Meet Rekha Ananthanpillai

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rekha Ananthanpillai a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rekha , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I grew up in an immigrant household, both my parents had moved to the US with very little money and a dream. They taught me the importance of saving and believing in your dreams. Growing up I was reinforced that to be successful in anything you needed to stay true to yourself and work hard. Seeing both my parents excel in their respective fields taught me that hard work, self belief and dedication are the key ingredients for success.
Currently, I am delicately balancing a corporate job in management consulting while building my fashion brand. Without having a strong work ethic, passion and discipline it would be next to impossible to do what I am currently doing.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

While I do work in management consulting full time I always tell people that I am a fashion designer – this is the more exciting and frankly interesting side of me. My brand is called La’ Agra (laagra.com); it’s a line of women’s wear that draws inspiration from South Asian design elements. The vision of the brand is to seamless blend, South Asian fabrics, colors, prints, and notions into modern wear by softening the elements.The mission is to preserve the artisanal textile work through small batch production and reusing fabrics where possible.
I started the brand about two years ago with a line of cocktail dresses and have since expanded to include dressy causal items that are versatile and accessories. Right now I wear multiple hats, marketing, strategy, design (and many more). It has been a great experience learning the different aspects but I am definitely looking forward to the day where I can expand my team
Since launching I have my brand featured in multiple international editorials and I have even had one of my designs in the Macy’s window in Philadelphia. I am excited to launch my third collection, Blossom this October. It will be available for pre-order through Dec 1 2024, so mark your calendars!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Dedication, discipline, and a dream – it’s a combination of all three that keeps me going. Dedication to what I want and staying focused even in the tough times has made me resilient to overcoming several challenges, keeping an open mind, and knowing when I need to make small pivots. Discipline, I know that I will need to continue my delicate balance for a while until the sales and brand really take off and need to stay focused on the long game.

And well you need a dream to start anywhere. Being a fashion designer has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and I thought it just would not happen in this life time. I wasn’t until 4 years ago I found a school In Philly that taught me the adhoc skills I was missing to pull it off. Also, believing and knowing that things will come to you at the right time and when it’s meant to be.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My parents always provided me with the structure and tools to be successful the rest was left to me. I know at one point I wanted to go to design school right out of high school and instead was “convinced” to pursue a traditional business degree. In the end it worked out because without the strong business skills I have today I would not be able to have gotten the jobs or positions I have had let alone been able to balance both my corporate job and dream.
My parents always believed in me and encouraged me to chase my dreams. After several years in a corporate job and realizing I was not professionally satisfied I remember telling my parents I was going back to school (yet again) but this time it would be part time, at first they were surprised but them seeing me graduate early with top grades and my vision, I think they started to get that this was my calling. I still have a long way to go but I know I would not be where I am today without their love and support.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photographers:

Azalea Jeanette – Opuelence & Blossm Collection Photos

Shanyn Fiske – Pleated Blues Collection Photos

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