{"id":1178,"date":"2024-03-01T10:39:53","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T15:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:48:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T17:48:39","slug":"social-entrepreneurship-how-medhas-mission-shines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/2024\/03\/01\/social-entrepreneurship-how-medhas-mission-shines\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Entrepreneurship: How Medha’s Mission Shines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meet <\/span>Medha<\/span>. You\u2019ve likely never met anyone with the charisma she possesses. When you meet her, you <\/span>have<\/span> an instant friend. Smile on your face guaranteed. <\/span>And just<\/span> when you think <\/span>you c<\/span>ould not<\/span> love her more, she tells you about her mission-driven business, <\/span>Abhivyaktii<\/span> Gift Shop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Medha<\/span> was born in India and moved to the United States 16 years ago. She resides in Concord with her husband and daughter, with her amazing gift shop <\/span>attached to her home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come to my gift shop, you feel like you\u2019ve come into a palace,\u201d said <\/span>Medha<\/span>. \u201cYou hear Indian <\/span>music<\/span> and you see poetry. I\u2019ll show you the real India.<\/span> <\/span>There\u2019s no rush here.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked what kind of items she sells at <\/span>Abhivyaktii<\/span>, <\/span>Medha\u2019s<\/span> eyes lit up. She <\/span>left the room<\/span> for just a moment and then returned with a joy on her face that could only be equated to the look on a child\u2019s face when it\u2019s their turn for show and tell, and they\u2019ve brought their most prized possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

She held up beautiful wooden toys, a painted kettle and a handmade owl made of brass. <\/span>The level of craftsmanship is breathtaking.<\/span> You <\/span>have to<\/span> see it to believe it.<\/span> <\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cMy specialty is functional art,\u201d <\/span>Medha<\/span> said. \u201cOn the tag of each item is a person\u2019s photo and their story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire mission of <\/span>Abhivyaktii<\/span> is inspired by <\/span>Medha<\/span> seeing talented artists in India having to beg for food because companies buy their art for almost nothing and then sell the incredibly intricate pieces for a huge profit.<\/span> It breaks her heart.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cMy mission is that one day Indian artisans will live a life of dignity and respect and that they will be fairly paid,\u201d <\/span>Medha<\/span> said with a fire in her eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abhivyaktii<\/span> is a <\/span>fair trade<\/span> store<\/span>. <\/span>Medha<\/span> believes by sharing the artisans behind their craft, and by purchasing their pieces at a fair price, she is shining a light and providing opportunities for her customers to impact many lives in India<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>Medha<\/span> has been in business for 9 years now, she will be the first to tell you that there is so much about being a business owner that she still <\/span>must<\/span> learn.<\/span> With her mission to uplift so many Indian artisans, it\u2019s time to keep growing.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the Rowan-Cabarrus Small Business Center comes into the story. <\/span>Medha<\/span> learned about Retail Lab from another gift shop owner. Shortly afterwards, she found herself lost in town and she came across a Retail Lab flyer on a board outside a building.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cBy losing my way, I found the Retail Lab!\u201d she said. \u201cI applied and I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d hear back, but I got in!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Retail Lab bootcamp is a program coordinated by Flywheel Foundation and the Rowan-<\/span>Cabarrus Small Business Center (SBC) <\/span>and sponsored by Wells Fargo.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The operations of the program are coordinated by the Flywheel Foundation\u2019s program manager, Grant Colgan<\/span> and the curriculum and instructors are coordinated by Meg Smit, director of the SBC.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>When sharing about her experience working with Grant throughout the program, <\/span>Medha<\/span> said, \u201cGrant will always have a special place in my heart. I didn\u2019t think I could get a grant at the end of the Retail Lab, but Grant put forth so much effort to help me make a great pitch. I won one because of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Each week for 6 weeks, <\/span>Medha<\/span> attended a class for the bootcamp. Her favorites were taught by Chrissy Santos and Justin Moore. From Chrissy, she learned all about selling on Facebook and Instagram as well as opportunities she didn\u2019t know existed for selling at festivals and other shops. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cI tried setting up Facebook and Instagram shop on my own after the class and got stuck,\u201d said <\/span>Medha<\/span>. \u201cChrissy stepped in and gave me two and a half hours of her time to help me step by step. She\u2019s not only a <\/span>good businesswomen<\/span>, she has humanity in her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Justin taught on branding and helped <\/span>Medha<\/span> understand the importance of sharing her brand\u2019s incredible story. <\/span><\/p>\n

Medha<\/span> deeply recognizes the power of community in every aspect of<\/span> her<\/span> life. She spoke of her neighborhood and how all the families help each other and stay in constant connection. When she stepped foot into the Cabarrus Center to participate in the Retail Lab bootcamp, she gained a new community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had people help me like this<\/span>,\u201d she said.<\/span> <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Here I found people like Grant and Meg<\/span> who don\u2019t mind going out of their way to help me succeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about <\/span>Medha<\/span> and <\/span>Abhivyaktii<\/span> Gift Shop, you can connect on Facebook and Instagram <\/span>@abhivyaktigiftshop<\/span> or visit her website and shop online at <\/span>www.abhivyaktii.com<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Medha. You\u2019ve likely never met anyone with the charisma she possesses. When you meet her, you have an instant friend. Smile on your face guaranteed. And just when you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":1182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sbc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rccc.edu\/sbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}