Her Story
About Shailja
Shailja Agrawal has spent over 20 years in the apparel sourcing manufacturing and supply chain industry since starting in 2006. Her work focuses on global sourcing, production, factory development, compliance, trade, and supply chain strategies, including determining optimal manufacturing locations based on cost, tariffs, compliance, and risk across countries such as Mexico, China, Guatemala, and Indonesia. She emphasizes learning the business beyond the job description, embracing difficult assignments to build knowledge and relationships, and values ownership, transparency, and trust-based partnerships in both professional and personal contexts.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shailja
01What do you attribute your success to?
Hunger. I'm always hungry. I always want to learn more, and as we are evolving, we're learning every day, everything, and that's what I attribute my successes to. If we fail to learn and we think we know everything, that is when we are doomed. The first is the curiosity. I've never been afraid to step up into industries or challenges. I knew very little about them, but I learned from them, and ground up. Nothing is adaptive. I just learned to stay flexible. It's often very valuable than having a perfect plan. And finally, I would say relationships. At the end of the day, supply chains are built on trust. The strongest partnership I've built over two decades is having based on integrity, transparency, and delivering on commitments.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn the business beyond the job description. Just don't understand the product. Understand the costing, the margin, the manifestation, the entire ladder. Knowledge gives you the credibility. Don't be afraid of difficult assignments. Go to the factory, ask questions, understand why something failed. Learn how things are actually made. I call myself a crisis operator because that's where you learn, that's where you want problems, that's where you actually build relationships.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Ownership. Transparency, especially in supply chain. Relationships built on trust. The ability to negotiate, build trust across cultures.
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