For a young girl married into a conservative Marwari family right after Class XI, Shashi Nahata has certainly come a long way.
Initially, it was a big culture shock for her. “I went straight from motorbike rides and NCC marches to cooking for a family of 25, that too with a ghoonghat,” says Shashi, who, along with her husband Alok, founded Akritti Elite Exhibitions and Events. She feels that it was this transformation that taught her how to manage budgets and multitask.
Despite her family’s attitude that getting into business was a strict no-no, it was miraculous for her that she, along with her supportive husband, founded her business with encouragement from her mother-in-law. Sashi and her husband, whom she calls the backbone of Akritti, share a wonderful rapport. She handles the exhibition bookings and showcases them from the forefront, while Alok takes care of marketing and execution with staff management.
Her metamorphosis from a humble housewife to a businesswoman was a slow process. Sashi decided to take the risk only after her children Sheetal and Anant grew up and started school. “Initially, my husband could not help monetarily as we had a joint family business. It was impossible to work without funds, so I started small with my own savings and borrowed money from my parents. Wise investments and separation from the family business gave me the final funding to invest in the exhibitions.”
With sheer determination, in due time, she made a name for herself as an exhibition organiser in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Vijayawada among other South Indian cities. Concurrently, she not only attended training and seminars to keep herself updated, but also joined social organisations and personality development courses. Talking about her abundant share of competition she says, “When I started off, because of biased opposition, I was bullied, sent legal notices and often had my hotel bookings cancelled.” But all this only made her stronger than ever. Sashi feels that her habit of micro-management has empowered her with economic independence and that a change in mindset has helped her along with her acquired skill sets.
“I’ve always focused on my personal journey and growth. Every day is a chance to learn and one can succeed only by adopting a mindset that strives for growth. This means that every failure becomes a learning opportunity.”
Sashi believes that it is sheer tenacity which has brought her success. “My business wasn’t built in a day. It took 15 years to reach where I am today. Start with baby steps, put your passion into it and see where it takes you. We started off with a small boutique at home and now provide an opportunity for home boutiques to exhibit their collections,” she says.
Sashi’s take on her rise to success
- Akritti creates business opportunities for almost 80 to 90 designers at a time. “We keep updating ourselves, coming up with new themes, ideas and surprises.”
- Being compared with the likes of Jhansi ki Rani and Mother Teresa gives me immense pleasure.
- To have reached here without even holding a graduation degree talks about my passion and commitment, which, to me, is a way of life. I pin-pointedly work with the aim of surpassing myself every time.
- I was bestowed an excellence award for The Best Lions President in the world. During my tenure as Charter President of Lions Club of Hyderabad Petals, we conducted charity and PR events and fulfilled all the goals of a new club.
