Challenging Yourself Is The Key To Achieving Your Endeavours: Spoorthi Vishwas (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of Spoorthi Vishwas’ talk titled “Challenging Yourself Is The Key To Achieving Your Endeavours” at TEDxCITBengaluru conference.

In this TEDx talk, Spoorthi Vishwas shares her personal journey of transformation and resilience. She began by recounting her early life struggles, including the pivotal moment of her mother’s departure and their move to Mysore, which set the stage for her relentless pursuit of success.

Spoorthi emphasized the importance of challenging oneself, drawing from her experiences of overcoming societal expectations and personal limitations. Her narrative included a significant shift from being unable to speak English confidently to becoming a celebrated public speaker and entrepreneur. Spoorthi also highlighted her initiative, the Karnataka Women Achievers Awards, as a platform to recognize and empower women, showcasing her commitment to creating change.

She discussed the critical role of relationships and support systems in navigating professional and personal growth. Through her talk, Spoorthi Vishwas illustrated that challenging oneself is not just about facing obstacles but about seizing opportunities to grow and inspire others.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Everyone has a story. You have a story, this stage has a story, and this little girl standing here has a story. And I’m here to share this story from being nobody to being something today with all of you. I hope it actually, I would not say inspires because I don’t believe in motivation because motivation is overrated and consistency is underrated. I hope this talk will actually inspire to become consistent.

A New Beginning in Mysore

I was five, and that afternoon, I happened to wake up with my father to realize that my mom had left our house forever. We had to search for her three days just to know that she had taken the biggest decision of her life to divorce my dad.

It was quite shocking, but we had to take it.

Cut to that, after three months, I and my mom happened to move to Mysore. It was just that, as I remember, there was nothing in our house, absolutely nothing except a floor mat. That is how I and my mom restarted our journey. You see a strong woman standing here right in front of you because I have been raised by a strong woman. I hope you all agree with you because you are here today because we are raised by that one woman who stands by us.

Overcoming Challenges

That’s our mom. So I want to say thank you to my mom because I remember moving forward, she never said no to anything. You know, I had a very bad voice. I used to be like, “Oh my God, if somebody calls me and I was like, ‘hello,’ people used to say, ‘hello, sir.'” I say, “What the hell?” This happened to me so many times from there to actually getting scared of going out of my own apartment because I couldn’t speak English well, right?

I was afraid to face people because I started in a very simple school where even English teachers used to speak in Kannada. So how would you expect me to speak English? So I was very scared to go out, speak, I was very, very, very introvert. And from there, I started my journey, school days were very average.

The Turning Point

You know, what is the rank I used to get? 25th, 26th, 27th. That was like the best, average to average. And from there, I think, I don’t know what happened, 8th standard, I had a crush and used to study well. So that actually motivated me. So from 8th standard, I started becoming a better student.

And from there, I started, you know, he was a state-level badminton player. So that inspired me to play badminton. And then going forward, I actually topped three subjects in my 10th SSLC board. Don’t know if I have to thank him or I have to thank myself because I did that journey.

A Leap into the Entertainment Industry

Going forward, I joined 1st PUC and then within like 15-20 days, I happened to be on television. My friend took me to an audition, and one of the top television channels was auditioning, you know, they were calling out for auditions. I went, and I was like, “You’re selected.” Within 15 days, people started writing letters to me from across Karnataka, and if I walk out, I used to hardly have 20 to 30 rupees in my pocket, and I remember sharing idlis with my friends.

Like, we’ll take one plate of idli and we’re sharing with each other. And from there, ₹5,300 per month, working 365 days at the age of 16, today, to owning three companies, which is a training company, Dreambig Vision Private Limited, Event Management Company, Dream Big Event Management Company, and also the brand Karnataka Women Achievers Award. This was all a journey which I would like to remember.

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The Impact of Choices

And then, jolly days happened. It was my first film, “Happy Days Ka Remake.” I went in with that excitement, “Oh my God, I’m going to play a lead role,” and I got a shock that you had to cut the boy cut. You know, you’re going to get a boy cut, and I was like, “Shit, man, again.” So I took it off, and probably if I wouldn’t have taken that opportunity of, you know, getting a haircut done, I wouldn’t have met my husband. They would have just seen Spoorthi, no Vishwas.

So I met him there, and then it was a 14 years love story. We got married. The life changed there. 21 years, I was an entrepreneur. 16 years, I was a fellow, you know, popular television actress. 18, I was an actress, 21, I was an entrepreneur, 23, I had three choices. What are these choices?

The first choice, I was doing my MBA. I had got selected for ESC for an exchange program in France. The second choice, I was doing pretty well in Tamil and Telugu films, I was busy. I got a movie offer with Tamil actor Jeeva, and the third choice, get married. I like chuck all that, let me get married. I was so excited, happy bride. I decided to marry from a family of two, just me and my mother, to a family of 12.

Rediscovering Identity

Oh my God, how many of you can imagine that pain from being, from a very, very modern approach family to getting into a very traditional approach. I had to become a housewife overnight. No denims, no salwar, and nothing, not an entrepreneur, not an actor, not an anchor, nothing. Three years, this woman, from 2014 to 2017, lived on ₹3,000 rupees pocket money from my husband.

That is where things changed. I used to go into the washroom, wash my face, and be like, “Shit, Spoorthi, this is not you. You are bleeding earning from 16.” I used to go stand in the kitchen, make tea, coffee, I am like, “Is this you?” The answer used to be always no. This is not who you are born to be. And something struck my head saying, “Spoorthi, you’re not born to be ordinary. You are born to be extraordinary.”

And that voice hit me strong because in India, you don’t need any reason to become an ordinary person. Apart from you are a woman, you just need that reason. You are a woman, you’re supposed to live an ordinary life. And I wanted to become a voice for such people who said this, because there’s so many women out there, in spite of all of these hardships, all of this journey, they’ve created magic and they’ve created history.

Building a Brand

And I wanted to tell that to the world. Now, let me tell you how I built this brand Karnataka Women Achievers Awards. It was just the evening, and I went and sat with my friend having a coffee. And I said, “Listen, I was independent from 16. Something changed. I got married. I became nothing. I was like, ‘I’m somebody’s wife. I’m somebody’s daughter. I’m somebody’s daughter-in-law. Who am I? I don’t have an identity for myself.'”

That is when I sat and said, “Why not we bring in such women in this world who have created their own identity and tell their stories to the world loud and clear that in spite of all of this, these women have created history.” And with that thought, we came up with Karnataka Women Achievers Awards.

The story is very long, but still to cut it short, I wanted to do it. The budget was about two lakhs to three lakhs. We’ll book an auditorium. We’ll call some achievers. And I was like, “Okay, we’ll do it a little bigger.” Then I thought, “Okay, we’ll approach some celebrities to come in. I mean, everybody will get to know about it.” Then I was like, “Let’s make it a little bigger.” Then we thought, “Okay, why not we go pan Karnataka and start promoting and calling for nominations. Let’s make it a little bigger.”

But vitamin M was zero. I went, you know, my husband is rich, but I did not get married for that. But I own a network equal right now with my own. So yeah, you can’t go ask your family or your husband saying that you’re doing an award ceremony. You’re giving an award to somebody. Please give me money. Nobody would say yes, right?

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So what I had to do is then we came up with this sponsorship and all of that. You won’t believe it. I think more than 120 brands have rejected us because I had no idea how to build brands. I had no idea what sponsorship deck was. I had no idea how to do an event of that large scale.

But guys, six months down the lane, we and my team, a group of friends, used to call brands, wait for hours. Big brands. But chota soch nahi tha. You know, money was lesser. Soch and thinking was never small. We used to call only big brands. You name the top brands we used to call, and it used to be like tall numbers.

Marketing managers, everybody, always rejection. At the end of the day, we used to sit and like, “It’s not going to work. It’s not going to work. It’s not going to work.” Then I said, “Let’s not give up. We’ll go pitch again.” I went and sat in front of one of the top jewelry brands in Karnataka. I sat there. I said, “Listen, there’s no return of investment because every time you go to a marketing team, they ask what is that we are going to get.”

I sat in front of them. I said, “Listen, there’s no return on investment in this. What you get is a return of value because you are supporting a brand, one of its kind in Karnataka where awards cannot be bought. It’s the only brand in Karnataka where even a nomination fee is not charged. And if you want to win Karnataka Women Achievers Award, it’s only possible if you have achieved something extraordinary.” I did not sell, I did not sell the brand. I sold the idea.

The Journey of Brand Endorsements

And guys, you won’t believe it. You name the top brands. I can’t name it here, unfortunately, which would have gotten, you know, more, more interesting now. But you name the top brands. First, we got the jewelry brand. Next, we got a tire brand, which is one of the part of the biggest cricket brands today in India. Next, we got one of the top brands in the car. After that, we had one of the top hospital brands.

You name the brand associated with women, they are associated with that. Six months waiting for brand calls and things like that. Later to which, today, I don’t have to call them. I just have to write an email that this is the date for Karnataka Women Achievers Award, and the brands are with us.

The Financial Challenge

This is a journey of belief, right? But there was a small twist. In the very first year, I said the budget was 2 lakhs, right? But guess what? The budget went up to 38 lakhs. I was able to raise 26 lakhs in the very first year. India’s ex-prime minister is the chief guest. So, 2 lakhs and from the corner of the event, you know, small event to becoming the event of 36 lakhs.

Going forward, I had 10 days’ time. I was short of 12 lakhs. Wherever I could, I searched, I could attempt, I tried but was not able to raise the money. You know, today, Karnataka Women Achievers Award is a brand people speak about.

But that day, guess who came in my favor? My mom, who is a government employee, broke her FD of 50 lakhs and gave me that 12 lakhs to say that, “Magale Madhu. Neen eva thi brand create madhudra, next there will be so many people who will follow you,” and I would say, thank you to my mom who held me that day, who supported me that day, who actually said, “Do it, I’m going to be there for you.” So, that’s the power of women, I believe.

So, Karnataka Women Achievers Awards aayithu. Instagram alli thumba jana, they started getting inspired. Started saying, “Eno madhudhira, chanaag madhudhira, enidu, namgu,” you know, students, like young girls used to come and say, “One thing I want to reach there. I want to get that award.”

Dreaming Big and Skilling Up

I want to stand there holding that award. I used to be like, “Wow, this is so nice and this is inspiring a lot of people.” And that’s when I thought, people say, “Dream big, dream big, dream big,” but dream big, okay, everybody dreams big. In 1.6 billion people in India, everybody dreams big.

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But what’s different is, how many of them know how to achieve that dream? It’s very, very, very less. And let me tell you, and I’m sorry to tell you, 75% of Indians are unskilled. Unfortunately, there is no skill. There’s no communication skill. There is no leadership skill. There is no entrepreneurship skill. You finish your MBA, and at the end of MBA, you have a campus interview.

Why? What are you doing MBA for? You have a campus interview at the end of the day. So I was thinking like this. Then we thought, we are recognizing Women Achievers through Karnataka Women Achievers Awards and Indian Women Achievers Awards. Why not? Why not? So we create Women Achievers Awards, and that’s when I took up my ATD certification, Association for Talent Development from the USA.

I’m a trained ATD certified trainer. I’m a leadership coach. I’m a success mentor. Today, I have trained over 12,000 students on leadership, communication, public speaking, and entrepreneurship where they can come to our organization and academy, get trained, get certified, and move out with their bright colors.

A Journey of Transformation

So this has been a journey. Now you must be asking, what is that from there till here? From a girl without any background, with zero background, with no entrepreneurs in house to becoming a first-generation millionaire, first-generation entrepreneur, this has been a journey. From a girl who couldn’t speak English to today being on TEDx stage for the second time, this has been a journey.

From a girl who didn’t know how to actually, you know, create a brand to a girl who has been awarded as Emerging Leader of South from one of the top brands in India. So this has been a journey. Now you must ask me, what’s your way ahead and what’s your elixir? Way ahead right now, I am the Chief Marketing Officer of Trawel Mart. My biggest dream to do all of this was I had a dream of traveling 100 countries before I die.

But I was thinking how to arrange so much money. But guess what? Today, I’m the Chief Marketing Officer of Trawel Mart, and I get invitations from the travel tourism boards from across the country, “Come explore our country and be with us and tell the world how is our country.”

So this has also been a journey. Elixir for me, focusing on three things. The first thing, going forward, I want to create trends, key trends, that is create brands, creating personal brands, and creating company brands, and help people create brands. The second thing, I want to train a lot of people with accurate skills which can help them achieve something in their life which they want to, and travel.

Trend, train, travel, this is my way forward. But let me tell you what is my elixir to keep me going. Honestly, it is relationship. I don’t know how many of you understand the depth of relationship.

The Importance of Relationships

If I’m speaking here today, if I wake up happy at my house, only then I can be here who I am. If I’m going to my office and if I have a good relationship with my team and with my colleagues and with my subordinates or the people who are working with me, including my twin, that is when I have a good space to work.

If I go back home, if I have a good relationship with my partner, a good relationship with my family, that is when it helps me sleep peacefully and wake up peacefully. So for me, elixir is relationship. So for your professional, financial, and career growth, trust me guys, being at 30, this is my biggest realization, having an amazing personal life is what can create a difference.

So I wish you all the very best, create a beautiful personal life so your professional life becomes much more beautiful. And thank you so much for having me here to share my journey and thanks a lot. All the very best.