Srividya Ranjani, a 24year old young girl from Tamil Nadu, India is a life coach, content writer, blogger, YouTuber, and founder of Makeup with Nature. She is a pandemic-born entrepreneur with so much to offer. Read more below in today’s interview for the #TrulySoulfullyCurates series, where we speak about her life and know more about what she has to offer.
I am part of the HustlePost Academy by Saloni Srivastava and I’d posted about #TrulySoulfullyCurates on our private Facebook group and Srividya was the first person to reach out. So, it was only right to interview her for this second post for the series. She is a very warm and genuine person with a heart of a child and a patient listener too.
GET TO KNOW SRIVIDYA RANJANI
Born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, India, Srividya holds an MBA and is a content writer who became a Life Coach and started her own homegrown skincare brand called Makeup with Nature during the start of the pandemic in 2020. She currently works with Mobius Knowledge Services as a content writer besides life coaching about 100+ clients and having over 10 sessions for the same up to now.
A self-proclaimed crazy plant mom (to which I genuinely bonded with her and found a connection), Sri turned her love for nature and gardening into an avid passion during the lockdown. She’d always love gardening as a child but lost that craze somewhere in between the hustle and bustle of life. During the start of the pandemic, she was able to reconnect with that love of hers which as of now she is a plant guru amongst her friends and family. If ever anyone wants to buy a new plant, they’ll always ask Sri for tips about it. Currently, she has a small plant garden on her terrace, a little bigger one in her second-floor balcony, and the largest one at the entrance of her building outside in the garden.
After her Under Graduation (UG) studies, Sri took a year gap between that and her MBA to work as a Communicative English Trainer. She worked with kids from kindergarten up to the SSC/10th Std/ GCSEs level. While being formal with the older students she realized how much she loved kids while working with the younger ones. She would become a kid herself and even now loves playing with little children whenever time permits and especially with her younger cousins.
I had the opportunity of phone interviewing Sri last weekend and it was lovely hearing her little cousins come to play with her even then. The highlight of the interview for me was hearing birds chirping in the background which you’d normally hear at sunset in India. It did remind me of home.
THE INTERVIEW
How and when did you start as a life coach?
I always wanted to become an entrepreneur because I knew that a 9-5 job or the corporate lifestyle is not meant for me. Later I learnt about the law of attraction and the power of the universe as a concept about four years back. I read books like The Secret, The Power, The Magic, all three books by Rhonda Byrne, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho where I learnt more about the concept. In India, the idea of having a life coach is comparatively newer. I had to fill in that gap.
During my MBA, I was facing my struggles with serious health issues. It was then that I decided to use all my learnings of the law of attraction and it helped normalize my health. It worked like magic for me. Then later as a passionate content writer, I manifested to get a good job and I did as soon as I completed my MBA. The pay and package I received were even more than I had ever fathomed. I believe all that was because I manifested it and the universe was kind enough to bless me with it.
I also had many smaller wins in life because I always apply the same concepts of positivity manifestation. For instance, whenever I manifest to go to a place or buy something, it will always work out for me in some way or the other.
I just wanted to share that journey and concept with others and that is how I decided to become a life coach during the pandemic. I wanted to become that ‘someone’ who people can reach out to and connect with or maybe just have a chat.
How would you help anyone struggling with self-love?
I would first like to understand their problems and offer them a free self-love coaching session and some activities for them to try with carefully curated tasks based on their problems.
I’ve had clients that tell me how the self-love challenges have helped them. Sometimes they feel so much better just by reading the matter I send them because of the way it is written. This helps them feel better about themselves and they feel that things are falling into place for them.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, this would be a great opportunity to delve into the realm of self-love with Sri.
What are the various things you coach people for?
I coach my clients in a wide variety of life-based avenues. There are self-love challenges which I have at least once or twice a month which were a hit in 2020 and continues to be. I guide people to achieve their set goals. Also, I help them learn the techniques of manifestation. I help them work towards achieving their dream job too.
Also read: Goal setting for 2021
Is there any specific area or niche?
My ideal niche would be young people in their 20s or 30s but during 2020 I had most of my clients who were mothers, and they got an opportunity to be heard, discuss their problems and issues, work on loving themselves again, etc.
Gift your mum this opportunity to speak to a life coach
What are the various services you offer as a life coach?
I have a 7-day self-love challenge for people who’d like to avail of this.
Having a busy corporate lifestyle people find it difficult to squeeze in even 15mins daily from their busy schedules. So, for such people, I have a 1hour group workshop where they can speak to more people like themselves and know that they are not alone with what they are feeling. They can discuss their goals, dreams; meet new people; verbally interact and share their thoughts without having to make notes or write down their learnings; speak about their childhood and the memories they have, etc. Here they also get an opportunity to take part in various carefully curated tasks.
How did you decide on choosing life coaching as a career?
I wanted to share with the world the magic of the law of attraction, self-love, manifestation and hence I decided to choose this path. All this helped me, and I wanted to offer this to the world.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
Since childhood, I was always eager to be my own boss. I knew that the 9-5 corporate lifestyle wasn’t for me. During my UG, I knew I wanted a different path, but I didn’t take it seriously then. In between my MBA and UG, I worked for a year as a Communicative Trainer and I knew I wanted to help people. Then during my MBA, I also took up a soap-making workshop. I wanted to concentrate more on my health, skincare, and what I eat or put inside me. So, finally, during the lockdown, I decided to start Makeup with Nature and also become a life coach to help people.
What are your plans for the future as a life coach?
Write a book one day. Have more workshops in 2021. Have a 21-day self-love challenge for my clients.
What is your proudest moment so far as a life coach?
People believed in me. I’ve already had 80+ clients and over 10 sessions in a very short time.
Advice for someone who wants to make 2021 their year as an entrepreneur.
My advice would be to always follow your dreams, make your passion into your career. Have a side hustle as that will let you live like a free bird.
How do you advertise your business as an entrepreneur? If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Mainly through Instagram, WhatsApp, and Word of Mouth. First, start by educating people. That is what I did with my skincare brand. I cleared their conceptual understanding of why they should choose natural skincare products instead of the other chemical ones. I showed them that our products are 100% natural. It worked for me.
If you have the ability to mentor another woman entrepreneur will you consider it?
Yes, definitely. I believe in ‘Women Empowering Women’. Please reach out on Instagram.
Did you professionally learn to become a life coach or self-taught?
I would say both. I learnt life coaching professionally and I am partially self-taught.
Some of the places I learnt Life Coaching from are Awesome AJ Academy-online Law of Attraction Workshop and their YouTube channel, EpicRecap on YouTube, and also the Law of Attraction Life Coach certification from Udemy online.
Where are you based? Do you work locally or nationally?
Based in Tamil Nadu, India. The Life Coaching sessions are online so nationally and internationally too. The skincare brand is sold locally and in South India currently, but national and international shipping is available.
How can people contact you to work with you?
Instagram (Life Coach): srividyaranjani
Instagram (Skincare Brand): makeup_with_nature
Email: srividyaranjani22@gmail.com
Facebook, WhatsApp, DMs on Instagram.
What does life coaching mean to you?
For example, think of a kid who is an introvert and finds it difficult to open up to others or start a conversation. Maybe their family isn’t that supportive of their dreams and goals. So that’s where I come in. I am that force and listening ear to guide them, give them hope, build their confidence and motivate them.
What was the idea behind starting your own skincare brand?
My grandfather used to make cold pressed oils and since childhood, I’ve always been fascinated with the process. During my MBA, I took up workshops to learn soap making. I would then make my family and friends use those soaps and skincare products. They would give me valuable feedback and tell me what worked for them and what didn’t. I would work on the products again and once I got the perfect formulation, I decided to start selling these handmade soaps online through Instagram.
What is the most difficult part of being an entrepreneur for you?
All entrepreneurs face new challenges every day. They might even face failure. There are days when I was low and faced bad experiences in the form of bad clients or bad feedback, but at least you are your own boss and wouldn’t have to hesitate to take a break or give yourself time.
Leaving a 9-5 stable office job isn’t the easiest decision too but you have to go for it nevertheless.
What is the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur for you?
I’m not cooped up in an office from 9-5 and have the same monotonous job and life. To me, a corporate job is like a bird in a cage, and doing a business is being a free bird in the forest. It is the ultimate freedom.
What do you like most about being an entrepreneur?
I enjoy working for the customer to deliver a great product and focus on the customer’s needs without being answerable to anyone above me. Sort of like being your own boss.
What was the concept/idea behind starting Makeup with Nature?
We’ve always seen humans destroying nature. My idea behind starting this brand was to educate people and teach them that Mother Nature is the supreme healer. I also wanted people to start using more of this homegrown chemical-free brand of skincare which is all-natural.
How can people buy your products, and do you ship internationally?
People can reach out to me on Instagram and WhatsApp to place the order. I’ll have a website for the same coming soon after we get proper formulations for some new products. Stay tuned for the same.
We do ship internationally.
What are the various products you have to offer?
We have handmade soaps now customized according to each person’s skin type and skin preference; shampoo bars, Vegan lip balms and lip scrubs, herbal face packs, and face masks.
Tell us more about your products.
All products are natural, handmade, vegan, cruelty-free, eco-friendly but the packaging is 50% eco-friendly which I’m working to change to more sustainable packaging for the near future.
What are your future plans for the brand?
I want to shift to 100% sustainable and eco-friendly packaging and maybe also delve into other new products like body lotions, face washes, etc. by keeping them all-natural, chemical-free and preservatives-free.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years career-wise?
Quit my full-time job in about 2-3 years while simultaneously working on my skincare brand and as a life coach.
I would like to further build Makeup with Nature and create a physical store/shop with all the products. I want the brand to have affordable skincare so that it can reach the masses.
What is the best feedback you have received so far for your products?
Every feedback I receive is unique. I’ve had about 98% out of 100% positive outcomes and the few not so good feedbacks were mainly because the product didn’t work for the client’s skin type and that is why I always urge people to first do a patch test which most of us would do with any skincare brand anyway.
However, the best feedback I think would be when I have the same person tell me over and over again how good they liked my lip balm and how they carry it with them wherever they go and use it every day.
INTERVIEWERS THOUGHTS
I would like to say that there is something very positive and enduring when you speak to Sri. There is definitely that instant connection you feel. I am sure she is a great life coach and businesswoman owing to the fact that all her customers and clients had such lovely things to say about her products and services. Make sure to check out her work and reach out to her for any of the above mentioned services or if you’re looking for some products from Makeup with Nature.
Also read: An interview with a Photographer who captures from the heart
If you are a pandemic-born entrepreneur, we would like to interview you. Feel free to reach out to us on our email at contact@trulysoulfully.com
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Signing off, see you soon xx
Vania xx