“Throughout my life, I have learnt to push myself, move out of my comfort zone and walk that extra mile,” says Nishita Mantry, CEO of My Life Transcript. Nishita has turned the negatives of her life into positives. Coming from a broken home, being obese and a laughing stock for everybody, Nishita grew up to be a carefree child, thanks to her mother whom she calls ‘Mr.Mom- a single parent on double duty.’
Her mom gave her the power of confidence; she stood by her and taught her how to best deal with the problems life had dished out. In the face of all her challenges, Nishita’s foundation was well-laid. She has learnt to stay quiet and let her work speak; she has learnt that there is no need to prove to anyone but oneself. “I challenge myself to be better than yesterday,” she says. However, she has not remained unscathed from all the events in her life.
She has had her share of depression for not having a father figure during her growing years, or for not having a boy friend or for always being a second option for people. But she has not let any of it pull her down in life.
She has channeled all the emotions towards positive outcomes by reading self- help books, attending workshops on personal effectiveness and working on what motivates her and keeps her going. All of it has helped her to understand her self better, love herself and be her best friend. Nishita’s life has been more than about herself. Sensing the struggle for happiness and the inability of people to know themselves, she decided to change more lives. From this desire, her venture, My Life Transcript emerged. It is an institute for value education, through which she aims to educate every child right from three years of age till he/she is able to take a decision on his/her own. She explains, “I believe that if we are ingrained with the right value – system since childhood; it clears a lot of clutter that we go through as we grow.” This is not her first venture and she is not new to entrepreneurship.
A consistent performer at college, she completed her Bachelors in Mass Media and Communication from Mumbai University and went to University of Leeds for her MA in Advertising and Marketing. On her return to India, with the recession season at its peak, her Marwari roots gave her a natural push towards entrepreneurship. Starting a business without any experience was a bad idea and most of her friends had reservations about it. “But I didn’t need any formats on how to run a business. I wanted to create my own style!” In 2009, she started Bamboo Shoot Communication. Simultaneously, she started teaching advertising, branding and direct marketing in different colleges and management institutes in Mumbai and still continues to take classes every morning at 7.00 am before she reaches her work place. She has also authored a book -Brand Management that has been published for the third year course on Bachelor of Mass Media and Communication. Six years back, when I embarked on my journey into entrepreneurship, I didn’t have any fixed set of laws or ideas; I simply kept my heart and mind open, willing to learn and earn whatever came my way. It seemed like the right time to realize a dream, a dream to work for myself and start my own business. The greatest sources of her strength have been her parents who always told her, “We Love you, no matter what, whatever happens we’ll stand by you.” Nishita shares, “When you hear such words time and again from the people who mean the world to you, you attract power. Power to try, power to fail and power to give whatever it takes.” With her experiences in personal life and as an entrepreneur, Nishita has reaIised some of the blocks women entrepreneurs face and is now trying to address those through her program called WIN: Womentrepreneurs Independent Network. It is a community for women who work from home or as a freelancer, excel in their work but lack marketing skills, and women having a great business idea or a concept and need help to develop their brand. “We help women who want to learn the art of marketing, branding and selling their products to outsell, outsmart and outperform at work. All they need is direction and a little inspiration to grow and make it big.” Her next workshop is based on creating and maintaining emotional hygiene. Practising emotional hygiene has been one of the primary ways of dealing with challenges for Nishita. Apart from that she has ensured that she followed her heart and did not get affected by the world judging her actions, strictly staying away from negative people and negative energy, keeping hope alive always. One of the most important mantras of her life has been –“Let your self-esteem and self-worth be of the highest standard. What I mean is that self-esteem and self-worth both sound the same but the difference is that self -esteem is holding your respect in front of the world and self worth is first respecting and acknowledging your own value.”
Nishita who has often fallen into the trap of self-worth did often underquote her clients. Though her team hated it and kept on telling her that they were under valuing their work, she never got the point. One fine day over a casual coffee discussion with a friend self – realization hit and then, “it was like getting a direction, a new light towards your goal.” Nishita who sees herself as a woman in progress has some great advice for women especially women entrepreneurs: Speak Up: Women have a lot of energy in comparison to men. They can start their day at 6 am and end at midnight. What they lack is constructive communication. They always complain but don’t share their real issues, their real concerns. Prioritize: Women entrepreneurs are always challenged to balance between work, household chores, children, spouse, in- laws, parents, social commitments etc. They prioritize a lot on the relation, I would suggest, prioritize your situation. Make a Choice: Break the stereotype that women need to compromise and sacrifice. Most women fall in to this vicious circle of compromise and sacrifice; it is because they don’t voice out their choice. “So take the leap, voice your choice, follow your heart and give it your best shot; success will always shadow you!”