Momsters - Parenting n All the Jazz!: Momsters Celebrate Mompreneurs

Who is Deeptha Vivekanand?

Deeptha Vivekanand, 31, is a storyteller and story-educator. She is an excellent people’s person, making new friends every chance she gets. She loves to eat, cook and read, simultaneously if possible! She’s a mother of a 2 ½ year old, highly demanding boy. No matter how busy she is, he insists that she stop doing everything and sit with him while he holds on to her arm while drinking his milk. Her husband, Rahul, is a Consultant with Wipro; he specializes in CRM Training and Content Development and is also a serious photography enthusiast.

Momsters (M): Before you became a mom... (Before you became a mom, what were you involved in?)

Deeptha (D): After a Master’s in Marketing Management, I worked for six years as a Learning & Development Consultant with companies like HCL and Wipro (Corporate Training). I used to train employees on Behavioural and Soft Skills, such as Presentation Skills, Business Writing, Communication Skills and so on. I was looking to build my repertoire as a trainer and that’s when Storytelling came into my life.. After an intensive course from a storytelling institute in Bangalore, I was convinced that I wanted to be a storyteller for the rest of my life.
I quit my job a few months before I was married. I chose to freelance as a trainer as it would give me greater control over my time, mainly because I wanted to explore storytelling. I attended storytelling festivals abroad and learnt more about the art. Meanwhile, I conducted workshops and storytelling sessions in bookstores, schools and activity centres in Chennai and Bangalore to gather experience as a storyteller. When my son was born, I took a break. In April this year, I launched Ever After, a storytelling experience centre for people of all ages.

M: Can you tell us more about your business? What is it about?

D: Ever After, a storytelling experience centre for people of all ages. Here, I develop and deliver story-based learning centre for children, young adults and adults. Ever After is all about creating lasting learning experience for everyone, by leveraging the power of story. I help them understand concepts by using stories as the medium of communication. Be it leadership skills or a topic in science/social science/language/mathematics, there is always a story to help people learn. I conduct workshops both at my centre and in other venues in Bangalore.

M: How did you come up with this idea?
D: I always wanted to run my own learning centre, where I can use engaging and interesting ways to help people look at the world around them. Storytelling helped this process along as it is probably the only method that engages both cortexes of the brain equally—emotion and logic.

M: What inspired you to start a venture of your own?

Ever After Centre

D: I realized there was a need to popularize storytelling as a teaching-learning methodology in India. Although our earliest systems of education used storytelling a lot, it got diluted and is almost absent today. The West embraces storytelling in the curriculum wholeheartedly—story-educators are quite popular. I wanted to replicate this here; I wanted to create a space for people to explore stories and storytelling in a whole new way. Not just as a means of entertainment but as a tool to teach and learn.

M: What made you decide to start this kind of business?

D: Just a deep belief in the power of stories and conviction in myself.

M: Were there any obstacles that you faced when you decided to pursue becoming a mompreneur? What are these?

D: Yes, there was some fear because I had never run a business before but I was ready to take the plunge. My husband was very supportive of my work and offered to pitch in with looking after our son, whenever needed.

Regardless of moms, I think any woman who sets out to start their venture will these obstacles. Managing home, husband and work
Putting the child first. Always!
Prioritizing tasks: matching schedules around the child’s day.
Getting funding
Finding people to help with the business

M: What do you love best about your job?

D: That I get to tell a story everyday!

M: According to you, what are key traits a mompreneur should have when starting their own business?

Courage to create a business from an idea
Conviction to see it through
Ability to face failure, dust yourself and move on
A supportive family
And most importantly, to not feel guilty about doing less for the family, home or child.

M: Is entrepreneurship for every mom?

D: I think it’s for every woman. We never question whether a woman can be a mother. It’s taken for granted that every woman will one day bear a child. Why do we question whether a mom can be an entrepreneur?

M: Is the professional personal? Do you find that you sometimes need to create boundaries between home life and work life?

D: Yes, especially when you work from home. It’s hard to not be distracted by domestic chores. A million things need your attention before the child comes back from play-school, everyone needs a bit of you, but one needs to clearly define work hours and stick to it. Especially when you’re an entrepreneur because you’re the most important person in your business.

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