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 – Piyali Ganguly for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Coach, Mentor, Trainer, and Consultant. Let’s learn more about her exciting journey, her background and her advice for our growing community.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Piyali:
Talk us through your background and your journey, please;
My professional journey so far has helped me cross-pollinate ideas across a wide variety of industry sectors, including BPO, telecom, retail, Healthcare, and Edtech.
Even before my bachelor’s from Calcutta University in WestBengal, I joined GE Capitals as a Process Associate in their late-stage collections department and then as a Customer Service Executive at Command (now Vodafone), contributing to the growth of telecom service. Thereafter, I worked with a number of companies in India including Cordlife Sciences India Pvt. Ltd, Max Newyork Life Insurance, etc.
Currently, I am working with Canam Consultants as an IELTS Trainer after working for 6 years as a Freelance Trainer. These opportunities helped me to interact with students from various spheres of life.”
How did you discover your passion in ‘Training’?
During my sabbatical, I was approached by an NGO by the name Naandi Foundations to join their organization as a Freelance trainer in the year 2016. That is when I realized that I had a flair for training. Thus I decided to take up training as a full-time career.
In due course of time, I chose Life skills, Soft Skills, Communication and IELTS as my niche and I decided to concentrate on these areas.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I do not believe in letting go without a fight. I faced several hurdles where it seemed to be the end of my career, but I regained the courage to keep trying till I succeeded. I am inspired by the Phoenix which rises up from its ashes.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My life changed around when my pillars; my daughter Aradhya and my brother Subhajit. When I was facing a lot of resistance, the urge to give her a better life kept me going.
To be honest, today so many people want to be with me but back then when the situation was not in my favour very few people took me seriously and no one saw any potential in me. It is because of my pillars that pulled me up every time I was disappointed and lost hope.
Their love has kept me smiling, shining, and warm. My friends have also been very supportive throughout.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
(1) Being mindful
(2) Upskilling myself
(3) Courage
(4) Ability to take risks
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
I believe being negative makes the whole environment around very negative. People around get depressed and sad when they hear sad stories.”
So even when I was unsure or feeling negative about a solution, music healed me and I made sure I tried affirmations and portrayed myself to be positive and steady.
I found that it really helped me and sometimes changed to a very positive result.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
I will say it straight that there are many factors but if you really have to have the key elements then to me these are the ones:
> Accepting & Loving myself.
> Responsibility for my actions
> Standing up for myself
> Resourcefulness
> Curiosity
> Positive Attitude
> Taking massive action (execution) with consistency and belief
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
I think one should first follow their passion and put in the hard work which is required to achieve their goals.
Just choosing a career and doing nothing would not fulfil one’s dreams.
One has to put dedication, effort and hard work into it to make it successful.
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.
