What's Next For You?

What happens when you decide to change the status quo?

When you look at what you are doing and say “Is this the direction I want to go?”

When you tell yourself, “It’s time to spread my wings”

When you think, “I am willing to do what it takes”

When you wonder about resources and then you tell yourself, “Forget excuses. I will somehow find the resources”

When you think, “It’s okay if the going is slow initially and I run into some roadblocks. I will just follow my star”

When you tell yourself, “Even if I fail or lose money, I need to give this a shot”

When you decide, “Ok, this is it - I am taking the plunge”

And you never look back.

This is every entrepreneur’s and dreamer’s story.

And I sincerely hope one day it will be yours.

Several years ago, Vinitha D’souza  (whom I am proud to call a cousin of mine) decided to give up supervising 250 engineers and generating 1.25 crore rupees a year to start making handmade olive oil soaps and pursue her painting passion on the side.

She did not know whether she would succeed, but she knew she was about to embark on a journey far more fulfilling and exciting than the one she was leaving behind.

Secure in the knowledge that her family had enough money for their needs  - with both her husband and son in stable jobs - Vinitha was encouraged to strike out in a new direction and go where the idea took her.

Thanks to the decision she made back then, Vinitha is the founder-manager of Petals&Herbs, a flourishing hand-made olive oil soap business which she finds truly fulfilling.

When Vinitha is not making her soaps, she finds time to indulge her favorite hobby.

Of course, Vinitha’s ultimate legacy will be the legacy of courage and willingness to change the status quo and adding to the DNA of the great human spirit.

Thank you Vinitha.  You are my hero.

P.S.  Here’s the link to Petals and Herbs, Vinitha’s hand-made olive oil soap-making business.

P.S. 2. Vinitha is just one of my personal heroes.  I have covered some of my other personal heroes in previous posts. If you want to read about Nithya and Uday, you can do so here.  If you want to read about Vinita Piyaratna, you can do so here. If you want to read about Trevor Keelor, you can do so here.

P.S. 3: Here's an interesting Factoid.  According to this Business Insider article, India ranks No. 19 in the world for percentage of female entrepreneurs.  Thailand is No. 1 and Peru is No. 2. The US is 16th.

P.S. 4:  I would like to give a shout out to Arun Bhaskaran of Trident Engineering, Shreekant Jha of P J Commodity Ventures, Ben Silbermann of Pinterest , Vikram Bhaskaran of Samosapedia and Ron and Audrey Garrett of Raga Press  - some of the entrepreneurial lights in my family. Thank you for blazing the trails you have.

P.S. 5:  A shout out to Ashwini Deo – may your budding Bay Area Children’s Freelance Photography business thrive. And to all you budding farmers,vintners, cupcake makers, future e-book publishers, and what have yous – keep the candle burning and may you also grow and thrive.

P.S. 6: And finally a shout-out to all my readers - thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day.