If you’re a student at Western University, you might have seen Srijamya (aka Sri) running around at PBSN events, or introducing Verea - her own fashion social enterprise, around campus.
We got a hold of Sri in Toronto, as she is diving into strategies and solutions at various client sites on behalf of Deloitte Consulting. In September, she’ll be entering the Ivey Business School.
She’s really happy to be where she is right now. But, It wasn’t always like this. In fact, the past few years have been quite the rollercoaster ride.
Our team from NoSleep Originals asked Sri to share her story about the grind that helped her get to where she is today. She started us off with her mantra in life:
“Never become a victim of your situation. Try your best to learn from your mistakes and realize the only way to go... is up.”
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It all started last summer, when Sri had to come face to face with the realization that, despite what her high school teachers made her believe, she wasn’t the most special, or the smartest - and those high achievements weren’t going to come so easily anymore.
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“Both my school and career plans seemed to be in a turmoil. I thought I was going to be an Economics superstar, but realized that’s not where my heart lay. I didn’t get the job I wanted. I knew what my end goal was, but was completely lost on the path to get there.
It was at this time I really started reflecting on my past accomplishments and the future I’ve wanted to have.
In 2014, I lost my grandpa to cancer. I still believe that it wasn’t cancer that took his life, but rather the lacking health care facilities that hindered his motivations to keep fighting.
I wanted to do something about this. My initial reaction was ‘I’m going to change the entire Indian Health Care System, but slowly realized:
- a) I didn’t know enough to change anything; and
- b) I didn’t have any money to make my proposed improvements to the system a reality.
But this time, these somehow just seemed like excuses that are doing nothing but preventing me from taking action. I knew I couldn’t change a country’s health care system, but I was confident to take a leap and work for what I believe in.”
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And so, during the summer of 2015, Sri launched Verea – a social enterprise that sells handcrafted jewelry from India.
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“My goal was to help my network of friends and family understand that you don’t need a lot to make an impact. By giving people the power to choose where their money goes, I wanted to spark interest in learning more about grass root initiatives that support causes they might be passionate about. The end objective is to create a platform that enables philanthropists to act on their intentions and make an impact. As for my goal, I want to raise money to fund project ideas of my own. One of which can really help people like my grandfather find the motivation to keep fighting.”
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Starting a business is no joke. Sri looked to Google to teach her everything about social media marketing, e-commerce, inventory management - she even learned how to code in order to give Verea its own true identity in the world wide web.
And what followed next?
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“I changed programs and headed back to school in September, after which it became harder to keep up with the business half of Verea, so we shifted our focus on the blog. I’ve found some incredibly inspiring people on this journey who’ve helped me build Verea from the ground up.
I decided to keep Verea going while I continued paving my career path in business. Verea really sparked my interests in business management and strategy, so I naturally chose to recruit for consulting. I knew it was going to be tough and that I would really need to grind to get where I wanted to be. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard to get what I want. But I’m incredibly glad that I did.”
“I am so grateful for the incredible support system that helped me fight every little obstacle I’ve faced. My friends who stuck around during my gloomy days, and my family that was cool with me being a bum for half a summer.
Overall, my experiences have taught me that no matter what position you’re in, you can always crawl out of it. If and/or when life hits you, it’s okay to take some time off to really understand where you are. And when you’ve come to terms with the situation, get up and back into the grind.
Remember, pain is inevitable, but misery is optional”
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We’d like to thank Sri for sharing such an amazing journey with us. Each person has their own unique way of grinding towards their goals, and the team from NoSleep Originals believes in recognizing and supporting those who do.
Our blog is one of our newest initiatives, intended to help inspire all of you to keep moving forward. This will be an ongoing project, where we will be continue to release posts containing a variety of different stories. If you or anyone you know would like to share your experiences, give us a shout at hello@nosleeporiginals.com, and your voice could be featured next!
Thank you for reading!