Standing in the middle of a garment factory where 50 percent were women workers, but not even a single woman executive acted as a trigger for Shwapna Bhowmick to work in the industry and to bring about change. Today, she is Marks and Spencer Bangladesh Country Manager and her rise in an industry totally male-dominated, especially at top positions, has become an inspiration for women in Bangladesh.

Always ready for a challenge and wanting to be a changemaker, Bhowmick, after securing a post-graduate degree in philosophy from the University of Dhaka, joined BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT). Although she was discouraged by her father not to pursue a career in a male-dominated garment and textile industry, she did an internship with a garment factory after her diploma in fashion merchandising.

It was then that she decided that she wanted to work in the garment industry, the number one industry in Bangladesh, accounting for 80 percent of the country’s exports. Bangladesh earns about $35 billion annually from garment exports, mainly to the United States and Europe. The industry is the world’s second-largest after China’s.

Bhowmick, who always wanted to bring “meaningful change” since her childhood, said: “I remember standing in the middle of the factory, where I saw 50 percent of female workers but not a single female executive.

“That was the trigger point for me and I knew that I want to work in this industry and bring change," she said in an interview with The Daily Star.

Having joined the leading multinational retail company as a merchandiser in 2006, she was promoted to the position of country manager in 2013. She is also responsible for M&S's Myanmar operations.

Even though 80 percent of the workers at garment factories are women, very few are given leadership roles. But this is changing now, Bhowmick said. “Now, we have more than 200 women in various leadership positions in the industry.” She, however, said, “stereotypical ecosystem will not transform overnight, it will take a long time to change.”

When the coronavirus pandemic started, the garments industry was the first one to be impacted. "The traditional way was buyers come and visit a factory and select products but during the pandemic, it's completely virtual and a new skill needed to be developed among team members," she said.

Besides ensuring the health safety of workers, Bhowmick initiated the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare providers.

"The resilience of Bangladesh workers is very rare compared to any other country and we all together deliver the trust. And in all our products, we put the tagline 'Made in Bangladesh' with pride," she said in the interview.

M&S now imports around $1 billion worth of products from around 80 factories in Bangladesh while it was only $130 million when Bhowmick became country manager of the company.

Her advice to women is: "Don't give up. You have to run twice as fast as the person beside you. Otherwise, you'll fail and that's reality.”