Pick Your Own - with Kavitha of Isifiso

"Sewing Bee for companies. I help your teams break out of their shell and form threads of connection through our sewing & mending workshops".

Why re-word something that is already so baa-rilliantly and succinctly put in the LinkedIn headline of today's guest Kavitha Soundararajan?

A corporate IT background might not be the most obvious pathway to her creative business but our conversation reveals exactly why Kavitha is in the right place, right now.

And how a spot of mindful sewing could be just the tonic for teams, helping people to bond, really learn about each other in a non-confrontational way. All whilst doing something practical and sustainable.

Whilst hundreds of companies have brought their teams to a farm to herd sheep with us at Raising the Baa, we know that the field-based exercises are not for everyone.

So we've raised our own 'baa' and created Pick Your Own. A bespoke collection of sustainable and meaningful activities to bring teams together in the countryside - just perfect for everyone's wellbeing.

Thank ewe for tuning in :-)

Pick Your Own brochure - download here

Click here to book in an Exploratory Call with Caroline

Connect with the speakers via LinkedIn:
Kavitha Soundararajan - Founder, Isifiso
Caroline Palmer - Top Dog and co-founder, Raising the Baa

What are your main team challenges and desires? Maybe we can help?
Book in a 15-minute Exploratory Call now and let's see.

Transcript

0:01

Hi. Welcome to Sheep Dip, the podcast that invites you to swap your boardroom for a barn. I'm Caroline from Raising the Baa, and this season we are chatting with the collaborators from our new offering, which is called Pick Your Own. This is a carefully curated collection of sustainable and meaningful team building activities, which we run alongside herding sheep. So let's get on with the show. So good morning, Kavitha. How are you doing? Hi, I am good Caroline. It's lovely to be here. I'm actually quite glad it's a little cooler today. It's been a really hot weekend and hot week just prior to recording this, hasn't it? Yes. It's been blisteringly hot yesterday. Last night was really humid. I thought there'd be thunderstorms today, but nothing inside. Yeah, thunderstorms and podcasts don't really go very well, do they? No, not really. No. now Kavitha, I really love your name. Does it mean something in, in Hindi. Yes, it does. It means poetry in Hindi and it's a very common Indian name, but I love the name. You are the first one that I've met, so that's good. So I'll always remember you. So Kavitha, tell us a little bit about your background, basically how you came to be doing, what you're doing today. Oh, it's a long meandering road. I'm. I started in it. So I used to work as a tech consultant in the City for a long time, but I have been sewing since I was 12. So sewings always been my anchor, my point of reference, my everything, and it's defines who I am. Like if I'm not feeling great, I'll go sew. That's how I always was. But the long hiatus into the IT industry didn't give me that opportunity or the time to explore sewing. But when I took my first year sabbatical when I had my son, I rediscovered my sewing and I took my machine out and started doing it. The one year rolled into me being a stay at home mum for the rest of the time. And so it's 13 years on and I'm still a stay at home mum. And so after about, when the kids started to go to nursery, I thought I need to do something more useful. But then we were also turning into an activist family. We were also becoming very environmentally aware of the things going around us and happening and the fires and the floods and all that kind of stuff. So we felt like we needed to do something more. So I thought if I'm doing a business, then it has to be a business for good. It has to be a force for good, and it has to mean something and stand for something. And so it just came about. I'm an accidental entrepreneur. Never set out to start a business and never set out to monetise my sewing because sewing for me was very personal a nd something that I did for my mental health, for my happiness. So I was never going to monetise it. But over a period of time it happened. It's been five years on and now I can't see what else I'd be doing Which is lovely. It's, we have that in common, don't we? It's an accidental business. I'm not an accidental entrepreneur because I did leave the corporate world to set up my own business, but that was a completely and utterly different business, but Raising the Baa was completely by accident. It came about, as some listeners will know, through, my partner Chris the Shepherd, coming up with the concept of t eam building with sheep or herding sheep, I should say, for the benefit of team and team talk and all that, and confidence levels. But with youngsters, with teenagers, it was for a charity And he did that voluntarily for many years before and like you never intended it to be a business. It was just something he really enjoyed doing. Helped his son as well. He joined in one of the one of the dummy runs. And yeah, it's and then it was just because businesses started to ask about it, that it became a business. And then I leapt on board once we realised, to be honest, that there was traction there. And I thought, oh, okay. Put my marketing hat back on again, which I'd left with the corporate world a few years before. Anyway, I digress slightly. So you've obviously already hinted that this, your workshops are about sewing. So tell us a little bit about what people do, w hat happens in a workshop, not with.. leave some surprises. But roughly speaking, what do they do when they come to your workshop? So the workshops are aimed at equipping people with two things. One, to teach them how to look after their clothing in one of many different ways, so all of them are hand sewing, so it's accessible for most people. It requires a small kit and they can mend their clothes. They don't need to rely on the local laundromat. Pay someone, want to do some of the basic mending we can do ourselves. So it's about equipping them, upskilling them and bringing back the art of sewing that is slowly dying out in some ways especially hand sewing to bring it back. The second part of it is because, as an environmentalist, for me, it's a way to give an actionable sustainability to people. So a tool to actually take a sustainable action rather than just talk about it or, go to a workshop on it or attend a webinar at work or something, but actually do something yourself. And so that's the second part of it. The third part of it is because sewing by its very nature is very meditative. It gives them the mindfulness. So for me, when people come to the workshop, I want them to have all three, which is understand how to maintain your garments and look after it and learn how to fix it. Find the peace and relaxation that comes with fixing something and the boost of confidence and the mood uplifting that happens, and also learn a life skill so that you can then go and create a ripple effect. And so that, that's the aim behind all my workshops and I structure it in that way that it can give them all three. I am a complete non-sewer, I can about, just about sew a button on and I'll be honest, the thought of me threading a needle gets me all hot and bothered around my hands and I go all clammy oh, I can't do it. Do you have people like that come there sometimes and how do you deal with that? So most of my classes are aimed at beginners. So even though I say anybody can do it, and if you're an intermediate, you'll still learn. My heart really is in the people who feel like you, who are saying, oh, I'm too fiddly. I'm all thumbs. I can't do it. And a lot of my students have said that. Participants have said that, that they struggle with it or they've never done it, and they've tried it and it's all gone pear-shaped, so they won't do it again. I've had people right from 20 something to a 64-year-old man in, in the range of these workshops that I run. And I think there are ways to make it easy and simple, and those are the ways I teach. And I don't talk about perfection anywhere. And I say, if it's wonky, just roll with it, because that's where the joy is. Just keep going and every step is broken down into very simple, actionable, like tiny steps that it doesn't make you think like you're doing something big, but by the end of it you've mended the garment. A lot of people watch YouTube videos or on Instagram or whatever, and they see this polished result and oh, I can't do that. And then they get put off by it. So my workshops are aimed at saying, no, that's not what we are doing. What we are doing is just learning the basics. Moving the needle in and out of the thread slowly and one step at a time. By the end of the two and a half hours, they usually like, I didn't know I could do that. And and that's the transformation I'd like to see. Ah, actually it's quite one of the sort of buzz sayings at the mument, isn't it, is about moving the needle. So it's very appropriate that you were on these workshops now. You were there first, you were moving the needle first, weren't you? Yeah. In one case, literally moving the needle. How long typically would a, workshop take and, for a corporate team, what sort of numbers are you able to handle? So it normally takes about two, two and a half hours. I don't do anything shorter because it's too stressful The whole point of it, is to be relaxed and be mindful. Two, two and a half hours to four hours I generally suggest to people a room full of 15 to 30 people is nice, and then I know it's a big number, 15 to 30. It's quite a range, but it gives teams flexibility. Smaller numbers means everybody feels relaxed, calmer, and we can move at a slower pace then. Can you do less than 15? Yes, I can do less than 15. So I've done small teams, like five or seven people, and I can move through different teams of the same organization. So I generally have a discussion. What is it that you're after? What is your end goal here? Once you understand what they want to achieve, then I can put together something very specific, tailored to their needs. So another great word that you can use, tailored to your needs. You've got them all there. So you are based in London. What kind of radius from London can you operate? I can operate a fair distance as long as I can get there by train or by car within a couple of hours. I can do, usually do the journey. it's just me and my suitcase. If it's within London, I use public transport because it's the most sustainable way to travel easier. And if it's outside, then it'll depend on the location. But I generally two, two and a half hour one-way travel and then come back. Then it's a whole day sort of thing. I know you started your workshops with home-based with, with individuals perhaps locally to you around your kitchen table perhaps. But what was it that made the leap, if you like, into corporate workshops? And I still run workshops around my kitchen table. the reason I jumped into corporate is was I used to work in corporate and I meet and kind of network with corporates, and then I realized that sustainability, especially fashion sustainability, doesn't seem to reach some of the people in there. and I feel like it's easier for me to take it to them. The second part of it is a lot of corporates that I have come across, I used to work in in banking and it's quite stressful. It's quite full on, you don't get a break, and the most common way of relaxation in these setups is going to the pub. that is not very mindful or restful. It actually makes you more unrested, right? So I felt if I take these workshops to the people who actually need them the most, which is i.e. people in stressful jobs and give them a tool for sustainability, then I can tick most of the box, most of the boxes I want to tick. And it's like I can create a bigger impact. And a larger organization means I can work through and I can have that ripple effect is much quicker. That is the one of the reasons why I shifted into the corporate world. And you can see the reasons why they should do, what to you have been the most frequently mentioned takeaways, if you like from people who've participated in one of your corporate workshops? I had a session w ith an international media company recently, and the people said, oh, I didn't realize it was that easy. For me to go from a person who's never sewn before to say that they found it easy, I realized I've done my job. Because you can make it hard, they've really figured it out. And there was a 60-year-old gentleman I met there in the workshop and he said, I have never done this before. And I never thought this was for me, but now I can do my own buttons on my trousers. And he was so excited that he actually sew four buttons in one row just to keep practicing. And that for me was like the highlight, I can't ask for more. That's it. My, my job there was done. This is not a traditional team building activity necessarily, unless you tell me otherwise. But do you think there are ways in which it can help bond a team together doing your workshops? I think so. So I feel like the creative workshops for me not just good for the environment and does things that way, but also it gives them some, a lasting skill delivered.. So they take away something forever. They have something with them that will help them in the future. But on a team building point of view, people sit together and sew together. So for hundreds of years before all these screens and technology came together, people always sat together to, did work together. So you raise a barn together, or you would go harvesting together or break bread together, they would be a lot of opportunities for people to come together to do something together. We have somehow lost that as a community. So by doing something together, two, two and a half hours. Push together to do something, they start chatting sewing is very good for team building because it's a non-confrontational way of team building. looking down and you're just concentrating on the next stage, and the conversation flows naturally and people get to know each other more naturally. So it might not be work related, but you unlock a different part of your brain, which makes it more creative and you it b rings about a different side of you. One of the events I ran, the organization very clearly decided to mix up the teams. So they had five different teams come together and they mix them up so that they don't ever sit together. So they forced them to sit with other members of their team. And then when you sat, they were like, oh, I didn't know you did this. And they was, you could actually see all the conversations flowing. And that was the biggest takeaway for the organization, that they realized that, oh, actually people got to know each other I think that last point you made is so particularly relevant these days. With the majority of people hybrid working, I know there's a quite a big move to go back to the office, but they won't, they don't tend to be going back to the office five days. Now they seem to be two, three days, don't they? I think even when people are in their various offices around the country, let's say, there's still going to be doing so many meetings online. And I think that it is so much harder to build those relationships online just through, Zoom calls or whatever, because you've got those challenges. Some people don't want their cameras on. Some people find it harder to engage because you don't have this body language we can just about just doing this here. We can just about see our hands and our face and that's it. I like the idea of net-walking, which I'm sure you've heard of too, as opposed to sitting around and talking because when you walk side by side as you say, I know confrontational is a big word, but it is. It's just less literally in your face, isn't it? It's just you, the conversation will flow more naturally if you're side by side with somebody, which of course is what you're doing when you're sew, but you're also concentrating on something else, aren't you? Exactly. And I think it's, the focus is not on the conversation or on the person, but it's on the activity you're doing and it relaxes you too. To say, oh, and it gives you a purpose. I'm here for something, so I'm doing this, and while I'm doing this, I'm chatting. It's not about. I've got to get the right point across sort of conversation and the forced team building activities that some organizations do. Everybody knows that they're forced to do it and they're forced to be there, they're not, so they will be like quite stilted in some ways. And I've been on many of them where you are like, oh, I'm supposed to get to know you, how, hello? How are you? Conversations, but not genuinely. I'm quite interested because most of the conversations when you are sewing or when you're net- walking is like some random stuff. Oh, that's a flower my grandma used to grow or whatever. If you're walking or when people are sewing, they'll say,"Oh my mother used to make my dresses when I was little". And then the conversation would flow on from there. And then there would be anecdotal references and people will genuinely get to see a snippet of you through those interactions. And bizarrely, it does seem to happen in the field when we obviously, when people are herding sheep. Yes. You could say they've been, oh my gosh, we've all got to do this together. And yes, they do need to work together. But they do seem to find out about themselves in different ways, I guess because the situation is so different. Yes. By giving them something completely alien to what they are used to, either in their working life or their own, just private lives. Yeah, people seem, but people seem to find out whether or not, they might have actually worked with animals before, if they've ever been on a holiday where they've stayed on a farm or something. So there are other things that do come out. And then of course you have the lunch where you are then sharing or the tea where you are sharing the experience afterwards and all sorts of conversations come out then, which is really nice. Yeah, but I think. I think your sheep herding is like similar to net-walking sort of thing because you're all still walking together, you're in nature and it somehow relaxes you. And as you say, you're doing something completely random. Like you, not everybody will wake up and say, okay, I'm gonna go sheep herding today. So it is, and it has that novelty factor. And when you when you do something together like that, it does bond you. And then when you have those lunches, then you can get to have those other conversations. And that's how I've seen sewing as well. It's a way to, it's a tool to give people to unmask themselves and just relax around other people and just have a chat. everything doesn't have to be about office stuff The end of the day, in conclusion, really I think we are, we are both you know, Raising the Baa is passionate, Isifiso is passionate, and in fact, just before I go any further, your company name Isifiso, I just mentioned it there, didn't I? And I'd love to know what it actually means. Isifiso means fate or destiny loosely. So the word means one of many things depending on the context you use, but the words that are the meaning I wanted to it convey is fate or destiny. So it was fate or destiny for me to be that 12-year-old who wanted to have her own sewing boutique. A clothing boutique to go away few decades further, into IT and to come back to her roots. And it was like, it's almost like destiny that I came back to my sewing. On a different note, I also rescue fabrics as part of the business. So I rescue fabrics, new fabrics from my local community. People who are dress makers, quilters, throw away their little off-cuts and scraps, and I rescue them. So it is a destiny for the fabrics as well, that they started out their journey somewhere in a cotton field somewhere, and they went onto this quilters house, got cut up, and then they were gonna get thrown, but then they got rescued by me, and then I used them for the workshops to teach people environmental sustainability. So it's a combination of destinies coming together and that's why the name is a Isifiso. I love that. Because we live in a first world country, we have got abundance of resources. So sometimes what we own isn't treasured, isn't valued. Oh, I've got three of that. I'll just chuck one. Or I've got 10 of that, I can just throw away one. And we don't see the value of it, but every piece of item you own has a footprint, has a impact on the planet. So if we don't use it to its maximum, we are actually trashing it and it's, undervaluing it a lot. So textile waste, especially, pollutes land, water, and air, and a lot of. consults, especially like mine, burn them as biofuel. And so then it was terrible for the environment for these polyester fibers to go up and smoke. So for me, rescuing them means I can give them a purpose, I can give them a new life and can't see textile always going, textile going to waste. So I just have to do something about it. it's all part of the, the overall sustainable message that that we both have dear to our hearts. And that's exactly why we want Isifiso, to be part of our Pick Your Own offering. Yay. Listen, it's been lovely to speak with you today, Kavitha. I'm really looking forward to doing some, getting teams to do what you do alongside what we do as well. So I'm looking forward to that collaboration. Thanks so much for your time and enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you so much, Caroline. Lovely to have this lovely chat with you.