai.
2.
Why the name 'WSol'?
When I was doing freelancing in Ahmadabad, I used
to give out some pamphlets. On those pamphlets,
the name was Wardrobe solutions. In fact, when I
submitted my business plan during IIM B course, the
name remained the same. When I started getting
enquires from clients, few of them used to ask – 'Is
this WSol?' Then the name remained 'WSol'. WSol's
product, BAJA (a fashion label) is derived from my
name – Babita Jaishankar.
3.
Need gap you are fulfilling via 'WSol'?
Wherever there is a need to balance how a person
wants to be perceived or who he/she is, WSol is
there. Image makeover is not about being
glamorous. It's not about trends, it's about style and
how that style can be adopted in the allotted
budget.