It’s not the joy of shopping or wearing handmade clothes from a select group of artisans in India that gives Pushpika Freitas pleasure. Rather, it’s the ripple effect that comes from seeing how employment, and the ability to earn wages, can empower these women from her native country. Freitas, an Evanston resident, is the Mumbai-born founder and president of MarketPlace: Handwork of India (marketplaceindia.com), a catalog of clothing and home items that is distributed in the U.S.
Freitas, a social worker, started the co-op in 1980 in Mumbai with three artisans who made hand-sewn patchwork quilts. As the enterprise grew, it evolved into clothing lines and, ultimately, a fair-trade company. She and her sister Lalita Monteiro, who became her business partner, incorporated it in Illinois as a not-for-profit in 1986. Today the catalog has national distribution with a mailing list of 400,000. The 480 female artisans in India who design and sew the clothing are organized into 14 co-ops.
Freitas graduated from the University of Mumbai in 1975 with a degree in social work. She earned a master’s degree in sociology in 1978 at DePaul University, where she met her husband, David Barnum, who was a professor of political science. They married in 1984 but agreed to a long-distance marriage while she oversaw the company, with both of them commuting between Mumbai and Evanston for five years. They have two children: Shanti, 28, and Ashok, 24. Freitas, 58, continues to travel to India twice a year for her business. Following is an edited transcript.
Q: What triggered your resolve to create a co-operative for female artisans in 1980?
A: A memory. My family lived by a slum. One night, a woman who my mom was helping came to the door and begged my parents to hide her small stove. Her husband, who was unemployed and often drunk, was threatening to sell it. That stove was all she owned. She depended on it for feeding her family. From that memory, I resolved to do something to empower women, to give them a voice in making decisions, learning skills and being able to earn a livelihood at home while raising a family.
Q: How do you account for the success of MarketPlace?
A: I started early. I didn’t know what I was doing. I had to ask lots of questions, and I made many mistakes. But I was passionate about empowering women. I learned from artisans how to sew by using hand-me-downs from my five sisters. I’d bring samples of quilts to Evanston when I visited my sisters, Lalita and Indira Johnson, an artist. We started hosting house parties in 1982. Sales grew by word-of-mouth. Today our print catalog, introduced in 1990 with 60,000 copies, has a mailing list of 400,000 readers nationwide. The website attracts 16,000 to 18,000 visitors each month.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: The 480 artisans who produce clothes for the catalog. They empower each other, share and teach skills. My parents too. My dad graduated from university to become the first Indian-born art director for The Times of India newspaper. My mom never went to college but she raised six children, and always made time to be involved in social work in the community.
Q: What from your background influences you?
A: The importance of education. My parents were progressive in their thinking. They made sure their daughters went to school. My dad impressed on us if you want something bad enough, you will make it happen. I wasn’t a good student, academically, but I was good at field work. I realized I needed more education beyond a bachelor’s degree. Most of my social work books were written by Americans, so I wanted to come to the U.S. for a master’s. But lack of money was a barrier. When I got to DePaul, I applied for and got an internship and worked 20 hours a week. I also baby-sat to pay for tuition.
Q: Describe what you do when you make one of your trips to Mumbai.
A: A typical trip involves meeting with co-op team leaders, working out municipal challenges, visiting co-ops, talking with artisans, inspecting fabrics, prints and new designs. Our team leaders hold educational workshops on social action and leadership, health care and child care issues. When I visit the co-ops I always take public transportation — buses and trains — because driving in India is pretty stressful for me. A highlight of my trip is a social day when the artisans come together for a party with singing, dancing, skits, readings, food. We celebrate.
Q: What advice do you have for people who wish to start their own businesses?
A: Start small. Ask lots of questions. Learn from everyone. Allow yourself to make mistakes but learn from them. I didn’t know anything about printing a catalog, using models, knowing what clothing styles would sell, how to get a mailing list. I am happy to help anyone, and share what I learned.
Q: Do you like to shop?
A: No. That’s what’s funny. I don’t like to shop, or sell. I’ll wear the same top for 10 years.
Q: How do you manage the stress of your long flights to India?
A: The flight from Chicago to India, including layovers, is 24 hours. I handle stress several ways: I always book an aisle seat because I am claustrophobic. I bring my laptop and Kindle and try not to sleep. I make sure my bags and suitcases are identified by wrapping them in colorful Indian fabrics. No one ever confuses my bags for theirs. When I get into Mumbai, it is 1 a.m. I take a nap, then always schedule meetings for 9 a.m., onward. I make sure the meetings and people are fun and exciting. That keeps me awake and stimulated. But by 7 p.m., I am dead tired. So I sleep well.
Q: What’s the experience like when you return to India?
A: The intense heat, the humidity. It smacks you in the face. You cannot avoid it. The food makes me feel at home.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: I love to garden. I enjoy walking for exercise: I walk every morning, 4 miles, with my sister Lalita. For the past four years I’ve been in a book club with 10 women. We organize potluck dinners based on a culinary theme in the book. It’s fun.
Q: Is there a book from the club you would recommend?
A: “The Lowland” by Jhumpa Lahiri. I learned a lot about the Naxalite movement (far-left radical Communists). The book portrays a strong yet driven Indian woman and her life as an immigrant in the U.S. Our discussion was lively. We all had different views.
Q: You recommend the value of travel for children. Why?
A: They see the positive impact of understanding how people live and think. They also see opportunities to help others improve their lives.
Q: What’s on your bucket list?
A: Two things. I hope to write a book about the strength and wisdom of women by using the true stories of the artisans I work with. The second challenge is finding someone here and in Mumbai over the next few years to take over MarketPlace and raise it to a new level with fresh ideas and new life. Letting go will be hard for me. But I must do it.
