At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this, we invited Himani Goel for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader and Co-Founder of Coderootz. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, background and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Himani:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
Born in a middle-class family, a priceless daughter of my parents and a darling sister of my siblings was brought up in a very cosy family atmosphere in the lap of the charismatic Queen of Hills, Shimla.
I did my schooling from St. Thomas School, Shimla. Further graduated in Sciences from a very prestigious college, St. Bedes. My luck (I would say luck only because that was not what I wanted to do at that point in time) then took me to pursue B.Ed degree from Vivekanand College of Education, J&K. I had not even completed my B.Ed degree that I got placed in one of the eminent schools in the city, DAV Public School, New Shimla. While I was still teaching I thought of fulfilling my long-lasting wish of doing an MBA. Since doing it regularly was not possible so chased it through Indira Gandhi National Open University with a specialisation in Finance.
Right from my school days I enjoyed leading and was never left behind a chance to even do that. Always been an enthusiast, be it studies or co-curricular activities, was chosen the Head Girl of the school where I proudly and with pleasure accomplished all the duties as per the post. College gave me another chance to grow and show my proficiency where I held the post of Secretary Nature Club in II years and the post of President Nature Club in the Final year of graduation respectively.
During my journey as a teacher too I always remained proactive to add value to the school in every possible way. Fulfilling all the commitments gave a boost to my morale and nourished my personality to become a better leader and superior human being.
After serving in school for 22 years as an English, Science and Business Studies teacher, I took another challenge to open my own software development company with multifold objectives such as –
(a) to code software solutions meeting varied clientele requirements.
(b) in the bargain generating employment opportunities.
(c) and thus, contributing my might to the society.
For making the fresh startup going, I am happily learning to manage Men(Team Coderootz, Clientele, certain government agencies and more) and Money(finances involved). Challenges constantly keep popping up and are overcome in stride, with lots of blessings in disguise.
The road ahead is difficult and unknown, the journey continues nevertheless, where we reach – the story is yet to unfold.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I chose to be an entrepreneur because I was fascinated by the idea of becoming one. There was so much you could do being an entrepreneur. You could explore your own creativity in this field, passion, ability to take risks and ways to overcome them.
You will be your own boss, will be the one calling for shots, be independent and work tirelessly for your own good and also for others’ good by providing them job opportunities. At this age, I thought if I do this I will learn so much more which will keep my brain alive and fresh.
It will provide me with a chance to meet so many interesting people who will help me acquire more knowledge. Business is always associated with risks and it takes guts to take risks, especially at this age, this thought came to me as an impulse and I took my call.
‘Coderootz’ 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?
Coderootz, attempts to provide tailor-made software solutions to suit the varied requirements of our clientele. For this, their pain points/requirements are understood fully before embarking upon coding the requisite software.
The focus is to ensure and assure that all the needs of our customers are met at the earliest. Thus, the team ‘Coderootz’ stretches itself tirelessly to root the success of our elite patrons. Hence, the name Coderootz.
What does your company specialise in?
At coderootz, we put in efforts to make the lives and businesses of our customers smoother with our software tools. Possibilities are endless with our custom software development capabilities. We have forayed into the following domains with our tech tools:
– Logistics and Supply Chain
– Hospitals, Clinics & Healthcare
– Tour and Travel Industry
– Food and Beverage Industry
– E-commerce Industry
– Staffing & Employment Industry
Apart from software development, we recently ventured into providing business process outsourcing services, presently specialising in Customer care services and sales services.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Ours is a software development company where the team doesn’t necessarily need to be sitting under one roof and working. So COVID -19 hardly had any negative impact on our work. All the employees continued working remotely.
We made sure that all of us virtually met twice a day. Once at the beginning of the day to discuss the day’s go ahead and once in the evening to discuss what all has been achieved during the day.
Since the times were very depressing so to keep our employees boosted we often organised motivational seminars for them.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Challenges give me a kick. They make me more stubborn to achieve what I want to achieve. I love to brainstorm and that is what they drive me towards. I get up every day and tell myself that today is going to be the best day.
I get driven thinking that we have the responsibility of so many people on our shoulders who are running their homes with the salary they get.
Also heading towards being a UNICORN we have to overcome the challenges and shine out.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
Faith that my family and friends impose on me. Push I get when they tell me whatever I will do I will always be the best at it. I get motivated when they apprise me of my innate leadership qualities and always stand by my side through all thick and thin.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
The list can be endless but a few to mention are:
> Introspection
> Constant learning-self and environment
> Strategic mindful thinking
> Act decisively
> Motivate the troops and build leadership in them
> Taking charge of my actions
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
(1) Consistency
(2) Focus
(3) Hard work
(4) Concentration
(5) Observant
(6) Belief in self
(7) Staying positive in all situations
(8) Appreciate people
(9) Empathise
(10) Learn something each moment
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Be a good human being. Belief in self is the first and foremost key to success. Success comes to those who will and dare.
Identify your area of interest, stay focused and keep putting in your best efforts to achieve what you aim at, without worrying or getting disheartened with the failures you will meet on the way to your success. Stay positive as it will give you the strength to achieve what you are willing to do.
But, do not forget that you will only be able to enjoy success if you have achieved it by fair means.
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.
