As part of our relentless pursuit to identify and share with our community some of the unique and compelling stories from the ecosystem, this week we invited yet another passionate women entrepreneur Sneha Surti to understand more about her journey. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Soft Skills, Corporate and Aviation Trainer, Coach, Mentor, Consultant, Influencer and Change Enabler. Sneha is the Founder of TransformStory. Let’s learn more about her background, her incredible journey so far and her advice for our community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Sneha:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
My professional journey of 18 years has been quite a roller coaster. It’s a family tradition for us to take up Science after school. My siblings and I had to do it and didn’t score too well after. Then I was lured into taking up Information Technology as my specialisation in 2004. A trap again, I thought.
My family includes my younger brother who’s a Doctor, my older sister who’s highly educated and works in Canada and my father who possesses tonnes of degrees and my teacher mom in Mumbai.
So in my second year of BSc IT, I was gifted with the opportunity of giving an airline interview. As a kid I always wanted to become an astronaut and then an air force pilot and then a commercial pilot – but without studying Math and Physics. This interview however changed my life, it at least got me closer to my dreams.
I became a flight attendant at 18 and was already seeing 40 countries in the next 8 years. Travelling around the world and experiencing different cultures does change you. 12 years went by and I decided to get into training.”
While I was flying I finished my graduation in IT from Mumbai University and then became a Major in Sociology. Just to break the notion of people looking down upon Cabin crew I would like to highlight, that I have flown with engineers and PhDs as Flight attendants because they get to work and travel at the same time. Things people do for the love of travel.
I then trained as an Aviation Trainer in airlines and also was training in Dubai for a firm. That’s when I decided to get internationally certified in Soft Skills from the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training. The irony here is, that none of my degrees have actually come to any use yet.
Currently, I am the founder of my training website ‘TransformStory’. It provides Aviation and Soft Skills training. I also take up assignments for Engineering colleges and the corporate world. These opportunities helped me span a wide variety of training domains from the public to private sectors. The most favourite will always be the training that doesn’t pay and is done to help the children who aren’t able to afford it.
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Trainer’?
I discovered it while doing it.
You know when you train people and after a few years they call you for appreciating your hard work and trust you put in them, that’s when the goosebumps tell you that you made the right decision.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
So when people praise me for working even after a fatal stroke and a divorce where my neurologists have told me not to, I only have one thing to ask these people.
Do you know anyone who doesn’t come with baggage?
This is what drives me. I always look on the bright side which is not bright at all in literal terms. I look at the unfortunate people who have left the hospital with major disabilities and can’t do anything.
I’m grateful that I don’t have any such health issues except the medications and I’m healing and inspiring people without them even knowing about the 5cms clot that burst in my brain. It’s something that my parents taught me as a child. If I would not eat they’d always tell me about the underprivileged children who wouldn’t get food at all.”
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My Dad, he has always been my hero.
While he did not come from an affluent family, he strived to carve his own path, and he rocked it! Even today, while being retired from work, he values every penny.
He was and will always remain the biggest source of my motivation – A man who never cared for himself but selflessly ensured his family and children were happy, content and well taken care of.
The credit for where I am today – solely goes to him.
My goal still remains to make him proud. Apart from him, I am blessed with my childhood friends, my brother and my pets.
What are some of the strategies/mantras that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
I’m pretty old-school and philosophical. My strategies/mantras will always be my values.
Being honest, sincere, hardworking, kind, helpful, authentic and appreciating everything you have achieved so far.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
It will always be work, work and work.
What advice would you give to our readers?
Never compare your life to others. We all have a different graph.
Like they say some become a CEO at 30, some at 50 and some may never. I may have travelled the world at a very young age when my friends were slogging studying.
But now they are doing what I was and I’m slogging. Tables turn and life isn’t a bed of roses. So appreciate what everyone is doing and never put anyone down.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
I have met millions of people in my life and what I have seen and learnt is we all have different perspectives of looking at different things.
That is where I get this inspiration from not comparing ourselves to others and respecting everyone’s opinion even if it’s not the same as yours.
Also, being an epic animal lover and rescuer, I want people to co-exist with them with kindness and love.
The most satisfying part will always be surviving a lot of personal and professional fireballs that life keeps throwing. Imagine a life without twists and turns – Boring isn’t it?
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.
