True impact is not built overnight; it is sewn together by communities daring to envision a better world. In a candid conversation with Pramisha Maharjan, Priya Sigdel, a social entrepreneur, media personality, and former Miss Nepal Earth, pulls back the curtain on her journey. As the driving force behind HattiHatti Nepal, Sigdel has spent over a decade proving that environmental advocacy and women's empowerment are not just corporate buzzwords; they are the blueprint for a sustainable, circular economy. In this exclusive interview, she shares the challenges of pioneering an upcycled brand, the importance of financial literacy for women, and the amusing reason she smiles whenever people mistake her name for her business.
Priya Sigdel is the Co-founder and President of HattiHatti Nepal, a pioneering social enterprise providing non-formal education and tailoring training to underprivileged Nepali women by creating fashion and lifestyle products from upcycled sarees. Driven by this mission, she has represented Nepal as a young changemaker on global platforms across South Korea, the UK, Switzerland, India, Turkey, and Bangladesh. She was also recently named a recipient of the prestigious World of Books Holder London award for her outstanding contributions to sustainable development.
As a dynamic public speaker, Priya travels throughout Nepal to engage with grassroots communities on the mechanics of female leadership and the critical importance of vocational skills. A prominent media figure, she won the title of Miss Nepal Earth 2018 and was a semifinalist at the international Miss Earth pageant in the Philippines. Today, she leverages her platform to host a prominent program on Kantipur Television, one of Nepal's premier broadcasting networks, and shares her insights globally as a featured TEDx Speaker.
