We always strive to bring the finest stories from the world of entrepreneurship. This week we invited Mona Mehra to share her journey with us. Mona is a passionate social entrepreneur, gender sensitivity coach, blogger, soft skills trainer and risk management professional. She is on a mission to spread awareness on the importance of home, gender and equality through her workshop. Let’s read more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with her:
Tell us a little bit about yourself;
I am a risk management professional with 15+ years of experience in the specialized field of business risk solutions including verification, due diligence, frauds, competitive intelligence and Intellectual Property rights issues. I also blog on LinkedIn on various aspects of leadership, soft skills, gender etc. I taught soft skills for some time when I realised my purpose and started to conduct my indigenous workshop “Santulan- Making Gender Differences Work”. The workshop was part of Abhyuday – IIT Mumbai’s Social Entrepreneurship Competition. It was also part of the Global Goals Cast in the area of the sustainable development initiative.
Every place that I have been, I saw that HOMEMAKER is the most derogatory term of today. As a woman, I heard so many deprecating words for a Home and Homemakers from youngsters that I thought of educating and creating awareness among students and young adults that Home is much more than 3 meals, a bed and some clothes. If it was just about these then we would all be living in service apartments. Also that the onus of making a home does not lie just with a woman as it is a necessity for each one of us, irrespective of gender. Since we all start our journey from a home, almost every skill, value and belief have a base there.
For the last 4+ years, I have researched, observed, analysed and put all the learnings of my personal and professional life to make this workshop. I had launched my version 1 of the workshop on 31st March 2018. Feedback was taken on the prototype and the second version was launched on 1st December 2018. Further, I continuously upgrade the workshop. The preview of the workshop and the testimonials and pictures can be accessed at www.visionsearch.co.in
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in?
Work-Life Balance is the need of the hour and there are national and international coaches in the area.
However, I work in a niche area as I am working on a cause to raise the perception of a home. I relate a home to an enterprise to show that every aspect that is there is here also.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
My motivation is women. I have seen women in my life – my mother, my aunts, my friends who were not able to express as to why they are different, why there is so much to do and yet there is no respect for the work done at home, why it is so hard to nurture a child and yet no credit given to the process of building a child from scratch. No respect and no pride in being a woman at all. This is what drives me.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
‘If it is not about money then it is a waste of time’- This thought process I come across everywhere. My question is – There is never going to be an outcome of money in making a home, then do we ban making a home?
Understandably we all need money to run our lives but that is not the only thing we require. We all eventually return home and homemaking requires time and effort. Homemaking is not gender-specific and we all are homemakers as that is where we all return at the end of the day.
If you talk about a home you are seen as unproductive. I guess I am talking about an area which gets to be degraded by everyone who wants to make people productive and the perception of which is so poor that many do not even want to hear about it.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
Emotions drive us and we would become robots without them. I am an emotional person. Money is important and I believe the means should be right. If there is value in your offer then money will automatically come.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I have worked on various projects in risk management under tight deadlines. I observe and research and explore many aspects in our day to day life which are precursors to many skills that are developed over time in individuals.
I find planning to be a key to managing pressure. I manage stress with meditation and also by spending time with my family and friends.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person
Learning is a never-ending journey for me. I am an avid reader and an observer and I learn from others. I learnt from my own actions and am in the habit of reflecting to see what could have been a better way to act. This has helped me grow as a person.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Success for me is a personal thing. Although I see nowadays it is just equated to money and fame. Each person has their own definition of success. For me, success is being happy with myself and my family and giving my best to whatever I do.
FAIL means First Attempt In Learning and I follow that mantra in life. I have failed many times and I feel that the key to success is to get up again and again, keep learning and growing.
What advice would you give to someone starting out particularly women?
Education and learning are vital as that lays the ground for our growth. Believe in yourself and keep moving forward.
Passion, persistence and perseverance will take you ahead.
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.
