I am a dreamer, a believer and a doer - that's what Gwenda Schobert, the Project and Communications Manager at the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai tell us. She believes she is a true Mumbaikar now and even spends 2.5 hours commuting between her home and her workplace - typical of any Mumbaikar. Besides her professional role, she also blogs about living as a foreigner in Mumbai and has founded an online platform for upcoming women entrepreneurs. Let's see what Gwenda wants to share with us today,
Where are you currently based out of and What do you do professionally?
I work as the Project and Communications Manager at the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, I am the head of our energy efficiency training project called EUREM in which we offer small and medium sized companies in India to train their stuff to reduce energy consumption and save money within their companies. It is an exciting project which we are launching in Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai over the next two years.
Energy is an important topic –and with India’s growing economy something nobody should ignore the need for energy –even a small service based enterprise can safe more than they probably imagine right now. It’s exciting to be part of something that brings positive change to the world but also makes economic sense and is commercially viable. I love it though it’s a man’s world. Often, I am the only woman at a conference and people mistake me for an assistant, though there is nothign wrong in being an assistant. At our first training in Pune we had only male participants (but – I am proud of the fact that we had a female trainer!).
How did the inspiration to start the Indian Entrepreneurs Network come about?
The Indian Entrepreneuress Network was born out of my desire to connect the many inspirational female entrepreneurs in India. I am not talking about big business owners and business women who are leading multimillion dollar companies (who indeed are a great inspiration, too!). I wanted to create a platform for the “normal middle class woman” who in one or the other way is passionate about building her own empire. Maybe she is at the stage of dreaming –dreaming about what all is possible, not knowing how to go about it. Maybe she is at the stage of setting up a company, getting frustrated and feeling overwhelmed with all the bureaucratic hurdles. Maybe she is at the stage of scaling –bringing her business to the next level. For all these women, The Indian Entrepreneuress Network offers support and inspiration.
2015 is an exciting year for our network – I have decided to re-brand The Indian Entrepreneuress Network into Entrepreneuress.in - an online platform for all women who follow their passion, be their own boss and live the life they love.
Tell us a Little About Yourself
I am a dreamer, a believer and a doer. It all starts with a dream; if you are passionate about it, you can achieve everything. We live in a world where people dream big and workhard.
What are the short to long term goals of your network?
In the beginning of this year, I wrote down some rather bold goals for Entrepreneuress.in and shared them with my husband (it’s always good to share your goals with someone whom you trust and who can support you achieving those!).
Though I had no clue about anything technical, IT related, etc., I started building the website from scratch –and I let everyone see how I am trying, failing, learning, re-doing, and hopefully succeeding! It is all about the journey, isn’t it?!
Entrepreneuress.in will soon publish a quarterly e-magazine for everyone who wants to follow their passion, be their own boss and live the life they love. It will feature female entrepreneurs and their inspirational stories, give great tips on how to go about starting and building a business and share bundles of motivation.
I am also working on hands-on services and products that help women to create and grow their business while enjoying the life they love.
What advice would you give aspiring Sheroes?
Follow your passion.
Be your own boss.
Live the life you love.
This is the mantra of Entrepreneuress.in and I hope it inspires many Sheroes to make their dreams come true and live the life they love.
In the end of the day, we can’t blame it on others –we have the power to create our own future. It’s up to us to live the life we love.