How often do you Re-define & Re-brand yourself?

Re-Inventing….

Re-Defining…..

Re-Branding…..

The moments, people and experiences define and re-define ourselves

Here’s New Avatar of SLN Brand Studio – Almost a year’s project that came ‘Live’ this week!

Did you look at the Video unveiling New Avatar of SLN Brand Studio? If not, watch it first, please.

This few seconds Video has an authentic story of around 15 years.

Yes, I wanted to create a new Identity for SLN Brand Studio at the beginning of 2019 as I re-defined the services completely. As many projects were ‘in progress,’ wanted to finish off before closing ‘Business Writing’ vertical; moved on after a smooth transition.

I must thank Archana from my web designing firm, Webbazaar for continuous support. Many timely & practical suggestions by Archana are the key reasons I am a loyal client to Webbazaar. The second critical aspect is the continued support I receive from the design & development team, currently Stella and Yamini. Kudos to your leadership Shweta Shetty.

The awards and research paper presentations happening along the way, I kept the conversation going with many designers.

There is nothing sweeter than finding the right person to cherish and to share your hopes and dreams with ― Mary Lydon Simonsen, The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy

At a crucial moment, thanks to Kavitha Garla, my friend & an excellent Mentor, a casual conversation led to connecting with an amazing designer. Yes, a very young, highly creative designer with appropriate Business Acumen, Raphaella Peters understood my vision, the values SLN Brand Studio has been adding to the clients and came up with the beautiful Logo. Thank you, Raphaella.

Highly recommend Raphaella for any branding collateral creation.

My gratitude to Viji Badri, Roopa Sampathkumar, Madhava Venkatesh, Sourish Ghosh, my Nephew, Niece and many friends & clients for sharing their thoughts on Iterations which helped me to fine-tune the new logo.

(Sub) Conscious Thoughts —-> Words —–> Experiences

It is not only the conscious thoughts but also the subconscious mind has higher power. This is a concluding thought of my reflection of life in 2009 – 2019.

Recognition Changes the Way You look at Yourself

‘Harini Ramarathnam Nominated you for HerRising Award.’ It was a mail from Jobsforher on Jul 8th 2019 took a different turn in my Entrepreneurship journey. Neha Bagaria is one leader I look up to; Jobsforher is an entity I closely observed as they elevate the lives of career women. A journey to recognise a ‘different me’ and validation to many things that I had been doing started on that day. Harini transformed the way I looked at my success & growth. My gratitude Harini! A single share on social media led to flooding of mails, messages from across the globe, from my clients, well wishers and all the good hearts around kept my eyes moisturized the entire duration. My LeanIn community has a huge contribution here in the journey, voting process and finally, winning an Award. My Gratitude Harini, Neha Agarwal, Pranavi, Vaishali, Rashmeet, Ruchi, Swapna, Shruti, and many from my LinkedIn connects, FB connects, the community I live in…..the list is endless…..A group of women leaders cheering up loudly while I received the award and my family along with me. Great Moment Indeed!

Within few months, on 13th October, I received a message from my friend Manju, “Suba, you should nominate for this award.” The forwarded link took me to the registration form from Shethepeople.tv for Digital Women Award. Answering the questions in that form was something I took up very seriously, introspection the journey time again. Waking up to Shethepeople.tv tagging SLN Brand Studio on their FB post was yet another exciting day of 2019. Yes, I was one of the 50 shortlisted candidates! I just quickly had a word with my husband and booked my tickets to Delhi to be a part of the Conference; I didn’t think much about winning the award but didn’t want to miss an opportunity of meeting many women Entrepreneurs. When I heard my name announced as a Award Winner in ‘Marketing’ category, overwhelmed with joy and pride. Missed having my family along, but super happy to have a very good human being and a friend, Sambhavi with me.

Let me now take you through the journey a little back, to the start……

Phase I – While choosing the avatar, as a Resume & Content Writer in 2009, I had three critical elements in mind.  I should be able to (1) keep learning & growing (2) bring in relevance to my TCS experience (3) be in touch with the Industry.

That’s it. I had no other goal of becoming an Entrepreneur or having an entity then. But, , I had a name ‘SLN Global Writing Services’ while building my profile in any online platforms. Still wondering why I did this, beyond merely using my name?? Is it my sub-conscious mind or the good thought from people in my life? Guess, it is both…..

Here, I must thank Sudharsan; he replied with a list of questions as a response to my first mailer. Answering him at that point of time helped in defining the career plan accurately. His Trust & feedback was a tremendous boost then!

Phase II – Later, in 2010-11, when I started focusing on creating awareness and building clientele in India around ‘Resume Building’ vertical, I changed the name to ‘SLN Resume Design Pro.’ As I recall, I just spent 30 minutes of choosing this name, followed by two hours of creating a logo. India, as my target market led to doing a research on using Orange & Green in Logo. The descriptions such as ‘Powerful’ ‘Growth’ ‘Identity’ aligned very well with the Vision & Mission I had then, created a Logo using PPT.

Man, it was one Eureka moment when I finished designing the Logo, just with S in Orange & Green but didn’t share it anywhere.

Phase III – Along with adding value to the career growth of many individuals, the business and health-related challenges also grew. As I had taken up ‘Career Coach & Trainer’ role in 2013, a feeling of ‘missing something’ was growing strong as well and met its peak in 2015.

Phase IV – ‘Introspection’ was the only solace as I had restriction attending networking events or long hour meetings due to health reasons until 2014. Such moments are filled with doing many online courses, writing articles and studying books on ‘Business, People & Management.’ Such process led to identifying the ‘Personal Branding Strategist’ in me. A quick interaction with Chithra Kannan over a cup of steaming coffee at her house led to the birth of ‘SLN Brand Studio’ in 2016.

Meeting Archana, having my website up followed by registering as LLP, and rest is a Known Story.

Finally, New Logo is up…….

The moments, people and experiences define and re-define one…..Agree?

More Phases, People & their contributions as my experiences……..coming SOON……STAY TUNED……

Maximum Human Potential – a Myth?

“The Curry leaves is known as the best friend of Lemon, Suba. The best companions support each other to grow.” I was surprised when my friend Surya shared a lot of information on how individual plants help each other to grow when they are grown together. She had kept the pots in a way enabling connection between these two plants. Surya is a very creative person, founder & artisan at The Sunny Doorway Project. 

Immediately after coming home, I settled to do more research here. Reading articles and blogs further surprised me to see that some plants do not go well if placed together. What does it mean here? Placing two different plants – bad companions – will spoil the growth. Individually these plants benefit the earth in different ways. But, together, for various reasons, adversely influence the growth of each other.

I have a small garden where I spend my ‘me time’; my mom used to nurture the plants by talking to them as if they were her friends.

Isn’t it amazing to observe the dependency all these beings have on each other? Not only what to do but also what not to do!

I always observe people & behaviour, especially whenever I am in a crowded situation. I also used to have a ‘guessing game’ to see if one behaves as I perceive. I have seen people perceived as loners enjoying listening to the conversations in-depth and the ‘so-called’ jolly-good extroverts reacting ‘sensitive’ nature towards small things!

Negative Network….Lets find a synonym!

Also, got me thinking. I am somehow not able to comprehend when I hear anyone saying to avoid Negative relationships.

How can we label someone as ‘negative’?

The personality traits, belief system and biases can make or break any relationship, right?

Reference: Quotes

The lock-down period led me to observe the behaviour on social media.

The first thing I noticed in the initial few days is the increased workload on those professionals working from home. I also wrote about how management should take care of the emotional needs of the employees. The employees were asking HR to take care of this situation, but I felt it is more to do with the decision-makers than mere HR professionals.

The real testing time for the leaders and the decision-makers. Not sure whether the situation has a direct connection, two different leaders from different entities had a cardiac arrest and died.

That made me feel sad and sympathies the families; all these leaders are also human beings.

So, there is a limit to ‘Maximum Capacity’ too…. Isn’t it?

Got me introspecting more on “Maximum Potential of Human Being” and the dependency we need to create towards technology. Let’s see how best we can embrace technology to utilise ‘human potential’ without getting ‘cardiac arrest.’

It is high time to understand why ‘Empathy’ and ‘Emotional Intelligence’ are the critical attributes that we must acquire and become an expert.

Let it start from ‘not beating ourselves too hard’ and developing ‘self-awareness.’

Be it half or full plate…..Let’s learn to chew right!

So, Utilizing Maximum Human Potential, is it a boon or bane? What do you think?

About the Author:

Suba Lakshminarasimhan is a personal branding strategist and a career coach. The founder of SLN Brand Studio,  Suba has been supporting the professional growth of individuals by creating a growth path and executing strategy road map. Along with SMEs, she shares her experiences and learning through blogs in ‘Words of Wisdom’ website.

Jaya Shukla, Tushions, the Leading E-Commerce Cloth Diaper Entity in India: IIT-IIM Alumni Turned Mompreneur with a Mission to Reduce ‘Diaper Landfills’

“You know what Suba…..We always say that India’s biggest strength is the workforce. However, if you dig deeper, you will realize that the skilled workforce pool is much smaller. It is not just about IT or other white-collar jobs but also in all other areas. When it comes to Tushions, ‘stitching’ for instance, even though we have tailors available at every nook and corner, there are a very few who can actually do a professional and consistent job.”

The very first words from Jaya Shukla, the founder of Tushions, made me straighten up as I was sipping coffee at her Home-office. I continued listening before shooting my questions.

Jaya Describing the Product, the latest release from Tushions to Suba

Tushions is the fast-growing Cloth Diapering Retailer in India, founded in 2015. Started with retailing cloth diapers from the best brands across the world to create their own brand – Green Diapers. Jaya is an IIT-IIM graduate who founded Tushions after a decade in the corporate world. A mother of 2 beautiful boys aged 3 years and 1 month, she has now joined the bandwagon of a new breed of entrepreneurs – ‘The Mompreneur.’ An inspiring journey follows……

“To manufacture these diapers in India, we need a skilled workforce, whereas most of the tailors available do not have the desired finesse required by a branded product. So, I am currently spending a lot of time, working with the selected tailors to guide them on how to make these diapers, to meet world-class standards. Sometimes, it takes weeks before a worker is ready to make the actual diaper which can be sold.”

“Oh…weeks, Is it? Reminded of Colin Powel’s words, ‘Dream doesn’t become a reality through Magic, it takes sweat, determination and hard work.’……tell me Jaya, about your dream? Where and how did it start?” Jaya gave a warm smile when I asked her.

I could sense that her mind is travelling a few years down the memory lane.

“Immediately after my IIM, I happily joined the corporate world, was growing very well and making significant progress in many ways. I got married, had my first boy, worked until the day I delivered my son. My boy changed my life altogether. Our son was a frequent pooper, and prone to Eczema, I used to replace at least 12 disposable diapers a day. We even had a big dustbin dedicated for this. At the end of the third month, we had spent more than Rs.10,000 on the disposable diapers.

Jaya, Founder of Tushions, the leading Cloth Diaper Entity

Everyone who visited us, especially the elders, recommended that we used nappies instead of disposable ones. I have a habit of not ignoring the suggestions, always try to reason out things. When I decided to understand the reason behind ‘why NO disposable diaper’ the information about the ‘landfill’ quite shocked me. Every time, when I was disposing the diaper on the dustbin, my guilt was going high up.

At the same time, changing a nappy every 15 minutes was turning about to be quite difficult; when a friend told me about ‘modern cloth diapers.  I could not believe that such a product actually existed. I finally ordered one from the US, waited a month for it to reach here, tried it and Viola! 

A moment of truth!” chuckled Jaya and I reciprocated too.

“We started with retailing the best cloth diaper brands from across the world and then graduated to creating our in brand – Green Diapers. We design our diapers keeping the Indian climate and preferences in mind. Some of our diapers prints are so popular, that customers buy baby clothes to match them and plan photo shoots around it.”

“Great, but you were working, right? How did you manage work as well Tushions? Not only Women, but many men also undergo the dilemma of how to work between a day job and the dream.”

I was very curious while asking this question.

“It was one highly challenging time for me Suba. The idea about Tushions happened when I was on maternity leave. Unlike many women struggling to Join work post maternity, I had a perfect support system at workplace and home. When we were discussing leaving the full-time cushy job and starting something on my own, that too, with some vague picture on how to go about it, all my well-wishers including my parents were concerned.

It was my Husband and Mother-in-Law who completely supported me to start it. Looking at my son and the guilt trip while changing his diaper every few hours pushed me harder to achieve my dream.”

“That’s one inspiring Journey Jaya……Entrepreneurship is not that easy, right? Especially, ‘you’ as a person, any specific challenge you would like to share with my audience?” 

I sharpened the listening mode for new learnings.

“Oh yes, even though I love to be a part of gatherings, have a huge friends circle, being under the ‘limelight’ is one thing I am not very comfortable with. I am challenging my ‘mindset’ and coming out as the ‘face of Tushions.’

I realized that the brand is the embodiment of my values and beliefs. Recognizing and addressing such beliefs is a continuous process for me as well my brand’s growth.” smiled Jaya with determination.

Each one of has some ‘comfort zone’ to come out of in each phase. Isn’t it?

Jaya at the Guinness event- Great Cloth Diaper Change

A cry from her newborn (1-month-old) as if acknowledging her words brought us back to reality. She excused herself.

Jaya returned after 20 minutes as I was munching on the discussion we had so far, used that time to collate information for the write-up.

“Tell me about the challenges you face with the product, customers and the business overall?”

“The primary challenge I face is creating awareness about the importance of using cloth diapers. It is beyond Business & Revenue growth for the brand. We have already polluted our beautiful earth, knowingly and unknowingly. I am happy to see the measures taken by the government and us human beings. But, still, the disposable diapers are the vast part of ‘landfills’ all over the world.

The cloth diapers are our ancient system, we were using ‘langots’ or ‘old saree or a dhoti’ as diapers, right? The disposable diapers signify 30% of non – biodegradable waste. The environment majorly is spoiled in the past 20 years when we started using the disposable ones. Even though life becomes more comfortable, each disposable diaper stays on the earth for 500 years. Yes, longer than plastic bags and products.”

I was quite shocked as well hearing this.

“I understand Jaya, mother in me has another question here. All these cloth diapers require a lot of effort to clean and maintain, right? I remember my son soaking it with a single poop or pee. Do you have a solution here?”

“Yes Suba, there is a huge difference between ‘Nappies’ and ‘Cloth diaper.’ One generation of parents is strongly brainwashed through various enticing advertisements that only ‘disposable diapers’ can make the babies sleep well. The modern cloth diapers have come a long way. The parents of today are so fortunate to have a fantastic alternative.

Tushions come with safe, convenient to use cloth diapers which can be put on babies for almost 12 hours. Moreover, our customers equally feel excited whenever we introduce a new product. We also make sure they look good, focus on bringing contemporary design in our products. I am more an ‘R&D’ ian than a Founder when it comes to our customers.”

The smile was indeed infectious, and I wished Tushions a great success before bidding adieu.

“Open Mind, Reasoning and the Right Questioning can do wonders in lives” – Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder, SLN Brand Studio

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Jaya Shukla is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

Sangeetha Arunachalam, Founder, Kadaiveedhi: A Facebook Group Admin turned an E-Commerce Entrepreneur to Support Mompreneurs

“Individual Commitment to a Group Effort –

That is what makes a Team Work

A Company Work

A Society Work

A Civilization Work”

Vince Lombardi

Ms. Sangeetha Arunachalam and her ‘Kadaiveedhi’ team stand as a perfect example of this words from Vince Lombardi. Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan interacted with Sangeetha, here’s the excerpt from the telephone interview.

Few words from Suba to give a little background. ‘I still remember the day when my co-sister Pavithra, the Art Enthusiasts, added me in ‘Smart Mommies’ group on Facebook. My baby was a year old then. Initially, the group was just a few of us, new moms discussing baby-related issues, started sharing information on what we were doing, career options, businesses and all. Later, the group grew huge; along with, the business posts grew. That was when Sangeetha Arunachalam, the Chartered Accountant by profession, the admin of Smart Mommies group started another group to support Mompreneurs in the name of ‘SM Business Magnates (SMBM).’ Yes, I have personally witnessed the group growing where thousands of buyers and sellers interacting vigorously.’

How did the journey of SMBM lead to ‘Kadaiveethi,’ an E-commerce Portal? Let’s hear from Ms. Sangeetha Arunachalam, the brain and heart behind the venture.

Sunita Sharma, Femme Fitness: Economic Graduate Turned Fitness Diva

“Self-Awareness is the key aspect that pushes me ahead every day. I was desperately looking for a job after completing Graduation in Economics from Mumbai University. When I came across an advertisement asking for Fitness Trainer, I didn’t think much and just applied. I showed my inclination towards learning during the interview, and I got selected,” smilingly says Sunita Sharma, the Founder of Femme Fitness, recalling the journey that she started years back.

However, the journey ahead was not an easy one. Sunita became a student first, took rigorous Aerobics training under Leena Mogre, India’s First Women Fitness Coach. Right from Nutrition, Mind health to Physical health, Sunita continuously focused on learning all the aspects when it comes Fitness.

As life always comes with surprises, Sunita went into the corporate world in 2001 in Mumbai. The challenges grew along with her family; when she became a mother of two kids, the growing responsibilities pushed her to take a break from the corporate sector in 2010.

“Even though I decided to take a break from full-time work to balance life, I never wanted to lead a life ‘just to pass time.’ One good thing that happened in life is my ‘never-ending’ thirst towards fitness. I never stopped working out and have always been advancing my skill in the physical fitness arena. I wanted to join a group Fitness session where I could meet people too, started searching for one.

I asked my husband to help me find a gym or Fitness Studio offering group workouts. To our surprise, none of the institutions offered any then. A thought led to me developing group programs, and that is how I founded ‘Femme Fitness.” The proud smile and positivity seemed infectious.

I asked, “what was the main challenge you faced when you started Femme Fitness? How did you approach the challenge?”

 “Oh, creating awareness on Physical Fitness and making Women come out of their Comfort Zone was highly challenging. Especially, when you are starting small, making people believe in your idea is almost impossible. Only the continuous and tireless effort can push a bit. That’s exactly how I approached the challenge. I stood as a role model keenly focused on continuous learning and sharing my knowledge. I build ‘Trust’ among my first few clients and Quality automatically helped in growing. It looks like a dream having branches in Hyderabad and now in Bangalore” says Sunita as her husband proudly looking at her.

“Great Sunita, I am sure many women out there will be hugely benefitted. Can you share the key challenge you faced in the recent time? How did you approach the same?” I put across a question.

“I am glad that I could create an awareness among women. Now that we are growing, one problem I face is the Manpower. As the demand is growing, I need to have the right set of trainers to create an edge over competitions. There is a dearth of excellent trainers out there. However, to retain those who can very well adapt to the organizational culture of Femme Fitness, I have been offering ‘Train the Trainer’ Programs. The interested, budding and aspiring trainers in the Fitness area must make use of this opportunity. We will soon be expanding in Bangalore.”

What a great thought! I wished Sunita the best for all the initiatives in the pipeline.

“If you keenly observe, each minute in life brings in new opportunities. Those who are alert, smart get immediately out of their comfort zone, make the complete use of the opportunity and build an Empire. What are you waiting for? Grab it and Move ahead.”– Suba Lakshminarasimhan, SLN Brand Studio

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Sunita Sharma is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

 

Pushover Vs Humility: A Key Trait in Leadership Personal Branding

“Personal branding” and “pushover” have one thing in common….do you know what?

I hear you saying, ‘yeah…both words begin with the letter ‘P. Here you go…Hehehehe

Jokes apart, they are like Chalk and cheese.

How? Read ahead……

One of my clients asked me recently, One of my clients, aspiring Mid-level manager, asked me recently, “Suba, being a pushover is a trait of a #learner. Why is it considered a negative term? Isn’t it ok to feel influenced by someone whom we like?”

There is a difference between being a learner and a pushover.

A learner is someone who is always looking to seek knowledge from influential people, whereas a pushover is blindly or rather easily influenced by people who may not be that influential.

The traits of a leader would be completely contrasting to that of a pushover. Leaders are people who are bold and confident about every decision they make while on the other side; we have indecisive individuals.

I am certainly aware of how much we are the products of an influential society. We are repeatedly told by our parents and grandparents that ‘log kya kahenge’ – ‘what will people say?’

Pushover & Leadership Personal Branding

Let’s assess why emerging as a Good Leader is not everyone’s cuppa?

If the opinions of others influence us, we are also psychologically affected by them, which in turn hinders our ability to think independently. Then we are mere puppets of the society, executing orders of others.

How can you identify a ‘Pushover’ Leader?

• Focuses majorly on ‘happiness quotient’ of teams and talks ‘what they want to hear.’
• Concerned about being ‘liked’ by everyone but fails to lead the teams to achieve greatness
• Identify ‘excuses’ for their ‘yes’ and ‘no.’
• ‘I am sorry’, and ‘apologies’ are part of their every minute conversation

How can one come out of ‘Pushover Leadership’?

• Give more job to your ‘ears’ than ‘talking.’
• Get comfortable to say ‘I don’t know.’
• Consciously Practice to ‘seek help.’
• Get comfortable with making mistakes & failing (‘Design Thinking’ helps here to fail fast and stand up faster)
• Invest ‘right’ for your team’s growth

I was having a conversation on this topic with my niece, Madhumita, a psychology student.

She said, “Aunty, I am proud to say that the millennial attitude is challenging Pushover Attitude. We have a better sense when it comes to being influenced and taking a stand what we feel right.”

That kept me thinking, “Can we expect better leaders in the upcoming days?”

Ok, coming back to our core, what is the connection between Pushover & Personal Branding?

Share what you think……

Personal Branding 101: Positive Gossip Mongers at workplace. Are you the one?

“Hey Suba, my husband is indulged in a lot of office gossips. I never knew men do that.” giggled my friend as we were chit-chatting the other day. As we all are working from home, all the wives & husbands are aware of all the ‘small talks’ scenarios.

She was awestruck when I shared how I have a module on ‘Turning workplace gossips into building a Personal Brand and Career Growth opportunities’ in my sessions. This module is a part of my speed coaching sessions that benefit most of my clients to build the network, bring in organizational awareness and create authentic personal branding.

“Have you ever had positive experience due to ‘workplace Gossips’?

Every time I raise this question, I get fantastic responses from professionals, irrespective of gender.

Is Office Gossip Positive or Negative?

Researching on the word ‘Gossip’ took me to 17^th century……

© Suba Lakshminarasimhan, SLN Brand Studio LLP

Neutral View: casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details which are not confirmed as true

Negative View: a person who likes talking about other people’s private lives.”

Source: Lexico, Powered by Oxford

Positive View: a person who uses inside Information for self & other growth

Source: Me, Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Your Personal Branding Strategist

Yes, the learning from the personal experience & best practices adopted from many leaders.

How to use Workplace Gossip to your Advantage?

Learn to thin-slice the Information

Snap-second judgement and thin-slicing are my learning from the book ‘Blink’ by Malcolm Gladwell. Like in personal lives, the gossips in the workplace will help in understanding the strategic level organizational developments.

What is thin-slicing?

“You build an ability to break the Information, identify the pattern and connect it with your experience & intuition. Introspect, you may already be doing it in personal lives, aren’t you? Now, count the number of time you have understood someone correctly or the outcome accurately.”

To do – You need to build your ‘active listening skill’ here consciously.

Find the internal, Cross Functions and Promotional Opportunities within the organization

Many from the senior suite and c-suite aspirants reach out to me for CXO resume writing projects for internal openings. 60% of them get the Information through the casual conversation without anyone nominating them. Involve yourself positively in the workplace small talks which will lead you to connect with ‘who is who’ and you know the importance of such networking.

© Suba Lakshminarasimhan, SLN Brand Studio LLP

Reach out to me if you want to learn this art & science behind Personal Branding.

Elevate your Authentic Personal Brand

Be the gossiper of enabling positive mindset, motivation and growth mindset in others. How can you do that? Let me share about my chat with BFF who has been fueling such positivity during our ‘gossip’ times. We both know to discuss our pain points, redefining moments. Whenever I needed a specific ‘role model’ she will have someone to talk about. ‘See how this person is handling this model; let’s pick the best practices.’

How do your gossiping sessions benefit you?

Are you that ‘Positive Gossip-Monger?’

Share your experience……

Mosquito Memory: Human Potential and Authentic Personal Branding

“Suba, I need to improve my memory skill. I think I forget many things nowadays. I am concerned that it could spoil while executing the personal branding strategies we create here.”

When a client shared it yesterday morning post-Personal Branding consulting session, we started discussing on how work is dominating our time and life. He is a C-Suite aspirant from the IT industry. I shared the speed reading techniques I have been acquiring that helps in keeping the memory skill intact.

The day went on……As I needed some inputs on Audio-books, raised a query in my LeanIn A2I circle group. Neha’s response raised my research antenna up….what did she mention?

Mosquito Memory…..

I started reading a lot on this. Health line article mentioned that researchers recorded the brain activities by setting helmets on mosquitoes.

How on earth could they have done that? The human potential always amazes me!

I have observed mosquitoes biting a group of people more. The researches continue to study the chemical combinations in the human odour that attracts mosquitoes so that they can find the right control measure. Mosquitos can identify the difference in the odour emanated by women, men, drunkard and all. Beer drinkers attract more. Researchers are identifying the pattern here; finding the preferences will help controlling mosquitos.

Interesting, isn’t it?

So, what is the learning, for us, human beings here?

I have been learning Kathak, Indian classical dance form, for the past two years. Learning along with 13 years olds is indeed a fantastic experience. Also, it made me realize how tough it had become to memorize the ‘Bol’ and relevant hand & leg movements. It took me a few months to understand absolute basics like identifying the changes in the tempo, etc., I let it go with the flow thinking that it is all to do with gracefully ageing.

Improving Memory Skill

When I took some effort in learning and practicing more with a goal to get better, I could grasp everything within a few weeks. That is also the time I had read relevant content in the book ‘Get Better at Getting Better’ by Chandramouli Venkatesan, realized that I had to change my learning style to get better every day.

Few things that I have been doing to keep my memory skill intact

Repossession: In an attempt to create stories from my personal experience to share with my audience during the training session, I work hard to bring back memories from different phases of my life. I have reconnected with many from old days which has strengthened my network too.

Detailed Recording: Whenever I get an opportunity, I write things in detail. I encourage my clients by writing detailed reports after each interaction. Some blogs too, at times, it is good to write and publish things for our happiness beyond attracting the audience, Right?

Mindful Reflection: As I complete each task, consulting session, training or workshops for clients, I consciously evaluate and reflect what made me feel happy and where I should improve significantly. As we do more ‘Live’ sessions, ‘undoing’ certain things would be really tough. Learning to take a pause, reflect and ensure that I incorporate the corrective actions well. Here, listening to others feedback and thin slicing the information helps hugely. As I do this exercise with depth, it automatically helps in improving memory skill.

More to come…..

How do you improve your memory skill? Share in comments

About the Author:

Suba Lakshminarasimhan is a personal branding strategist and a career coach. The founder of SLN Brand Studio,  Suba has been supporting the professional growth of individuals by creating a growth path and executing strategy road map. Along with SMEs, she shares her experiences and learning through blogs in ‘Words of Wisdom’ website.

Divyaa D: An Enthusiastic Shlokapreneur, Founder Gurukulam, a Beautiful Journey of Transforming lives

“If you can make small children smile or laugh…..if you can even catch their attention, you definitely have a special skill, right? On top of it, if you encourage them in a right way where they want to come back to see you and attend your sessions, willingly & happily…. then that’s the true impact on little kids” Divyaa uttered these words with a big smile on her eyes.

The excitement, pride and happiness were so visible, and the energy started spreading positively in the room.

Divyaa D, Gurukulam, Shlokapreneur – SLN Brand Studio

Our Founder, Suba Lakshminarasimhan, in conversation with Divyaa, the Shlokapreneur who runs GURUKULAM, the first of its kind Online Shloka School. She founded Gurukulam in 2014, aiming at keeping traditional roots in place and supporting the kids abreast of cultural knowledge thereby tapping an area left untouched.

At present GURUKULAM caters to 50 kids across the globe and is on the verge of expansion in the years to come.

Suba: Working in a software company to founding Gurukulam. Divyaa, it must have been an exciting journey, right? Tell me all about how did this happen, the triggering moment.

Divyaa: “Thank you Suba for this conversation, that too, when I have received a ‘Special Recognition’ award from MSME world for the great things happening at Gurukulam. Yes, I would be more than happy to talk about how the journey started.”

Divyaa went into a deep thought and I allowed the time to pause….

After a few seconds, she regained her smile and said,  “I am a spiritually inclined soul Suba, always surrender to reciting shlokas, at ups and downs of life experiences, which kept me grounded. I have always been passionate about shlokas, carnatic music and classical art forms. I don’t have to sit and do any meditation, reciting few shlokas helped me to get into the serene mode quickly.

Prior to starting GURUKULAM, I was a Branch Head with a Software Testing Company, Suba. That was a period when I was undergoing a problematic personal life, and unsatisfactory professional experience.

And, during that challenging time, a thought occurred about changing my passion into profession. We have music schools, dance studios, art classes, a yoga center in every nook and corner of Bangalore, but I didn’t find even a single school or an entity dedicated to teaching shlokas. That’s how I founded GURUKULAM on 20^th October 2014.”

Divyaa D, Gurukulam, Shlokapreneur – ©SLN Brand Studio

Suba: That’s nice to know Divyaa. I come across many women out there with unique ideas, but do not know how and where to start. I support them on their journey.  I am sure your story will inspire many out there.

Tell us about the struggles you faced when Gurukulam was an infant. Was it easy to create awareness?

Divyaa: “I started with six kids in my apartment in 2014. Creating awareness was not easy. Beyond business, I worked very hard in creating awareness on how important it is for the kids to learn shlokas and how it will help them in all ups and downs of life. I spoke to many parents and happy to see kids joyfully joining my classes.

I wanted to serve more and more in our society, keenly advertised and reached out to many parents. Today, we have more than 50 kids and, recently, our curriculum is a part of ‘Little Millennium, Vajarahalli Kanakapura Road’ pre-school. Working with Ms Rittuu Goel is one excellent experience.”

Suba: That’s awesome Divyaa. What do you think you have gained as a Founder of Gurukulam?

Divyaa: “Anger management and practicing patience; I acquired these two virtues by interacting with the kids. Their innocence, thirst to learn, determination in practice, everything for the love & care I showcase made me realize many great things in life. They become my ‘Guru’ many times in acquiring various life skills.

Everybody is facing different battles. With little care and love, If I can change lives, how about adopting it as a part of my life. I give my best to everyone around me, try to improve positivity around me. I owe my students a lot and am grateful for bringing in such a transformation.”

Suba: Beautiful indeed Divyaa! Imagine the world full of kindness and love.

Now, tell me about the support system you have built. How do you manage your personal and professional life?

Divyaa: “Universe is indeed great in that perspective Suba, irrespective of various challenges I faced, I get tremendous support from my family who love me for what I am. Even if I am worried or feel helpless, without me telling, someone will show up and encourage me to take the next step.

And, the parents of my students are my pillar of strength. It has been five long years; each one of them travel with me with complete trust. Such trust is what keep me going. They are the reason GURUKULAM is growing day by day.”

Suba: Tell us more about your students and their age group. If someone wants to reach out, how can they do so?

Divyaa: “Gurukulam has a structured and well-drafted lesson plan Suba, designed based on in-depth research, experience and learner-centric approach. We have students in varied age groups.

Yes, even though we started with the little ones, we now have students who are C-Suite professionals, awesome Homemakers, Scholars and Professors. The appreciation and accolades we receive from such high profile students encourage us to do more research and keep adding critical elements in our lesson plans.”

Suba: We wish you & students a great journey together Divyaa. Your noble profession is indeed much needed for us all. Can you please share one thing for the Women Aspirants out there?

Divyaa: “Transform your passion into your profession no matter how much you can earn initially. It is not about MONEY all the time, but it is all about being HAPPY, CONTENT and feeling COMPLETE as an individual first. Believe me, rest will follow automatically. Challenges are inevitable. Keep your chin high and  pick yourself up no matter what the circumstances are.”

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Divyaa D is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

Dr Lakshmipradha: Epitome of Confidence, Energy, Enthusiasm and Optimism

“Challenge” is a term that does not indicate hurdle; instead, it’s a power to stand against and fight. So never run away from situations. Face them with an unambiguous and positive approach. There is no discrimination at any level; we as humans can achieve anything as long as we don’t mix negative emotions with targets.”

Dr Lakshmipradha Receiving HerRising Award

When Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder, SLN Brand Studio, asked Dr. Lakshmipradha about ‘one advice’ she would like to share with the Women Aspirants, this was her answer.

Heightened confidence shown in her smile, ‘I can do’ attitude shown in her behaviour, walk and talk, it was an ‘instant impressive’ moment for Suba when she met Dr Lakshmipradha during Jobsforher’s HerRising event. Both are HerRising award winners, met during the ‘Expert Corner’ session as Mentors.

They connected offline, this interview is an extract from the conversation they have had later. As a person of Short Stature, the struggles Dr Lakshmipradha faced were countless. But, the most crucial aspect each one of us needs to know is how she overcame and succeeded in all the things she took up.

Dr Lakshmipradha started a career journey as a Dental Surgeon, later she embraced technology and started working as a Business Analyst, Healthcare domain consultant and Delivery Manager in various IT organizations and MNCs.

Dr Lakshmipradha has also been giving motivational and keynote speeches on various occasions.

Suba: It is an absolute pleasure knowing you, Dr Lakshmipradha. I would like to highlight the specific struggles you had faced in life. I am using the word ‘highlight’ here because I am sure your journey will inspire many to come out of the shell and do the things they deserve to do.

Lakshmipradha: Thank you, Suba, for your positive words, you can call me Pradha or Lakshmi. (With a sweet smile, she continued).

True, each one of us has stories and different battles to share with this world Suba.

I had numerous challenges to face, mainly, lack of acceptance due to my short stature. Right from my school days, it would take fellow students and teachers a long time to accept me as ‘one among them.’ Later in college, people used to wonder whether I would be able to acquire skills like any other student and my ability in doing the procedures. When I shifted my career to IT field, it continued as the employers worrying about the customer accepting me.

It was extremely challenging for me to make people believe that I can do things normally like anybody else. I pushed myself multiple steps and, not only proved that I can do but also achieved various accolades too.

Perceptions, Suba…..We are wired to see, assume and judge others based on our thoughts, beliefs which infact create a lot of challenges for ‘us’ as well as ‘others.’

Yes, I have proven people who doubted my ability in ‘travelling alone,’ ‘living independently,’ ‘cooking & managing home alone.’ I can, and I am performing day to day activities like anyone else living in this mother earth.

Her smile was heart touching.

Suba: That’s impressive Pradha. I have seen people not even realizing that they were hurting others due to ignorance. Sensitizing people towards discrimination. Even though things are changing ‘on paper’ I am sure the reality is still far away. How did you manage when people discriminate you or anyone else for any reasons?

Lakshmipradha: I understand people Suba. I have always been vocal when I witness any discrimination against me or anyone else. Instead of showing frustration, I used ‘patience’ and ‘calmness’ as a tool to educate and create awareness on how a simple ‘word’ or ‘deed’ can hurt someone very deeply. You know what, I have gained a lot of positivity and life-long friends due to my attitude.

Suba: Awesome attitude. God bless you, Pradha. How could keep up the patience and show ‘love’ towards those who hurt you?

Lakshmipradha: I must mention my family here Suba. My mom, especially….She had been a greater inspiration all throughout my life. We lost her this March. She inculcated ‘never give up’ attitude and ‘determination’ in me to pursue what I wanted. She always lifted me up and gave me confidence to look forward whenever I failed and fell down. My father seeded his positive attitude and supported me to pursue my dreams. My sibling always protected and encouraged me in all my endeavour. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

With my friendly approach and happy attitude, I could gain hearts of many which includes my friends, teachers, colleagues and managers.

Suba: Tell me more about your Mom, Pradha.

Lakshmipradha’s Mom’s Painting

Lakshmipradha: My mom is a beautiful soul, our guiding angel. She had greater passion for arts. I am working on creating a platform through which I can showcase her artwork to the world. Also, on her memory, I am exploring options where I can help the struggling artists sell their artworks. I have a facebook page & a group dedicated to her artwork. 

 

Suba: Oh, that’s wonderful to know. Tell me about what you are doing currently and your aspirations.

Lakshmipradha: I am a life-long learner first before putting any ‘adjectives’ along. Basically, I am a soft-spoken, compassionate person who always look forward to helping and supporting others. Intending to enhance the lives around, I am working along with the professionals and providing career guidance and mentoring. When I joined IT industry, I realized the importance of unlearning and re-learning. Such mind-mapping and habit forming helped me change my dialect, attitude and gained more confidence communicating with the teams & client and collaborate with the cross functions to achieve project goal.

I took a break from full time job to finish off the book that I was writing Suba, ‘Delicate Darlings’ – it is a collection of stories on the upbringing of children based on my and others experiences. The book will be published very soon. Now, I am fully geared up to utilize my capabilities as an ‘IT Consultant’ in the industry, started floating my resume and attending interviews. Hoping to get into the right role & organization that helps me to establish my expertise and capabilities further ahead. 

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Dr Lakshmipradha is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

Meet Varsha Savla: A Fashion Designer turned Entrepreneur, the amazing Journey behind Expressions by UV

Suba Lakshminarasimhan interacts with Varsha Savla

Varsha Savla, Founder, UV creations, and a Creative Director & Fashion Designer in Expression by UV interacts with Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder Director, SLN Brand Studio.

UV Creations is a Design Studio that caters to the customized needs of styling for one and all. Expression by UV is the creative label of Varsha, which she has created after a lot of research as a designer. An act towards converting waste and developing sustainability model. More information on this below. More and more, Varsha’s love for fabrics is seen in all the products.

Suba: Varsha, glad to interact with you for #SLNNavathri’19 series. Thanks for your time. Tell us all about where and how you started?

Varsha: Indeed, a pleasure to be here Suba. Thanks for the inclusion. About my journey, I must say it is in Genes and, probably, a childhood passion that has taken a new shape now as UV creations. As I recall, adoring my mom and grand mom working on embroideries and building crafts with textile kindled a thought process behind my empire.

I studied fashion designing, had dreams of starting my own studio and joined as a head designer in an export firm in Mumbai. I thought of working in the industry for few years to gain the ‘right set’ of experience before starting anything on my own. Life was going as usual; as I was working hard to grow in the industry, life showed me a different struggle path. I got into bad marriage which left me an adorable son and a challenging life ahead. As a single parent, I had a humongous responsibility to take care of my son and my career growth.

Though I had tremendous support from my parents, I didn’t want my son to miss anything that he deserves. I was determined not to miss anything as a mom because of the change that occurred in my personal life. I took support from my father, with few thousands rupees investment, started UV creations. I started the engagement from home so that I could spend more time with my son.

That triumphant smile of Varsha indeed induced positive energy virtually.

Suba: That’s an extraordinary journey Varsha. I understand the ‘starting phase’ with considerable investment, balancing many things as a ‘solopreneur’ where every paisa counts.

Varsha: Complete agree here, Suba. Even though it was my passion, it was the need of the hour too when I started UV creations. People…..Suba, I met many wonderful people who helped to broaden my horizon and encouraged me to live my dream that I had since my college days. After experiencing various ups and downs as an Entrepreneur, I got registered as MSME with the help of Mawe, fortunate enough to attend its first International Meet.

That was ‘The Moment’ Suba. At the same time, the IIM’s Women Entrepreneur Program was also happening. I didn’t miss the opportunity and enrolled for the same. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, I rediscovered myself and my UV creations. I joined myself as a Mentee in ‘Cherry Blair Foundation’ where wonder mentors helped me to shape up the business.

Learning every day from different people, various experiences has become a habit now Suba.

Varsha gave a hearty laugh.

 

Suba: Wow…..I loved the way you create positivity where people in different ways helped you to grow. I often tell my audience that ‘seeking help is an art which needs better clarity than helping others.’ I am sure you have this skill and utilize it also well Varsha. I am thrilled.

Ok, tell us about the significant struggles you had to face to deliver your products and how did you overcome such struggles?

Varsha: Thank you, Suba.

I faced a lot of troubles in the initial days. The biggest challenge was to get the right set of workers and train them. I was very empathetic, however, when they leave without any prior notice, I used to feel so stressed about quality and on-time delivery. I am focusing on building the right mindset in my team and train them well from various perspective.

The second biggest challenge is the price. It is still challenging at times to create awareness about the price for the customized & designer products. Our products are customized and not like the ones we regularly see in the shopping malls. India is one of the wealthiest countries in textile and craft heritage, but awareness among Indian consumer is one area that needs special attention. Especially, sustainable brands face such challenges in Indian market.

Suba: I get to listen to these challenges from many Entrepreneurs in my network. I have observed that most of the solopreneurs and entrepreneurs in the sustainable market treat the workers well. Mindset change in the worker community is something to be addressed. I also agree on the awareness of ‘value’ the consumers are getting in India.

Varsha, what is your ‘dream come true’ moment in this Entrepreneurial Journey?

Varsha: Our ‘Satva’ collection’s presence in Milan Fashion Week is indeed an excellent Milestone for me as an Entrepreneur and, ‘dream come true’ moment as a fashion designer. We collaborated with Ashtiani by Golnaz and showcased our sustainable fashion designs during the fashion week from 21^st to 30^th September 2019.

Suba: Very proud to know this Varsha, tell us about your brand ‘Expression by UV.’ I happily observe and look at the wave your products are creating under this label. How did you conceptualize this?

Varsha: Thanks for asking this question, Suba. I wanted to celebrate Craft, Indian Weaves and the Skill of our artisans who struggle to make their daily life. Looking at the waste materials after completing our products got me thinking for hours together. It was painful to see the textile creating the already spoiled ‘landfill.’ Moreover, hazardous chemicals disposed by fast fashion industry is a significant concern as well.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This glamorous fashion industry contributes a lot on the landfill which was troubling me a lot. This is how a thought process behind ‘Expressions by UV’ was born, and today we are proud to be a part of sustainable industry doing good to our mother earth and earn a lot of happy customers.

We adhere to nature friendly skills combing it with style, and a good supply chain to make positive impressions on each life it touches. UV creations is a Studio for women who are globe-trotters, decision-makers and confident enough to make conscious choices for themselves and the planet earth.

Suba: Awesome. This is one question I ask all my candidates. Many women struggle or sit in their comfort zone because of one challenge. Managing life & career. How did you create an eco-system that helps you to balance your personal and professional life Varsha?

Varsha: This is a crucial and essential question, Suba. I always believed in the right working conditions and treat my team as family members. I have built a loyal team who help me in challenging situation. However, you know that apparel industry is still an unorganized sector and, sometimes you get into wrong hands. So my new learning is that to always have a backup plan, so the work does not suffer.

At the personal level, I had made my child independent from early years. He takes care of his things when I am not at home. My parents and family take care of my son when I am travelling. Specifically my Mom, my backbone at the home front. I have created a support system to take care of my son’s education too. However, I never miss spending Quality hours together with him and with the whole family.

Suba: Really impressed with the way you have taken steps to create an eco-system ,Varsha. I am sure many women out there who are struggling will wake up now and take up the responsibility to develop a support system to balance personal and professional life.

If I ask you to give ‘one’ suggestion or an advice to women followers, what would that be Varsha?

Varsha: Let me share something from my personal life again, Suba. When I decided to part ways with my husband, and, when I started UV creations in a small way and, while growing…..In all the stages, and, every day, I had/have people giving me good suggestions, showing sympathy, or, questioning my actions and talking ill on my back.

You know what, without judging anyone, I listen to everyone and everything. It was not at all an easy thing to do, but I was determined to have this as a habit. That is how I learnt how to filter information, take out the best and use it for growth. The information stayed in my filter went away, and I never gave a damn about it.

Believe in yourself and your ability. ‘Single mom’, ‘Amicable daughter-in-law’ ‘well-behaved daughter’ or any similar branding should never be the barrier for you to grow. But, create a right network, support system to start, survive and succeed which is very important. – Varsha Savla, UV Creations, Expressions by UV

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Varsha Savla is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

A Journey of Neha Tripathi, from a Corporate Employee to a Host of ‘Neha Tripathi Talk show’: Online Platform that Shares Extensive Knowledge and Builds Employability Skills

Suba Lakshminarasimhan interacting with Neha Tripathi

Neha Tripathi, the Founder and Host of ‘Neha Tripathi Talk Show’ interacted with Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder Director of SLN Brand Studio. The talk show focuses on sharing knowledge to the world by interacting with the Experts and SMEs across domains through an online platform.

Neha is an Employability Mentor and has specialized to Coach Women on a Career Break. She is a Professional Speaker, loves to travel and explore the unsaid stories of Entrepreneurs.

Suba: Thanks for your time, Neha. Tell our audience all about how you started the talk show and triggering moments of your life.

Neha: Thank you, Suba, for having me as a part of ‘Word of Wisdom’ series. The journey has been exciting. After a decade of corporate experience, I felt the need to do more to the community. Amidst shining well and growing amidst challenges, there was a ‘feeling of missing something’ that triggered me to think more towards starting something on my own.

I had a pool of questions, and I was literally lost in the start-up city with my idea of how to start. I networked massively and searched for answers, but it took me a lot of time and costed me beyond my expectations. Moreover, I didn’t have any business background, struggled a lot to learn the intricacies of building a business. Such struggles, learning from experiences made me decide that I could do a lot to the Entrepreneurs and launched ‘Neha Tripathi Talk Show.’ Our Vision here is to share all kinds of experience and expertise with the audience.

Initially, we launched the platform for women, but eventually we felt the need for men since a lot of interest was coming on our way from them as well. Hence we opened up the forum for everyone.

“Neha Tripathi Talk Show – A platform to learn, share and speak your heart out!!”

A smile from Neha indeed triggered a happy moment here. A sense of satisfaction.

Suba: That is quite a journey Neha. Conceptualisation is one thing, but Execution is where more challenges pop up, right? How did you push the boundaries and build this empire?

Neha: Rightly said, Suba. Taking that first step is a challenge. When we know how to proceed, rest becomes a part of it and can definitely be figured out. Few personal traits I must share here. I had always been a consistent and hard worker; all I needed was the right guidance which I received gradually. I understood that I needed to have a Mentor who can guide me to define my vision and then, the execution. It took me 6-8 months to find my first mentor. It all happened accidentally but thanks to social media where we can connect and nurture the network for ourselves. 

Next big challenge to me was the location. I had recently relocated to Bangalore, the start-up city and I hardly knew anyone. For the initial 6 months, I entirely focused on networking massively. Initially, I used to attend all the networking events, gradually, learnt how to choose the right event and build network consciously.

Suba: Hah….I can very well understand Neha. Getting such clarity and defining strategies for each trait is indeed the beauty of Entrepreneurship. Now, tell me, when it comes to your personality, any trait of yours, you had to change for survival?

Neha: Haha, not one, many Indeed….Let me list them out.

1. I used to feel that my networking skills were exceptional, gradually identified a lot of areas that needed fine-tuning.
2. I have always been a vivid reader all through my life, would pick any book/blog/article that anyone suggested. I realised that I was killing a lot of my productive time by doing so. I started to consciously pick the materials that I needed to learn at said moments.
3. Emotional Management, still working on building a thick skin. I am sure you can understand what I mean.
4. Invested huge in my learning process which I never did in my decade of corporate experience.

Neha and Suba had a good laugh as both could relate to many things from the list.

Suba: That’s quite an impressive list Neha. I can relate a lot here. What I observe is that not only you identified the weaknesses, rather areas of improvement, but also worked on them in the right way. And, yes, investing right for the continuous growth where I see a lot women hesitate to do. Happy to know that you have been investing right and reaping fruits as well.

I have an important question here. How did you build a support system to manage your personal & professional life?

Neha: Let me be honest here, Suba. I did not have to work on that at all. I am blessed to have a supportive family. My father always pushes me to aspire more in life, my in-laws love and care for me like their daughter.

The most important part of my life is my life partner. He has never ever questioned once during my entrepreneurial journey. Most of my weekends, I would be in meetings, attending events/ conference, reaching home late, skip cooking (mostly due to work and at times my lack of interest into it) but never ever I had to worry about it. When I enter home, my partner would be ready with the meal and a glass of water for me.

My family has supported in many others ways here Suba. Books especially gifted by my Father, younger sister, life partner make a great difference in my thought processes as well.

Again, I must mention my mentors like Jogesh Jain and Neeraja Ganesh and my virtual mentors like Vishen Lakhiani, YourStory Shradha Sharma who make a great difference in my way of working. I plan well to balance life and business. Suba, even though I have mentioned few names, when it comes to mentors, I have a long list, can’t cover everyone here.

Neha continued after a deep thought…..

Suba, I have learned a lot from many others too. Not only about what I should do, also what I should not do. I also observe and ensure not doing certain mistakes others do in the process of building a business.

Eventually, I became more of a silent observer which is truly contradictory to what I do on my Neha Tripathi Talk Show.

Neha gave a beautiful smile here which felt so satisfactory.

Suba: That’s great to know Neha. Family support is critical for both men and women to succeed in whatever they want to choose. What would be your suggestion for women who lack family support? One thing that you want to share with the Women Aspirants out there?

Neha: Ladies, please stop playing the victim cards. If you aspire to do something in life, it is your responsibility to make it happen. If you do not do it, understand that the purpose is not strong enough that could push you to convert that dream into reality. You need to thrive right to build a support system. 

When you see no support from your eco-system, it is time to change your communication. No one ever saw your vision, and that is the sole reason they do not understand it – Neha Tripathi

That’s one impressive finish to the conversation Suba, our Founder had with Neha Tripathi.

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Neha Tripathi is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.

Continuous Growth – Janani Uppiliappan, the enthusiastic educator shares her secret with SLN Brand Studio

Janani Uppiliappan is a passionate educator, founder of Sai Vruksha Academy. Started with 10 students in 2014 to teach creative writing, Janani is now running numerous batches training phonics, creative writing, and grammar and enhancing the lives of numerous students. She has been teaching Phonics, Hand-writing, Creative Writing that enrich the vocabulary, writing and speaking the English language skill among students.

“Beyond core skills, the parents are happy seeing the improved self-confidence, discipline and habit forming in children.” Janani mentions proudly. 

Storytelling being her core strength, the students adore their ‘favourite mam’ and rush to attend her classes. Janani is thriving to take the fear, stress and anxiety associated with learning English through her fun and creative methodologies.

Janani Uppiliappan, Sai Vruksha Academy

Happy children……happier parents……the most delighted teacher.

“Continuous learning is the reason I continue to grow in what I do and deliver the best,” Janani says with a smile.

Suba Lakshminarasimhan, the founder of SLN Brand Studio, spoke to Janani Uppiliappan and shares the key learning from the journey of Sai Vruksha.

Read ahead…..

Suba: Janani, What are all the educational credentials you have related to your current job?

Janani: As the Founder of Sai Vruksha Academy, I am currently educating children of 4 to 13 yrs age group on Phonics, Creative Writing, Hand writing. Basically the children are equipped with speaking and writing in English very well like a champion. I am a certified trainer on Phonology from the American Tesol Institute. I also had accomplished Jolly Phonics, and Jolly grammar certification and ISO certified handwriting and speed writing coach.

A recent addition is a Certification on Story Telling by Eric Miller, the Director World Story Telling Institute.

Sai Vruksha Academy

Suba: How do you choose the courses & institutes in this Journey to study further?

Janani: (with a proud smile) Born in the family of teachers & headmasters, I had identified a flair towards teaching since my childhood. Becoming a teacher when I decided to re-start my career was a conscious decision that I took. To comply with the modern day requirements and my passion for teaching the kids the essential skills, I started with the Phonology certification course from The American Tesol Institute.

As I continue to identify various needs in children, I equipped myself with further education. Beyond a mere certification, I am always keen on learning from the right places and experts, I chose the institutes very carefully.

Story Telling Training – Eric Miller

I want all my students to get the best from the global educational systems and methodologies, I happily invest on my continuous education.

Notably, the recent addition in my repository is the certification on ‘Story Telling’ by Eric Miller. Attending the workshop itself was a lifetime experience. Beyond the core skills, I learnt hugely from the Master himself.

I spend quality time researching for the right training & educational institutions to deliver the best for my students.

Suba: Janani, Tell me about the investments you have made on personal growth strategies

Janani continued with a keen interest.

Janani: Yes, I have invested huge in terms of time, effort and money. Managing the classes, family and studying, time was in fact predominantly a demanding element for me. The best part here is the strategies I developed to manage career and family. I am sure you would agree with me, without investment in personal development, it would be very tough to grow in any career, right?

Suba agreed with a nod and continued with the subsequent question.

Story telling by Janani in Chennai

Suba: How frequently you plan to do courses for continuously growing?

Janani: I am in touch with my industry, user base through the process of continuous learning. I have developed my continuous learning process into two categories. One is day to day learning which is happening on the job. I learn huge every time I come with the new set of worksheets, new fun formula to teach my kids. The second category is learning from the masters, industry experts by attending workshops or training programs, which varies based on the skill I want to build.

Suba: Specific guidance you want to give our viewers related to ‘growth and continuous learning.’

Janani: “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow” – Anthony J. D.Anglo

Teachers play a huge role in developing the society and responsible community. English language and communication skill make a great difference in the way professionals grow. It is important to focus on improving the language skill in children from the early years  – Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder Director, SLN Brand Studio

About the Interview: ‘Words of Wisdom’ Interview with Ms Janani Uppiliappan is an initiative for ‘Women Contentment Program,’ a Mentoring program for women.

Ms. Suba Lakshminarasimhan, Founder director, SLN Brand Studio conducted the interview. Women Contentment Program (WCP) focuses on elevating the lives of Women by helping them create a new career, get back to the career after a break, develop Emotional & Social intelligence and build a Personal Brand.

About the Company: SLN Brand Studio offers Consulting, Mentoring, CXO Resume Writing and Corporate training Solutions. Aiming at building the personal branding and career growth opportunities for working professionals, Students and Women with a Career Break, SLN Brand Studio has developed numerous customized solutions such as SPBQ, SVEP and SWCP.