At BrilliantRead Media, our aim is to bring to our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the ecosystem. As part of this endeavour, we invited Hiral Matalia for an exclusive interview with us. Hiral is a Leader, Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Consultant, Speaker and Founder of MPower Training Solutions. Let’s learn more about her inspirational journey, her background and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Hiral:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey, please;
As for my background, I hail from a traditional Gujarati Jain business family of Baroda. My parents built their lives and business here and this is where I was born. I have an elder brother who’s 9 years elder to me, so in most probability, I was an afterthought. (On a lighter note).
I was always good in studies and did my graduation in Economics from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara (I chose Economics because my friends had chosen the same).
After that, I went to Mumbai for 3-4 years where I did my post-graduation in Mass Communication from Xavier’s College. Marine drive and these 4 years were a game-changer for me. I evolved as a more gregarious and holistic personality, became more inclusive with the multitude of cultural backgrounds in our college and in Mumbai overall.
Staying alone in Bandra as a paying guest with catholic landlords, managing myself, my resources, the choices I made in terms of who to hang out with, what else to learn, everything made a difference and that I believe was a tipping point in my life in terms of my present day transformation especially challenging my limiting belief that ‘I am perfect the way I am’. Ever since that day, this belief has been constantly challenged in ways and means I never anticipated.”
I returned to Baroda and got married in 2000 and there began the new and the most interesting chapter of my life. After having seen around 70 odd prospective grooms, I finally settled for my present-day husband, Dr Smit – an orthopaedic and arthroscopic surgeon by profession, an extremely warm, loving and open mind person who actually inspired me to start a career and supported me relentlessly all along and it still continues.
I started working in Citibank and then changed to Bajaj Allianz General Insurance soon after marriage and continued till 2009. We got blessed with our son Aarav who is our only child, in 2003.
In 2009, when I decided to leave the HR consultancy I was working for, is when I started my first solo as a freelancer and in 2011, August 5 MPower Training Solutions was born.”
We started as only a soft skills training consultant back then and then backwards integrated into all other HR offerings like Recruitment, core HR consultancy ( Performance Management System, competency mapping etc), coaching and psychometric assessments making MPower a full-fledged HR consultancy over the years.
The universe conspired and there was no looking back and we kept on bagging one project after another and a lot of repeat business which kept us going and growing until in 2018 when I received the award of ‘Most Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur’ by Federation of Gujarat Industries (FGI) and was awarded by Smt. Maneka Gandhi.
MPower is an all woman company which supports flexi working and work from home for its women employees among other privileges.”
What made you passionate about ‘Coaching’?
I work in the field of human connection. Interactions with people, connecting with them, sharing our life experiences and learning from them excites me to a degree that I cannot explain. The behavioural training gave me such a high and made me feel extremely satisfied.
Generally at the end of a working day, after working for 8-10 hours standing, interacting people generally feel tired..I always felt energized. I always reached home pumped up on adrenaline. So I enjoyed being a facilitator/trainer immensely.”
However, with the passage of time, I realized that training has an inherent limitation in the way they are designed and executed. My participants and I stayed in touch for only a day or two or a maximum for 6 months if it is an intervention.
The charm, the impact would eventually fizzle out. So many participants reached out post-training to me saying how they loved it, how it motivated them and how strongly they want to work on themselves. I was desperate to find out ways in which they could still continue on that enrichment journey and how I could be a catalyst in it.
When one of my friends told me about coaching, I explored it…. At Voila…. This is what I needed….. with coaching. I am able to help the client make a significant shift in their lives in the areas that they desire. I have seen people coming out of their shells, facing their challenges and working optimistically to achieve what they yearned for.
As a coach, I have seen significant improvement in myself as a trainer- it has made me more reflective, as a person it has made me more empathic, understanding and accepting and most of all – a very good listener. I now listen intently and completely and speak only when required.”
I am passionate about the process of ‘Coaching’ and am convinced that it works. I have experienced the shift in myself and in many others that I know.
It’s a whole new world where I am only a catalyst or an observer with detached curiosity and detached empathy and the process unravels itself. It’s quite magical. I believe in this quote very strongly that “we rise by lifting others”. The same thing Jainism and my spiritual anchor, my Gurudev practices and preaches.
‘MPower Training Solutions’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you solve?
MPower Training Solutions came into being on August 5, 2011, when my colleague and partner Smruti and I decided to name something which caught attention. Since it was about empowering everyone, we chose MPower with an M so that it stands out.
We solve all human resources related problems for our clients starting from finding the right fit candidate to grooming and training him/her and making them work savvy to coaching them one on one and helping them in transitions and career progressions and also setting up systems and processes for SME’s wherein there isn’t much structure.
We facilitate our participants through virtual and in person learning sessions on topics such as communication skills, emotional intelligence, influencing skills, team bonding, leadership, accountability,self awareness to name a few and we ensure that we handhold them by reinforcement of session take away through the intervention route wherein we touch base with them on regular intervals to map their progress and make them more accountable.
In a nutshell, we help people and organizations become more structured and productive.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I am a gritty person. I don’t give up easily. If I believe in something strongly, I don’t settle for anything less, be it any walk of life ( you already know I met 70 odd guys before I chose my Mr. Right).”
Honestly, when I read about the struggles of successful people and also I come across so many who challenge the paradigms and emerge victorious amidst all that goes wrong, I feel I haven’t really faced any such challenges in my life.
I have been very blessed with an ecosystem – rock-solid family support, extremely supportive and talented colleagues, a plethora of learning opportunities which I grab and my spiritual Gurudev’s guiding light.
What drives me is my relentless optimism and passion for what I do. I simply love what I do and hence I feel I haven’t worked a single day in my life. Additionally, values like integrity, honesty, genuine belief in the goodness of people give direction to everything that I do.
Relying on these values has helped me navigate through tumults of life.There have been times where I have had to make difficult choices and almost every time I have made choices in alignment with my values.”
Along with the internal lighthouse, my family, particularly my husband, is my biggest support and rock. He gives courage and strength to make the difficult yet right choices and that is well supported by my father in law, my son, my friends, my colleagues and my extended family.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
I operate very high on achievement orientation. I need to be a better version of myself than I was yesterday. And this betterment is not in terms of material aspects. I will not lie… it is not like that money or status does not motivate me at all. But it does not drive me, it does not push me.
I look forward to learning from everyday experiences and everybody that I connect with daily. When I take such mindful baby steps, it helps me in becoming a better human, better wife, mother, daughter, boss, and definitely a better coach. I get a daily dose of achievement from my daily learning and internalizing them for better actions.
How difficult/challenging is it to create an awareness about mental health especially in Indian societies?
We at our office keep discussing this a lot. We in India, still have a long way to go when it comes to awareness about mental health. I will go a step ahead and say not only awareness but awareness and acceptance of mental health significance. It is very routine to go to a physician when your body can not cope up because of illness.
But when your mind, your emotions…do not cope up…. God forbid..if you seek mental health. It is a big taboo in our society. Further cultural aspects make it more difficult. Let me share an example. When a woman becomes a mother, she goes through a variety of changes- physically as well as mentally. But the role of mother is so glorified in our society, that even women in urban areas hardly know about “postpartum depression” and how common it is.”
It is a humongous task ahead in front of mental health professionals and coaches. But with this pandemic, I see this gloomy picture changing at a steady pace.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
As a person, I think I evolve each day. I am very reflective and introspective, I wake up with determination, do my best on most days in all areas of my life.
I split my time and priorities wisely between work, self-learning, ME time, family time, exercise and health and doing nothing at all.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
It’s the inner drive and passion, the spirituality and the fact that everything is transient, the deliberate choices that I make, enjoying little moments and basically enjoying everything I do and most importantly, my guiding light, my Gurudev who always keeps me on track and my north star goals in my vision so that my decisions and actions today align with what my ultimate goal is.
What about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Seeing my clients conquer their fears, challenges and watching them grow is immensely satisfying. Watching my colleague independently handle work is satisfying. Able to witness myself handling a particularly difficult client is exciting. Knowing my family is proud of me is exciting.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
(a) For me, my mantra has always been ‘Lage Raho’ – Be at it. Don’t give up, no matter what. If not – x, then – y.
(b) Be honest and always deliver much more value than what may be expected from you and more than what you are paid for.
(c) Always be in touch.
(d) Care genuinely.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
Success to me is when you feel content with yourself. To reach this stage I’ve followed a process, which I have come to love. I think:
1) Self-acceptance and self-care goes long way in shaping our life.
2) Grit is another thing that ensures that you optimistically work hard.
3) Integrity – it is the cornerstone.
4) Genuine respect for others.
5) Discipline and dedication – Consistency beats intensity heads down.
6) Taking action – Remember well done is better than well said.
7) Enjoying the journey, celebrating small successes while the bigger goals are still at a distance and constantly redefining and re-evaluating the definition of success.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Be curious and be ready to explore the opportunities with a positive mindset. I can’t assure you about the success at every step., but I can assure you of the satisfaction and the pure joy you will experience when you hold nothing back and give all you have got….in whatever you do. Just be invested in all your endeavours.
Read read read – google is a standby option, not a lifeline. Social media is a lie – It takes away your most important currency – TIME and peace of mind which chronically distracts you making you unable to focus on anything for a long time.
Sounds like granny advice, but I am okay to be typecasted as old school, as such I am an old music lover – both English and Hindi, traditional in my values despite being modern in my thinking.
So, aspire, work hard, sweat it out.. don’t ask for Saturday’s off in your first job. Learn and acquire skills first.
Do difficult things – run a marathon, cycle around, care for the environment, don’t hoard and be a lifelong student.
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.
