If managing disruption and change are signs of a true #EntrepreNaari, Dipika was already there at the age of 7. Her father had a job that required their family to move frequently, and unlike most kids who’d resent the constant upheaval, Dipika loved every bit of it — the new places, new friends, new schools. ‘That never let me develop a comfort zone, and it gave me the skills to deal with and connect with different kinds of people at a very early age.’ 

Dipika loved speaking in public and engaging with audiences — and she was very good at it. She hosted shows and MC-ed at events, but never really saw it as a career option. Instead, she did her MBA, got into advertising, moved to branding and marketing, eventually working for Kingfisher Airlines. 

When the company started closing down operations, Dipika didn’t really know what she wanted to do. But she knew exactly what she did not want — to create a CV and go hunting for jobs. That’s when she started considering entrepreneurship. She had always wanted to start something of her own, so she thought long and hard about what she could do. She dabbled in decor; she tried her hand at blogging. Eventually, she leveraged her event management expertise and vendor contacts, and started designing fun and unique employee engagement events for companies. That got her some prestigious corporate clients. 

But she kept coming back to her love for speaking and connecting with people. That was something she realised she really wanted to do. Alongside the company events, she started developing her own workshop modules on coaching and life skills. She approached her existing clients and told them about her new modules — and they loved it! That really took off and became what we know today as She Means Business. 

‘I feel like I have only found my feet now, at the age of 46. This just goes to show that there is really no age to doing something that is powerful or that you are passionate about.’ 

Her biggest learning from her journey? That your career doesn’t have to follow a singular arc — just because you’ve launched a business and announced it to the world, don’t let that restrict you to a certain trajectory. ‘I realised that if I am a trainer, why do I only have to be a trainer? I have a certain set of skills — can I use them for multiple things? It’s ok to not know what you want, to start something, give it your best and figure out if it’s working. It’s ok to try multiple things and remain a bit flexible. That is a revelation that I’ve had at the age of 46, and I’m loving it.’