I have travelled numerous times during the course of running my own business, to various parts of the world, giving talks in a number of cities. It is always a joy to meet wonderful women running their own businesses and following their passions and their dreams. There is little in life that is more inspiring.
I have just returned from a week in Mumbai. This was not my first time in India – I spoke at a women in business conference in Bangalore last September – but my first visit to Mumbai. It was a bit of ‘suck it and see’ trip. My attitude to life is, ‘Say yes to everything and work out the details later.’
So, I had the flights booked and the hotel sorted, but nothing in the diary! That’s fine, it’s quite often how I operate. I take positive action and let go of the outcome. However, I also knew that a certain amount of ‘taking action’ was required prior to my arrival. I had met Vanessa Vallely, CEO of WeAreTheCity, at a talk I gave in London last year, where I mentioned my trip to Bangalore. She told me about WATC India, so I researched the platform, found a contact name, and popped over an email. ‘Hi, I’m going to be in Mumbai for a week in July, might you be interested in me coming along and giving a talk to your members?’
Much to my delight I heard back from lovely Caroline Graham, Editor of WeAreTheCity India, who said she would be delighted if I were to give a talk. Thus started a wonderful communication between the UK and India setting up the details. I was lucky enough to meet up with Caroline in London the Friday before I flew out.
I was contacted by the wonderful Tejal Gandhi, Deputy Chair of WATC India, at my hotel who kept me informed of all the details. We met for coffee on Thursday before my talk on Saturday. What a wonderful woman! She collected me from the hotel and transported me to the venue, and arranged a meeting with the fabulous woman, Maya Shahani, who ran the Thadomal Shahani Centre for Entrepreneurs where I was to give my talk.
The event was brilliantly orchestrated and managed by both Tejal and Jo and was the highlight of my week in Mumbai. The women I met there were beyond inspirational. They were fully participative during my talk – which was very audience involved – and entered into everything I asked of them with gusto and enthusiasm – what more does a speaker need?!
The stories and experiences of the women I chatted to were amazing, and only confirmed what I already know – women are awesome! The grace and quiet dignity of the Indian women I met at the WATC event left me feeling deeply honoured and grateful that my life had brushed past theirs in some way for those few hours.
We are all linked on this planet – we are all souls having a human experience. The power of that human experience will be different for us all, depending on where we were born and depending on our individual attitude to life. The women I met at the WATC talk have a wonderful attitude to life. They take it by the horns, give it a good shake and create the future that works for them. It’s all any of us can do – take positive action and let go of the outcome. Since I started to live my life with that mantra, I have been able to create the most amazing experiences for myself.
My talk at WATC Mumbai was just one of those amazing experiences, and one of the most impactful.
Thank you to Caroline, Tejal and Jo, and thanks to all the awe inspiring women in the room last week – I feel humbled to have met you, honoured to have had the opportunity to speak with you and excited about meeting up with you again when I am back in Mumbai in October.
Winner of WEConnect International
Global Pitch Competition 2014
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