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 women entrepreneur – Neha Purandare for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Mentor and Change Enabler. She is the Founder of Vedway. Let’s learn more about her exciting journey, her background and her advice for our growing community.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Neha:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
I grew up in a very happy and full home in Mumbai with my parents, grandparents and sister. I was always on top of my class and academics came to me easily. My father had his own business, and we went through a hard time during my high school and college years financially.
We had to move to Nasik and all of these changes put me in unknown and uncomfortable places often. They forced me to grow outside of my comfort zone and made me resilient.”
I recovered from a slump in my academics and went on to be first on the merit list among girls in my 12th grade. I completed my Computer Engineering from Sardar Patel College of Engineering (Mumbai University) on a full scholarship and soon after that took on a corporate well-paying job.
I also married the love of my life! Marriage brought along challenges of its own and helped me develop emotional intelligence and build further on my resilience. After a couple of years, my corporate job helped me and my husband to move to the United States. This time in this new country, while really having a good time, I also faced a lot of cultural challenges.
On two occasions, when my American family doctor could not help me with medical concerns me and my husband had, I reached back out to my roots in India, to the ayurvedic doctors and got the help I needed. It made me realize the strength of our simple Ayurvedic way of living and the need for broader socialization.”
The west was already picking up many trends from Ayurveda like yoga and turmeric latte and I saw an opportunity to penetrate the food market to make Ayurveda-approved food available to busy individuals like me.
Vedway was born to help people like me who are busy but want to live in alignment with ayurvedic roots. That’s my journey! I continue to excel in my corporate job and also run a business while being a mom to the most beautiful 10-year-old daughter. Who said you can’t have it all?
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
I am happy to have both, a corporate career and a business and I wouldn’t sacrifice one for the other!
‘Vedway’ 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?
It was born from the AyurVEDic WAY of life that matches our times today. We are bringing food products for the busy individual who believes in the simple ayurvedic ways but does not have help or the time to do some of the cumbersome processes that traditional Ayurveda requires.
We are launching 2 products in particular –
(1) Replacement for Bornvita that is chocolate flavoured but made of 100% natural nourishing ingredients.
(2) A lactation blend for lactating moms who want to ensure the quality and quantity of their breast milk is optimal for child development
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I wake up every day and only focus on the actions that I can take today. While I have learnt from mistakes in the past and I do plan for the future, I do not fixate on the insecurities of the future or the past. Keeping focused on actions I can take today allows me to enjoy the process.
Think Big, Start Small and Learn Fast has been my mantra
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My husband Sameer and my 10-year-old daughter Sana love and support me unconditionally.
I am in no way a stereotypical wife or mother and even so not only do they appreciate me for who I am but also root for me every single day!!
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
> Knowing when to plan out far in the future and when to live in the present moment and take a one-day-at-a-time approach and let things play out
> Keeping an abundance mindset
> Being focused on the people around me!
> Enjoying the process.
With so much going on, how do you start the day to keep your passion alive?
My passions keep me feeling more alive… I do nothing for them, they do everything for me! I’m grateful and humbled by the passions I have!
What is the one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
The trust and believe that I can figure it all out. It may be hard but I can do it!
What business mantras have you embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
~ Being authentic and purposeful in my intentions and aligning them with your actions!
~ Building strong Allies along the way; investing in relationships!
~ Staying open-minded and observant; constant learning and embracing feedback
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
Success is a relative term and each of us has our own way of defining and measuring it.
I equate success to fulfilment and happiness The key to feeling fulfilled and happy really is to refrain from any comparisons and recognise the things that are in your control and those that are not and then being laser focused on taking the right action to move you forward!”
Being optimistic and waking up every day with energy and curiosity to embrace the day helps a lot!
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Students and young professionals will benefit immensely from developing a mindset to embrace delayed gratification instead of making choices that feel the best at the moment!
I would really like them to know that their current situation is not an indicator of their future success and that they can find the resources they need to be successful if they just keep looking hard enough!
One more thing that younger people should know is that we often underestimate what we can achieve in a long span – like in 10 or 15 years… Whatever you think you can achieve, you can actually achieve twice that – if you keep making small progress every day!!
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
That I have charted put my own path. I take pride in all the many challenges that have come my way and the resilience with which I’ve dealt with them and learnt from them.
It feels satisfying to look back and see where I started and how far I’ve come… and I’m only just getting started.
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.
