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Name: Shalini Chopra

Business: Mentoring the WISE, coaching and consulting for professional females in India

Industry: Coaching & Consulting

Location: New Delhi, India

Reason for starting: The key motivation for ‘Mentoring the WISE’ (Women Inspired to Shine & Excel) was to build a leadership pipeline comprising women and hence have a wider pool of women qualified for and taking up Senior and Executive Leadership roles. The core mission of MTW is to inspire, support and enable the ‘Women Inspired to Shine & Excel.’ Through this initiative, women will be mentored to pursue their dreams and goals as professionals or entrepreneurs. MTW is designed to enable women, in various phases of their career, to succeed, by providing the career guidance and resources needed to achieve success and fulfillment. Our mission is to create a community of professionals who are committed to supporting each other in their journey towards senior leadership roles.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur working in India here. 

How do you define success? Success to me is synonymous with progress. Progress in mindsets, progress in capability, progress in having fulfilling relations. Success is an outcome of committing to goals which transform you to become a better person in sync with your internal self and outer ecosystem.

Biggest Success: Now I would say my biggest success is to successfully launch ‘Mentoring the WISE’ with the support of many women and men leaders from the industry, who are supporting me in this goal because of the shared belief. Being able to work for a cause which will help transform lives and societies is a very joyful experience.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? The biggest challenge will be to work on a mindset shift where women understand the significance of mentorship and networking and also to start recognizing their own passion to grow.  I was also a victim of domestic marital violence at a young age of 21. At 27 when I decided to break free from that, I was left with no money or home. I learnt to rebuild my life through capability and inner strength and went on to become a fast tracker and the youngest leader in a Fortune 50 company.

Related: The Antidote to Fear

Who is your most important role model? There have been several role models. My mother, who has very strong self esteem and a very high level of commitment to her professional and personal life. And that was at a time when in India, very small percentage of women were working mothers. In addition, every woman who has learnt to keep pursuing her goals, despite various challenges like Arunima Sinha, Apurva Purohit, Kiran Bedi to name a few.


[box_light]Website   www.mentorthewise.org
Facebook   www.facebook.com/mentoringthewise
Twitter    @Mentorthewise[/box_light]

 

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