How Welspun’s Dipali Goenka is weaving a new legacy for women entrepreneurs

There are founding stories that start in a garage or dormitory room. Dipali Goenka’s story is different. The entrepreneurship journey began not with a business plan, but with a family decision that changed life at the age of 18. Today, the driving force behind Welspun’s home textile section.

Goenka’s journey is a proof of the power of breaking flexibility, vision and traditional norms. Mint’s popular series Rollin ‘and Boss’s 2nd Season 2 premiere for Livemint Deputy Editor Abhishek Singh in a special free speech, opened important moments that shape his life and career.

An unusual start

Goenka spent his first years in Jaipur. A brilliant student with longing was a “obedient child ılan who married 18 years old because of his family conditions, a decision that took him to moving Mumbai. “You know, it was hard for me at that time. Let’s be honest,” he confessed, reflecting his marriage in an age in which most of his peers still focus on his work. However, he sees this early transition as a pot that beats his character. “I believe that the flexibility that I can see and perceive about myself now … I believe that the tone is located today,” he added.

When asked if he could do things differently, Goenka’s answer was an empathic no. This early experience gives credit to a new city by browsing, building a house from scratch, and eventually starting its own initiative. He believes that this flexibility is the basis of his success. This power inherited from his mother, a educated and working woman who instills the importance of discipline and ignores every moment. “I would do something even a housewife. I don’t really waste my time – that’s what I learned from my mother,”

The other person, an important part of his journey, is BK Goenka, whose husband finds his way out when they get married in Mumbai. “The other person with a descriptive effect on me – taught me flexibility and will never give up,” he said.

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Home from woman to entrepreneurial

In 2003, Goenka made another important leap from one housewife to a manager in the male -dominated textile world. This change was fed with a decisive understanding during a trip to Belgium with her husband in 1991. As India opened the economy, the Double Vapi went to buy a machine for the new Terry towel unit. A meeting with a Belgian manufacturer turned into a humble and annoying experience. “Indians say. Do you know something about how to make towels? You will cut the label and put it on your label,” he remembered.

This moment was a powerful catalyst. They came out of this meeting with a mind they would make a Welspun towel in more than 60 countries. This singular vision, which arose from the desire to prove that a suspect was wrong, has become the basis of its brands ‘fields’. It was a task he shared with his husband, which he called as an important part of his journey.

Creating your own way

Goenka’s journey to the institutional world was intertwined to be professional. When asked whether being the president’s wife created a different dynamic, he was sincere: “Believe me, I never report to me, I have never been reporting to BK or I do not work with BK.” Her husband’s cousin reports to Rajesh. “Rajesh helped me find my way, find my presence and find this trust,” he said.

He worked with a disciplinary level he would bring to another job to determine his reliability. Initially, Goenka started at the ground level, with “small administration things ,, he founded his design studio and learned the work from scratch. Um I didn’t know I would manage it for our textiles, ”he said. The journey was an practical process that included daily trips to the factory, meeting with vendors and walking in the workshop to really understand the product.

Navigating in multiple transitions requires more than business intelligence. He also needed deep inner strength. For Goenka, this comes from a unique spiritual brand. “I can look at this very differently. It’s about reaching yourself and hearing your own voice, or he says. Spiritual practice depends on reflecting itself with activities such as morning exercises, cathak rituals and even activities such as walking on the store floor.

A different type of leadership

In a male -dominated industry, Goenka’s leadership style stems from a unique perspective as a woman and consumer. When Welspun began to lead India in 2010, men dominated the textile factories. He realized that his power did not know the technical details of weaving or rotation, but he was in understanding the customer. “You are that consumer. You are the woman who will resonate with it,” he said. He used this insight not only to develop products, but also to provide a fundamental change in the culture of the company.

Under its leadership, Welspun’s labor force has now seen a dramatic increase from 7 percent to 30 percent. It has the goal of reaching 50 percent. Beyond the figures, while educating male personnel to share the workload, he launched programs to strengthen female workers by teaching “multiple duties and hygiene”. One of the most proud moments was that a female employee was chosen by a large retailer to represent Welspun on a trip to Arkansas. This created a fluctuation effect that allows other women to direct them to similar heights.

Preparing an Impact Heritage

The concept of ‘inheritance’ for Goenka is different. The motivation of participation was not only a successful company, but also for their daughters Radhika and Vanshika. “If your mother can do it, everyone can do it and my daughters will definitely do it,” he said.

This philosophy is reflected in the work of both of them entering entrepreneurship. Goenka believes that not only success, but also experiences a person. The dining table conversations of the Goenka family usually sound like shark tank sections, joking. Interviews are not only about business, but to create business and to become an agent of change. The shared goals are to create as a positive effect as possible. An example of this is the ‘twisted’ brand where more than 200 women are employed and their lives and their families are positively affected.

Goenka’s versatile personality goes beyond the board of directors. His passion for dance, especially Kathak, gives him a creative output and a source of respite.

Life Lessons and the next way

As the interview concluded, Goenka said, “Never give up,” he said. He accepts that the difficulties are inevitable and there will be times when one feels like giving up. But at that moment, he says, “You need to make extra efforts to move again.”

In a personal note, Goenka’s guilty pleasure, his love for desserts, especially the best Mithais from your hometown. Jaipur. He balances this with his mother’s disciplined lifestyle and emphasizes the importance of staying in accordance with himself and his family. When we look forward, the personal focus is to learn something new to take a small course at AI. Professional, he is excited to build Welspun Living’s legacy, which he still believes to be a written story. Iz The non -exciting challenge excites me more, ”he said with a smile that his journey was far from ending.