The book is an honest and real take on the journey of one of India’s top influencer-creators navigating the world of fashion blogging and entrepreneurship.

This is the story of how Masoom Minawala, despite multiple setbacks and failures, scaled to the top — and how you can too. Brutally honest, the book is packed with Masoom’s secrets on how to build a new age business and survive in the dynamic world. The book offers valuable insights into the world of social media influencing and the effort required to succeed in a competitive industry. What sets this book apart is its relatability; many readers will find themselves identifying with Masoom’s aspirations and dilemmas.

She’ll Never Make It is a compelling read that inspires readers to pursue their passions with determination and resilience.

Available at Title Waves, Mumbai.

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The website beam.org needs no introduction for it has received multiple awards and recognition for its social impact. It is the world’s first online platform that supports homeless people, refugees and prison-leavers to get off the streets and into careers they love, all through crowdfunded donations. The man behind this social cause is none other than Alex Stephany.

A British citizen, Alex was educated at Haberdashers Aske’s School and later at Oxford University where he graduated in the English language. When he was 19, he secured his first job as an English teacher in China. But soon he moved to law and began working at Clifford Chance, a British multinational law firm, where he didn’t survive long. After working for different companies and experimenting with various start-ups, he finally got into the parking app JustPark and became its CEO. JustPark connects drivers in search of parking with anyone who has a spare space — whether it is a private driveway or a public school. This service is able to generate millions of pounds annually for families and businesses.

Stephany was already a successful entrepreneur when he happened to meet a homeless man at his local tube station. He bought the man coffee and thermal socks and got to know a little about his life. But he realized that giving such temporary solace just wasn’t enough to make a real, tangible difference in his life.

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Have you ever thought why a customer is called king? Why only a few people are able to multiply their customers on a larger scale? The skill of problem-solving which is possessed by only a few is simple. Satisfying all the requirements and demands of customers which may range from a pin to a plane plays an important role.

Do you think this is the only skill you are expected to have as an entrepreneur? Well, no. As an entrepreneur you need to be a persistent leader with good communication, and be great in sales and marketing skills. We always assume an entrepreneur to be a talented college dropout or a seasoned businessman predicting new path-breaking strategies. Absolutely not. Successful entrepreneurs are recognized for their great minds and ideologies. But is this skill really important? Surely it has immense value not only in terms of customer satisfaction but also makes an entrepreneur proactive internally, which definitely reflects positively on the business and success. This skill proves to be a valuable and trusted asset for any business. It is well-known that most appreciations are received by those solutions and efforts which benefit the masses.

Ritesh Agarwal, an 18-year-young boy, observed the problem and adapted the solution as his business model by launching OYO Rooms.

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Masters in Entrepreneurship is specifically designed for graduates who intend to set up an impactful and innovative business. The programme imparts essential knowledge of how to start one’s own business venture and the various facts that influence successful set-up and operations. You’ll learn about the fundamentals of management, human resource development, accounting methods and finance, advertising, marketing and preserving an organization. This programme also gives opportunity to develop your entrepreneurial and managerial skills and may have individual mentoring sessions.
Many institutes offer a one-year PG diploma in Entrepreneur Development, including the following:

• Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai (mkuniversity.ac.in)
• Mother Teresa Women’s University, Kodaikanal (motherteresawomenuniv.ac.in)
• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi (iift.ac.in)

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Fragrant frames

Today, it’s not only possible to capture your special moment as a photo and frame it, but also to add some fragrance to it. Research shows that nostalgia and scent are deeply connected, so every time you go near that picture frame, you’ll be reminded of that fantastic day you graduated… or probably the day when you bought the scented picture frame. With the advances in technology, one day, you might be able to get one with the scent of jalebis or kheer for an even enhanced special effect.

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ENpower (a flagship brand of Enlearning Skill Development Pvt Ltd), has developed India’s first entrepreneurial learning and development programme dedicated to ‘nurturing entrepreneurial minds’ among early teens.

ENpower follows a structured process that helps children learn, inspire and empower in the career area of their passion. It encourages every child to think out of the box, experience the entire entrepreneurship life-cycle and understand entrepreneurial life-skills and processes.

The grand finale of India’s Future Tycoons, the first-ever entrepreneurship platform designed by ENpower to attract young minds to present their ideas, was held on 10 February 2019 at CoWrks, Worli, Mumbai. The event attracted over 1200 teams from 252 schools across 52 cities. It witnessed the top 12 teams competing for a cash prize of Rs 1,20,000.

It was inspiring to witness young school-going children aged 13-17 present their innovative ideas inspired by U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Advit Ranawade, 13-year-old student from Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai; Anisha Jani, 14-year-old student and Rahil Chadha, 15-year-old student from Arya Vidya Mandir School, Bandra (W), Mumbai, were adjudged the winning team. Their venture Bloom is based on the idea of an external tap attachment consisting of an array of sensors, Digital IOT tech and Micro nozzles, which converts water to mist. The aim is to conserve water and reduce its consumption by 90%. Advit had come up with an idea to make a FitBit for water taps that converts water to mist, thereby reducing the water flow and saving the amount of water utilized.

The venture of the Second Runners-up team from AVM Bandra, Owlett, provides students with news from around the world that is fun and easy to read. Since children are unable to form opinions about current events due to the jargon used by newspapers, the idea was to make a simplified version of newspapers for children.

The First Runners-up team from Hyderabad presented True Wipes that converts wasteful corn crops into chemical-free, handmade wet wipes with high water-holding capacity.

The Most Innovative Idea was won by a team from Kota which took part in the event via video conference. Their idea has multiple products which advocate water conservation and re-use of grey water in the flushing system of toilets.

The Best Brand Idea was bagged by a team from National Public School, Chennai, with Enfocation, a platform that provides experiential learning through local skilled workers who also benefit in the form of additional income sources. The Best Elevator Pitch was won by another team from National Public School, Chennai, whose venture FreEd, allows public school students to partner with private school students for their education. The Best Business Model was won by Poshan, yet another team from the same school, for their app that provides healthy meals for pre-teens from home chefs.

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Starting with International Women’s Day last month, The Teenager Today has been bringing you a series on women entrepreneurs, ‘Women Mean Business’. Each article will introduce to our readers an inspiring woman entrepreneur or professional and give us an insight into what shaped them and their experience of entrepreneurship.

Since time immemorial, man has looked to the skies for inspiration. In this issue we meet one such wonder woman, whose quest for adventure made her reach for the skies, literally and figuratively!

Meet Leena Juvekar Duttagupta, entrepreneur and partner in Adonis Aviation Enterprises, an integrated aviation company in the business of providing aviation charter services pan India and overseas.

Adonis Aviation’s services cover a wide spectrum right from executive and business charters, aircraft for product launches and promotional events, film shoots, sports charters as well as for aerial surveys to medical evacuation! Their fleet of flying machines include executive business jets, turbo propeller aircraft, helicopters and drones. They also provide sales and purchase as well as organize aviation-related permissions making them a one-stop solution for clients’ flying needs. The aircrafts are flown by the most experienced pilots and are maintained by a professional engineering staff with flight safety and good engineering practices as the main objective.

India aims to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030. Today, affluent individuals, VIPs and corporates are increasingly turning to private charter services for their travel needs due to the flexibility that such services offer at a comparatively reasonable cost.

This is the story of a woman entrepreneur who stormed this male-dominated field and is now recognised as one of the premier aviation service providers in the country.

Leena was a typical school-going child when, at the age of 7, her life changed dramatically. Her father met with an accident at the mill where he was working. He was bedridden for a year, and received no compensation from the company. Somehow they pulled through this difficult period, but a few years later when union problems erupted at the mill, things became tough once again.

Leena’s mother took on odd jobs like cooking, selling vegetables and sarees and picking up and dropping children from school to support the family. Leena helped in whatever way she could at her tender age. When she reached the 9th standard, she took up part-time jobs. She completed her graduation in Arts but chose not to study further due to financial constraints. To add to the pressure, her father’s mill closed down and, since both her younger sister and brother were studying, Leena joined hands with her mother to take on the responsibility for the family’s needs.

Aviation had always been Leena’s passion and she convinced her father’s friend, who ran an aircraft Maintenance & Repair Organisation (MRO), to give her a job, thus beginning her journey in this sector. Her salary of Rs 1,750 per month was not enough to support her family, and so she simultaneously took up tuitions for students to augment her income.

Leena thereafter worked in seven different aviation companies in different departments, thus gaining the knowledge she would need to set up her own business. In 2011, Leena and her brother Rahul started their partnership aviation company, Adonis Aviation, with barely Rs 60,000 as seed funding.

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Starting with International Women’s Day last month, The Teenager Today has been bringing you a series on women entrepreneurs, ‘Women Mean Business’. Each article will introduce to our readers an inspiring woman entrepreneur or professional and give us an insight into what shaped them and their experience of entrepreneurship.

India has long been known for its glorious traditions in textiles and fabric design. And among its most loved are its handloom creations. Alas, these works of art, painstakingly crafted by hand, are seeing a slow death, taken over by power looms and modern automated processes, thus putting at risk the livelihood of these traditional weavers.

Enter Mrunmayi Avachat, a fashion designer and entrepreneur who took it upon herself to revive the dying handloom industry and ensure that weavers were given a fair deal.

Mrunmayi grew up in Nashik where she completed her education in the science stream. Her father is an architect and her mother owned a small tailoring workshop, both of whose skills are beautifully woven into what Mrunmayi chose as a career later on.

Mrunmayi was drawn to art forms at an early age, participating in and winning numerous inter-school drawing competitions and also being trained in Kathak under Guru Rekha Nadgauda, under whose tutelage she performed on stage and even won a prize at the all-India level. Right through childhood, she was greatly influenced by personalities who came from smaller towns and made it big. She used to read about designers and how the fashion industry was shaping up as a formidable sector in India and this instilled in her a desire to contribute to this growth story.

Fashion design was not considered a wise decision back then given its association with glamour and hence a most definite no-no for academically bright students. However, Mrunmayi chose to follow her heart and study fashion designing at the PV Polytechnic of SNDT, Juhu. Fashion greats such as Neeta Lulla, Hemant Trivedi, Wendell Rodricks and Priyadarshani Rao were her teachers, and doyens of the fashion world such as Manish Malhotra, Meher Castelino, Sabira Merchant, etc., mentored the students. In their graduating collection displayed at a fashion show sponsored by Femina with professional models walking the ramp, Mrunmayi’s collection won the award for the best outfit of the year! A placement with a fashion house followed immediately and Mrunmayi’s professional career took off. Luckily, all her jobs from then on required her to take decisions on product development and that gave her the confidence to launch off on her own a few years later.

While working with Walt Disney as Creative Head, Disney Consumer Products (Fashion), Mrunmayi felt that there was so much more in product development that she could do which was not possible in her corporate job profile. She had always had an inclination towards ethnic wear and hand embroideries. So, with her friend Nikita, she decided to explore some art and crafts and adapt them to more urban wear outfits. They started with the phulkari embroidery of Punjab and to preserve the authenticity, sourced it from village women near Patiala. They thought of giving a name to their creations and came up with NIKAYI which means ’A small (rare) collection’ in the ancient Pali language. Additionally, it also had their names (NIK – Nikita & AYI – Mrunmayi) in it and they started selling under the label. It was fun and they created a small range which got a welcome response from people and got sold instantly among their friends and colleagues.

Mrunmayi and Nikita then went to Madhya Pradesh and met some handloom weavers. This trip changed their lives. They realized that the younger generation in the weavers’ families were not interested in weaving. Most had taken up odd jobs and migrated to cities to make their living. It hit the duo hard; they realized if this continued our children would never ever see handloom products in their lifetime.

They also discovered other facets to the weavers’ existence — that they were not paid well, that they lacked sophistication in their techniques and that it included a lot of manual hard work which the meagre remuneration they received for the same simply did not justify.

NIKAYI began working with a few top weavers to make fabrics/sarees and dupattas to suit urban preferences.

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A couple of months ago, Manushi Chillar was the toast of the nation, indeed the world, as she confidently won the Miss World title in China. However, what many do not know is that the person behind the confidence and poise and, indeed, Manushi’s life-view, was a diminutive young lady by the name of Nidhika Bahl.

Nidhika hails from a middle-class family of entrepreneurs and was born and brought up in Delhi. After securing a B.Com. (Hons) degree from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Nidhika went on to do an M.Sc. in Finance from Lancaster University (UK). Over the next 7 years, Nidhika held positions in companies across the U.S., U.K. and India.

Finance and numbers came easily to Nidhika; however, that did not mean that a lifetime spent in doing just that held great attraction for her. She decided to take a sabbatical and joined a popular theatre group called ‘Ank’, spending the next two years doing theatre. It was at the end of this period that she was picked up by Marching Ants Advertising Pvt Ltd. as a freelance Creative Director.

In 2005, Nidhika moved to Mumbai with her husband. Her family had always encouraged her to start out on her own and in 2006, Nidhika set up Parallel Circles Entertainment, a media firm. As the founder and creative director of PCE, she had the privilege of working with some of the best names in the corporate world such as P&G, Gillette, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Akzo Nobel, CRY Shiksha, ZOYA by Tata and many more.

However, not all was well on her personal front. Nidhika’s marriage was failing and this had a tremendous impact on her health and self-esteem. In 2008, she was diagnosed with major clinical depression which even caused her to make two unsuccessful attempts to take her life. Thus began a long journey with several doctors and specialists — she had to undergo sedation three times a day and therapy three times a week! This lasted for six long years. In the midst of this, Nidhika and her husband decided to separate.

Nidhika feels that what aggravated her condition was her playing ‘the victim’, blaming the world for what was happening to her and looking for solutions outside and trying to change others instead of looking into herself. One day, after almost 4 years of treatment and medication had caused other innumerable related health issues she was introduced by a friend to a multi-level health products company. These products helped her a great deal and she was invited to share her success stories with the group.

This early success made Nidhika determined to bounce back from this situation in her life. It took her six long years of relentless determination and undying faith in herself to deal with all that life threw at her during that period. She started meeting inspirational people and got addicted to reading, especially self-help books. She read nearly 300 books, and this addiction to reading slowly reduced her dependence on medication. One day, she came upon a book that changed her life forever — Joyce Meyer’s The Battlefield of the Mind.

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Saint Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” This sentence comes to mind when one thinks of Mr Albert D’Souza — visionary, philanthropist and renowned industrialist. The first time I got to interact with Mr Albert was at the book launch of Let The Real You Stand Up by Alfonso Elengikal, former editor of THE TEENAGER TODAY. Mr Albert was the guest of honour and I was struck by how much he has accomplished, his contribution to society and how simple he is. In a very special way, this is inspiring — he is testimony to the fact that so much is possible in one’s lifetime. There is so much of impact that we are capable of creating! Mr Albert has accomplished so much, built successful businesses and educational institutes that are directly contributing to skilling talent in India. Here is just a glimpse of the multiple roles he carries out and his numerous accomplishments.

Albert Wilfred D’Souza is the Chairman of Aldel Education Trust which has established various technical and professional educational institutions at St John Technical Campus, Palghar, offering education right from elementary schooling to Engineering, Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Arts, Commerce, Science and MBA courses.

He is also the Managing Director of Printania Offset Pvt. Ltd., a leading print house in India. He is the Chairman of Model Co-op Bank Ltd., Vice Chairman of the Christian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Member of the Catholic Council of India, Advisor – Higher & Technical Education, to Archdiocesan Board of Education – Bombay & Diocese of Mangalore. He is also an Executive Committee & Governing Board Member of several minority technical institutes all over India.

He has been felicitated with the Papal Award for Printing Entrepreneurship in 2004, and has also been the recipient of Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2003 and 2007.

I had the wonderful opportunity to connect with him for this interview.

Sir, you have accomplished so much; tell us about your journey as an entrepreneur.
I was born in Udipi and did my primary education at St John’s Higher Primary School, Shankerpura and secondary education at S.V.H. High School, Innanje, Udupi. Since my elder brother and maternal uncle were working in Mumbai, I too came to the city after completing my secondary education. I joined the ITI in Printing Technology at St Francis Technical Institute in Borivli and stood first among all students at Maharashtra level. I was then selected to appear for the All India Competitive Exam in Printing Technology and was declared the topper. Following this, on the basis of my merit, I was selected by a leading private printing concern as a management trainee. The managing director of this concern was impressed by my hard work and sincerity, and on the basis of my performance he sponsored me to pursue a part-time diploma in printing from J. J. School of Arts.

At a young age itself my hard work, involvement and observing nature helped me grasp the skills of the printing industry very quickly. This impressed the people of the print industry whom I was serving. They recognized my talent and encouraged me to start my own venture, which I did in the form of a small printing press with just three employees in a single industrial unit. This was the beginning of my printing career, which blossomed to great heights. The single unit of Printania began in the year 1982 as a proprietorship firm and gradually grew into Printania Offset Pvt. Ltd., a renowned print house not only in Mumbai, but also in several other parts of India.

What inspired you to get into the field of education and what is the vision that sustains the energy and the passion that you have for youth?
I have been in Mumbai since about 43 years and my printing business kept me connected with rest of India. Mumbai being a transit city many youngsters come to Mumbai and struggle with the hope of pursuing careers but without having the desired qualifications. This made me think of the need for higher education institutes. The Catholic community having many schools and general education set-ups, I encouraged the religious congregations in Mumbai and elsewhere to start and run higher professional educational institutions and offered my help to do so. With our efforts were soon able to set up 8-10 institutions in Mumbai and equal number of institutions outside Mumbai. These included Engineering, Management, Hospitality, Nursing and other colleges and these are educating our youngsters in large numbers.

Regarding my own institutions in Palghar, basically I belong to an agricultural family and since I had a passion for cultivation, I bought about 20 acres of agricultural land at Palghar in Vasai, where I started cultivating paddy, coconut, chikoo and other crops. During regular visits to my farm I observed that Palghar was a tribal area. There were not many educational institutions in this region and hardly any higher professional educational institutions. I received support from the local community and since I had the experience in helping to start such institutions, I started my own campus at Palghar in 2008, under Aldel Education Trust, with a vision of ‘Excellence in Serving to Educate and Educating to Serve’. The campus has institutions offering Engineering, Pharmacy, Management and Humanities programmes. With increasing demand, diploma programmes in Engineering and Pharmacy were added followed by a CBSE school and a junior college.

My vision is to create a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in existing areas of higher education and in the additional programmes that are being planned. In the near future, St John Educational Campus should be able to provide holistic education in a wide array of programmes for any student desiring to pursue higher education. India has vast resources and is fast developing. My wish is that our young and dynamic youth realize this potential and become stakeholders of this developing India.

When and how were the seeds of reaching out to society, building society sown? What drives and inspires all the work you do?
I have been brought up in a family of social motivation and concern. My parents and grandparents created awareness and sensitized us to societal needs. In the early stages of my career I realized that every person has an internal desire to develop himself, but may not be able to accomplish his dream for reasons that may be beyond his reach. Over the years I was convinced that one of the prime reasons for a successful career was higher education and that professional qualifications almost always resulted in gainful employment. The desire to see many more of our youth with better prospects has been the driving force and inspiration for me. Education and skill development are key factors in all areas and supporting this cause has been my key motivator.

What is your advice to youngsters who are beginning to think about and design their career?
It is essential that every youngster, boy or girl, study up to the age of 23 years. Pursuing a post-graduate degree is vital to achieve one’s goals. They should develop technical competencies and have a special skill in a chosen field so as to become gainfully employable. Education develops all three dimensions of knowledge, skills and personality, which along with values and ethics result in a person becoming readily employable. My message also to this young generation is that after they gain reasonable experience as employees in their respective areas of expertise they should take up the challenge of being entrepreneurs. This will contribute to the growth of our country.

What are the important qualities to be a successful entrepreneur?
A successful entrepreneur should possess the following qualities:

• An innovative and enterprising mind.
• Good financial planning.
• Risk taking ability.
• Alert and looking for opportunities.
• Hard-working.
• Adapt readily to the changing business environments.
• Ability to work for long and extended hours.
• At least two good friends or mentors who are dependable and will always support you unconditionally.

Your message to our readers.
I have always believed that opportunities are available; it is our perception of situations and how we respond to take charge of them that decides the outcomes.

Two of my chosen quotes which reflect what I would like to convey to the youth are: “Sea is common for all, some take pearls, some take fishes & some come out with just wet legs. World is common to all but we get what we try for” and the second: “Everything is easy if you want to do it, everything is difficult if you don’t want to do it”

I would also like to tell our youngsters that whatever they have learnt or studied to step into a profession, is not permanent. To build and design your career path you need to update yourself with relevant knowledge and upgrade your skills to keep yourself abreast with developments in your field and rapid improvements in technology.

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