At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the startup ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited a passionate entrepreneur – Anjali Dubey for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Mentor, Consultant, Change Enabler and Coach. Anjali is the Founder of Trancepower. Let’s learn more about her exciting journey, her background and her advice for our growing community.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Anjali:
Talk us through your background and your journey, please;
First and foremost, thank you so much for having me here and recognising my work. But more than that, it’s about casting more light on the undeniable importance of Mental & Emotional Health. To walk you through my background,
I’m a Business Graduate and I’ve acquired my post-graduation in Business, Management & Entrepreneurship.
> The science of Well – Being & Personal Development
I have also collaborated with NGOs serving similar & other important issues.
I know you may have questions about me being a business student and then redirecting to doing this with my startup, named “Trancepower,” which may seem like a transition for many.
But for me, it has been a personal eye-opening journey that altered my state of mind and helped me gain clarity to understand “What I really want to do in life” and “Why do I want to do it?”
Moving on, I’d love to elaborate on that journey. For now, all I would say is that it was a painful, yet enriching one.
Please elaborate on that journey you just mentioned. How did you discover/associate yourself with this cause?
Growing up, I had social anxiety. I always placed others’ opinions ahead of mine, which was soon followed by this fear of being judged. Anxiety demoralized me to even have/form my opinions, and voicing them out was like a nightmare then. So, the safe space I found was to just wallow in silence.
My self-esteem was a big question mark back then. At 18, I was battling with depression and during that point of time; I was totally unaware of what was happening to me. It took me a really long time to read the signs and understand my behaviour patterns (which were alarming because I knew that wasn’t me).”
I was unaware of the word “Depression” to even label and express it to my close ones about how I was feeling? I felt helpless until I started doing my research on it. It was really painful as I lost sight of myself with no one around to reach out to. It became really suffocating to even exist and go on with the day like I would normally do.
I was experiencing something like this for the first time, and it took a toll on me. Loneliness was definitely making it all the worst. We talked little about therapy at that time and so there was an imperceptible awareness of Mental & Emotional Health. Therefore, since then, I have been on this journey of personal development. I don’t want anyone else to suffer alone in silence. Period.
Please share with us more about ‘Trancepower’ and its vision.
It has been a year since I started an organization called Trancepower. Trancepower is inspired by my personal story to change the narrative around mental and emotional health, as I just mentioned.
I have been trying to create content which is engaging for everyone based on personal experiences. I have organized and hosted a few events with the same purpose.”
To walk you through some of our events, like for starters, our camping retreat with art therapy is an overnight camping and hiking retreat with the aim of getting youth to soak in nature and while sitting around bonfires, sharing their perspectives and life stories, which in turn evokes thought-provoking conversations. That is followed by live music and art therapy.
Another event is a free-flowing event where two strangers sit across the table and ask each other a few sets of questions curated by us… and hear each other out with no prejudice. We found that conversations with strangers sparked new perspectives and found a whole lot of similarities.
During Pandemic, we have introduced our online event series named as “Reimagine Well-being”, asking intriguing questions to spark meaningful conversations and open an honest space to share ideas, perceptions, and emotions which is followed by live music which encourages artists to perform their original songs for the participants.
We also got the opportunity to host webinars in collaboration where we educated youth on ‘How to seek support and help’ and ‘How to support ourselves and close one’s during this time. We also hosted a similar, really engaging online event with Reading University, UK.
Trancepower is born to give people hope, to let them know that whatever they are feeling is all valid and we are right beside them supporting and listening to everything without any prejudice. I stand by this strongly because I have experienced it – I know how it feels and since then I had the urge to change the narrative around mental & emotional health.”
This is the ongoing journey of Trancepower, but as we move forward, collaborating with more and more colleges and schools to initiate conversations that really matter with cool, fun and thought-provoking exercises is what we are seeking to do. We’re a new generation of artists… Therefore, we are looking forward to destigmatizing mental health and mental illness conversations in a fresh, artistic way. Immersing elements of performing arts for an experiential awakening is the vision moving forward.
Despite the challenges, what keeps you going when things get tough?
The Vision – Things get tough real soon in here and one thing that I constantly remind myself is that the vision Trancepower has is bigger than any problem that I’m facing. The Vision and The Why fuels me to keep going.
I’ve learnt this in life, it really boils down to aligning core life values & purpose/passion to feel content and continuing to do so no matter what with the same dedication.”
How important is it that someone seeks help when struggling with their mental health?
Oh my god, I can’t stress this enough. It’s crucial to take the initial step and ask for professional help and support.
It really is an act of courage. So please don’t suffer alone in silence. You are not alone in this and it doesn’t have to be that way. Please reach out to someone you trust in order to help you find a professional.
Our audience would love to know about your future plans?
“How much in tune are you with your mental well-being and emotions?”
That’s the question we usually begin with at Trancepower. We really believe that everyone needs to be aware and have an understanding of our emotional well-being just like we are about other physical aspects of our lives.
It’s significant to upgrade our emotional vocabulary to express ourselves better. And in order to anchor the same, we are on a journey of creating experiential courses and events to build a community of like-minded people supporting each other.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
If you ask me about daily life, I believe motivation is overrated — what really matters is Discipline and Consistency. Our dreams/passion needs discipline more than anything. It’s really about showing up every day, even on the days when you don’t feel like it.
These two are keys that will make a huge difference in the long run & it has to come from within. Motivation will wear out frequently and you’ll spend an enormous amount of time trying to find it again elsewhere.
Pro tip: Never underestimate the power of a good laugh & good night sleep.
How quick are we to judge others even without knowing their story? Do you think it’s fair?
I believe as a Human Race we should attempt to understand the other human better beyond judgements and our preconceived notions/perceptions. It hinders True Connection. After all, at the end of the day, we all want to be seen and heard!
I’d like to quote Ram Dass — “When you go into woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight and some of them are evergreen, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understanding that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.
The minute you get near to humans, you lose that. And you are constantly saying, You’re too this. The judgment mind comes in.” This quote has been a constant reminder for me to see beyond the lens of judgment. To make sincere efforts into knowing and appreciating someone for who they are.
People always remember how you made them feel. So together, let’s shed away our lens of judgment and be more human. In the long run, with all the technologies and machines ruling the market, Emotional Vulnerability and meaningful connections with oneself and others is what is going to matter. I hope you’re with me on this!”
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
I’m not sure if these are the keys to success but there are some values that I deeply follow:
(1) Being “more human”
(2) Authenticity
(3) Curiosity (Also to have child-like curiosity)
(4) Persistence
(5) Discipline
(6) Expressing honestly (Vulnerability)
(7) Creating healthy boundaries
What is your message to our readers?
Yes, I would rather leave you an amazing quote I love and a thought that I would like for you to keep close:
“Humans crave for Social Connection to flourish is a no brainer as we are perfectly aware of the fact that Humans are Social Animals by birth”. That’s how Sapiens survived for years.
True Meaningful Connections matter. So skip the small talks and talk about passion, life, vulnerability, and fear instead, it will go a long way.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
I know you would say it’s a cliche but it really is the journey for me that is exciting. The whole process of me and my team brainstorming on every new event, idea & program is like experiencing something new each day. Trust me new conversations evoke in every brainstorming session.
And when our community members come back to us saying how well it resonated with them it feels like a full circle. So really seeing that love in people’s eyes after experiencing our events/programs is the major thing that is exciting and a constant reminder to keep doing it no matter what.
Making a difference in people’s life as much as I can and enabling them to widen their perspectives is exciting. Count me in for something like that!
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
