Your confidence, your success

The joy of working in an environment that one has always dreamt of is indescribable. With ‘creativity’, ‘innovation’, ‘experimentation’ and ‘out of the box solutions’, the buzz words today, it comes as no surprise that more and more youngsters are raring to take on the challenges of working for themselves rather than “under someone” and emerge as stand-alone entrepreneurs.

“I don’t want to do a job’’, ‘I want to pursue a career of my own choice’ is a frequently heard refrain of young graduates who are looking forward to step in the real world of jobs and professions.

Metrolife spoke to a few budding entrepreneurs who’ve overcome all hurdles to give shape to their dreams.

“We have always been furious adventurers who are crazy about travelling,” says Poojan Sahil, currently appearing for his final year exams in engineering from Indraprastha University. 

Sahil, his school friends Baneet, Sunny and Guneet’s mantra is “enjoy life”. And how! In April this year they launched their modest branding and marketing start-up, ‘Playground’. “The name clearly suggests our ideology. That’s how we want our lives to be, like a playground,” explains Sahil. 

“None of us desire to work in a job of idea constraints and time limits,” he continues, “ Just the way a  child feels free and happy in a playground, our company is a similar platform for people who don’t want to give up on fun for work,” Sahil tells Metrolife.

A group which regularly goes on vacations and road trips, Sahil and his friends knew that a job in a regular multinational company would never allow them an opportunity to travel frequently. 

While the challenges of insufficient funds are difficult to tackle, working with old school friends made things easy and manageable for them. 
“Even if our parents questioned our ideas, we always had each other’s support. This is the reason why we only want to work with people who match our wavelength,” says the ambitious youngster.

Team Sahil’s achievement to “answer to no one but themselves”, is the dream of many a college pass-out who dreads parting ways with friends and fun to enter the increasingly tough and competitive job market.  

The story of 25-year-old Smriti Chadha, a graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology is not so different. Chadha owns her own brand of handbags called ‘3 mad chicks’, started in collaboration with her friends Ankita Negi and Oshima Jain.

Sharing her experience, Chadha tells Metrolife, “Things were even more difficult for us since people never took us seriously. Comments like ‘ladkiyon ko kya pata hoga’ and ‘arrey yeh to bachchi hain’ were a common part of our struggle.”

Chadha’s never-day-die spirit is inspiring. She presently sells a quirky collection of bags online and through retail fashion stores across the city. 

“People always tried to take us for granted. They had clichéd notions of ‘feminine innocence’ and considered us to be completely unaware of the market and its demands. However, we were confident enough to overcome these minor hindrances because our college made us well versed with general sourcing and business ideas,” she says confidently. 

Twenty-two year-old Siddharth Kalra is blessed with a similar passion and faith in his abilities to establish himself as a graphic designer. He recently set up his own design studio ‘Dreamjar Studios’. 

Kalra dropped out of his dream post-graduation college, Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, where he felt discouraged about his ideas being “restricted to the confines of a class room.”

“During my days as an undergraduate, I saw my designs being executed as advertisements that were printed on huge billboards. Even though I waited to get into Srishti for three years, the college failed to come up to my expectations,” says Kalra. 

Refusing a ‘well-paid’ job in one of the biggest advertising agencies in Dubai and dropping out from one of the best college of design, Kalra never gave up on his dreams.

“I never wanted to execute someone else’s ideas. When one works for an already established company, its brand image only involves refining of the already existing designs. Whereas, working for a new brand gives me the opportunity to give my personalised image to the brand and I get to see my own ideas taking shape,” he explains.

It is these stories of determination that inspire and empower our instincts and beliefs. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had once said, ‘You have to dream, before your dreams come true.’ In the challenging game of life, one needs to remain confident and hopeful and success will be an easy goal!