Global Goodwill Ambassador platform chaired by MS. SUCHI in Singapore interviewing Charu Mehrotra, founder of online magazine Womenlines!!
Charu Mehrotra was awarded Global Goodwill Ambassador title in October 2018 for her Humanitarian work for promoting women entrepreneurs through her online magazine Womenlines.
Diabetes affects 1 out of 11 people in the world. Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism — the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Following a healthy diet and lifestyle helps to prevent diabetes.
Yoga has proven very effective to manage diabetes. There are certain poses of yoga for diabetes cure and management. Watch this video by http://ojasyog.com/ to see how Yoga helps in the prevention and management of Diabetes.
Womenlines as an online media supporter takes pleasure to share about the upcoming Live Webinar by Global leading coaching and leadership guru John Mattone ( Former Executive Coach to the late Steve Jobs).
This Dec grab this amazing opportunity to embrace ‘Personal Leadership’ within you and take charge of your life, discovering your self and your purpose.
Incredible opportunity to reinvent the leader within your friends as we all are leaders and need to lead our lives!!
This webinar is brought by Leadership Demystified teaming with Human Capital. This webinar is open to all students, professionals, parents who desire to excel and bring in abundance in their lives in all spheres. This coaching can help you to identify thought patterns to lead your lives and isolate strengths and gifts that need to be leveraged within you as well as your gaps that need to be addressed. The investment is only 38 USD, which is approx 1.20 USD per day. Nothing should stop you from making an investment in your growth journey!
It is 90 mins webinar is scheduled on 14th Dec 9.30 am EST. Participants will get-
1, Personal online link to the MLEI assessment (Mattone Leadership Enneagram Inventory assessment, is a powerful assessment of your inner core (i.e Self-concept, values, thinking patterns and emotion make up) strengths and gaps.
2. Personalised soft copy of the MLEI report
3. Opportunity to be in a close knitted group committed to growth and enhancing personal leadership
4. Debriefing on MLEI in group webinar
5. Opportunity for you to directly address your questions to John Mattone and understand the leadership tenants briefly ( the questions would be collected by us before the webinars)
6. An E-book from John’s Library written by him
7. A recorded version of the webinar (for you to revisit, we are working on it )
E-mail contact@www.womenlines.com to know more details!
Womenlines welcomes Anji Hallewell as an Influencer of Positive Mindset on the Womenlines panel. Anji is a Natural Strengths Coach, Trainer, and Founder of Hidden Lava. In her sharing for this month, Anji is telling tips about how to shift yourself into a positive state of mind-
We all know that we are at our best when we are feeling positive, but it isn’t always so easy to shift ourselves when we aren’t feeling so upbeat. There is a side of us that likes to wallow, but there is also another side of us that is aware that we are feeling sorry for ourselves. It is this side that can muster up the energy to push you out of feeling low, down or negative. Here are some simple tips on how you can shift yourself into a positive state of mind-
Focus on what is going right
Often when things are going according to plan we naturally focus on all the things that have gone or are going wrong. However, this is only one side of the coin. I’ve witnessed remarkable things come out of terrible situations, such as family feuds extinguished on the back of great sadness. This shows not only good can come out of bad, but that both can co-exist. This is good news everybody, as it also means that there will be good things present when you only see the bad. So, before you press abort on a project or label yourself as a failure, ask yourself “what is going right?”, because there will be something. It is at the core of positive psychology to focus your attention on what is going right because it will spur you on to keep going and keep trying. This is at the heart of motivation and it will fuel you with the will to carry on and push through the bumpy times to reach your desired goal.
Change of environment
Whether you are at home or in the office, you need to get out! It’s time to temporarily change your environment so you can feed off a different kind of energy. Your environment will directly impact how you feel, period. When you are in a dull and low energy environment your mood will be equally as uninspiring, but when it is vibrant you feel nourished and invigorated. It could be as simple as going for a walk in the park or a stroll down a busy street soaking up the collective energy to perk you back up and inject a little bit of zest.
Be grateful
Just like focusing on what is going right with something, when you identify what you are grateful for in your life it creates positive feelings. There are many things that are already present in our lives that we take for granted – our health, relationships, liberty etc. There is always someone worse off than you, so recognise and acknowledge what you have, with gratitude. Studies have shown that people who practice gratitude on a regular basis are happier, have fewer problems and more positive in their outlook. Just saying!
Laugh
Emotions, moods and energy are infectious and so is laughter. There was a recent Coca Cola advert that went viral. It was a man on the underground who was watching something on his hand-held device and was continuously laughing out loud. Completely in his own world, he let out a big belly laugh that was incredibly difficult not to laugh along with. Within minutes, it spread throughout the carriage like laughter gas. A laugh or a smile will release chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. Humour can make light of any situation, no matter how serious, for some needed light relief. So, watch a comedy clip or have a conversation with someone you have fun with and it will raise your spirits.
Music
Music is good for the soul. It can give you hope, lift your spirits and fire up your courage. When we listen to our favourite songs it activates the euphoric reward responses which we experience when doing things like, having sex and eating good food. Listening to pleasurable music is good for you. It can shift you, within a few minutes, into a more advantageous and happier place. So, create your playlist with all the tracks that will get you in the right frame of mind when you need it. It can be your on-demand mind shift.
So, the next time you are moping around, and you’d like to shift yourself into a better state of mind one or a combination of the above will only stir up positive energy for you to do so, shifting yourself into a better and happier place.
Coach, Trainer & Founder
+65 8408 5042
As the ‘Entrepreneur of the month’ Womenlines takes pleasure to introduce Leza Parker, founder of Spendless Academy and Spendless Cosmetics. Leza Parker a mother of 3 children is the CEO of SC Beauty Network Pte Ltd. SC Beauty, which is an internet marketing platform with over 20,000 resellers, promoting some of the top brands in the beauty space. Operational in more than 17 countries, SC Beauty has more than 80 full time and contractual employees. Leza Parker is also an active investor, have invested and incubated in many small businesses. She lectures from time to time, and has spoken at more than 100 conferences, universities and participated in numerous panel discussions. She won the award “Youngest Business Guru in Singapore” at the age of 28, and her story told in a book called “The Lady Boss” published in Singapore bookstores. She has authored four books over the last 4 years and is currently writing modules for universities to launch her own Diploma certification. Listen to Leza and read about her entrepreneurial journey in her own words –
1. Please share with our reader’s little bit about yourself.
I am a mompreneur with 3 children. I started my first business from home seven years ago, with a simple eCommerce platform to sell children’s hair accessories. Since then, I’ve grown and developed and with investments and resources, fast forward, I am now the CEO of a global tech company in the beauty industry empowering over 20,000 women across 14 countries. I love business and entrepreneurship and despite my busy schedule, I commit to also homeschool my children. Pretty much, a busy working mom.
2. So when did you started this venture and what inspired or motivated you to take a plunge into this venture?
I started Spendless Cosmetics in 2014 with the intention to empower women, to be financially independent as a beauty reseller. I had several businesses before that, majorly in brick and mortar investments or manufacturing of goods. I became interested in technology and since I’m very interested in women empowerment, Spendless Cosmetics started in 2014. This also largely inspired by my own story being a stay home mother, for many years wanting to earn extra income for my family. I tried ordering cosmetics in 2011 and have been selling to my friends and family. The extra income helped me grow my business, feed my children and improve my household income. So I thought, why not develop the same process to make it possible for every woman to have the same opportunity – reselling cosmetics from home.
3. Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during your initial days?
My company has just undergone bankruptcy end of 2014, due to poor investment in human resources when I expanded. I was still determined to start the new business with Spendless Cosmetics, but convincing people around me is hard. I work endlessly on Spendless Cosmetics, despite the lack of funds and support from anyone I know. I barely could afford the tech resources and had to borrow money to sustain my family expenses. I still had so much belief in the vision, that eventually, an investor came forth to support me in the capital. I finished the development and expanded regionally. One of the challenges I faced, is managing people. Leading people is one of the hardest roles to play, not to mention the time investment to guide others who may or may not bring expected returns. I am still learning how to be a better manager.
4. So how do you balance your personal and professional life?
I integrate both my personal and professional life. I do spend 8-11 hours to my work each day, but making sure that spread over a time that does not affect my parenting role. I might start a few hours in the morning, focus on my children in the afternoon, and get back at it after dinner until wee hours. I enjoyed my work, especially when I get to learn and improve, connect and collaborate with others so long hours do not bother me much. I try to keep my health sustained so having small healthy meals in good proportion. I do some sports every other day to stay fit – so a bit of running and Yoga keeps me happy enough.
5. What would you suggest to other aspiring women who want to venture out on their own?
Three things I would suggest is to first (a) Outsource – You are not an expert in everything, even if you invest time to learn it. Hence, spend time identifying your weakness and let someone else takes over the role but outsourcing the work. Earn more from your capabilities and skills, and use that to fund the outsourced experts. So things are concurrently accomplished and your business levels up. (b) Embrace mistakes. Don’t try to deny them, when you’ve realised a mistake has been done. People learn from mistakes to ensure they improve in their future decisions. So for every mistake, must be seen as an opportunity to learn and do better. That is the only way to be successful. (c) Collaborate. Be open to networking for the purpose of collaboration. There is only so much you can achieve and do, but through collaboration, you will achieve more and do better.
6. Is there any person who has mentored/supported/inspired you?
The people who sub-consciously mentored me does not know they did that. It’s always through random conversations with a random person, that provoke my thoughts and inspire me to improve what I do. It amazed me, sometimes I find solutions to my problems in conversation with someone on a totally different topic. I’ve always admired women not based on what they have accomplished but where they come from because I appreciate strong women with emotional and mental strength for that control of the mind is truly make them powerful and successful.
7. What do you have in the pipeline for your venture’s future development?
I have the intention to further scale the business in the various markets, we are already in hoping to create local communities of women. The aim is to use technology to reach them, to educate, empower, inspire and motivate them for whatever it is they choose to pursue. I intend to do that as my life’s mission for as long as I can.
Visit https:/www.worldofsc.com, http://www.leza-parker.com/ to read more about Leza!
Womenlines team wishes very Happy Deepawali 2018 to its readers!!
Hope the festival of lights brings your way bright sparkles of peace, contentment, joy, and happiness which stays with you throughout this year and also in the years to come. May the lamp of joy remain illuminated in your life now and forever.
Let’s rise above the average and liberate ourselves to become the best version of one’s own self. Let’s celebrate this Deepawali to light up this entire universe with positivity and warmth
Have a joyous Diwali everybody!!
Charu Mehrotra
Founder Womenlines!
Womenfolk are always on move. Work, family, to do list, kids, with so many priorities in life self-care becomes last priority. In rush of life, it is so challenging to take out time for proper makeup. So many days happens when my eyeliner refuses to be straight or my lashes refuse to curl and then you feel so helpless as being a woman, we all want to look our best. Recent ‘Easy Makeup Steps And Hairstyle’ workshop by Makeup Artist and Image Consultant Gayathri Menon in Singapore helped me to pick up certain tricks and tips to save my precious time and also to apply makeup right way to look my best-
- Spraying Foundation mist on the face is the new trend. Giving a dewy look and settling on skin perfectly it saves lots of time and avoids putting up layers of different products. Gayathri loves using Jeunesse Youth Enhancement System which has primer, foundation, bronzer and shimmer. The lightweight formula blurs skin imperfections and delivers high-definition photo ready coverage
- In a hurry, you can use fingertips to spread eyeshadows over eyelids. Use dark colours at the corner of eyes mixing it with light colour at the centre with a touch of shimmer at the corner above eyes.
- To avoid lipstick stains on teeth Gayathri recommends using a lip liner before lipstick to help the lipstick stay on longer
- Highlighters are the magic trick which can just change your overall look if applied correctly on high cheeks and a touch on nose and chin and doesn’t require much time.
- To avoid smudging over eyes use small mascara brushes for fast application of mascara.
- Spraying mineral water mist from a distance on the face, after application of makeup, is a small trick to give a fresh makeup look.
- Hairstyling can be given perfection by usage of hairstyling tools. As per your requirements, you can give little curls at the bottom or give a straight look. Make sure you bring hair near to the plates of the tuft styler to have a smooth look overall. She recommends ‘Play By TUFT Heated Styler’ which provides versatile styling to hair. It also smoothes and creates volume, lifts, flips and waves.
Check out details about upcoming workshops by Gayathri Menon at www.gayathrimenon.com
Charu Mehrotra
Founder Womenlines
Promoting Excellence in Women!
Womenlines is delighted to welcome Nisha Bansal as a guest contributor at Womenlines. As a Certified Ayurveda Practitioner, Nisha is sharing a very interesting aspect about how Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology are related and how proper understanding can help us improve ourselves and our relationships –
Ayurveda to many of us is about home remedies or bitter herbs or massage. Very few are aware that Ayurveda is much more than that. Ayurveda is about “wholesomeness” and “balance”. “Svastha” or health as per Ayurveda is “sva”, that is, self or pure atman and “stha”, that is, situated within. Hence, health as per Ayurveda is the integrity of mind, body and consciousness. It realizes that health is much more than diet and exercise and we are much more than our physical body. Even a corpse is a body but it’s not us. It is the life force or prana, the aliveness and consciousness within us that define us. Hence, Meditation, Aromatherapy, Vaastu – Vedic system of architecture and Jyotish – Vedic astrology are all part of Ayurveda. Ayurveda understands that not just diet & physical exercise but what is within and around us also impact our health. That we are a miniature manifestation of pure consciousness and hence, change of seasons due to earth’s rotation and even position of sun, planets and constellations with respect to earth because of its rotation and revolution has a significant impact on us. That understanding led to the evolution of Vedic Astrology.
To me, Vedic Astrology is not about what the future holds. It is more about the understanding of our inner wiring, our psychology and to evolve from the patterns that we come across in our lives and in our behaviour and the behaviour of people around us. It gives us an insight into what emotional and mental habits we are born with, why we are passionate about certain things and what brings satisfaction to us.
At the time of our birth, the placement of planets and constellations define our constitution and makeup of our basic personality. Many of these character traits are so inbuilt within us that many times we are not even aware of them and often end up projecting these on people around us and suffer in our relationships. Jyotish is the light that shines on these areas which are so deeply embedded in our subconscious mind that they become part of us. When we understand our Jyotish chart we learn where we have to grow and evolve, we start noticing these patterns clearly and work to transform ourselves. That is the whole purpose of our life. It is not just about paying bills or making money or materialistic achievements. We are here for a much larger reason, to make ourselves and our community better, to understand the spiritual reality and attain real freedom.
When I analyzed the Vedic charts of my family and my own, we all got such clarity of the challenges we face as a family. This has inspired many positive lifestyles and attitude changes for us and has brought much more harmony, peace and acceptance of each other. That has resulted in much more love, compassion and openness to each other. That is what Vedic Astrology means to me, gateway to ultimate satisfaction and harmony!
I am a Certified Ayurveda Practitioner & Spiritual Counselor and Healing LIght Yoga Teacher. I am also an Engineering Graduate from a prestigious institute in India and had worked in the corporate world for about 15 years. My quest for preventive, holistic health system led me to Ayurveda and I love to educate, empower and support people in their journey of health.
My contact information: nisha_bajaj@hotmail.com
Leadership Demystified is a podcast series where leaders from different industries discuss the most recent leadership trends around the world. The podcast is Co-hosted by Leadership Coach Puja Talesara, who is mentored by John Mattone (coach for late Steve Jobs) and Ixchel.life. Leadership Demystified team is glad to start ‘Women Entrepreneur Segment’. They are delighted to introduce Renuka Arora Bhagat as the first speaker of the series.
Renuka Arora Bhagat excels in her dual career choice with ease & has inspired people in her leadership journey. She is an astute HR professional & also the founder of only Bollywood radio in Singapore, Radio Masti. Renuka believes in “When life puts you in the tough situation, don’t say why me, just say try me ” Today, she is sought after, revered professional & inspiration to many people.
She believes it is important to-
1. Be focussed rather than fixated.
2. Practise proactive communication than reactive communication.
3. Build bridges rather than wall through our communication and gesture
Renuka Arora Bhagat leadership`s journey is an epitome of “When you have clarity of intention the universe conspires with you to make it happen” Listen to her journey to hear how she carved her Entrepreneur journey from her hobby?? How she strikes a work-life balance with dual career role?
Curators Ixchel.Life Puja Talesara Global Goodwill Ambassador GGA Thought enablers Hardik Lashkari Subi Nanthivarman Ross Swan Dr Vanditaa Dar Media collaborator Human Capital
Womenlines takes pleasure to welcome Underneath the Pink Umbrella as a guest contributor on Womenlines panel. Underneath the Pink Umbrella is a student in Singapore and feels strongly about women issues. This month she is sharing her views regarding the importance of pursuing your passions:
Underneath the Pink Umbrella: The power of choice. A great show once said when the gun is pointed at you and you are forced to choose between two unrealisable options, take the gun and twist it back at the person pointing it at you. Therefore, sometimes we feel in order to do something we have to forego the other, but in reality, if you can manage it, you will be able to do everything you put your heart into!
As kids, we were asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
We would respond with innovative responses such as “pilot”, “firefighter”, “astronaut”, or in my case “Fashion Designer”.
Watching my fashionista of an older sister get dressed up was an entertaining way to pass time. She would explain each stage of getting ready and the secrets behind how she looked so perfect all the time. Her love for fashion and shopping extended to me as I would read all the magazines she subscribed to, go shopping with her, and help her in whatever innocent way I could in her work while she pursued a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management. She did it, she followed her passion, and succeeded by opening her own brand. She was always talented in that one field and mastered it.
A blessing with its drawbacks, I loved everything I did and managed to perform decently well in most subjects. Therefore, it was very difficult to decide subjects and choose my field of education. Furthermore, even in higher education, my chosen subjects reflected no clear direction and the prospect of choosing one to pursue as a degree felt like I was betraying my love for the other subjects.
I chose to study business in SMU. Here there are multiple CCAs and see the potential to continue pursuing a few of my passions. I teach French once a semester here, organize Literature-themed events, and write for Womenlines. My hobbies and interests were hence taken care of. But that tussle between passion and education was eating away at me. It caused me to have a nervous breakdown during which I nearly left SMU since the lack of creativity made me feel trapped.
There and then I made a promise to myself, that if something has to happen, it will, and I will make a conscious effort to practice art or do part-time courses in universities nearby.
Come Semester 1 of Year 2, one month in, two months in, getting caught up in the work I confronted myself about the promise. I opened my schedule, researched courses and signed myself up for an Oil Painting class and Fashion Illustration class. I had scheduled in an art class once a week, which fit in beautifully with my SMU timetable.
On my way to the class, I realized I hadn’t smiled the way I did before attending any class in SMU before. When buying the canvas, the paints, the brushes, the familiarity of it beckoned me. I had forgotten about one of the most essential parts of my identity for the past 4 years, and nothing was going to prevent me from pursuing it now. In the first art class, I was anxious, it had been 3 years since I last held an oil painting brush, however, the muscle memory took over. I recollected every skill and every art class I had since age 10.
I could not have imagined that it could get any better… At LASALLE College of the Arts, I stepped into the classroom. I saw the designs and colours and sketches which I’d seen on shows such as Project Runway. I saw a room full of passionate people who were here for the same reason I was, to reverse the damage of cheating on their passion. Learning how to professionally draw something that I used to doodle in my notebooks in 4th grade felt like I was doing justice to my younger self’s dreams. I would doodle designs of eccentric gowns in my notebooks, textbooks and worksheets. Without a doodle, my teachers would question whether it was truly my work. The satisfaction gained from doing something you are passionate about is unparalleled. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity of doing so as well.
Work is work, it cannot be neglected. But I believe, having a balance is important, and fueling that passion is essential to excel in your work.
Underneath the Pink Umbrella:
Hey! I am currently a freshman studying business, quite boring you might think, right? But I’m passionate about it! Besides that, I’m passionate about women’s rights, which is a topic that has been debated for centuries. A historian and artist, I try to research the story behind everything and imbue creativity in whatever I do. My contributions will show you my stance on women’s issues and offer a historical background and a fresher and more relatable perspective on the world and women around you.