Arpita Joshi - Covid19 Pandemic Took a Toll in My Life Both Professionally and Personally (Entrepreneur)

 

I am Arpita Joshi (Pen Name: Arpita Shekhar). I am a 21 years old entrepreneur and writer. I founded my venture The Pen Painter in the year 2019 and I have been writing (published/unpublished) pretty much my entire life. I am currently working on my book, a semi-autobiographical novel. 

I am fascinated by stories that nature tells in unexpected ways. I am currently an English Hons graduate student with many academic and extra-curricular achievements to my name

Tell us more about your company and your journey.

‘The Pen Painter’ is a creative content writing platform alongside a digital marketing management platform for people and brands looking to grow their market and employ creative techniques like experimenting with words and visuals to appeal to the audience, we manage your social media appearance, write curated content for companies and help their reputation reach to the relevant audience. 

The Pen Painter currently deals with micro-influencers and startups on a budget. Also, The Pen Painter helps freelancers to monetise their skills, creative artists, content writers, graphic designers, web developers, social media experts are signed under the company’s name and given projects to complete with big-name companies which are pitched by The Pen Painter.



How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?

I have been a creative individual and an overthinker even since my conscious years, I tend to brainstorm ideas that are influenced by passion. I am greatly driven by my skill with pen and paper, subsequently, I fueled my writing skill with my passion and hence, The Pan Painter. 

I am a certified digital marketer and I combined the knowledge of the social media market, algorithm and the surface internet with the ability to design curated content. The name of my startup ‘The Pen Painter’ signifies the venture’s promise to deliver content that is worth a painting’s visual description, nevertheless painting through the powerful tool pen. 

On December 8th 2019, The Pen Painter entered the market and currently I run this venture single-handedly, pitching into various companies and getting their projects on the table and then passing it on to contract signed freelancers and henceforth getting the work done under The Pen Painter’s name. 

Describe your recent Initiative ''Winter camp'' 2021.

As mentioned before, I overthink and it would not be false to say that as an English Honors graduate student thinking is pretty much my job. That’s how I broaden the horizons of my imagination. Winter Camp 2021 happened similarly, this initiative under The Pen Painter is very close to my heart. 

I commemorate the night of 17th December 2020 when the idea first occurred to me and I am so proud to have made the 14-day event successful right on 17th January 2021. I was exploring the internet for activities to indulge in, in my city subsequently, I thought why shouldn’t I train children in something I am good at. 

Turns out there were many areas to be taught, I wanted to make the event as good as possible and deliver everything that I was promising. With God’s grace, When I began to promote the idea, everything started to fall in place on its own. Professional experts in the fields even came out to help me in my initiative and I put the entire event together on a low budget. The parents showed enthusiasm to enrol their kids.

I covered topics starting from

Day 1: Ice Breaking/Orientation/Rules of First Impressions

Day 2: What is wrong with the Education system of India. Degree vs Talent (Ms. Shikha Pandey: 99% PCMB CBSE topper, St. Stephens Chemistry Hons Scholar)

Day 3: Self Defence, defending vs attacking, weak points of a human body (Ms. Samridhi Bahuguna: Tellu Rauteli Awardee, 48 Golds Taekwondo Champion, represented India in Junior World Taekwondo Championship, Canada)

Day 4: What is wrong with Addiction, about alcohol, narcotics and drugs, self-medication and basics of first aid (Mrs. Jaya Bisht: frontline corona warrior from city Haldwani, a pharmacist)

Day 5: Debates, Group Discussion, Interviews (in proper environment), punctuality, ragging, body shaming, whistleblowing. (Ms. Arpita Shekhar: organiser)

Day 6: Psychology, personality tests, art therapy, anger management (Mrs Simran Rehil: clinical psychologist from Haldwani specialist in child psychology)

Day 7: Table Manners, Dining Etiquette, 5-star seating ethics, communication on the table, treating the servers and code (Chef Jaskirat Bhasin)

Day 8: Law and Order, must know rights, road safety rules, women safety, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, how to file FIR, approaching government officials and emergency scenarios (Adv. Nadan Bisht and host Mr. Anshul Singh)

Day 9: Yoga, yogic awareness, yoga for career, power and soul yoga, meditation, artistic yoga (Yogic Sanyogita Singh: runs her own club Sanyog Healing Centre in Haldwani and Yogic Ashish Rawat)

Day 10: Animal Welfare, strays vs pets, feeding, vaccinations and treating the voiceless (Ms Naina Gautam: animal welfare activist runs her own ngo share and care dog Haldwani)

Day 11: Financial literacy, paper; cotton; plastic; digital money, money management, needs vs wants vs savings (Ms. Arpita Shekhar: organiser)

Day 12: Talking your heart out, career counselling and learning about your self (Ms Garvita Singh: clinical psychologist runs her own venture by the name iwant2behappy)

Day 13: Social Welfare Day: Ban plastic and use paper bags (Ms. Arpita Shekhar and the winter camp team with kids on a field trip) distributed 3000+ paper bags made by the kids to various pharmacies spread in Haldwani

Day 14: Valediction Ceremony

(Mr Shekhar Bhatt, runs his NGO Haldwani Online)



What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?

Well, Covid19 pandemic took a toll in my life both professionally and personally and I can’t deny the fact that management was an issue in the initial months but I finally settled in and began to work from the new digital model. 

Plus, being the final year of my degree it was important for me to concentrate on the academic part as well, I scored 9.78 in the last semester. A pat on my back, I am grateful for being able to handle everything nicely.



What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful Founder?

Well, being a founder is not just the position that one is entitled to have but it is a huge responsibility to be able to act as a mediator between the employees and the potential clients. The most important quality is being able to fit into the shoes of each teammate and guiding them with the best interests of all. Time management and punctuality are the basic disciplines that add to the reputation of the company.



What are some of the most important factors for running a successful business?

In the present, the Internet has opened doors to all kinds of talents and businesses evolving on the foundation of those talents but sustaining the business with continued effort and consistent dedication is what leads to the inevitable success. I strongly believe that the journey from 1 to 100 is not difficult because all it takes is the one step from 0 to 1, it is the part that creates history and at least adds up to the work. 

In the era of globalisation, one can find all kinds of things and services being promoted as businesses with healthy competition alongside, however, it is not about who came first but who did it best. To run a successful business don’t expect success to run in first hand, it is a process of continuous work and effort to attain a strong foundation.

What are your tips for the first time and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Never scream your ideas, Stay low key, the best thing about entrepreneurship is that you get to be your own boss but don’t let that feeling overpower your ability to put in 101% of the effort. Just remember that your idea matters, even if it makes the littlest of difference in the society, it still matters. And just as they say, drop by drop an ocean is formed. 

Similarly, your idea was planted in your head for some reason, go out there and achieve it. Life’s too short to regret anyways, you might fail twice or many times but who wants easy success? The more the effort, sweeter the fruit of hard work.



How can one overcome a hurdle of lack of funds when starting up?

Funds are an issue, no doubt, I have been in a situation when I could not provide for the basic funds towards the utilities of my venture. One tip: never go into debt, that’s the worst-case scenario. Alternative, find sponsorships or loans within a close family. Better yet, earn through a paying job, find part-time employment through the digital mode or even start a side hustle to cover the basic finances until money starts to roll in. 

However, don’t expect too much in the beginning, moreover making a profit is a matter of time and as mentioned earlier a process of dedicated effort. But one way or another, you will achieve your vision and when you do so and look back, you would be proud of how far you have come.



Interviewed By - Muskan Gupta