19 AUGUST2022need to build in the culture of working with emotional quotient amongst their leaders and employees.What is it that motivated you to establish The Guiding Light Art Company? Tell us about the transformation or impact which you are looking to create through your venture.Being a woman in business is always a challenge, and to top it with racial harassment, it always left me frustrated. I understood that no matter the country, I would always face such challenges. However, despite all the discouragement, I was still able to cope up with these situations because I came back home to paint away or do yoga or meditation. In India, we have this tendency to look at artwork as a hobby and yoga as good set of exercises. We do name them as `extracurricular activities'. When I was going through enormous challenges both at business level and personal level, I began to adopt art and yoga as an integral part of my life which gave me the tools to find solutions. All I had to do now was to share with others how to combine these tools to one's professional life. This business of knowledge sharing came to be known as 'The Guiding Light Art Company'.Today, The GLAC Studio wants to build bright futures through art and yoga. We aim to create a positive social impact in the lives of individuals and work groups such as corporates. This can show you the way to lead a successful and purposeful life using the tools art & yoga, and it all starts with a simple brush stroke or a single deep breath. What are some of the most pressing challenges that you face in your role as the founder & CEO? How did you successfully overcome them?An entrepreneurial journey is always full of stumbling blocks and this one was no different. Some of the major challenges which we had come across includes - · The TIME Challenge: Until the first quarter of 2020, I was working full-time and working on further developing my ideas. However, time posed a huge challenge in coming up with viable product and service range. It was only after I had moved completely into The GLAC that I was able to create the complete value chain, find suppliers and customers.· The Technology Challenge: Though I had great ideas, putting them out there for the public to see, wasn't clearly my thing. In the Leadership Discovery Process at the CBS MBA program, I had learnt how to identify one's strengths and weaknesses as a leader and to delegate roles & responsibilities to appropriate individuals/teams. With support from my network, I found the perfect business/technology partner ­ Priyanka Asawa, SanviTech Solutions that could handle all the technical matters and guide me through the process of bringing the GLAC Studio to this virtual world.· Fixed Cost Challenge: This is something every business owner fears. The sessions that I take ­ art and yoga, do need space. When I was struggling for space, local organizations (Sønderborg International School & Sønderborg Andels Boligforening) came to the rescue by providing spaces at concessional rents. They saw the benefits that these sessions could bring to the society/community, and immediately agreed to support. The COVID lockdown, also gave the opportunity to go online bringing the fixed cost down.· Resource Challenge: At present, I'm the only one doing the teaching for both art classes, yoga sessions and conducting workshops. As we scale up, we will need more resources to train. Therefore, I began training my students also to be teaching assistants. When I am conducting summer camps for kids, some of my current
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