Meet Mom Edupreneur: Rashmi Kulkarni

Introducing to you a creative mom- Rashmi who brought a difference in not only her life but her daughter’s life as well through her business. Here she shares her story from being a corporate woman to a mom and then a Happy Mom-entrepreneur ….

1. My mom quotient:

A mother of 2.5yr old girl, I am flexible, open minded and hands-off mother who would allow making mistakes and learning from same. I don’t have too much expectations from other people as I love to do things in my way. I am gentle, but firm. I try to explain the reasons and impact so that they grow confident knowing consequences.

I feel, each parent undergoes different kind of situations and the learning’s are also different based on the kind of situations they undergo. Each day is a new learning as a parent and our children are the best instructors. The more you restrict the more adamant kids behave. In this my husband plays a major role. He has taught me to be responsive to my child and listen to their questions. When children fail to meet expectations, we become more nurturing and forgiving rather than punishing. Feel this is the biggest learning for me.

2. My Mom Inc. Story:

As said earlier, we live in a nuclear family, so my kid was growing with me, my hubby or my maid around. When she was around 8 months we noticed that she was not socializing with new people and have started reserving herself from new faces. I wanted to get her out of this situation, and got a lot of suggestions from people around, but none worked. Then, after lot of brainstorming, I decided to start a small learning centre for kids at home in name of ‘Tarang’.

I was an HR Professional for about 14 years before I turned into a stay-at-home-mom and the need to help my daughter socialize motivated me to start my venture “TARANG”. Why Tarang? Tarang is the wave of thoughts, creativity and my passion. I combined the raw idea of ‘Tarang’ with creativity and teaching to turn it into a happy educative zone for kids. There couldn’t have been a better option to choose than this. Creativity, kid’s interaction, parent interaction and my happy daughter.

Initially, I was bit skeptical about the response as the concept was new. But fortunately, I got a very good response. We started off with themed crafts, art and teaching Sanskrit shlokas to kids. My daughter had a very good impact of this, as she started enjoying company. The first goal was accomplished in just few months. But the story continued and the journey got very exciting and challenging it its own ways. I wanted to grow this centre and for this I had to equip myself with the latest. I realized that teaching was one aspect and revenue generations the other. To grow my centre I needed good revenue, then came “Kreative Kraftz” a segment for DO IT YOURSELF KITS FOR CHILDREN, the source of income for TARANG.

We released many kits including handmade return gift segment under TARANG which is quite popular now and since then there was no looking back. Very recently we launched our knowledge sharing blog KIDDY CLUSTER, through which parent share their knowledge and this also received an amazing response for this. We have been featured by premium online toy store “YELLOW GIRAFFE” and “SMART INDIAN WOMEN” for our work. These honors make me feel extremely contended in the direction where Tarang is moving today.

3. Who Inspired You the Most

My daughter is the inspiration and my husband is the support system of TARANG. Her learning needs acted as tool to start this venture. And ofcourse to launch any successful new venture finance plays an important role and that support hand is my husband. With his help I have shaped Tarang to what it is today. He is also the best critic to all my work and helps me in channelizing things in right way at right time.

There are few more people who have joined me in my journey and are supporting Tarang in their own ways. I should say I am lucky enough to get such creative business acquaintances. The three names which comes to my mind are Ms. Kanchan Yadav.. She was the one behind the idea of DIY kits and Ms. Shoma Beramji an extremely talented and hardcore crafter who extend her hand selflessly to an amateur crafter and Ms. Neha Desai who is lending her support in material procurements. I am also constantly inspired and humbled by other Mompreneurs. Each tip or suggestions they impart have collectively helped my business. Stay positive and make difference to your lives

4. Advice/tips:

Most things of value are the by-product of an effective process. Build enjoyment into that process and make the journey itself a success. One should have passion behind the concept.

Whichever line of business you choose, make sure your groundwork is complete. Make your research on the pros and cons and majorly make sure you breakdown your progress in small steps so that you don’t have to face financial burden. Utilizing social media is the best way to connect to customer base and promote corporate message. Social Media has changed how business works.

Secondly set guidelines for how you envision juggling work and family and I am sure it’s different for everyone. Just know that starting a business is not easy, or a great stress reducer, however, it is very rewarding, educational and usually fun with a good support system. As a mompreneur, I live in a constant state of swaying in many directions so just be flexible and rest will follow.

5. I love baby chakra because its treasure chest of information for women. An awesome platform to get inspired and inspire others as well!

#mominc
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