This 21st century has indeed been a statement-making century for women around the world. Decades ago, you would hardly see women getting the recognition for the things they do to build the society. Today, we can mention names like Ai-jen Poo, Malala Yousafzai, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Beyonce among others for their great contributions to society over the past few years.
Also playing her part, all the way from India to Silicon Valley in this great revolution is CEO, actor, author and model Meeta Vengapally (http://meeta.com/), whose good works and perseverance have landed her among the top players in Silicon Valley and recognition by Forbes. She, like many other great women of this century, didn’t have the world at their feet when starting out. But instead of letting this be a hindrance, women like Oprah, Ai-jen and Meeta Vengapally have fought tooth and nail for everything they have achieved today.
In her quest to cause her little change in the world, she started Garnysh. The idea for this fitness and technology startup came from her personal struggles. After giving birth to two beautiful kids within months of each other whiles she was in grad school, she wanted to get rid of the excess weight that came with childbirth. Being a new mother, an actor, a model, writer and top brands influencer, she struggled to add her fitness schedule to her already packed routine. She realized that preparation of her very specific diet was a whole job on its own and adding this to taking care of her kids and her business will be almost impossible. That was when she came up with Garnysh, a Silicon Valley based company that “uses real-time tracking and analytics to support fitness and nutrition goals”. With the help of the very best tech teams in Silicon Valley, this startup is building and testing new products that support users to achieve their fitness goals. Acquired in 2019, Garnysh now is preparing for bigger things.
In addition to being a CEO and Founder, she manages the acting careers of Winston and Sitara, her two wonderful kids who are currently featured on a few Netflix productions. This woman simply doesn’t understand the meaning of QUIT. Constantly pushing for perfection, Meeta Vengapally has built a strong reputation in the Instagram community too. With about 136,000 loyal followers on the platform, Meeta doubles as a top influencer and has worked with over 500 brands throughout her career. Her Instagram is a sight to behold, as she shares her life and personal beliefs daily on her timeline to motivate her followers to join the change making train. You can follow her to join this change-making train.
She takes this mentoring to another level on BumbleBizz, where she mentors other CEO’s who are interested in expanding their network and enriching their experience. She has impacted the lives and businesses of several entrepreneurs from all over the world and is aiming at doing more for upcoming entrepreneurs in the near future.
In one of her many writings, Meeta discusses some strong points for people, especially women entrepreneurs to follow, if they want to be at the very top of their respective fields of work.
Featuring on Entrepreneur, Meeta asked entrepreneurs to:
- Capitalize on their personal challenges in order to build solutions for the world. She leaned on her experiences that led to the creation of Garnysh, to explain the fact that people shouldn’t use their challenges as resting places but rather use them as launchpads for better outcomes. The more you train yourself to capitalize on challenges, you will realize they are not as huge as you first though they were.
- Keep their circle small and close-knit. She stressed that significant others should be the only ones whose opinions matter to you. Allowing many people to influence you will only distract you and hence cause delays in in your journey. Stick to a few people in your circle. These could be a husband, parents and some experts in your field. These could also be your brainstorming team in the office. Whoever your circle is made up of, they should be people you trust totally and those who have understanding of the work you do.
- Maintain focus by working one step at a time. She explained that focus and discipline work hand in hand to produce great success. The ability to resist shortcuts and work hard remains the key difference between a great entrepreneur and a bad one. Shortcuts are mainly dangerous and hence she advises her audience to stay away from them at all cost. Many people who took shortcuts in their business are either in jail or have failed brutally. Learn to work the right way, even though it may seem tiring, it is the only guaranteed way to entrepreneurial success. Many have tried it and there is proof it works so you have nothing to worry about.
- She also encouraged entrepreneurs to be focused, even if they are in male dominated industries. Having worked in Silicon Valley, she understands first hand the pressures that come with working within an all-men community. She encourages female business women to stick to their guns and weather the storm. With time, their businesses will become the talk of the industry. The key here is to not give up, even if people tell you you do not belong. Meeta shares with her audience that everyone belongs everywhere they make up their mind to be. The fact that you never lived in a mansion doesn’t mean you cannot work towards building one.
Meeta Vengapally, in her own way, is trying to make the world a better place one step at a time. You can too. All you need is to persevere and don’t take no for an answer. Push on, woman! Be the best you can be. Let no one talk down on you. Believe in yourself and you will be great.
“But, when you know something is right and you’re clear about where you’re going, stand by your convictions and don’t take no for an answer. That kind of confidence in the quality of your vision and the standards you wish to maintain will help you rise above the crowd and achieve extraordinary levels of success.” Meeta Vengapally