As part of our ongoing quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, we have invited – Sanchiyta for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Coach, Trainer and Image Consultant. Let’s read more about her inspiring journey and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Sanchiyta:
We are aware of your contributions to the startup ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey as a women trainer, please;
I am a commerce graduate with a Masters in Finance & Control. I am also a Soft skills trainer & Image Consultant. I will share my background and my journey till now which is in actuality my own journey of self-transformation and self-awareness.
I am basically a Punjabi and grew up in a loving conservative family. During my college days, I was not much aware of my interests and goals and ended up studying commerce while my actual inclination lay in Arts, English & economics.
I am a creative person and have a great understanding of human emotions. I did not achieve anything fruitful by pursuing finance as my passion lay elsewhere.
After having worked with a CA for a year and another 3 years as a teacher I got married to a senior IT guy. I was a full-time homemaker for 11 years day in and day out. In these11 years I got to travel to various places because of my husband’s job and finally zeroed on living in Bangalore.
I am the mother of 2 boys aged 12 and 7. After they became a little elder I started my search for self-discovery. It is not that I did not like my job as a homemaker in fact I do cherish the time I gave in setting up a home however deep down I was not truly happy. When I was introspective I realised till now I had been doing things that others wished me to do, I never took my own decisions so somehow I landed in an unhappy space.
I wanted to have a grip and better control over my life, do things which would make me truly happy so that led me to explore various jobs. I did sales for a year. Getting a job after 11 years acted as a big booster to my confidence. I went to a beauty pageant, Mrs Empress Universe.
Although I did not get to the finale but won a special recognition award. This again boosted my confidence. It was during that time I thought of doing this course from ICBI. I was always interested in fashion and values, ethics & behavioural skills are something I really believe in so this course perfectly fit the bill.
Please share with us a unique challenge you faced in your early career?
Well, I am just a year old in my new career however I will share a few of the myths and notions around this career. Although there is a lot of scope in the area of Soft skills however many people have a belief that these are not as important as IQ or the Intelligence quotient. Little do they know it is the right balance of IQ and EQ or emotional intelligence which will contribute to their success both on the professional as well as the personal front.
Coming to Image consulting people think it is fashion but it is much deeper than fashion, rather it breaks the stereotypes set by the fashion industry with regard to our body shape, skin colour and choices in clothing. Image is all about embracing ourselves and being confident in our own skin.
When we dress up according to our body shape, skin colour, our personality, our inner values, the occasion etc. We tend to look the best version of ourselves and that’s how we are able to create a style statement which is distinct.
How did you discover your passion?
I had been seeing the ad of ICBI, one of the premier institutes in Soft skills training & Image consulting in the newspaper for the last couple of years as a second career option so somewhere it was always in my mind.
So after the pageant, I decided to go on with a course which was relatable to me in many aspects. I gathered funds to finance the course and also the will power to go ahead with it.
With so much going on, how do you start the day to keep your passion alive?
Although I am a born Hindu, I have been a follower of Buddhism for the last few years, I start my day with prayers and chanting. Spirituality gives me all the strength and clarity I need to start my day on a positive note.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Choosing the career of your passion, making your own choices, setting goals and working hard towards those goals, being a giver, being self -aware about your strengths and weaknesses, capitalising on your strengths, working upon your weakness, never comparing yourself with others as everybody’s circumstances are different, comparing only yourself, your performance, taking failure as a stepping stone to success, reaching out to people in case you break down, and the most important never giving up no matter.
We know that you are continuously engaged in helping others achieve their goals. Why do you do that?
This being my chosen profession so through this I help students & professionals to become better communicators, develop better interpersonal skills, negotiation skills better conflict management skills, better leadership skills and also help them in creating their good outer image which is in sync with their inner self-image by working upon their body language, appearance etc.
It gives me a great deal of satisfaction when I am able to bring changes to my clients which will help them to become their better version both in their professional and personal lives.
When I am training individuals, it becomes my learning as well, the more I interact with different age groups and segments it pushes me to dwell deeper within to find solutions best suited for my clients so I too learn in the process. I am an outright people’s person and I get empowered by empowering others.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
As mentioned above while making career choices, don’t go by peer pressure or parents pressure, follow your own heart and work hard towards achieving your goals, rest will fall in a suit, do good, be good, work towards building a healthy mind, body and soul, don’t hurt others, don’t criticise others, don’t compare yourself with others, don’t take failure to heart, reach out to people in case you falter, never stop believing in yourself no matter what, never give up on yourself, live life to the fullest as you get to live just once and Respect all!
Before we sign off any advice you wish to give to our audience with regard to the current pandemic which has grappled the whole country?
Yes, I surely have a special message for all our audience. These are very testing times for the country and world at large. Never may have we witnessed sufferings on this large scale be it the death of a loved one or job or financial loss, emotional distress.
We are living in an age where we are loaded with information at the click of a button half fake half real. This sharing of information amongst people on WhatsApp or Twitter or other social media is adding up to our anger, anxiety and causing rifts. It is very essential for us to be prudent as to what to believe and what to ignore and not lash out at each other.
We need to be very humble and kind to each other no matter which race, colour, caste, religion or ideology we belong to. Now is the time to rise above all. Now is the time to be truly humanistic. Now is the time to give hope to all our near and dear ones, now is the time to be united in our prayers.
Now is the time to show the world the triumph of the human spirit. We are all in it together and collectively we will sail through it. My prayers and wishes for you all.
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.
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