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Business management

A day in the life of Jardin Living founder Kavita Basi

The Go Beyond competition for female entrepreneurs winner, Kavita Basi, founder of Jardin Living, explains what inspired her to try to make a difference through business.

Describe your business in 100 words or less.

“Jardin Living is a platform under which we currently run two ethical fashion and accessories businesses: Ration.L and Reflexone. Our mission is to reduce our carbon footprint at every single step of the supply chain, and both brands give back to neurological and environmental charities. We also provide consultancy services to other businesses and we try to educate our customers on why they should purchase ethically produced clothing.”

Why did you decide to do this?

“I suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage in 2015, which required four brain operations and months in hospital. After being told originally that I only had a 50% chance of survival, I’m still suffering from some serious effects. But the experience really made me focus on what I believed in. I’ve been in the fashion industry for almost 30 years, and I’ve seen some of the ill effects that the sector has had on the planet. I’ve always had a passion for helping future generations and I wanted to help the fashion industry too, so that’s why I started my business.”

What’s the first thing you do on a working day?

“I try to put a positive post on my social media channels first thing every morning, just to connect with everyone. Then I make a list of what I want to achieve during the day because my condition means I tend to forget things. I’m an early riser but I’m only able to concentrate for a few hours at a time, and I have to sleep for two or three hours during the day too, so I try to make my working hours as productive as possible.”

What does a typical day look like?

“My normal working day consists of hosting calls with my freelance team, delegating jobs as necessary, and moving projects along efficiently. I try to make sure that I achieve something amazing on a daily basis. It doesn’t necessarily have to be work related; it could be just making a great meal for my kids. I want to be able to look back at the end of every day and be happy.”

What is your Monday motivation?

“I’m an author, a podcaster, a charity ambassador, and I’ve got my brands, and all of these things link back to helping others who have neurological conditions. There’s an incredible statistic that one in four people have some kind of neuro condition, including things like dementia, strokes and those who’ve suffered brain haemorrhages like me. My Monday motivation is definitely using my life journey and experiences to try to inspire them in some way.”

Tell us about your Go Beyond competition experience

You were one of the winners of our Go Beyond competition partnership with Meta. Part of the prize included access to a Digital Boost Small Business Boot Camp.

“Sometimes you can develop tunnel vision in business, and the sessions did help me to think differently about how to approach tasks and problems. They also gave me affirmation for things I was already doing well within my business, which was a real boost.”

If you have passion and a belief in something, and approach it with determination, everything else just falls into place

Kavita Basi
Founder, Jardin Living

What’s your biggest lesson in business so far?

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you should do something that you really believe in – something that will let you really make a difference. If you have passion and a belief in something, and approach it with determination, everything else just falls into place.”

Looking to the future, what are you most excited about?

“I’m looking forward to releasing new brands and growing my current business. There are so many different opportunities to combat the climate emergency and the social issues in the fashion industry. Every brand that I bring out will address a different aspect of those.”

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