U n’ I with Rashmi Shetty- Arundhati Kumar

Arundhati is the founder and the creative force behind her sustainable accessories brand called Beej. Born in a family with mixed parentage, her childhood was deeply influenced by music, art, dance, and books.

Arundhati finished her schooling at Mayo Girls and has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from LSR, Mumbai. An HR professional by career and education, post her management degree,

During her corporate career, She’s worked with various Indian and Global organizations including Indian Hotels, ICICI, Deutsche Bank and Conde Nast.

Arundhati spent 18 years working across industries as a senior HR professional and a leadership and performance coach before starting Beej.

A self-taught designer, Arundhati’s first brush with accessories happened at her father’s leather goods factory where she would spend her time after school and most summers. Her journey with sustainability began a few years ago when she started to read more about climate warming and its impact. What started as small personal lifestyle changes soon became a way of life. Extremely passionate about sustainability and global causes such as climate warming, environment conservation, and reducing plastic pollution and wildlife, she decided to combine her love for the planet with her love for accessories. That became the foundation of Beej.

Her core design approach stems from her belief that style and sustainability can and must co-exist and that’s what led her to work with various plant-based and upcycled leather alternatives in her designs. As a self-taught designer who’s still discovering her own style, her designs are driven by what she looks for in a bag. She says it’s fairly simple, ‘if I wouldn’t be happy carrying the bag, I won’t sell it.’

Arundhati has won several awards during her corporate career and was recently a part of a UNDP and Government of India program where 35 women entrepreneurs were selected to be mentored to help scale and grow their businesses.

As a single mother and someone who did a mid-career pivot at 40, Arundhati believes that her greatest strength, and perhaps her biggest weakness too, is that she’s a dreamer. She sees the world as it can be and not how it is and that’s her energy source.

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