Breaking Out of Sustainability Perfection with Sheila Patel

Brand Feature: Sheila Patel & Life Bags Co.

Sheila Patel is a serial entrepreneur and experienced lawyer based in Chicago. After graduating with a Bachelors from Pepperdine University and JD from DePaul, she worked in the law practice industry and started a commercial real estate firm. 

She always knew she wanted to give back to the community where her parents are from in India, so she went to the Kellogg School of Management for an Executive MBA focused on non profit management, with plans to start a non profit. She soon realized that she could marry her expertise in business with her passion for giving, and launch a new business - Life Bags Co.

Children in her town were carrying plastic bags or sometimes no bags to school, so she started her company's giveback to focus on backpacks in order to give kids the tools they needed for school. Sheila goes back to India every year, and finds new ways to give back to her community and engage with the people.

Hi, Sheila! We’ve loved being a part of your Female Founder Roundtable series this summer. We can’t wait to share your story! Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

I was born and raised Chicagoan who grew up in an Indian Household - if that makes sense. So, I have one foot here in Chicago and one foot in India. This is important as it is a “thread” that carries throughout my life and sort of brings it together. I am an attorney and have been practicing for about 2 decades and I have a real estate firm that I started during the credit crisis. Additionally, I am partnering with another Goddess to start a Giving Goddess Shop launching in September 2020 in downtown Chicago.

You are clearly a womxn of many talents and interests. How did you find your way to starting your own handbag company? 

I actually started backwards. I went to my parents village seeking what I could do and realized that there was a need for backpacks for children to carry heavy books and chalk slates. The mission was to provide backpacks and access. So, this is where I started but we are growing and we did sweaters this year where I collaborated with another brand Matty & Lou. We are almost sold out!

Can you share more about the social mission behind your company and how you built your social enterprise?

My mission is to put myself out of business. I want there to be a time where there is no need for my social enterprise. I want to have a substantive impact on children living in impoverished areas of the world. I specifically started in India because it is what I know. I did bags because it is what I know.

“Sustainability is not a goal I’m trying to achieve but it’s the way I live my LIFE…”

What does ethical fashion mean to you? How do you use your brand and platform to talk about these values? 

Ethical fashion is so broad and I am so glad for it. I’m trying to listen to all the parts of sustainability/ethics in fashion. I just posted a quote of mine “Sustainability is not a goal I’m trying to achieve but it's the way I live my LIFE…”

Both are very imperative and sort of work together for me. Both have many passionate people who define it specifically. Ethics in the cultural appropriation arena has really come to the forefront as of late. I am Indian, creating impact in India. Many of the current social enterprises are founded by non-Indians and I can see the narrative is not as authentic as it could be - should be. An Indian voice is closer to the story. I am not even the closet voice around. My mom is closer and my cousin, who is a teacher, is even closer to the children I impact. I can speak two Indian languages fluently and it allows me to tell the story more effectively. That being said, anyone trying to do good is on the right track.

You mentioned the idea for your company started with your personal connection to India. Can you share more about your experiences and how that influenced you? 

My connection to India goes beyond it being personal. It is in my heritage, in my blood, in my history. I am not the expert as to how culture is passed down from generation to generation. However, I know it exists. Growing up in an Indian household in the confines of the United States creates a very unique experience. Only first generation Indians will have this narrative. I can see it is already being diluted in my nieces and nephews. And this history allows me to have this very specific skill to balance between the US and India.

It is clearly exemplified in my bags which are vegan - one) because animals are not consumed due to religion and two) due to my American desire not to kill animals after reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. This is unique to me. BOTH reasons valid. One does not outshine or invalidate the other but they both exist in harmony. Just as I exist in harmony being both Indian and America. 

My bags have gold hardware, gold is much more of a commodity in India. Women are endowed gold at their wedding. I have an elephant as my company mascot. Elephants roam India and are indigenous to the region. These aspects are all in my bags because I am Indian. But my style is very simple and streamlined and that comes through as well in my simple lines. Hence, I am both and I created something specific to me. It is important to have me at the table. 

What do you wish more people were more aware of when it comes to the issues at the intersection of fashion x ethics x sustainability as it relates to India? What would you want to talk more about? 

India is a very old culture. I wish people would be more careful when “borrowing” cultural ideas. If you are capitalizing on another's culture tread lightly and I believe it is the time to move over. If you are not Indian - ask yourself why are you working in India? 

I am working in India because I am one degree separated from being one of these girls. I look like them. I speak like them. They relate to me. I relate to them. My impact is more effective. If your why is, “I want to help... ” it may be not enough if there are people out there that can do more.

“I wish people would be more careful when “borrowing” cultural ideas. If you are capitalizing on another’s culture, tread lightly, and I believe it is the time to move over. If you are not Indian - ask yourself why are you working in India? ”

Can you tell us more about your bags themselves? What do you love most about the design?

I love all my designs because each one was born from a need or desire I had. I have so many aspects to my life. One day I am in court in a suit or at a concert in ripped jeans. I wanted to be able to use one bag in many forums. Each one of my bags is stylish, useful and can be utilized in multiple ways. We have multiple straps, pockets and sliders. 

In addition to running your own social enterprise, you are also passionate about supporting other female and femme founders. What other projects or initiatives are you working on?

I started the Female Founders because when I needed a space to go to where I can just ask day to day questions. Where do I find a screen printer? Do I use shopify or woo-commerce? I had nowhere to go to get these simple answers. It is lovely to listen to a podcast or go to a summit where Vera Wang is speaking as Keynote with inspiring ideas to go after your dreams, but I cannot call Vera when I need a screenprinter. I wanted a group that a call to action could be made and implemented. And it worked. COVID took place and we needed each other even more and from there the roundtable grew.

What are some of your favorite womxn-led or female-owned small businesses or collaborations you’ve worked with in Chicago? 

Matty & Lou, Stix & Roses, Patty Morrow Wellness, Work + Shop.

“There is this frenzy to be ALL ZERO, No waste, No dairy. Allow people to come around slowly without judgement ... Do more. Judge less.”

What are your thoughts on how we as individuals can shift the fashion industry that values people and the planet? 

Become aware. Ask questions. Be okay with doing a little each day. There is this frenzy to be ALL ZERO, No waste, No dairy. Allow people to come around slowly without judgement. Most vegetarians I know grew up in a meat eating house. My mom has never eaten meat but she does not judge others who choose to make that change. Do more. Judge less.

What is something that you are wanting to learn about right now?

I am trying to learn more about sustainable production - including to be economically sustainable. Sustainability should be accessible to all not just the privileged. I am researching and working with an expert in the field to implement. 

What is next for your brand? How can we support you and your work? 

This last week I opened The Giving Goddess Shop in Lakeview (3243 N Broadway, Chicago) with Human Future, my amazing Goddess of a friend.

We had it up in seven days from soup to launch, nonetheless, in the midst of a global pandemic-as everyone around us told us we were crazy. I guess I CRAZY but in a good way.

The hours are brutal and trying to connect with masks, social distancing and space is difficult. But we wanted to give our close group of friends an opportunity to still build their business as well as ours. So we vested in this space of shared resources as we believe it is what the future holds in retail. 

You can follow the work of Sheila at @lifebagsco. If you’re in Chicago, give her new pop up The Giving Goddess Shop a visit, to meet her and the other amazing female founders in her network.