Giving birth to a start-up is in equal parts exciting and scary! It is especially daunting for a woman, as she has to not only convince her family that this is something a woman can do but also face male prejudices in the society. But all said and done, the hard work is worth it! Because nothing – absolutely nothing – beats the joy of a dream coming true.
Meet Aina Barker, 30. Her startup is about making high fashion reach people of different parts of Bangalore. Make no mistake – she means business, and it is not something she is doing for fun. It is not just a boutique!
“I hate how they minimized the idea of our business,” says Aina.
She has seen herself and her conversations transform from revolving around pointless gossip to information about her business. She calls the experience of starting a startup, “a great teacher”. But she is quick to point out that, there are no study modules or classroom lessons in the startup life. You can’t attend classes and learn how to manage a successful startup – you just got to read up as much as you can, on as many topics as you can and you have to go out there and meet people. The “startup life” taught her what to expect and where to place herself.
Coming to the question of women and running businesses, Aina tells us that women can run businesses even if they are not entrepreneurs. And if as a woman you are not being taken seriously it is because you are “not pitching hard enough”.
Aina adds that “women are apologetic about how large they want their success to be”
Aina thinks that the notion that women must be delicate and submissive is deep rooted in our society, but that is not how she was brought up. Her mother, a successful advertising agent, managed both the house and career with ease. Being a strong woman is all she knows, she can’t change who she is. But she is baffled by the jealousy and pettiness among women. She hopes that all women founders have got one another’s backs because they are an exclusive group.
“I hope that irrespective of what happens, we as women founders always have a women-first team because very few women are allowed to break through glass ceilings, we shouldn’t hold them below us.”
She wished she had worked a little harder in her initial days and had “gotten her shit together”. But this laid back attitude evaporated with the establishment of her start up. She realized that nothing could substitute hard work. Hard work is what will bring the paycheck and she is the one responsible for that.
We at Your DOST wish you good luck Aina!
Want some guidance on how you can open your own start-up? Talk to our counsellors at YourDOST and get help!
Story Source: Humans of Bangalore
