If one wishes to truly excel and succeed in life, then going beyond personal challenges, inhibitions, fears, worries, weaknesses, and limitations is a must. Sport is an arena which provides that ultimate platform where you get the opportunity to test your mettle and explore your truest self.
For women living in a traditional and patriarchal setup means all this hardship of going beyond triples down because they are women. Yet, since they are made of resolute willpower and are the staunchest reflection of that eternal universal energy, many of them come to the top by winning all those mega wars of their lives and are making India proud by winning national and international sports tournaments and championships.
However, they need to be given opportunities so that they could come forth and transform the athletic field with their resoluteness. What if the opportunity provider is an author, poet, blogger, healer, motivational speaker, and sports-social entrepreneur just like Sonali Gupta, the Founder and CEO of Go Beyond Sportss, who is the brightest shining stalwart in this regard.
A Sporting Inception Saga
Magika Asteria Sportster LLP was registered in 2019 with much fervour and established its brand Go Beyond Sports. Sonali informs, “We were incubated into the NMIMS AIC as a potential start-up.”
The USP then begin the talk show with sports players highlighting their achievements in various sports and using it as a platform for empowerment and motivation. Sonali recollects, “However, just as we planned our 1st event, COVID hit, and we had to cancel and sustain everything online.”
Build the company and keep the engagement. The entire team including interns were paid through lockdown even though the company was not generating revenue.
“We had to pivot several times trying out new verticals because sports was hit the most amongst others and we were still a small start-up without a product to sell,” says Sonali adding, “Finally, in 2022 Jan, we have become a platform for promoting sports and movement, education and physical literacy advocates.”
Bringing curated workshops and consultants, and sports experts from various fields on the Go Beyond Sportss platform. Sonali says that a big thank you goes to all their Advisors- Shaji Prabhakaran, Sachin Parekh, Bhaumik Sanghvi, Supporters- friends and family and people from the sports industry, and mostly to our Mentors- Harsh Modi, and primarily Mr Sanand Sahil Mitra, “Who helped with a new addition to not only our sports to sportss but also a complete rebranding of our outlook, logo, and business model,” feels Sonali.
Within the three years, Go Beyond Sportss received several mentions and a few awards from social groups, and recognitions from Go Global Awards 2021, FICCI etc. for its efforts in bringing sports and movement to the people.
Childhood Inspiration to a Passionate Enterprise
Sports has always been a passion since Sonali was a child. She has grown up in a building community set up where all children used to get together after school hours to play and have fun. She has played all kinds of sports and all her learnings have come through childhood friends and introductions to sports in the community.
Sonali reveals, “I was always the only girl to play amongst the boys everything from cricket to football to running races. Hence sports has always been very close to me.”
However, it was not converted into a career due to parental and family reasons. But, the desire to play and win for her country and wear its t-shirt had always been there and it still remains.
Sonali took on buying a team for a women’s throwball league locally in Mumbai in 2016 and there on started her journey to convert her passion into a business. She put together a team of women from all kinds of backgrounds and professions most of who had played as children and wanted to revive their love for sports.
“We went on the become the most popular team in Season 1 and we won Season 2. This journey inspired me to motivate and empower more people to come out and play and join sports and movement as a way of an active healthy life,” expresses Sonali.
Defeating Her Biggest Challenges
There were and still remain several challenges since the inception says Sonali stating, “The fact that I don’t come from a background that has educated me to know how to run a business nor was I raised to be taught to earn a living has been my biggest challenge.”
As a very typical Indian girl from the 90’s who comes from a patriarchal and traditional setup, and is educated only enough to be married and have a family and raise children, running a business has been a challenge.
Not only learning technology and platforms and the language of business but changing one’s own self to suit the business is always a challenge, to push yourself every day to learn and fail and still try to go beyond the limitations. “However, I’m defeating them every day with my passion for sports and commitment towards creating a change,” says Sonali.
Brand Go Beyond Sportss Stalwarts
Speaking about the USPs of her brand, Sonali says that it is a multi-sports platform and amongst the few to bring forth not only stories of players from sports like Fencing, Sailing, Sepak Takraw and more. But also, from various sports experts from psychology to physiotherapy to nutrition etc.
Apart from popular sports like Cricket, Badminton, Soccer, and Golf, the only platform covering stories from other sports mentioned earlier, these sports players and experts who have won internationally or nationally for India without recognition or enough coverage.
Sonali mentions, “We have some very elite players from various sports like Aparna Popat, Sangram Singh, Monty Panesar, Jwala Gutta, Arjun Bhatti, Shiva Keshwan and some very celebrated sports experts like Heath Matthews, Geetha Ghaliyavar etc.”
A Passionately Sporty Advice
As an experienced professional, Sonali’s advice to the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is sporty. “I would say, ‘Pivot as many times as required from things that don’t work in your business but don’t ever pivot from the dream and the passion that started it.”
Flourishing Human Future with Technovations
Envisioning Go Beyond Sportss’ operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, Sonali shares, “I believe technology and innovations are the need of every hour since mankind itself. They not only help with the ease of doing business or our day-to-day life, but they also challenge us into learning and thinking in new ways and growing as human beings.”
“My company as a start-up has benefitted tremendously with every requirement as a business thanks to the availability of tech and apps and also to help solve problems,” she concludes.
