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 – Hema Halvadia for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Mentor, Trainer, Change Enabler and Coach. Hema is the Founder of Be Alpha. Let’s learn more about her exciting journey, her background and her advice for our growing community.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Hema:
Talk us through your background and your journey as a woman entrepreneur, please.
As I was born in a family of entrepreneurs, I always had a dream to start a venture of my own. But life does not come on a silver plate you have to work for it. Let me share my journey. I did my schooling from Hutchings High school and Mount Carmel Pune.
Since then I knew I wanted to do something different, but life had planned something different for me from being a confident girl to a girl who lost all her confidence.
I suffered from a skin disease leucoderma this shattered me completely students made fun of me, gave me weird names, stopped talking to me…teachers are next to God, but they too left no stone unturned to break my confidence and never supported me on any of my emotional issues in fact they made things tougher for me.”
I changed my school where I found solace with the nuns, they said one thing that got a ray of hope in me that “It’s not important to be beautiful on the outside but inside “I think the seed of being a trainer was sown during this time. I felt the job of a teacher is to be there emotionally apart from academics.
During My BCom the seed got its sprouts as I specialized in entrepreneurship and in one of my projects, I made a blueprint to start a Finishing School of My own. I joined a Personality Development Course with ‘The Institute of Human Potential and Development “followed by a Finishing School Course from “Orchids Mumbai” life changed completely. I started working on my strength rather than on what people said.
I started my classes – ‘Images grooming School’ in 1997 like Indira Nooyi says women can’t have it. all even I faced the same In1999 I lost my dad and then I had to choose between marriage or continuing my business. I shifted from Pune to Porbandar. Life moved 360. I always believe every single day is full of opportunity. It’s up to us when we need to grab it.
In 2000 I started Spoken English Classes in Porbandar. Within 2 years we got transferred and it continued for like 7 years every day I felt my dreams going far away from me.
Once I settled in Ahmedabad after a span of 15 years, I relived my dream. People give up, but I was so stubborn that I did not stop dreaming to fulfill my goals while I upgraded my skills and did a diploma in HR, NLP Practitioner course. Started BE ALPHA in 2018 with a friend of mine Jasnit Kaur as we both believed that we could contribute to bringing a change in training methodology.”
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
In my 30 years of training and teaching in different institutes, I realized that one must take a risk if one wishes to make a difference in any aspect of life.
That’s only possible if you are your own boss. This is when I thought of starting my own venture with a friend of mine.
I always believe that a teacher is that potter who shapes their students. So, this led to creating BE ALPHA”
‘Be Alpha’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
My partner and I always believe that all are leaders in their own life but only at times do they need a mentor who can show them their talent or potential.
Be Alpha Means Be a Leader of your own life.”
The Problems we solve are real times what is actually not taught in school or college i.e. facing failures, managing stress, taking decisions, handling pressure. This is not limited to students but housewives too who really lack that confidence in them.
We make them believe that they are worth it. Our taglines say, “Invest in yourself”. So, reap the benefits for your better future.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We were just 3 months old when covid hit us. We were really shaken up as we were not sure how we would survive.
The steps we took to survive were we went on the online platform, did seminars, and started uploading videos and blogs so that people could feel our presence.
As I believe anything you do with good intentions good things happen, we thank our landlord a lot for all his support.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
What drives me is my strong belief that every problem has a solution. You just need to see that perspective.
What motivates us is when our clients share their success stories as to how they overcame the challenges through the techniques we trained them.
Appreciation for the hard work put in with amazing results.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
What motivates me is asking myself daily as to what I will do to change someone’s life. My Family and My partner Jasnit
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
To name a few:
(1) I always believe in investing in myself as and when I had the time and money, I have done courses to upgrade myself, Diploma in HR, and an NLP practitioner course.
(2) Be Positive. I have never given up. I always trust myself that I can do it.
(3) I believe by sharing the Knowledge you grow rather than keeping it to yourself
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
My success Mantra is persistence, patience and keeps upgrading yourself. Learn, unlearn, and relearn.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
If you wish to outshine in your life one must
> Get out of their comfort zone
> Keep learning the latest things in the field you wish to grow.
> Start showcasing your skills if you can’t then who can?
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.
