'I am full of life!' And we cannot deny that. Rachna Ghiya might come across like any other millennial who is “confused” about her goal and is always on the run, chasing satisfaction in terms of career. But, she battled her demons of confusion and is heading two ventures side-by-side. When asked about her future plans, she came with the best reply; 'I believe in short term planning rather than setting long term plans. Currently enjoying running my two ventures – CrispTalks & enTRIPreneur.'
You can rise only after you've hit rock bottom
“Failed many interviews even after reaching the final rounds, last to get placed, even after getting good GPA, first to opt out of the placed company due to some unmet promises, sat idle for 4 months when all my friends were tasting the initial success of first jobs, started after 4 months on a meagre salary that didn't match with any of my friends fancy paychecks...this is how I started my professional life.
Puzzled, unsettled, unsatisfied and failure, these were the words that I could then associate myself with. Graduating almost all classes with first rank. Here I was, with no rank or accomplishments at all. I was feeling that it’s the biggest failure of my life. Not just because I failed but all the more because I failed meeting my family’s expectations, who dreamt of seeing me in an MNC with all luxuries of a corporate life.
I kick-started my professional journey from a Jaipur based company and enjoyed working there for 2 yrs. with increasing responsibilities, pay perks and a feeling of making the difference. Growth was attractive and then it felt like this is the only good thing that could have happened. But by the end of 2nd yr, the charm died out and stagnation peeped in. Things became monotonous and I could sense a feeling of being tied down to this job. The company had given me a lot but that didn’t seem to satiate my aspirations.
Talking to family members was not an option either, as their suggestion revolved around sticking to the job and planning things differently after marriage. Well, I just couldn’t and finally resigned without telling anyone. Serving two months of notice period was tough but I spent every day in the hope of getting closer to my unsaid dreams.
I still remember that I got my first order for just 5 dollars and that same client later ordered my services worth 600 dollars. I left my job in Oct 2013 and started exploring things, I tried making videos and people started loving it.
Video marketing was/still is on a growth trajectory and found a gap in the market where businesses are looking for affordable video providers. I quickly made a website, put the plans online & started getting orders. This was almost a year later after leaving the job. I started with the name of PowtoonPRO because I was working on video designing software known as Powtoon. Later on, I started working on other softwares & changed the name of the company to CrispTalks which resonates with what I am doing. Right now, I have a remote lean team working with me now.
During this whole journey of exploring entrepreneurship, I also started looking for communities of entrepreneurs and came across EntrepreneurCafe.org. I loved their concept of informal meetups over cup of coffee but found out that their Jaipur chapter was not active. I thought why not I restart this chapter. So I took the lead for Jaipur chapter & started conducting meetups. People started loving it & till date I have conducted close to 20 meetups.