Monoshita Ayruani, Founder of Shape Lingeries, decided to solve women’s comfort issues with her brand. She realized that Bangladesh is an export hub which makes and exports lingeries.
After exporting the goods abroad, the leftovers are sold to native women. However, the leftovers are not a good fit for Bangladeshi women. Monoshita wanted to work for the empowerment of women and make their life comfortable. Therefore, she researched this issue and decided to work with Lingerie and named it Shape.
This company has been efficiently solving women’s comfort issues for almost three years now and will be completing its third anniversary in the upcoming September. Till now, they have consulted more than fifteen thousand women and helped those women find their correct bra size while introducing comfortable products for them. Recently, Shape has been growing from Dhaka to other cities in Bangladesh as well.
Before finding SHAPE, Monoshita worked with WebAble Digital, which helped her to create the brand from scratch and work on it. She has received awards both in WebAble Digital and in Shape for branding, communication, empowering, etc. Monoshita’s favorite part is experimenting with new bras to find suitable Lingerie for women of different ages. At one time, they were able to find good fits for teenagers but not for older women of their moms’ or aunts’ age. Cracking the solution to this problem was one of the satisfying parts of her job. For Monoshita, finding a comfortable bra for herself is the most rewarding professional accomplishment moment.
Monoshita finds leadership skills very useful. “Leading is a scary thing for many. Because if you mess up in some cases, people will question you a lot. You would be facing some heat. So, most people around us want to be workers, not leaders. So, the skill of leadership is the skill most people need in my perspective”, she says. She wants to move people by example. While leading, she likes to give people their own space and show them the way to improve themselves.
In a place like Bangladesh, it is not easy to start something new as a woman or even at a young age. For young female entrepreneurs, it is not easy to get support at the beginning stage. Monoshita advises aspiring entrepreneurs to take the first step and get started to begin something new or big. She says, “The journey of the thousand miles begins with the first step. I read this line in a book written by Lau Tzu. Whatever you want to do, first start doing it.” She also thinks that there is no shame in asking for help. Therefore, people, especially women, do not need to shy away from asking for help.
Monoshita thinks that two core reasons hinder the empowerment of women. One is that the family of the woman does not want to let her work. Another one is women who got the chance to work and face obstacles in the working place. To solve these problems, first family members need to change their mindset. Secondly, it is crucial to make the workplace comfortable & safe for a woman.
Although Shape is currently operating in Dhaka & Chattogram, it is also aiming to reach different parts of Bangladesh within two years. Monoshita says, “most brands stay in the center of the country. But we don’t want to do that. We want to go to Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and other places and make our presence visible there.”
The key strength of Shape is the problem-solving mentality across the brand, which includes communication, customer handling, production, manufacturing, etc. “At every stage, we try to answer one question as a team ‘Does this solve the problem?’ This is the difference between SHAPE & any other brand.” Monoshita says, “for example, even in making a Kurti, we keep in mind whether it is solving a problem that exists in the current products.”
For Monoshita, there are some basic skills, such as writing skills, practice and habit of documentation and emailing that people need to know. Then comes punctuality. In the case of hiring in an office in Bangladesh, the recruiter usually sees if the applicant is sincere and punctual. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Monoshita advises preparing oneself mentally that in the first two to five years, there will be a lot of hassle in life. One can start if they genuinely want to sign up for this after setting their mind properly. Her second advice is to start the business with a co-founder or partner to maintain a work-life balance. Thirdly she thinks that there is no end to learning. Therefore, keeping the mentality of learning is pivotal for becoming an entrepreneur.
