An Entrepreneurial Career That Came Out Of Depression and Low Self Esteem

Hey!

Featured at https://trabeauli.com/entrepreneurial/

I am Vasundhara.. If you've been here before, chances are you already know a little about me and my interests! I run a brand consultancy and advertising firm, Brandonama Creatives and I took the next step in my entrepreneurial journey by launching a Premium Coffee brand in 2018. Barring a few irritants here and there, I am in a happy space.

Most start-up / entrepreneurial journeys start out of that fire, that one magic moment.. My story is quite different.  Right after completing my degree in advertising and design, just like everyone else in my batch – I too started a job at one of the leading advertising firms in Delhi.

A week into the job, I figured I wasn’t being able to cope emotionally. Getting ready, reaching work, sustaining through the day, seeing many faces, smiling at everyone (oh, and by the way, did I mention, I had mostly been an outgoing person) – it was all getting a bit too overwhelming for me. I remember going to the washroom and breaking down – my forehead and hands would sweat uncontrollably all through the day – mouth parched, I felt like I was made of jelly, an uncomfortable empty pit in the chest - it had become an everyday thing. By the time I would be heading back home – I wouldn’t be left with even the slightest energy to talk to anyone at home or have dinner. And I knew it wasn’t the work environment or the people around me. Something in me at an internal level was extremely drained out – some would call it hyper sensitivity, though I do not agree. It was much later that I realized these were severe bouts of anxiety and depression.. I felt like a complete misfit sitting in my cubicle. Soon afterwards I quit my job.  

Brandonama, came out as a solution to this problem I was facing. Sure, I had this strong zest and desire to design and create – but meeting new people through this phase of my life was very daunting. My partner, Sandeep joined in and we together began this venture more so as an SOS solution to me not wanting to do a 9 to 5 (owing to the advertising industry, without any exaggeration - mine would be more like a 10am to 12midnight job).

What happened next was an over compensation to my complexes of my inability to pull through a regular job. We worked 16 hours daily, cracked some big clients like IKEA, Jacob’s Creek, Absolut Vodka, WWF India, Chivas Regal, Business World and many more, working on clients across the globe. Looking back in retrospect – this was something I could not foresee when we started out. Things started seeming promising – though it was a very long journey, emotionally too.

The start-up culture and the new fancy thing to be then was ‘a hustler’ – most young entrepreneurs would surely take great pride in being called a hustler. There I was again, again a misfit. The word ‘hustler’ or the general start-up culture then seemed to have a very aggressive energy around it – and of course, the advertising world most definitely does (crazy work hours, very competitive environment, everything extremely fast paced). While we were entrepreneurs too, having an aggressive career was never something that resonated with my personality type. I was always the kind to wish to create something great, but each of my works are very close to my heart. I am extremely enthusiastic and protective about the projects I work on even today.. They are my babies.

The last 2 years have been creatively very satisfying and filled with learnings .. not entrepreneurial or career related / skill based learnings, that is something that anyway happens with each passing day. But what I am learning is to be true to myself. To not push hard to ‘fit in’. I see people even now, trying so hard, and I do not judge them, because I have been there too. But it is an exhausting process. And absolutely not required! I really hope and work each day on being the most authentic version of myself and working at my pace, on the kind of work I enjoy, for a niche market, while being connected to my inner self. 

Another thing I had a very difficult time picking up was to say a no when I needed to. This one, I am still working hard on. Drawing healthy boundaries at work and in personal life is extremely important – and I have learned it the hard way.

Being career driven should not mean that we forget ourselves in the process. It happens to mean just the opposite. You find yourself, find a new passion, new likes and dislikes of yours, meet like-minded people, help each other grow and flourish, be flexible to try something new. It’s easy to turn rigid with age, past success and seniority. And that’s not a great place to be in – the stagnation and lack of breathing space in the mind begins right there.

People have a lot of advise to give when it comes to building a successful career – ‘this work place would look good on your resume, a sabbatical this long will not look good, work endless hours through your 20s..’ and so on, the list is never ending – not many talk about how happiness and contentment should be the first thing one should look for. And no, one does not need to compromise through one’s early career days! .. exploring and learning of course is important, but listening carefully to that inner voice that constantly guides you is just so important. And I am happy I eventually listened to it.

I am glad I chose to put in energy and time into something that feels worthwhile and I wake up to with a smile on my face.

Thank you for hanging in here, I hope this read was worthwhile.

Thanks for featuring my story Trabeauli  https://trabeauli.com/entrepreneurial/

Vasundhara Sharma,

Co-Founder and Creative Director,

Brandonama Creatives Pvt. Ltd.

www.brandonama.com

vasundhara@brandonama.com