As part of our ongoing interview series with promising womenpreneurs, this week we spoke to Deepti Awasthi Sharma, Co-founder at Gohoardings.com – one of the leading Outdoor Advertising Companies. Let’s read how she dropped out of CA, beat all odds and encountered all challenges head-on to work on her dream that she has always been very passionate about!
Excerpts from our exclusive conversation with her;
Please share your story and your journey as a women entrepreneur so far;
First things first, I faced a major dilemma while choosing my career, and with the advice of my friends, I decided to pursue CA. In a couple of months, reaching the CA final, it struck me that this was not for me, it wasn’t my cup of tea and I couldn’t see myself doing it for the rest of my life. I ended up dropping CA. Everyone around me, relatives, friends, said that my career was ruined.
In short, they never believed in me. But one person did and that was me.
I am a dreamer and had big dreams for my future. I was certain that my decision was to do-or-die, and I was determined to build my life. I promised myself that I wouldn’t look back or go back, no matter what. I decided to live life the way I wanted to, by designing my destiny.
Soon after the dropout, I got the opportunity to partner a big new year’s concert in 2014, which involved celebrities, tickets, sponsors. Things weren’t going according to plan, sufficient tickets weren’t sold, there weren’t enough sponsors and we had the immediate liability of 40 lakh rupees. The day of the event, my partners ran away and at that moment, I had two choices. One, to stay and face the music, as they say, or second, to run away.
I chose to face the situation head-on, instead of fleeing from my problems. I called my father and explained everything to him. Immediately, he sold the house and gave me the money, which helped me execute the event properly. After the loss, I locked myself in a room for a couple of days, broken and shattered. My father talked to me then, told me to pick myself up, and to consider this huge loss as a learning opportunity. Told me to think of it as an MBA degree.
That got me started on a path of self-realisation. Why am I behaving like this? Why did I start this journey? Is this who I’m supposed to be? IF not, then why am I not doing anything to work towards my dreams?
Soon, I gained the passion, power and energy to rebuild my life. I have learned that commitment and trust are the most important ingredients in the recipe for success.
Consequently, I got married to Vikas, and we cofounded Gohoardings in April 2016. My vision was to make a space for myself in this male-dominated industry and to genuinely solve the problems that it faces.
We did face a lot of problems. Initially, it was only Vikas and me, taking care of operations, design, accounts, development and all the other work. We were from different fields and initially had no experience of outdoor branding as Vikas was an engineer and I was from finance, but we both have merged our experiences to build a tech platform by connecting traditional outdoor advertising with technology to resolve the customer’s problems and to disrupt the OOH industry. For the first 4 months of the company being formed, we had no sales and we were using our savings to take care of the operations. I got my first deal in August 2016 and I’ve never looked back since.
Being a woman, life throws interesting curveballs at you. After a year of Gohoardings, I found out that I was going to have a baby. It was again a dilemma, one of finding the right balance between my professional and personal life. I knew that I needed to give the due time and energy to the company as well because it was nothing short of a newborn baby to me.
So, I managed both things. I attended office throughout my pregnancy, and even though I got tired and frustrated at times, I had my goal in mind. I was on track, and during the delivery, I requested the hospital to do a normal delivery so that I could return to work as soon as possible. With the support of my family, I was successful in doing just that.
I’ve never considered my life to be a struggle because I love what I do and that has helped me fulfil my dreams. Now, we’re serving in 130 cities of India, in less than 2 years of operation, and we’re on track to achieve 50 crores in revenue this year. Many online channels and portals liked our startup idea and they call us the Oyo Rooms of Outdoor Advertisement.
It is the best feeling, knowing that people like your startup and your idea and getting appreciation for the same.
As I conclude, I would like to keep it simple. Be yourself, no matter what, and be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams. And remember to enjoy the journey, it’s just as beautiful as the destination
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
I wanted to live life on my terms. I never liked the conventional methods and the 9 to 5 life. And as shared earlier, I always wanted to do something that I am passionate about hence I chose entrepreneurship.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
Being average haunts me so to be a world-class and have recognition motivates me to wake up every day on time. Plus, the kind of vision we have, keep me going.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Lack of resources was the major hurdle to fetch and serve any client but it also motivates us to be a smart worker and with fewer resources, we bring out major output.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
Emotions always and forever. Emotions of financial freedom. Emotions to bring a smile on parents face. Emotions to get the best of everything for my parents and for emotions to help someone in need. Money is nothing but an emotion of gratitude.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I am a positive person. I see good in everything. Whenever I am in a challenging situation I guide myself to see the learnings and positive things from it. It helped me in life.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
I am a positive person. Everything situation has 2 outcomes either I win or I learn & will try again.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
There are 5 factors of success:-
1 – Commitment
2 – Perseverance
3 – Positive attitude
4 – People management skills.
5 – Action-oriented approach
What advice would you give to someone starting out particularly women?
Always be original i.e connected with your roots. You will win in life if you have perseverance.
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.
