We recently caught up with Ekta Tejwani, the founder of MUMZ, a venture connecting all mothers online or as she puts it “Tinder for Moms”. Ekta holds an MBA from NMIMS Mumbai and is presently based out of Hong Kong.
Q1. Tell us something about your journey so far?
If you search the term “ The Entrepreneur -Iceberg” that’s what the my journey has been so far. It does capture the struggle and the idea of success but then there is a lot of opportunity cost at stake. My journey has not been easy, but thanks to my family, my sanity is still intact. For an entrepreneur, It’s the passion in my heart to work towards what I believe in and help build a community that positively impacts the life of a mother , especially during the early years of motherhood. Of course, that being said, Mumz is a for profit social enterprise, so business focus is key. So the journey, if you may ask, has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride!
Q2. What prompted you to make the switch from corporate career to become an entrepreneur?
Maybe something in my DNA changed after I got a taste of entrepreneurship while I was working full time. The Idea to work for yourself, with flexible hours ( definitely more number of hours) but most importantly to be able to meet & impact a larger audience with your work continues to reason with me that I made the right switch!
Q3. Tell us something about your ventures. How difficult is it to start-up?
MUMZ is my second start-up. Similar to anything else in life, everything is difficult in the beginning and then with practice becomes easy. With a start-up, the difficulty comes in being updated with the constant changing environment and ever increasing challenges. The more you grow, the more challenging it becomes.It is actually very easy to start a start-up, what’s difficult is to keep the passion running, sustain it and overcome the everyday challenges and still grow it after 2-3 years. If one has the right team and the right support, things can start looking differently. Otherwise I would suggest, don’t hurry to Launch your idea.. Plan on how you will sustain it if the idea works!
What is MUMZ? Most of the days, I say it is a “Tinder for Moms”. It is a networking app for mothers to be able to swipe, connect & meet other local mothers based on kids age, interest, etc., create & host playdates, events, activities to build the community and more.The idea is to develop a networking community supporting mothers in their motherhood journey! Our Website is A Platform to showcase MUMZ and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of Mothers by Channelizing their venture with brand awareness and sales.
We say “ A happy mother is a happy family!”
Q4. What or who has been the biggest influence in your career so far? How do you balance your personal and professional career?
It would not be wise for me to mention one person here. In my field of work, the more mothers I meet, the more inspired I am. I also follow the speeches made by the influential ones such as Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Indra Nooyi and more. This helps me in understanding their journey and incorporating those learning in my life.
I am privileged to know my own Mom and all the other mothers in different professional and personal capacities. I feel blessed in knowing what they have given up to reach where they are, to know that despite the struggles, they continue to live with passion and positive attitude- the health struggles to hormonal issues and still being able to have a giving supporting attitude. All these mothers I know and have met, have been an inspiration to me. Therefore its for them, I want to give something back and make a social impact!
Another person who has played an important role in shaping up the thought process in my career is my first boss, Mr. Amit Jain, whose one saying has stuck with me. He had once told me, “If you want to be successful in life, Know when you come home, you have given your professional best at work.. and when you Go to Work, know you have left a happy family home” . If you can manage to do this on a daily basis, your life will be successful!
Q5. Which is the biggest challenge you have faced so far? What are your future plans?
Married with two young kids, my biggest challenge is how to Balance? On an everyday basis, it is like balancing a laptop with one hand and a tugging toddler with another, all this while standing on one leg!! One side does bend sometimes, but to avoid falling, one needs to maintain the balance. It is never easy, nothing is in the beginning, but it can be done !
What worked for me was to understand how I would like my children to subconsciously see and learn from me. I started following the 3P’s to balance. ( A Typical MBA thing to do I feel.. but it worked) : Planning, Prioritising & Personal development.
The first thing I did was to let go of inertia and always try to challenge myself. I planned and took out time to do something new, pivot the business model for my work or for that matter even learn to skateboard with my kids. To let my children know that there shall always be ups and down in business. and So in life i taught them to prioritise both- Let the “UP” make you reach higher.. Let the “DOWN” make you bounce back with a better plan!
Personal Development is Key for an Entrepreneur especially a mother. To not blindly follow a rat race and fight time, but to take time in your stride and focus on personal growth and development. From 30 minutes of exercising to learning a new graphic designing skill in 30 days, always be open to what helps you grow. In the end it is important to understand that as an entrepreneurial mother , Business, Family, Money,Personal Growth – it is all very Important. But So is Balance.
Q6. How has the lockdown impacted you as a professional?
Well don’t get there.. its a dangerous territory !
Initially I must still share that it did, like to many others across sectors, impact very negatively. It kept me going haphazard in the thought process and panic mode struck as to what next? But then what worked was to take this “Low” in my stride and I started working on my Personal development while the Professional Side took a Hit. I started updating my skill sets, taking a step back and revisited my business model, and pivot. I started talking to mentors, investors, research scholars as to how best can we help the community and what avenues can we provide the community to network. and soon will be launching our new set of services for the community on our platform.
We have all heard the cliche that
“ when life gives us lemons, make lemonade.. but when life throws you a bulldozer, Make a new way”!
Q7. What would be your advice to young professionals and MBA students? How has your experience in NMIMS Mumbai helped in shaping you?
My one advise to young professionals would be to go beyond the learning from books and grab opportunities to try and experiment with real-life problems. Experiential learning has a positive impact on the way one thinks and reacts. As you are just starting your career, sometimes one is not sure of the direction you wish your career to take. I would suggest its best to reach out and talk to people already in the Corporate/Entrepreneurship world. It really helps and it is important to understand how the career progression in one field is different than how we imagine it to be.
Q8. You have worked in both India and Hong Kong. How is the work culture different in both the countries? How can our readers connect with you ?
Personally for me it was very different. There are many factors to it, but one basic factor is the diversity. In Hong Kong, working with a diverse crowd and meeting people of different nationalities on a daily basis makes one grow subconsciously as a person and one tries to adapt to good practises followed by others. Overall, it is a very enriching experience to work in a diverse environment!
The readers can reach out to me on LinkedIn, Follow our FB page and find our updates on our website
Q9. Any suggestions for IdeasMakeMarket.com?
It has been amazing to follow the journey and I would suggest you keep continuing the good work you have been doing!
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This story is very inspiring. Managing your venture with motherhood is extremely commendable