“Seeking happiness in everything that one does is the real key to peace.”

She is an entrepreneur, blogger, counsellor, and writer. This mother of two spreads warmth and happiness wherever she goes. Her infectious smile lights up a room and she continues to inspire while she carries out her work as the co-owner of Sarvashreshtha Solutions. 

Writing is her first love. And meeting people, her second. As a free-lance Features Writer, she has written for Mid-day, Indian Express, and Education Times & Business World. She has also written books, edited coffee-table books and tabled a novel. At present, she blogs at http://www.diaryofaninsanewriter.com & co-own Sarvashreshtha Solutions, a company specialising in Executive Communication & Digital Transformation.

KreativeMommy was in conversation with MAYURA AMARKANT as part of our Women’s Day series. Here are a few highlights from the interview.

  1. As an award-winning entrepreneur, you are popular as someone who has made her mark in the digital world and made a difference. Tell us more about your journey? 

I guess the spirit of entrepreneurship was inside me right from the beginning. Whenever I joined an organisation, I felt that I owned it. I behaved and worked as if the profits depended upon my actions. Taking the team towards a common goal was always on top of my mind. After working for over a decade and a half on the client side, I moved to agency side. I realised that an agency is a partner to the company and a solutions provider. During my agency stint, I decided to start my entrepreneurial journey.

I co-own a company called Sarvashreshtha Solutions. We specialise in Executive Communication & Digital Transformation. It was a challenge to be an entrepreneur in a field where the younger generation is better than us. It took hours of study, reading, and practice to reach where we have reached. There are many miles and milestones still to be crossed.

  1. Being a married woman with children and being a mompreneur at the same time, can sometimes be taxing. How do you strike a balance between your personal and professional life?

It isn’t really as taxing as it is made out to be. To me, it is a lot about communicating with the family on a regular basis. Each of us has a goal and paths to reach it, the challenge is to bring it all in sync. In my case, I have compartments in my head and in my life – personal, family, professional, society. Each of them has been allocated a certain amount of time and space. At times, one compartment demands more time, then the others are allocated attention accordingly. E.g. during office hours, I focus only on my work, but if my child is unwell, then I look at shifting office responsibilities. Or, if there is an important day-long client meeting, then I look at how my child can be taken care of during those hours. At each juncture, speaking to all parties and taking consent is critical.

  1. Having a multi-dimensional lifestyle like being an entrepreneur, blogger, mentor, coach, counselor, and mother, introduce us to a day in your life.

Hahaha!! This is a tough one!! No two days are alike! However, here is what happens largely:

  • Wake up at 6 am and make breakfast and dabba (no cook).
  • My husband helps me with getting my son ready
  • 7 am my son leaves for school
  • We get a 30 min respite for a cup of tea – we leisurely sip it at our window – no work discussions
  • 7:30 am my daughter wakes up and leaves for school
  • I then cook for the rest of the day. I prepare lunch and dinner at the same time
  • 9 am we are in the office (we have allocated a 100 sq feet space in my home and we call it the office)
  • The day begins with making a task list and taking notes from each other
  • By 10 am we know how our day is planned. Either we have meetings or con calls or need to finish other work
  • 11:15 am my husband picks up my daughter. We play with her for 15 minutes and then she resumes chilling with her i-pad. (till her brother comes home, she has the privilege to use it)
  • 12:45 pm my son comes home
  • We all have lunch and discuss my son’s day at school
  • We go back to work at 1:30 pm
  • My children have a dance teacher who comes home so they jiggle away while we work
  • Loads of free play for them after this. We do a lot of conflict resolution at this time.
  • We take a chai break. After tea at 4:30 pm, they either go to play or sit and study (no tuition teacher).
  • At about 6:30 pm, we stop work, get ready and go to the club with the kids
  • Each of us has our own set of friends and activities at the club
  • Our work allows us to work from anywhere so we ensure that work still goes on while we are taking care of our health.
  • We come back by about 9 pm, have dinner and pack off the kids to sleep
  • Around 11 pm, I start writing for my blog, I write till about 1 am
  • Here comes the most important part of my day. After everyone sleeps, I take out 2 clear hours for myself – listen to music, relax, look out of the window, read etc.
  • Around 3 am, I retire after having finished “Me Time”
  • Well, I sleep for lesser hours than others. Some say its unhealthy. For me, those last 2 hours are important for my sanity.

Life is very different on days when we have meetings or on-site commitments. Either parent is with the kids or they are dropped off at grandparent’s home while we finish our professional commitments. On those days, we speak to the kids and make them understand the importance of the meeting and give them clear reasons of why they need to be away from us.

There are other days when I am completely exhausted and my husband allows me to sleep while he takes over the morning responsibilities. There are days when I need to cook in the wee hours of the morning because I have to leave for a day-long, on-site meeting. On such days, my husband takes over.

  1. You are an inspiration to everyone around you as you participate in many different things. Where do you get the inspiration from? 

So many people – my parents and in-laws, my siblings and co-siblings, the clients who we work with, my kids, my maid, my neighbours, my doctors, my friends, my mentors – I draw inspiration from everything around me – all the time. I have been gifted a quality of seeing the good in people always. I love life and seek happiness first – that’s what keeps me inspired all the time.

Mayura with her family

  1. Tell us about your journey as a blogger. How and when you thought of diaryofaninsanewriter.com?

I have so much to share with the world through my writing. My versatility doesn’t allow me to be slotted under a particular title nor am I a celebrity who would be given a column in a newspaper so that I can share my views and opinions. The only way to reach my thoughts to the general public was to start a blog.

The name DiaryOfAnInsaneWriter came up because I am insane – (in a good way). Anyone who has met me will tell you that.

  1. You have counseled some 50,000 students in your lifetime. How did this idea come up? Please share your experience as a student counselor with us. 

I have completed my BA (Psychology), PGDBA in Human Resources and have a Masters in Neuro-linguistic programming. Throughout my career, I have delivered group and individual sessions to the youth and guided them on the right path. The topics have been right from career counselling to personal counselling to marital counselling. There is so much unhappiness in people, I feel it is my responsibility to help them see the good within themselves and around them. I continue to guide the youth through guest sessions at various colleges and associations across India.

  1. What are your future plans or where do you see yourself in 5 years from now? 
  • As a mother: In the next 5 years, my son will complete 18 & my daughter will complete 9. I see myself as their best friend and confidante.
  • As a professional: I see Sarvashreshtha Solutions adding value to large conglomerates and the society at large. Amarkant Jain and I represented as a power couple.
  • As a wife: Continuing to be his better half and standing by him, in sickness and health.
  • As a family person: Being around for my family whenever I am needed
  • And As a friend: Continue to be the 4 am friend.

  1. Please extend 5 suggestions for working mothers or other mompreneurs who find it hard to manage their home, family, and work sometimes?

Well, managing work, home, and other fronts can be a challenge for people who don’t plan well. Also for people who see everything as a task or chore will have difficulty in managing life. Reason out with family and take a buy-in from the family on all your major decisions. These are things that I believe in and follow. To answer your question, here are 5 suggestions for Mompreneurs.:

  • Love yourself and ensure you steal “Me Time”
  • Believe in yourself. The world will give you 100 reasons to doubt yourself.
  • Plan. Plan. – include your family and significant others in the plan by consulting and communicating with them
  • Don’t hesitate to take help – even superwomen need assistance
  • Pick up a hobby and channelise your negative energies towards positive & productive pursuits
  1. As its Women’s day series, what message would like to give our women readers?

Seeking happiness in everything that one does is the real key to peace. Don’t carry out any action that makes you unhappy. We are the stronger gene and we need to believe that – have faith in yourself – always. Most importantly, wearing the pants in the house doesn’t make you a man, you are a woman and you have your unique qualities – so do men. Live a life of value and not materialistic worth.

About Mayura Amarkant:

Entrepreneur | Digital Transformation Expert | Online Strategist for CXOs | Award for Digital PR & Marketing | Writer with 18 plus years of experience.

You can contact Mayura at –

Twitter handle: @mayuraamarkant

Blog handle: @DiaryOfMayura

Blog address: www.diaryofaninsanewriter.com

This feature is for a #womensday special. We featured Anuja Kapur before this. Read about her here.

You can link up your #MondayMommyMoment posts here for #womensday special prompt.

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