Building independence
Dive into Vanshika Goenka's story of how women empowerment and upliftment gives her life meaning.
Women are told what to do and what not to do. As we are growing up, we are sheltered, overprotected and have new lines/boundaries, in comparison to our male counterparts.
When we get married and become a part of another family, we have more rules imposed on us.
There are few of us that are lucky to not have these.
The rebels
The misfits
The ones who see and believe in an equal world
A world where a man can be a feminist too
A world where a woman being a feminist, is about fighting for equality and not complaining about the distance.
This is the story of Vanshika Goenka who went through some of the above incidences/occurrences and decided to do something about it.
A 2016 Magna cum laude alumni from Brown University, Vanshika graduated with a degree in Political Science.
After working for 3 years within corporate India, she quit. The reason - she was working on a sanitary pad project that was run by men. Ironic or sad?
Her reason for quitting, “I just don’t see enough women in the workforce!”- It didn’t start there. This was a thought that transpired from a conversation between her father and close relative.
The relative said, “You have two daughters, who will handle your business?” - That statement was said when Vanshika was only 5 years old. Since then, the theme of women empowerment and changing the status quo prevailed.
Kool Kanya.
Raise your power.
A place where women come to find a community and cheerleaders
A safe place for women to talk about career and life, the intersection and independently.
The ‘Why’ behind Kool Kanya
Starting with the ‘why’ is usually one of the hardest things entrepreneurs have to undergo. It requires not just deep thought but also a lot of introspection.
For Vanshika, the answer to this dilemma-causing question was straightforward.
“I needed to make women believe in themselves again. I wanted them to feel good and proud of their accomplishments. Additionally, I want all of us, as a community, to be self-sufficient”
Kool Kanya was a choice that was second nature to Vanshika.
Kool Kanya today
As of today, a little over a year, Kool Kanya has over 2L women on the platform and 1.3L who engage regularly.
Again, I asked Vanshika, the daunting question of ‘how’ and ‘why’
Her answer was straightforward, she said, “We ensure women have access to knowledge in all domains of her life. Additionally, we have gone steps beyond regular recruiting systems to make transparency a cornerstone”
The making of Kool Kanya
Kool Kanya is not a one-woman success story, it’s a cumulation of all the individuals who dedicate their lives to this mission. Alongside RajLakshmee, who is the COO, Himanshu Kapoor who’s the CTO and 10 other highly talented individuals, they are shaping the future of women employment and empowerment.
But, that’s today.
Upon asking Vanshika how she hired her first peer, she laughed at the fond memory.
Her first employee wasn’t even a full-time employee, it was a consultant. This individual helped Vanshika really formalize her thoughts and processes as she was creating Kool Kanya.
She helped Vanshika build the vision for Kool Kanya and consulted her till she was able to actually hire and pay her first employee.
Women only on the platform? How?
As I spoke to Vanshika, I was curious about how they ‘only’ have women. How do they ‘not allow’ men on the platform?
Vanshika responded, “Very strict security checks, and a promise by everyone in the team to stick by our core rules!”.
I dug deeper into the question by specifically asking about the LGBTQA+ folks.
Vanshika said chirpily, “Women or identifying as a woman, they’re the same to us! We want women and/or women-representing folks to feel safe, secure and be given the opportunity to shine”
How storytelling creates hope and gives dreams
Being a platform where trust and community is crucial, storytelling plays a huge role in Kool Kanya’s success.
With an Instagram page that has garnered almost 25K followers, they use this page to share stories of women on the Kool Kanya platform, positivity, actionable tips and lastly, thought-provoking statements.
Storytelling according to Vanshika is a method they use to not just build trust, but to be a place where women can be their true best selves.
Kool Kanya 2020, vs Kool Kanya 2019
“A year is a really long time!” said Vanshika. What started out as a place for full-time opportunities has now expanded to freelancers/consultants and gig workers.
Vanshika felt there is a lot of potential for women to work from home, earn an income and believe in their abilities. “There are different reasons why a woman might prefer to work from home, there should never be a shortage of opportunity!”
What makes a story and storyteller engaging/exciting
According to Vanshika, it’s simple. “You have to be vulnerable and you have to be authentic, even when it’s hard!”. She continued, “Your story is yours, Raise Your Power, not your voice!”
She further explained, everyone makes mistakes, and your story needs to accommodate for that. There is nothing called the ‘perfect story’.
Kool Kanya to the future
Kool Kanya has raised a seed round of funding in the last year, to reach a million users by the end of 2020.
When I asked Vanshika about how she and the team made the investor deck with aspects of storytelling, she said, “Passion is the backbone of the deck!”, “The deck is about stories of real women, who I’ve interacted with, who are looking out for the light at the end of the tunnel, and a partner to walk with them till there”
I was dumbfounded.
One last story
After Vanshika said that, I had to ask for one story, for our audience to read.
Vanshika narrated one from her time during research, before she started Kool Kanya. “There was a woman in Delhi who was dependent on her husband. She was a housewife after she was forced to leave KPMG because her mother in law didn’t want her to work. She joined Kool Kanya just a couple of months after leaving, and is now working with an organisation.”
She added further, “The magnitude of women that drop out of workplaces because of family pressure is significant. Today we have a lot of women who come to the platform to ask for career advice, to network or to find a support group to grow a business.”
This is just one of the hundreds of stories that Kool Kanya has collected during their tenure.
A note from the writer
Vanshika, thank you for being you. While chatting, I vividly remember I was at a co-working space and I looked around, and you were right. I knew what you were talking was true, but I didn’t realise the magnitude.
The conversation we had was at the back of my head for weeks. I was mentally making notes, and every time - you were right.
Thank you for sharing your story with us and shining a light on something we ignore, because it is easy to miss.
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