***This is written by Ruchi Bhatia for the #BooksThatInspire Blogathon***
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Do you have a dream ? Is something holding you back ?
Then you need to get hold of Rashmi Bansal’s latest book “Follow every rainbow”. The book is collection of stories of Life of Women Entrepreneurs , how they came up against all odds and how they made a name for themselves.
The book has easy to read format, the stories are diverse . The 25 stories are categorized into 3 sections namely Lakshmi (the Indian Goddess of wealth),
Durga (The Indian Goddess of strength) , and Saraswati (the Indian Goddess of Knowledge) .
The 8 stories under Lakshmi section are about the women who brought wealth and prosperity to home & who involved Family members into their ventures. Durga section is about stories of 8 Women with extraordinary strength, circumstances forced these women to be enterprising, to fight for survival. Saraswati section has 9 stories of women who are armed with professional education and they enjoy unusual freedom to be who they wish to be, beyond traditional roles. Each narrative is interesting and a story of triumph, hope, and success. It gives reader a good understanding of the Life of a Women entrepreneur, what it means to succeed against all odds.
A common theme running across these stories is that these women found their calling, raised the family and run the business with love , laughter , patience and perseverance. These women started out small and made it big through their passion and continuous efforts. They were willing to overcome the challenges that lay in front of them to pursue their dreams and were determined to succeed.
Stories to inspire
My Personal Favorite is Story of Meena Bindra ( owner Biba ) who got married at 19, spent 20 years raising the family and at age of 39 got into designing of clothes and selling them informally. Together, along with her sons, she has built a 300 crore ethnic wear empire through her hard work and determination.
Another personal favorite is story of PremLata Agarwal , an housewife, who at the age of 48 became the oldest Indian Woman to scale Mount Everest . What courage, grit and determination. Her story just proves that age is no bar for any kind of achievement. As C.S. Lewis said “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.
I like Neeti Tah’s (owner of 36 Rang ) story too . Neeti quit a high flying advertising career to return to her hometown in Chattisgarh and do something different. She combined creativity with commerce and is bringing traditional arts to the notice of the modern world.
What is interesting to note is the usage of Hindi Language (accompanied with English translation ) at few places as it might have been recorded or captured during the actual interview. This adds to the conversational style of the book. Reading this book feels like you are indulging in a dialogue with great women who were determined to follow their passion and had the courage to pursue their dreams.
Right here, Right now: What you can do
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this book to every women (even men too, why not ! :) ) who want to pursue their dreams, who may be thinking of starting a new journey , an entrepreneurial career or those who simply appreciate a good read . There is lot of practical advice in the book to learn passion, perseverance, determination, courage from Women who have been there done that – Start small, stay hungry , have the courage to dream a new dream , connect with like minded folks, Find a support group , join a (Women) Network, rely on support extended by family, and most importantly, have faith in your talent and abilities.
Go, grab the book and enroll into Entrepreneurial Leadership Course This book along with Entrepreneurial Leadership Course will inspire your enough to be motivated to pursue Entrepreneurship journey and follow your dreams :-)