Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amrita Ahuja, founder of Groundwork, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I teach ambitious people a system for managing the entirety of their lives. Today, most people are living overwhelmed, and it's becoming normalized. I believe there is a way to be grounded and peaceful and still be wildly successful.
Tell us about yourself
Even though my work today helps people become more peaceful and productive in achieving their dreams, I did not inherit this interest or capacity. In fact, in my early adulthood, I was a fiery, untimely, short-fused, disorganized mess. I had big dreams, and I thought that achieving my dreams meant sacrificing a peaceful life for one that was tumultuous and edgy. I even thought it was cool to be busy.
Through starting and running a few of my own businesses, I designed a system that is a paradigm shift in how to get things done and a radically simplified way of engaging in a sometimes overwhelming and chaotic world. This work is about laying the groundwork for an everyday experience of enjoyment from which the right actions spring forth. It's about having an easy process to take care of those actions and move in the direction of our dreams and aspirations without sacrificing the present moment. Staying connected to our enjoyment by first actively minimizing distractions that do not serve us by causing anxiety or overwhelm.
Second, by fostering inner clarity. Third, by implementing a system that serves as a foundation for supporting the right use of our time and energy - practices for the everyday stuff to do and handle and others for the longer range.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Doing what I love and being trusted by others.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
In my late 20s, after five years of owning and operating a wellness clinic, I competed in a race for the "Top Best Company" province-wide (state-wide). The panel of judges was an all-male line-up, many from corporate positions and high up in their ranks. As I moved into the top 5 and expressed through the process my passion for serving people on their wellness journey, I was asked repeatedly why I hadn't expanded our clinic into other locations. I explained that I did not think it would be possible to serve people in the particular way that we did by scaling our systems.
I shared that our small team loved knowing the names of our client's pets, sending them a card on their wedding anniversaries, and paying special attention to the things that mattered to them. I explained that my business partner and I had intentionally chosen not to scale our small thriving clinic because we didn't want to work longer and harder. We were committed to living a healthy lifestyle by example to the people we served.
The greatest impact on our client's health was often caused by an incapacity to see how to navigate a busy life in an overwhelming environment at work and at home. Needless to say, the winner of the Best Company category was a young woman who, in her acceptance speech, described that she had been working very hard to grow her company, to the degree that when she had given birth, she had only taken two weeks off. She cried a lot on stage, some of it with excitement but a lot of it seemed a release for all the things she had given up along the way to achieving her success. I did not envy her at all.
I believe this speaks to the struggle that so many business owners face: we live steeped in a culture that sees people as "things" that produce. We value that more than the quality of life. This is troublesome and something I am passionate about helping people shift out of. The whole of ourselves is going to be required to solve the problems of the world we are facing today. This includes our mental, emotional and spiritual well-being from which creativity arises.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Live well first. Trust, relax, and enjoy the process. Do things completely to be reliable to the people you serve (clients and collaborators alike). Maybe that's four things? :)
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.groundwork.xyz/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundwork.xyz/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amritaahuja/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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