INTERVIEW OF SNEHA( CO-FOUNDER OF AMERS)!!!

Let's begin with the interview. Welcome to the interview Sneha Thank you so much for agreeing to join us today. We're so glad to have you. To begin with, we'd like you to give our audience a little introduction about yourself, who you are, where you're from?

Thank you so much for inviting me, it's truly a pleasure to be here. My name is Sneha. I'm from Rajasthan, India. And I'm co founder of AMers, which is a versatile platform developed to help people find their passion. And finding passion isn't restricted to like age or anything like that you can find passion, even if you're 60. Even if you're done like a desk job throughout your life, and you don't even care about it. Like you don't have to care about all that paperwork. If your passion is like meditation or something, go for it, do it. And that's what AMers says, we just help people find their passion, connect them to their passion. That's what we do.

That's amazing. So before moving on to the more serious questions, I'd like to ask some fun trivia about yourself, just to sort of break the ice. So Sneha, what are the three words you would use to describe yourself?

Okay, I'm outgoing, welcoming, expressive. I welcome new ideas. And I'm outgoing, because I can literally, you can just bring a random person in front of me, and I'll be able to talk to them. So I think that's really important. If you want to learn, if you genuinely want to learn, start talking to people, because every single person you meet, they can teach you something

That's very valuable. And secondly, what is your favorite ice cream flavor? And why?

Cookies and cream.

That's one of my favorites too. So let's get into the interview ,Sneha what are your interest areas? And how did you initially develop it?

Okay, so I'm running a platform called AMers, which is about finding passion. And I actually found my passion, while you know, the whole organizing, advertising. So it was initially Okay, I thought, I'll find my passion, while you know, interviewing people while actually getting to know about speakers. And I thought introducing them to what AMers says, and introducing myself to what they do is something which will teach me a lot. And it did. But my passion for speaking, was actually due to like a particular passion session, which was given by a TEDx speaker himself. And you know, through that, I got to know a lot about public speaking, I got to know a lot about how TEDx works and everything like that, that was like, Damn, this is actually something I'm really passionate about. I love giving interviews, I love to just talk to people, I love to be at any social event. So I was like, Well, I think these are just the highlights. And you just have to identify it and just ask yourself one question, will you love it after one year? If the answer is yes, then of course, that is your passion. But if the answer is no, maybe then No, that's not the right passion for you. And the thing is whenever you ask yourself that, is this something which I'll say yes to in future. Whenever you're confused, or whenever you're in a difficult stage, just ask yourself one question, Is this a decision I'll be proud of it after two years? And if you get the answer as Yes, then go for it. If the answer is, I don't think so. Or I don't know. Then answer is no, that's not the right thing to do for you. That how I look at things.

That's an amazing advice. So you've co founded AMers , which has an extremely unique agenda behind its establishment. How did you come up with this idea? And what initial steps did you take to implement it?

It was like a huge process and planning I would say, so the co founder of AMers Anne, she's from Massachusetts, United States, and we were in like a competition together. It was some kind of financial competition. And both of us were paired like we were supposed to do the thing together. And actually, we didn't really talk about that competition much rather we talked about her ideas. And that's where we were like, okay, we are like, same mindset. And we had this idea I had this idea of passion sessions and morning meetups, I told her everything. Like after she was really close, not actually during the competition. So she became really close. I told her everything. She came up with the idea of morning meetups like. So I came up with the idea of passion session, she came up with the idea of morning meetups, and we were like, okay, we can make this work, like she had to put all this together, even though she was working like two jobs. But we did it . And right now, I usually manage AMers ,she's just here to support me and encourage me to do better. But I think this is something which was really unique, and it needed to be presented in a unique manner. So this is a Rubik's Cube. Now, if I tell you that, if I present it to you in a really simple way, you won't be really interested. But if I present to you in a really interesting manner, that this can help you like relieve stress, or this can help you increase your logic reasoning, or whatever. So I think presenting is really important. And that's why we came up with this name called AMers, which is actually describing the platform. So our name stands for two services, which we offered AM over here stands for morning meetups. And then AMers when you say it sounds like a target, which sounds what this demonstrates passion sessions. So it is like a combination of two offer services morning meetups and passion sessions.

That's, super interesting. So passion sessions and morning meetups are regular in your organization. What exactly are these? What happens in them? And what's your favorite part in the sessions?

Okay, my favorite part is definitely just talking to the speaker. Okay, so passion sessions are basically sessions where you get to talk or you get to listen or learn from someone who's already a professional or expert in their subject matter. And these are only 20 minute sessions. So we basically just introduce you to a particular field or core area or anything you want, so we just introduce you, we just give you that exposure, which you need. Because in today's world, when the curriculums and everything the school curriculum restricts you to particular boundaries, you know, you're restricted to learn, like, major subjects, and that's it, like, you just ace it and there you are, you're good. But that's not what should be done. Because there are so many I'd say opportunities available outside. So you need to go outside, you need to explore beyond that curriculum. There are so many fields like meditation, yoga, skateboarding, literally anything. Like I wasn't even able to like, understand why are schools actually restricting people to a particular curriculum, because if we actually allow them to explore, they would be able to learn so much more. So the whole idea behind passion sessions was to get a new speaker every single day, so that we get to learn from a new person, and to actually learn from their experience. And okay, so in every passion sessions, there is like a particular area of expertise. So for TEDx speaker, there was public speaking for Nukus, he talked about networking. So he even taught us like how networking works, how we can increase our network. So I think what's really important over here is that just allowing yourself to learn about that. And if that interests you, if that doesn't interest you then you don't have to dig deeper in it. but if that is something which interests you, then you can go further in it. And Okay, second one, morning meetups. So the whole idea behind morning meetups is that if you're not able to wake up early, and if you have something like kind of you always snooze your alarm, you always be like, okay, just let me stay in my bed. Don't disturb me, let me sleep. Then I think morning meetups are a really good way to get rid of that particular habit. If you want to become a morning person. We're Of course not forcing anyone to become a morning person. But it's totally up to you. If you want to wake up early if you want to become a morning person. If your sleep schedule is messed up right now, then you should definitely go for it. It's always like in the morning, it's early morning. It's different for every single time zone. So I can't tell you particular time, because it's different for everyone. So we have people from all over the world, which is interesting. So basically, morning meetups are basically similar to passion sessions. The only difference is that morning meetups are held in the morning to encourage you to wake up. It's like, you know, it brings that spark of excitement, that, okay, I learned from a completely new person, a random person who I've never even met in my whole life. So that's something which excites people to get out of bed , and then just attend that session, get that morning energy, kind of good vibe style.

That's actually something that I need as well. So, moving on Sneha how do you plan on developing AMers? in the future? What are your plans?

Okay, so right now, if, if I'm being completely honest, we are trying to focus on increasing our audience. Because definitely, this is something which can help a lot of people, like many people need it. And I think not many, every single person needs it. Because tell me one thing Have you ever been asked? What's your career plan? What what you will do in future, anything like that? Yeah, exactly. Every single student, every single person has like, these set of questions for you. But you don't even know how to answer them. Because many of us haven't even found your passion. And this is something which is most common in terms of school, like school going students or college students, because we were always restricted to again, the same curriculum. So right now they ask us, what's your passion? But the right question, the major question over here is, how do you know how to find your passion? That's the major question. The major question isn't what's your passion, it's how do you know how to find it. And that's what we're trying to solve over here. So we are trying to increase our audience. Because if we reach out to more people we will be able to create an impact in more lives, and you know, just in general. And if you're actually able to create impact in a single person's career, then Believe me like, your job over here is done. Like, if you get that one person to pursue their dream, that's what we are here for.

Amazing. So looking at how wide this entire agenda is, you must have quite a large team behind this venture as well. So what are your thoughts on leadership and team management in this aspect .

So as long as everyone is really happy doing what they want to do, I think we're good. So in terms of team management, we should have particular guidelines, because we definitely don't want people to feel like they are not encouraged or they're not supported in their workspace. So we are trying to create an environment where everyone is like really encouraging and uplifting. We have certain norms that people are supposed to respect and value them. So they're like, Listen, to understand not to reply. So most of the times we listen to give a reply. But why we should listen is to understand and not to reply. So we have certain norms. Apart from that, I think leadership is more about learning from each other not about giving orders. It's not just about giving orders. Many people think that leadership is just about giving orders and seeing, just making sure that they're followed. But that's not what leadership is about. Leadership is about walking in shoes of that person and seeing what's their strength and what's their weakness, just making sure that they're actually able to do what you're asking to do , like whatever you're asking them to do. So if you're telling a person who's really good at coding, and you're telling him to make a sketch of some, some monument or something, then obviously they wouldn't be able to do it right. So identifying their strengths and weaknesses is, I think the most important part of leadership, identifying it and then working accordingly. Also making sure that everyone is mentally fit. Everyone, you know is in a good state of mind, they have a positive and healthy mindset. So just ensuring that your workspace is like a safe place, I think that's the most crucial part.

That's an amazing way to approach this entire idea. Sneha you might be in high school right now right ?

No, I am in college.

Oh, you're in college. Okay. So could you tell us something about what you're doing and what you're pursuing?

I'm pursuing branding and advertising. at NMIMS, Mumbai. So, yeah that's what I'm doing. And I'm trying to, you know, implement those ideas like trying to connect the bridge between it so that I can actually implement my theoretical knowledge and practical life.

That's amazing to hear. What according to you the most valuable skills that one needs while developing a startup or a new initiate?

Okay. I think just saying yes. You just need the ability to say yes, that's it, there isn't like a skill set which you require, you just need to start saying yes to everything. If there is like, some kind of conference, then go attend it. Why are you not attending it? Give me a good reason why not to attend it? start saying yes to everything. That's it?

That's, a very refreshing advice, in my opinion. How do you manage to strike a healthy balance between your social life and your academic and professional commitments?

I think it's already down to good time management, So when you're working, for me, it works. I usually put my phone on airplane mode, so that it's kind of not being a distraction or anything. When you're working , make sure that you know what your priorities are. You should always know not only when you're working but you should always know what your priorities are. Don't chase things which are temporary. What do you think you genuinely care about, do that. And again, just one good tip for time management and every single thing in life is that ask yourself one question, Is this something I'll be proud of after two years, so if you're wasting your time, using like, maybe Instagram, or talking to someone, you you don't even like them? And if you're still talking to them, this ask yourself one question, Is this something I'll be proud of in future? Will I be proud that oh my god, I talked to this person. If not, then stop talking to them just respond that, okay, I'll have to do something else. Or just tell them don't be like really rude to them but at the same time, just make sure that you set your priorities. You need to take care of what your priorities are. And then Apart from that, time blocking is like a really good technique, which you can use. So basically, you just have like a particular time block for every single task, which you have to do. So like, if I'm having this meeting, I have a particular time block that I'll do this meeting in this particular time. So have a time block for every single thing, and you will be able to accomplish most of it.

That's awesome advice. I'm sure that will be very helpful to everyone listening to this. who was your major source of support during the entire process of developing Aimers?

I think my mother because I think she never discouraged my idea. she was always optimistic about it. And but like at the same time, she was really realistic. So whenever I was thinking of something which sounded like kind of weird, she would say, and she would be like, Okay, this is something which you have to think about or this is something which can be done she never said that it cannot be done. She was like, this is something which can be done, but you just need to give like a proper time to think about it. So I think, that really helped me a lot. She was always like really positive and encouraging about everything I did. So even if I'm attending a meeting at 3am, she was like, okay, it's cool, you can do that. But just make sure that you're not actually disturbing your whole sleep schedule.

That's very sweet and supporting. So lastly, before wrapping up the interview, what steps would you like to give someone who wants to start an initiative or has an idea?

Go for it. Go for it because you're going to be proud of it in future, you're not going to be proud of scrolling on Instagram, right? You won't be proud of scrolling, Instagram, tik tok or anything in future. But if you start something, you'll be actually proud, you'll be like, after two years, you can say I started this. But you can't say that. I was scrolling on reels. You can say it. But that's not something you'll be proud of. You won't be like, Oh, I was scrolling on reels, You know what I was scrolling through reels, like? No, that's definitely not something you will be proud of. So do everything that you think will make you proud of yourself in future and be grateful enough, be grateful for everything you have, don't go looking for opportunities, like, really far away, start looking for opportunities near you. Because there are always opportunities which are surrounding you, you just need to have a eye for them. You just need to make sure that you're grabbing them, you just have to open doors to possibilities and stuff. So just start saying Yes, go for it. attend as many conferences and events you can, make a good network, a strong network always helps Believe me. Just have a really good stablished network, it will help you a lot in future. And today, especially today when everything is becoming really kind of different and unique. Having a good network will help you understand the whole industry in a better way understand the working structure, understand how people behave and their reactions to particular product or marketing strategy. So have good network and talk to people, talk to as many people as you can. Yeah, over here. I don't mean talk about useless stuff, but talk about like, whatever they can teach you ,what you can teach them just be open to learning. Never say no to learning. I mean, that's it.

Amazing advice. Thank you so much for attending this interview and for giving all the viewer ideas and all the input that you did. I hope you enjoyed the interview. I hope you had fun.

I sure did.

Your advice in everything was amazing.

I enjoyed it a lot. It was amazing. And I'm so glad to be here. I'm so glad to share my experience and everything with you all. I'm really thankful.

Thank you so much. It was amazing to have you .