At BR, we always strive to bring to you some of the finest and compelling stories from the entrepreneurship world. This week we invited Aswini Bajaj for an interview with us to understand more about his journey as an entrepreneur. He is a successful corporate trainer, speaker, mentor and CEO at Leveraged Growth. Let’s read more in detail about his journey, way forward and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Aswini:
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey.
I am a commerce graduate from St. Xavier’s College. I qualified CA, CS, CFA, FRM, CAIA, CIPM, CCRA, CIIB, CIRA, and AIM. I started my career with CAIRN India in the MIS & Budgeting profile. I started teaching on the weekends along with the job which led me to quit my job and get into full-time teaching.
When I witnessed people double my age enjoying my lectures and myself enjoying lecturing more than outings on weekends, I found my calling. I had taken a batch on my dining table at home prior to my job as well. But this time I went all in.
Today I am training 1000s of students for CFA, FRM, CA, globally and have crossed over 51k subscribers on YouTube alone.
The passion for teaching led to guest lectures. I did not plan or think of lecturing at B-Schools but now have been visiting stock exchanges, B-schools, colleges including the IITs and IIMs.
When I started out, I was honestly concerned about remaining Industry relevant, given that I was entering the world of academia. I remember annoying my friends to check with their bosses if they would hire me and what salary I could fetch. Hence ventured into corporate training and consulting. Data mining, creating pitches, cold calls and mailers, I have done it all.
Capitalizing on this experience and my subject expertise, I started a niche Finance-based consulting Company, Leveraged Growth. Since then, I have been expanding the team size considerably – which comprises mostly my students. We have a very good clientele of start-ups, listed entities, Fund Houses, Colleges happy with us.
I copyrighted my motto and have run a blog by the same name – ‘Invest in Yourself’. Working on 2 more verticals to be launched soon. Fingers Crossed.
This has been my journey so far.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
It may sound clichéd, but it is impacting so many lives. Those who know me shall second this. I keep getting these messages from my students and on social media as well, daily, as to how I helped them to ace an exam, get a job or a promotion, or that they have started waking up early, reading, enjoying studies after years, or curbed social media intake, started saving more, framed real non-materialistic goals, how a small conversation or a speech somewhere gave their career a direction; in short how they have started investing in themselves. I believe that a human being is born to work hard and that’s what I push them to do more.
I do not sugar quote or say things people want to hear but say what they should hear.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
I do not have a rag to riches story, neither rag nor riches. By God’s benevolence, I haven’t been through any major mishap. But yes, I quit my job and my dad retired soon after that. I had started from scratch; things didn’t work as planned.
There were financial difficulties no doubt. But I, fortunately, had the right people around me. It is not monetary support that you need, it is the confidence that someone has in you and pushes you and guides you through these times that you value for life.
Also, I’m very straight-forward and honest which comes in the way of cracking deals. But the same has helped me build credibility and reputation for myself, which is more important for me.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
Emotions come first. If I don’t have emotions in the right place, I cannot make money. I’m emotionally involved in my students, in my office. I’m very passionate about my work and this leads to good output which brings money. Money is the by-product. I work extremely hard to not receive negative feedback because it is someone’s career at stake or the client’s reputation and money. However, Money is extremely important. I think this shall sum it up, ‘Money may not add happiness, but the lack of it certainly multiplies misery’.
Invited as the Chief Guest on Republic Day at St. Xavier’s, Kolkata
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I have definitely come a long way in terms of managing my EQ. I am generally never happy with my progress in any aspect but for this one I am. And the credit goes to the simple fact – ‘You are the sum total of books you read and the people you surround yourself with’. My mentors know me well and with their experience warn me about the obstacles coming my way. I read a lot of non-fiction and work on myself to get better at every aspect – execution, time management, people management. One has to learn. And my parents handle everything, so I don’t have to lift a finger on the personal front, which takes away all the stress from this aspect of my life. It is important to have the family involved and aware of your aspirations.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
I believe being grounded. I have seen people get carried away because of the money they are making, or their ‘apparently happening’ life on social media or because of the brands they use or cars they drive. Pardon me for being judgmental here. Gladly the people around me, keep pushing me to do more. There is so much to study, learn, work on, read. I haven’t reached 1% of where I wish to be. I do not take things for granted. Learning is a continuous lifetime process. In today’s competitive and dynamic world, one cannot afford to be complacent. Spending doesn’t bring happiness, realizing this as I grow as a person.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
‘Consistency’ is the key. ‘Keep working very hard and do not expect results immediately’ -The Gita (I do not read it from a religious perspective, but as a guide on Life & Management; recommended by E. Sreedharan, in his biography ‘Karmayogi’). One has to be relentless in his efforts and keep retracing higher peaks (‘Peaks and Valleys’). Everyone has their own definition of success. More than monetary success (after your basic standard of living is met), I believe one should work on being successful as a person. You should have the confidence and ability to start from scratch at any point of time in life.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Invest in yourself – Along with very in-depth subject expertise, one needs to work on technical skills, writing skills, communication skills, and public speaking. Managing EQ is imperative, a skill that is not taught. Life is full of trade-offs and one has to keep making choices. You have to unabashedly keep reaching out to people, read extensively and be very focused. Do not get carried away.
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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.
