As part of our endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the startup ecosystem, we invited yet another seasoned entrepreneur and business leader Shalima Motial for an interview with us to understand more about her exciting entrepreneurial journey so far. Shalima Motial is the Founder & CEO of Dream Catchers Vision Pte Ltd, an events company based in Singapore.
Dream Catchers is a 9-year-old Events company that has caught the dreams of many people through its various niche events and has created a solid platform for artists across age groups and nationalities. Dream Catchers has co-produced many events with prominent channels like Zee TV which were aired to a huge diaspora of millions. They have organised 35 nationwide contests and scores of stage events both competitive and non-competitive. Let’s learn more about her journey and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Shalima:
Talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
My motto in life is “No Harm Trying”. I have always said a big YES to all the interesting opportunities that came my way, with enthusiasm. Which probably explains why I have a Masters degree in English Literature, an MBA from NACOLAM, and Fashion Designing degree. I then flew as cabin crew, dabbled in PR before finally starting my journey as an entrepreneur, 16 years ago. I believe in the attitude of gratitude & possess a positive attitude towards life. That has helped me learn from every situation and every individual that I have met.
I started Dream Catchers with a desire to serve as a stepping stone to help performing artists in their journey to discovery. This evolved along the way to create platforms such as Runway Mom to promote women and women entrepreneurs.”
I am a passionate actor. I have now been a part of many stage productions, short films and commercials as either an actor, emcee or a model.
I hosted a contest for Singapore that aired on MTV Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. I have performed in over 35 theatre productions as an actor. So in recent years, I combined my passion for acting with my entrepreneurial desire to create a Theatre Production called Timeless Tales.”
We performed to 700 people with a cast of over 60 artists from 16 different Nationalities. Timeless Tales was in partnership with another Singapore company Arc Light Productions.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
Honestly, I chose this as I know I am passionate and hard-working, so instead of putting in so much work for someone else’s dream, why not work towards my own.
I love being my own boss, I like to have flexibility in my timings and wanted to have a good work-life balance. Though I realised later, as an Entrepreneur you are literally never on a break.”
Since I had experience in varied fields, being an Entrepreneur lets one use all skills possible. It’s a huge investment of time, money, emotions and a constant learning process. One needs to keep evolving the idea and yourself. It’s very exciting and challenging at the same time.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
When I launched Dream Catchers, it was a new concept, online talent showcase company, people hadn’t heard of it. So it was a huge challenge to explain to people that if they are singers, musicians, it’s a win-win situation for them, they have nothing to lose. Some of my closest friends didn’t understand what we were trying to achieve through the platform. With time, as we evolved and got into events, the challenge remained as I always did “Niche” events but by that time my marketing skills had sharpened too, so I started making videos and posting on social media explaining the concept of my events.
The other challenge was the earnings and cash flow. So after the first two years, I realized I had to manage my costs. I joined hands with other local organizations to leverage and share costs. This helped us amplify the impact of what we were doing.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Dream Catchers is an events company which is into all kinds of events and Theatre productions as well, with the COVID situation we are hit hard but by God’s Grace with a never say die attitude, I dabbled into short film making and have produced 3 short films under Dream Catchers banner, these have been selected for many Film Festivals across the globe and have also received huge viewership. Since these films cover very relevant topics of “Domestic Violence” and “Mental Health Awareness”, they have been well received, hope our message through these films helps people save lives, their own if they are in the situation or a loved one’s. So as an Entrepreneur, one has to keep re-inventing and adapting to the situations. These shorts films are FlipSide and Caged.
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
For me it’s always emotions first, when you have the right intention, when you have the other person’s interest in the heart before yours, money flows. Though one needs to eventually know how to balance both well as businesses don’t run only on emotions. But for me, God has always opened doors. So for me what has always worked is right intention and immense hard work
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
As an entrepreneur stress, nervousness, excitement and many other varied emotions are a part and parcel of the journey.
One needs to be very organised and once you have a to-do list and are able to tick most things on it, stress becomes less. I always have back up and my back up is the strongest😊. I do my best and leave the rest to God and till date, I have not been disappointed, so I am a happy customer.”
Our audience wants to know – what has worked well for you so far?
I would say, everything has worked brilliantly. There are always initial hurdles, doubts and a lot of hard work that goes into any project but eventually, it all pays off. I have partnered with different companies for different projects and in that, I have realised that when 2 companies with different strengths come together, the project gets more power to be successful. That’s how Dream Catchers partnered with Zee TV and did very successful events that were co-produced. Leveraging always helps. Network with the right kind of people, people who inspire you, who you can learn from. The right mindset, not losing my kool, confidence in God which is also known as Godfidance and love in my heart for everyone and life itself works magic I guess. I also love learning from everyone and everything, I call myself a student of life, that works well for me too.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I am still taking baby steps and working hard, miles before I actually call myself successful. I always feel both overwhelmed and humbled when asked to give interviews and speak at forums about my journey and success. So far what I have learnt is that hard work, perseverance and keeping your target audience/client’s best interests in mind always help. When you have your heart in the right place, everything works in your favour. When you come from a place of “Life is for me and not against me” then you are in gratitude always and that’s the best attitude to have.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring women entrepreneur?
I would say “Dive into it”. The satisfaction of working for yourself, towards your dreams and being your own BOSS is unparalleled. Be ready for a lot of hard work and be mentally prepared to not see instant success, there will be a lot of doubts in your mind, keep re-discovering your idea till you get the eureka moment. You’ll learn a lot in this journey so be ready to be a student. You’ll definitely not regret taking the plunge.
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.
