Kavita Basi: An Empowered Female Entrepreneur
When you hear the word ‘entrepreneur’, what do you think? Perhaps a business-savvy person in a suit, the sort of person you would see on the apprentice. Would you consider a creative to be an entrepreneur? Well, Kavita Basi, founder of Ration.L and Reflexone, is the epitome of a creative entrepreneur. Her story is truly awe-inspiring.
You can follow Kavita’s journey on Instagram
Kavita Basi is CEO of Jardin Living Ltd under which she founded two brands, Ration.L and Reflexone. The focus of these brands is sustainability and promoting a healthy lifestyle. But it didn’t come easy for Kavita, however.
In March 2015, she was rushed to the hospital with a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage. This severe condition resulted in Kavita going through four brain surgeries and facing the reality of possibly having to live with life-changing disabilities if she survived. Luckily, Kavita did survive, and she acknowledges how fortunate she is to have survived with few side effects. Due to being physically able, when so many others aren’t as lucky, Kavita does what she can to help others, and raises awareness by being an ambassador for The Bee Foundation US, The Brain and Spine Foundation Charity UK, and Sameyou.org.
Kavita explained that one of the things that helped her recovery was going outdoors and doing physical exercise. She’d noticed a gap in the market for comfortable activewear that was good for the environment. “It was really important for me to then design something that was good for the environment and also gave back to the neuro charities. Activewear promotes happy, healthy living,” she shared with us.
Ration.L shoes
Her trainer brand, Ration.L combines environmentally friendly PU and the shoes are gender neutral so everyone can enjoy wearing them. If you needed any more examples of just how ethical these trainers are, just know that they have been certified by The Vegan Society!
Reflexone is Ration.l’s activewear sister brand. As well as being the place to buy ethically made activewear, Kavita also offers 100% cotton sweatshirt and joggers which has proven to be very popular this winter. The Reflexone leggings, cycle shorts, and sports bras are all made from recycled ocean plastic sourced through ethical companies. As well as wanting to promote a healthy lifestyle, Kavita wants to be able to protect the planet at the same time.
Reflexone shirts, tops, and shorts can be found on their website
On top of the garments themselves being ethically sourced and made, Kavita also ensures her packaging is sustainable too, with her websites transparently providing all the information you could possibly need about both brands’ ethics. It’s this attention to detail that has helped Kavita enter the Telegraph’s list of Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs! Other accolades include winning the Northwest Family Business – People’s Choice Award and being a finalist for EVAS – Inspirational Woman to name just a couple. It’s safe to say that Kavita Basi really has taken the fashion business world by storm.
Kavita Basi podcast
You’d think Kavita would be busy enough with all of that going on, as well as living with the effects of her brain hemorrhage, but she still had time to write a book as well! She said, “the main reason was, I wanted to help more people and I couldn’t reach enough people with just my YouTube and Instagram.” Kavita wrote her first book Room 23 in November 2018 and it was published under She Writes Press Publishing. In truth, ten percent of the profits she made from the book went to The Brain and Spine Foundation Charity, UK. Her website description of this book explains that “this is my story of learning the most valuable lesson of all, that life is precious and should never be wasted.” Following the success of her first book, Kavita then self-published her second book, 23 Ways to a Happier Life in May 2022. “These short stories of true-life situations are a testament to show others that even after such adversity, there is still Hope.” This time, she donated ten percent of her book profits to The Bee Foundation, US.
You can find Kavita’s book on different websites, including Barnes & Noble’s
In the face of an extraordinary and life-threatening challenge, Kavita fought her way through and rose above with two fashion brands, two books, and a passion for helping others in similar situations. We can all learn from Kavita, sure, we might not have gone through the same thing, but we can still take lessons. Let’s help each other, work hard, and be kind to ourselves.
To me, entrepreneurship means being able to overcome obstacles and be the best you can be. Yes, it helps to be business-savvy, but ultimately, it’s about having that drive and passion to do something you love and make something out of it. Sometimes you have to take risks and push yourself to the limit. Empowered women within the fashion industry can cause a lot of change for the better. As Kavita suggested, “If you’re doing any business if you don’t have an end vision then what are you doing it for? My goal in mind is I want to be a pioneer in the industry that is really promoting good fashion.” Let’s all aim high and help the planet as we go.
