Women Who Inspire - Shrinithi Venkatesa Mohan From Shiksha Junior Preschools - Interview Series

I'm so excited to present this interview series for all you lovely readers of my blog. This series - "Women Who Inspire" features interviews of some lovely ladies that I know. I love what they do & I admire them a lot. I thought of passing some inspiration to all of you too! This interview series will give you a little sneak peek into the lives of these women.

Today, let us hear from Shrinithi Venkatesa Mohan (SVM) who is the founder of Shiksha Junior Preschools, Shiksha School For Teachers & Parents & Shiksha School For Autism.

Shrinithi Venkatesa Mohan, from Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu, graduated in Computer Science Engineering and started her career working as a software developer. But the entrepreneurial bug bit her real hard right after she graduated and she was looking at opportunities. She went abroad for her Masters in Computer Networking and living the American dream in NYC. But somewhere she was never satiated with what she was doing and thoughts of heading back to India and to her hometown to start something on her own were there. Her husband was in London during the time and they made a conscious decision to move back to Coimbatore. She was going the family way that time and tried different hats from tailoring to skill training to getting back to IT to what not. But being the mother of her newborn daughter made her choose a career that will accommodate her daughter and her limited work timings and that drew her to starting her career as an early childhood educator.

Shrinithi's ventures include -

Shiksha Juniors Preschools

Shiksha School for Teachers and Parents – A Montessori and early childhood training institute that skills teachers and parents enabling them to facilitate better learning experience for their children.

Shiksha School for Autism and other needs

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

K : Think back to five years ago. Did you envision this is where you would be?

SVM : Yes!

K : How did the idea for your business come about?

SVM : After becoming a mother.

K : Describe your typical day.

SVM : I have setup businesses in such a way it functions even without me being involved in every day operations. I work from home more these days with my second born being 8 months old.

K : How many hours do you work a day on average?

SVM : For me it is all integrated I can never segregate my work and family hours.

K : What are your ideals?

SVM : Be honest and open about what you can offer and what you cannot offer in your business. Never regret to say "no". Lot of times entrepreneurs are scared to say no in the fear of losing customers. I don’t believe in over promising and under delivering.

K : What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

SVM : When I realize the impact that we are making in so many peoples' lives as an entrepreneur.

K : How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

SVM : I live in a joint family setup and regularly communicate with my in-laws, partner and kids about what I am going through, share my aspirations and ups and downs. I think it has helped me a lot in building my career.

K : What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?

SVM : I wouldn’t call it a sacrifice but I have given up a lot of social life and other fancies to be diligent in my work :)

K : What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?

SVM : I always have rushed into decision making in the early part of my career, now I am much more mature in decision making and do not act based on emotions in my venture.

K : Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?

SVM : We want to impact a large number of parents-teachers-children.

K : In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur

SVM : Hyper!

Thank you so much Shrinithi for taking out time for this chit chat! It was a wonderful talk session and I wish you good health, peace, happiness & success in your venture!

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Women Who Inspire - Swathi From The Bookmark - Interview Series

I'm so excited to present this interview series for all you lovely readers of my blog. This series - "Women Who Inspire" features interviews of some lovely ladies that I know. I love what they do & I admire them a lot. I thought of passing some inspiration to all of you too! This interview series will give you a little sneak peek into the lives of these women.

Today, let us hear from Swathi (S) who is the founder of The BookMark.

Swathi , a crazy wife, mom of a little champ Athilan and an entrepreneur by profession. She holds a post graduate degree in Software Engineering & worked in a college as an Assistant Professor and then took a break for her kid. When she felt how important is the parenting journey and how important is the physical and psychic development of a child, she decided to take a break in her teaching career and started spending more time with her son. And soon after this, THE BOOKMARK was born!

The Bookmark is her children's bookstore that has a wide genre of curated collections from Indian publishers and imported books for all age groups. She is also specialized in setting up libraries for schools and for public. The store also stocks educational toys for kids.

Social Connects

Website | Facebook Group | Facebook Page | Instagram

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

K : Think back to five years ago. Did you envision this is where you would be?

S : When I think of myself five years back, I would have never imagined I would be an entrepreneur in my life.. At that time, I was working in a reputed college as a professor.. All I had in my mind was to fly off to a place to complete my doctorate, return back and work in a college.. But sudden plans of my marriage and birth of my son, the change of location made me leave my job with a drastic shift in my career, from teaching profession to an entrepreneur.

K : What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

S : “The Bookmark” is not merely a name but it is the story of a young parent whose journey into the world of books started with her six months old son. When I felt how important is the parenting journey and how important is the physical and psychic development of a child, I decided to take a break in my teaching career and started spending more time with my son. I strongly believe in early reading for kids and while searching for books for my son I couldn’t find the right choice for my kid. I realized I can help other parents too for the same and my passion to do a business let me to start this. My search also made me realize there is a strong deficit of books on Indian folktales and culture. One thing led to another and the rest is history which resulted in a online and offline store. This became a medium for me to spread the joy of reading and also my love for the print medium – the smell of books and feeling those pages in my hand.

K : How did you learn to embrace failure?

S : I believe in these words -“If you’re never failed, you haven’t tried anything new" by Albert Einstein. My perspective of failure has changed totally after being an entrepreneur. I believe that no one else can have 100% control of everything happening. Failure is a temporary obstacle. Learn from it with a correct attitude. Making the significant change, taking the responsibility, learning from mistakes and making corrections will definitely change failure to be a successful one.

K : How many hours do you work a day on average?

S : Its really a very tough question to answer which varies between 2 to 24 hours. Working time of an entrepreneur can never be easily measured. There has never been a day which could be predicted. Still being an entrepreneur gives me the option to decide my working times too.

K : What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

S : 1. Disciplined and embracing goals and objectives that I have established and set up to inspire myself .
2. The ultimate desire to achieve
3. Love I have for my family keeps driving me out of the bed everyday

K : What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

S : Every time when I see the happiness in parents for bringing up the joy of reading and bonding with their kids through awesome books from “The Bookmark”

K : How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

S : Running a business requires a lot of time, effort and commitment which is more at the initial stages when you cannot afford many employees. When a person becomes an entrepreneur, the personal life gets a little blur. I keep on thinking of the business even when I’m away from my work place. I remain answerable to the calls and the emails as I remain the boss and those can’t be done by anyone else. Holding all positions as a mom, wife and an entrepreneur is a challenging task at many times. There are times where I felt my focus is more on business than kid and family and vice versa but at the end the belief that everything is getting balanced gives you a confident feel and satisfaction to work happily.

K : What sacrifices have you made to be a successful entrepreneur?

S : Time - The biggest sacrifice! I know how most of the times I juggle being a mother, a wife and an entrepreneur. Its not about having enough time. Its about making use of the time effectively becomes very important now.

Social life & relationships - Being overloaded with work and schedules, it becomes very tough you know.

Sleep - No matter how productive I am, still there are days I have to work extra hours at night. One other sacrifice I do sometimes to complete the task of the day. I have been called as night owl.

Quiet “me” times and quitting hobbies - Most of the days are always been completely scheduled and tightly packed with one and another. Most of the time I rush around everything to keep everything in track and monitored.

K : Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?

S : All I believe is that people for sure to associate “The Bookmark” as a synonym for great children's bookstore and I stand with the happiness of spreading the joy of reading to the kids.

K : In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur

S : Happy. Busy. Contented

Thank you so much Swathi for taking out time for this chit chat & I sense all the hard work that is going into the working of The Bookmark store! It was a wonderful talk session and I wish you good health, peace, happiness & success in your venture!

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Women Who Inspire - Kajal Dharod From Your Learning Capsules - Interview Series

I'm so excited to present this interview series for all you lovely readers of my blog. This series - "Women Who Inspire" features interviews of some lovely ladies that I know. I love what they do & I admire them a lot. I thought of passing some inspiration to all of you too! This interview series will give you a little sneak peek into the lives of these women.

Today, let us hear from Kajal Dharod (KD) who is the founder of Your Learning Capsules.

Kajal Dharod holds a Masters in Accounting, a Chartered Account and an MBA in Advertising and Communications Management. She worked in the Financial Software spectrum (SAP software) for about 13 years or so, and then took a hiatus. Her kids were 3 at the time, and she wanted to be based at home and not venture out until they were 5.5 and ready for kindergarten. She pondered quiet a bit on what she should be doing next, in that process she re-discovered herself as an indulged education partner. She wants to unlearn and learn and then decode learning to make it an enjoyable journey for the kids. With this intent, she brought Vitamin Simple to life in 2017.

Your Learning Capsules is her venture to introduce the concept of engaged and integrated learning. Vitamin Simple is the flagship brand of Your Learning Capsules with only one goal – to make learning Simple and Fun.

You can click to check out her Website & Facebook Group.

You can also find some of her awesome books in this blog's SHOP section HERE.

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

K : Think back to five years ago. Did you envision this is where you would be?

KD : No, I did not see that happening over these last 5 years. However, in a very long vision I always wanted to be a part of education and be an educator. I always told people, I would retire as a teacher, never had a starting point figured out though!

K : What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

KD : I have twins, and I just loved being there, and as a natural mom instinct you are always educating your kids – not just book stuff, but so much from how to drink water to how to wear your clothes or be more tolerant , I mean everything ! I loved this ride as a hands-on mommy-teacher and this got me closer every day to discover a Starting Point to my life long goal to retire as a teacher, technically an educator (lol - don’t have teaching credits and don’t want to get in trouble with hard earned teachers with a teaching degree). Also, I am always haunted by creative spirits, not sure if they are white or black, but I am deeply driven to test the waters. 

K : Describe your typical day.

KD : Kuhoo, as a mom.preneur, you’d know best that the one thing we don’t have defined is “a typical day”. What I can tell you is days are very long, very tiring, and sometimes very frustrating and as in any venture your biggest investment is Time!

K : How many hours do you work a day on average?

KD : My days are balancing between kids, home and work – time put in specifically toward my venture is hard to carve out, because even if I am not on my desk working, in my mind I always am! But my days are really long, most days are a 16-hour bet and that includes weekends.

K : How do you approach risk-taking?

KD : Born and raised middle class, my virtue is conservative. To grow, I need to invest my personal finances into the business, but as much as possible I take slow and calculated risks – may not be in the best interest of the business most times.  I have a constant focus to ensure I bring the bare bones back home. It is overwhelming and taxing at times and it’s a daily mental juggle -“Are you sure this is going to work out, yes yes dreams are good, having a vision is good, yes maybe you do have it in you, but everything is a  “IF” . “

K : What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

KD : The biggest satisfaction is just the underlying fact that I am abled and positioned to pursue this venture.

K : What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?

KD : This answer is specific to my current environment and situation – and may not work as a general “for all” answer. For me the key to work is to be sincere – whether you are employed or you are starting on your own. So, the requisition is the same – employed or entrepreneur. You chose your path based on the situation, priority, interest, position and access – I was employed for all this years and just like now when I am on my own, I am all in!

Oh, one last thing, I definitely know one difference, when you are employed you are surely going to get that “fat check”, which right now in my dreams also I don’t get to see! (just kidding!)

K : Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?

KD : Well I am a Class A movie-inspired person, in my fact check sessions also some movie or character is playing at the back of my head which tells me I am going to get somewhere, I mean significant somewhere in 10 or 20 years. I better! I am aiming for Mars right now, but I am thinking at least the Moon, if not just on Earth, if nothing then better tried then not… jokes apart, I have no clue, but I do practice my Oscar speech every day, just in-case!

K : In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur

KD : Passionate!

Thank you so much Kajal for taking out time for this chit chat & I loved your witty comments! It was a wonderful talk session and I wish you good health, peace, happiness & success in your venture!

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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Women Who Inspire - Surekha Jadhav From My Dream Shop - Interview Series

I had been thinking to do this for long time & now I'm so excited to launch this interview series for all you lovely readers of my blog. This series - "Women Who Inspire" will feature interviews of some lovely ladies that I know. I love what they do & I admire them a lot. I thought of passing some inspiration to all of you too! This interview series will give you a little sneak peek into the lives of these women.

Today, let us hear from Surekha Jadhav (SJ) who owns an online store My Dream Shop.

SJ is a homeschooling mother of 2 enthusiastic kids, 12 years old daughter and 3 years old son. She has completed a degree in computer science. She holds special interest in early childhood development and has experience in working with children of different age groups. She left her career for children and recently she has started a small venture of manufacturing wooden open ended and educational toys. 

Click here to go to her Online Shop & Facebook group

Her open-ended wooden toys are also available in the shop section of this blog HERE.

K : Think back to five years ago. Did you envision this is where you would be?

SJ : No, I didn't think of doing exactly what I am doing right now but yes I wished to do something in early childhood development.


K : What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

SJ : I always eyed on couple of toys for my children. But because of their unavailability in India or the cost factor, I was unable buy them. Considering the benefits of toys, I thought of giving it a try to make some toys myself and it worked out pretty well! Further, I thought of selling them so that parents in India can buy them at affordable prices. This gave birth to My Dream Shop - handcrafted wooden toys.

K : Describe/outline your typical day.

SJ : This question is really hard to answer.  I start my day before my family members wake up so that I can get some me-time. I do some exercises / yoga and then start with routine chores. But yes, before I start working on my business, in most cases, I try to spend time with my children. We are a homeschooling family and I try to involve my children in work, whether its business or house work. They are keen learners and support me to best of their abilities.

K : How many hours do you work a day on average?

SJ : Now this is yet another difficult question to answer. As I am momprenuer, I work at even and odd times. Some days I work more, and on some days, I don't work at all. I just spend time with my family. It really depends of business work load. But I really wish I could have more than 24 hours.

K : Tell me about a recent setback and how you recovered?

SJ : Till now I haven't gone through any major setback. Everything is working out smoothly. I am trying to move ahead slowly with minimal risk. But if in future I get any setback, I will consider it as a learning opportunity and change my directions accordingly.

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

K : What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

SJ : Satisfying moments have become a part of life now. Every other day, a toy reaches to a new home and feedback of those parents makes all our efforts worth it! On personal note, my family loves to see me as a working woman. We have small celebrations for every small victory. So these small and sweet moments satisfy me a lot and give me immense energy to work harder.

K : Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?

SJ : No business or company as such but I admire the work of a software engineer. I love doing programming whenever I get some me-time.


K : Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?

SJ : Actually I haven't thought about it. I believe that I have to work honestly and creatively. I trust my hard work which will definitely pay off.

K : If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?

SJ : You have penned down all the questions appropriately. I don't think there is anything left!


Thank you so much Surekha for taking out time for this chit chat! It was a wonderful talk session and I wish you good health, peace, happiness & success in your business venture!

You can check out all the interviews in this "Women Who Inspire" series HERE.

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Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

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