Tejashree Joshi, the founder CEO terms it as a fortuitous combination of serendipity, passion for healthcare, and her commitment to maternal health and women empowerment.What started as an exercise in helping mothers cope with post natal healthcare by offering professional mother-baby massage and bath services has grown into a unique enterprise. She cares deeply about helping mothers with the right advice and support needed to make the journey of motherhood joyous and enriching. She is now based in Bangalore and is a mother herself with two lovely daughters. “I personally feel people have a lot of respect for any woman who wants to build an independent identity and people are willing to support. It takes effort and commitment to sustain that respect though, especially in difficult circumstances.”
1. Share your vision with us. What inspired you to be what you are and where you are? My vision now is to build Sangopan as a ,nationally first and globally later, trusted brand of health and wellness for mother and infant for a set of services and products which are rooted in traditional ayurvedic medicine, backed by expert medical professionals, and delivered with highest standards of professionalism. I have always been fascinated by healthcare industry. I also feel strongly about women empowerment and child and maternal health. Sangopan business model allowed me to combine all my interests and pursue them using a larger canvas. God’s grace ofcourse has been plentiful in my journey so far.
2. Tell us about your journey so far and the challenges you faced. I honestly feel journey has just begun. We are in our fifth year of operations and have served over 1000 mothers and infants. It has been an interesting and enjoyable journey, and while I have had my share of challenges, the real ones probably lie ahead. The main hurdles to be navigated have been balancing varying customer expectations, constraints of a labor oriented business, and balancing work with family responsibilities. God has been kind and I have had support whenever the challenges have seemed too tough.
3. What milestones you have achieved in this journey and what more you aspire for? As I said before, we have served over 1000 mothers and infants with our services. We were the first company in India to start these services to be delivered at home, and probably the first in the world. We have had some other companies step in and copy our business model and that is flattering. So we have ended up creating a market where we have the largest share so far. We now aspire to grow nationally in all the major cities and are planning to introduce new services to our portfolio.
4. What keeps you motivated and strong? Motherhood is a joyous experience and mothers who are my customers depend on me to fulfill a very critical need in their journey of motherhood. I have a fabulous team of employees who are very dedicated to Sangopan. The fact that any given point of time there are so many families who are critically dependent on Sangopan for their needs and happiness keeps me motivated and committed to give my best. I feel passionately about the traditional wisdom in our healthcare and my commitment to bring more and more products and services rooted in the traditional medicine to help our customers is another key motivation.
5. What you feel about the state of women in India? How you think it can be better? The empowerment of women in India is varied across regions and communities. Some communities are more evolved and progressive regarding role of women. Women have to have faith and confidence in their own capabilities and have a strong self esteem. If they have belief in themselves they will find nature will support them.
6. How challenging it is for a woman to build her identity? People respect, though they have to fight harder to earn and sustain. I personally feel people have a lot of respect for any woman who wants to build an independent identity and people are willing to support. It takes effort and commitment to sustain that respect though, especially in difficult circumstances.
7. Would you like to play a role in women empowerment? If yes, how? Yes I am happy to contribute in whichever way I can. Most of the women who work in Sangopan have stepped out of their homes first time to earn a living and are happy to earn a respectable monthly income through dignified labor. I am already doing my bit through Sangopan in that sense.
8. Any message or mantra you would like to share with Indian women? I am still learning and growing so it is a bit too early for me to preach to others. I do strongly believe that one should be true to what you are doing and give your best. We don’t have to have a sense of competing with each other and be affected by negative thoughts which will pull you down.
