In the unforeseen, uncertain, and unpredictable darkness of the future, a learning mind remains alive if and only if it keeps seeking the light of knowledge by journeying far and deep to reach the shore of its ultimate success––wisdom. In the shattered bounds of traditional education, offering the best pure-play learning, Vidya Mathews is leading you with the light of knowledge in the form of VDIYA Inc.
Since her first Job, Vidya knew that her forte was Learning and Development, where she could do her best. She has been fortunate to have learned the trick of the trade and garnered experience for the longest time. She also met many exceptional people in her training profession. Some have been successful corporate executives, others from distinguished careers in social empowerment, military and, yet others from successful stints at training companies.
“When I expressed my wish to start on my own, some said to launch my business as a consulting or coaching practice where training would be a component of their service offering. Others said to form a pure-play training company that offers customized services or courses to suit client needs. I am lucky that both practices worked for me,” she recalls.
The Lady Luck
At VDIYA, she and her team offer a plethora of training services, some generic, some Niche, right from Managing Self, Leading and Managing People, Being A Great Coach, Emotional Intelligence, Creative Thinking, Design Thinking, Problem Solving, Campus to Corporate (Fresher Program), Train The Trainer, Outbound Engagement Programs, Man-ager Development Programs.
During this new journey as a solopreneur, stories of a lot of capable and skilled women who chose not to move ahead in their professional journeys because of being harassed or molested motivated Vidya and her team to focus on supporting and guiding women from all walks of life, to be able to speak for themselves against harassment.
She states, “We at VDIYA Inc strongly believe that we need to take a comprehensive approach that identifies and protects women and provides equal human rights.” Hence, the mission has been to create awareness about harassment through campaigns and training programmes in which we provide information and education about harassment regularly to maintain a healthy environment.
According to Vidya, when it comes to the role of women in our society, each woman needs to feel Safe and confident to achieve more through her everyday activities and focus on talents and interests that could be hidden for years because of fears and stereotypes.
VDIYA Inc has been actively evangelising about the laws which empower women. As a result, women can change the world this way. Vidya furthers that they implement training awareness programmes and speak about anti-harassment policies to ensure a healthy environment for women to work and study, as it provides protection and support to those who are harassed.
With all these efforts, they have seen traction in each woman’s confidence in participating in their workshops.
She adds, “We believe that each woman can contribute to the development of society without fear while believing in her powers and focusing on her talents.” Such a contribution cannot be overestimated in this case because the woman’s impact is significant.
Influential Worth
VDIYAs clients, well-wishers, and their ongoing belief in Vidya’s business inspires her and her team to build their confidence and make this world a better, skilful, empathetic and safer place.
Sharing her inspiration behind venturing into the business arena, Vidya says she has worked for 16 years in L&D and Project management before going solo.
She reveals, “I launched VDIYA INC because of my deep inclination to make a difference.” She wanted to work with others to steer them profoundly in their lives. Vidya could offer a different perspective, framework, support, and guidance to others who needed to make big life transitions. This drive to mentor others led to the launch of ” VDIYA INC,” a Solopreneurs firm that brought her strengths and skills together to help others regain focus through clear structures, systems, and support.
Even though the launch of VDIYA INC took an extra six years to see sunlight. It gave Vidya the freedom to combine the decade-and-a-half experience and develop the human capital in a direction she had looked forward to. She’s glad to coach, steer and mentor individuals and guide them with new methodologies that are easy to implement and achieve their dreams.
Designing Careers
She believes, “I loved being able to “design careers” and the best part was that I didn’t have to stick to a traditional path. I decided to follow my heart. It also kept me learning, unlearning, changing, growing, connecting, and serving.”
She reflects on what went right and wrong and the mistakes she learned from along the way. She remembers thinking initially that she had no right or experience to do what she was doing. A solopreneur seven years ago seemed incredibly rewarding. But to make her small business a success, back then, she had little confidence in her marketing skills.
Becoming great at networking from whatever makes sense for you to build a strong network (not necessarily a big one) was a long Journey. “Our network is our business’s lifeblood in so many ways. I didn’t understand the importance of networking and operating outside my introverted tendencies. Initially, it did not seem like a big deal; however, when I became a professional Trainer and Coach, it caused a great deal of delay in attracting clients,” she shares.
Vidya realized that marketing, in general, caused several problems. Before people invest in something, they need to want it; before they want it, they must know its value. It was a huge challenge for her to market Training and coaching as a service for which many people don’t have a reference point. As a beginner who only knew about Leadership and PoSH training and nothing else, especially how to go about with an online presence.
Learning the Fundamentals
A, Vidya needed a website but had no clue about Domains and SEO optimization.
B, she did not know whom to reach out to.
Hiring an Advertising agency was expensive, and word of mouth was slow-moving. Creating a presence on the internet and creating a website was a simpler option which could provide opportunities for wider outreach to customers without breaking the bank.
Every challenge has a myriad of solutions. However, one step that can help you handle all kinds of complications is to learn the basics. Right from learning what website creation is and planning out online strategies to create an online presence was the first step towards achieving her new business.
What Vidya also did was concentrate on building relationships. Instead of marketing Training and coaching all by herself, she collaborated with vendors and created a valued Market presence too.
The Best Policy of Honesty
Speaking about professional values and qualities she thinks her clients’ value in her and VDIYA the most, Vidya says most of their clients at VDIYA INC call out the Niche value of the – experimental practice (reflection, questioning and action) methodology brought into her training; keeping it focused on continuous and developmental improvement. She tends to break the rules and is glad that people like that.
“My previous experience as a project manager adds value to my teaching styles and also has been appreciated by the clients.” Her resourcefulness and commitment are highly valued by her clients, and her experience as a project manager has a highlight as it helps me connect better with my current stakeholders more confidently. However, it’s important to remain humble and open to feedback. As a trainer, it’s crucial to understand the unique strengths and weaknesses of each Participant and capitalize on them
Becoming overconfident and going off track can be very easy. Almost all her clients appreciate her approach: “Always ask for HONEST feedback.” Asking for honest feedback from qualified individuals and being prepared to hear the truth, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
Further sharing the USPs that highlight brand VDIYAs uniqueness in the industry, she says following the expression that remains with her: “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“What this quote tells us is that if we spend a considerable amount of time on “something” time and again, that “something” becomes our strength. Over the years, we at VDIYA INC have been appreciated for our focus on our unique methodology to deliver the following: Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH), Self-Development Focus, Leadership Development, Organizational Solutions, Business Skills solutions, Essential Leadership Development.”
PoSH, Behavioural Leadership coaching and Diversity programs are key areas where she says they have been appreciated and approached repeatedly. Preheating the oven is one of the most important prerequisites to baking a good cake. Similarly, at VDIYA INC, an effective intervention to develop the capacity of human capital, it is important to understand the current skill levels, processes and reality.
Sharpening the Competitive Edge
As an experienced professional, in her gentle advice to the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world, Vidya says to become and remain well-connected. Working for yourself and by yourself has its perks, but success is difficult to come by without a solid network of people to advise, refer, motivate, and support you. It is important to have a formal business plan that defines the scope of your business needs and start-up costs. Conducting market research and identifying the right target audience is crucial. Finally, it is important to not assume that being frugal is always the right way to spend, and to identify the right balance between cost-cutting and investing in your business.
She has also learned that you can’t please everyone, and it only hurts you when you try. At the same time, learning how to say “NO” without burning bridges is also important.
On envisioning her company’s operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, she divulges that VDIYA INC believes that the best way to maintain a competitive edge is to
- Leverage your natural gifts into championship form, minimise the time you spend on your areas of weakness, and keep yourself from getting mired in your comfort zone.
- The best growth occurs when you are challenged to the point of being uncomfortable. “We are looking at going big on social media or blogging, live events, Twitter, YouTube, e-newsletters, and blogs.”
Vidya concludes, “We believe that businesses are living things that must adapt over time, just like Web sites. It’s good that we are wired for new learnings and challenges!”
