Startup Stories by Suchi

With the onset of covid-19, there has been a direct implication on the mental well-being of individuals. As much as the mental health awareness is rising, a lot still needs to be done. And Rijuta, a psychologist cum certified art therapist, happens to be one such determined soul who took it as a mission to educate people with psychological facts, thus empowering them to lead a healthy, optimistic & self fulfilling life through expressive art by introducing “Psyched” In this episode, Rijuta focuses on the specific areas she addresses through this initiative and the challenges associated while normalising the mental health issues. Further, she explains her extensive workshop planning process along with the difficulties faced on conducting them. Hang in till the end, as there is a gift of self-help tools suggested by Rijuta for you all.

It takes courage to be the experiment and use your case study to talk about the process of self healing. That's exactly what my young & bright speaker did in the Bonus episode. At the age of 21, Ayushi Shah is a certified Integrated Health Practitioner and has done her Bachelor of Kinesiology (Honours) from Brock University, Ontario. She works on the “DESTRESS” protocol to fix the root cause of health problems by replacing deficiencies and removing toxicities. The entire episode revolves around the significant impact of emotional balance on the overall well-being of an individual. Hang on till the end as the extremely passionate, knowledgeable and motivational Ayushi suggest intrinsic ways to overcome emotional stress and gives awareness on the innate power subconscious mind holds.

Serving humanity has been the strong impetus for my finale's speaker Hetal who is an Ayurveda practitioner for over a decade now. After completing her Masters in Healthcare Administration from the States, she returned to India to manage her ancestral hospital and later in 2019 opened “Ayushman Ayurvedic clinic”. In this episode, Dr. Hetal stresses on her duties apart from diagnosing patients and the pre-requisites necessary to set up a hospital/clinic. She further shares a perfect gist of patient-management skills and gives a thoughtful message to overcome psychological stress associated with the covid-19 outbreak. It would be delightful listening till the end to gain valuable insights on Ayurveda & Wellness.

She is a Physiotherapist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Heal Your Life workshop Leader, Certified Numerologist and the overwhelming list goes on! Here's presenting the one with extraordinary skills- Dr Leena, who has embarked upon a journey of becoming a holistic life coach while realising her dream project of starting a holistic centre by the name “Ekayan”. In this episode, Dr. Leena enthusiastically shares a few anecdotes about how a series of events led to the inception of her new venture. Besides that, she gives us an insight on her awareness sessions, the covid-19 impact on her centre and much more. In my favourite “own your wellness” segment, the speaker candidly shares the healthy habits & affirmations that gets her going and reveals her fitness goals for 2021. Listening to Dr. Leena's kind and encouraging words shall definitely uplift you. So tune in to know how the Universe designed a perfect plan for Ekayan to manifest choosing Dr. Leena as it's instrument to share her gifts with the world!

‘Helping people achieve their health and fitness goals' is the ultimate aim of my speaker Dr. Drashti Shah who is a registered Physiotherapist in India, USA & Canada and founder of a modern studio called Physio2Fitness. Being a self motivator, she talks about the driving force that compelled her to return to India to start her own venture and her area of expertise. Along with that, she shares her ‘mantra' to bring harmony between personal, professional & social life. It would be super enriching listening to the “own your wellness” segment (which starts from 24:00) where the speaker gives essential tips to stay motivated to workout and ways to deal with body image issues. So get ready to be empowered by Dr. Drashti's mission of bringing about radical changes in her field.

It gives me immense pleasure to open this season by sharing the thought-provoking journey of a startup which happens to be the FIRST IN INDIA to take nutrition-friendly school health initiative in lines with the WHO's global school health program. Presenting Aditi Joshi & Dhara Jaiswal, the brand ambassadors of Ambrosia which means ‘food of the gods'. In this episode, the extremely talented Clinical & Sports Nutritionists talks at length about various issues such as: catering their health & nutrition services to schools, funding their venture, finding the right team, developing the perfect granola recipe during covid and bringing consistency in taste. Listen till the end as the immensely informative “own your wellness” segment would be an eye-opener for you all when you'll find out about nutrition myths, super foods and much more from this mindful duo.

“Free yourself from the burden of trying to get it right. Instead, seek experiences that force you to stretch and expand your potentials.” In this bonus episode, I talk about two of the most common questions received throughout the season. First- specific criteria behind choosing a speaker; second- how to discover our true potentials. I have made a humble attempt to pass on my learnings gained through limited experiences with a hope that it helps you in some way to move closer towards your aspirations. Until then, may you find beautiful opportunities to act upon your ideas and dreams ✨

The finale episode is about someone who is the designer of her destiny as she gave herself the chance to start a venture in her 40's, thus setting an example that there is no age bar for doing something your heart lean towards. Meet Ms. Thasneem Idaayath who is the founder of Fluffles the Felt Co. which is a unique venture into crafting felt toys, quiet books and educational toys for children. With her daughter and mother on each side, these three generations of women got together to stitch their dreams. She begins by sharing the life-changing moment that inspired her to have her own startup and touches upon several aspects like: work philosophies, product range, challenges faced at the nascent stage and lot more. Just like me, you'll find this startup journey very endearing purely because of Ms. Thasneem's eternal optimistic approach as she believes in looking at the glass half full. Hang on till the end to know what advice she would like to give to her younger self.

After working in an IT industry followed by joining her family business, Shubhra knew that her heart laid somewhere else. So she set off on an entrepreneurial journey as a ‘one woman army' with a dream to encourage other women to join her troop and gave birth to a mother-toddler venture ‘Mumkin'. She talks at length about forming a team of women experts to the overall research & planning involved in developing utility products & services for the to-be-mothers and munchkins. With an intention to make the motherhood journey blissful, Shubhra emphasises on how their products are high on happiness quotient as they are handcrafted with love and care. Join us to know how she survived the startup rollercoaster and her philosophy that when empowered women come together, everything is mumkin!

In the current pandemic, a lot of us have either made our debuts in the kitchen or indulged in cooking experiments, but we do miss eating in our favourite restaurant, isn't it? So in this episode, Shelly & Shaunak, the founders of POCA talks about how their bonding over food and travelling experiences inspired them to manifest their dream of owning a global cuisine restaurant. The passionate duo discusses the factors based on which their menu is designed and emphasises on ‘survival of the fastest' as the key to overcome the current unprecedented situation. Towards the end the couple shares a secret ingredient on striving work-life integration which will feed your mind with positivity.

“Your voice is your gift, use it to speak up for what you believe in. Ignite the fire inside you and let the world watch your sparkle.” This quote fits well for our speaker Eram Khan who has always listened to that little voice in her head. Following an unconventional path, she pursued her PG Diploma in Space & Atmospheric Science from an esteemed institute like ISRO and later unleashing the artistic side of hers to become a home blogger by the name “Girl with Bindiya”. In this episode, you will learn about the home makeover projects & collaborations undertaken by Eram as well as some of the latest home decor trends. Listen till the end as Eram discloses the title she would like to address herself with in the rapid quiz round.

If you're passionate and dedicated enough, you go that extra mile and get the work done. That's Megha for you all! She is the founder of ‘the little shop' which is an affordable luxury brand of embellished clutches and potli bags. In this episode, Megha talks about her most memorable milestone and how motherhood shifted her working approach for the better. She also throws light on her plan of action to deal with the pandemic and shares what inspires her to bring newness in designing her products amidst the fast-changing trends. You cannot miss Megha's quirky-witty responses in the rapid quiz round that makes this podcast all the more fun!

I am uncontainably excited to bring to you the ‘Bonus episode' of Season-1 where I'll be talking everything under the sun about what led to the making of “Startup Stories: by Suchi” and how the entire experience changed the shape of my soul in a subtle way! Talking about the overall podcasting experiment felt like stepping into my spotlight to sing my life's most beautiful song. As you will tune in, you'll find how the entire process turned out to be a home production for me. Stay with me till the end as I read out some of the heart-touching feedbacks and take a quick recap by sharing the motivational quotes from all the five speakers.

The finale episode is about the youngest entrepreneur of this season who kick started his startup journey at the age of 22. Adit Shah is the proud owner of Ruchi Foods which is a dynamic company that manufactures freeze-dried products. What makes this episode intriguing is that Adit didn't chase perfection but honest revelation of sharing his marketing strategies and his core beliefs about earning clients through building relations and the humble art of treating his competition as flattery. What makes this finale worth all the hype is a special something in the end!Join Adit as he reveals his secret of bringing an equilibrium between his personal & professional life.

After pursuing her Bachelor of Architecture, my next speaker Shreya took a courageous leap to let go of the familiar and carved out a unique niche for herself into an event styling venture called Kaigmat. In this episode, she shares the entire arc of her journey and excitedly talks about her eureka moment when it triggered that ‘this is it!' Listen till the end to know if Shreya faced any gender-specific challenges and her ‘mantra' to stay relevant in the business.

Life's most pertinent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?' And to answer that my next conversation is with a Social entrepreneur Kavita Shah, the founder of Neev Shikshan Sanstha. She wonderfully articulates how the post-grad learning and several field work experiences unveiled her true calling to start an NGO. Further, she talks about the challenges her NGO faces in bringing a shift in the teaching methodology and replacing it with innovative pedagogy. Listen till the end to know how Kavita's NGO is doing an amazing work of giving the ‘gift of hope' to the vulnerable children by providing an access to education because it is their right too.

This episode is about a female entrepreneur who chose to start her own venture after becoming a mother. Tune in to know Niharika's take on: motherhood, work-life balance, turning her passion into a profession and not letting her marital status or motherhood become a stumbling block for her.

In this episode, Yashal talks everything right from chasing his childhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur to an interesting concept called “Business Shower”.