In this age of advancement, where a majority of us are falling prey to the rat race, Shweta Merchant’s unique organization is guiding people to find the calm in chaos. From being a simple and shy school girl to paving her own way and founding Happyminds, Western India’s largest Public Speaking and Leadership Academy, Shweta has come a long way. Being an NLP Practitioner and a Life Skills Trainer, she has already marked the lives of 70,000+ people and has taken them on a transformative expedition where they explored, discovered and reformed themselves into healthy minds and happy souls. Let us then follow the journey of this power-packed personality:

The Beginning:

The 12-year-old Shweta was the most unnoticed girl in her school, who profusely cried when her class teacher punished a notorious boy by making him sit beside her. She thought it was a greater punishment to her and skipped school for almost a month. With the passing of years, Shweta learnt not to quit while she simply grew quieter and started absorbing everything that happened to her and her surroundings. At the age of 19, she dreamt and planned out a certain kind of life for herself, prim and proper, and did every possible thing to make it work. But fate had other plans altogether, none of it worked out the way she wanted. Broken and shattered, she started once again. This time her mind was railing with the idea of understanding how it all works. She intended to know how the mind over matter changed the game. That is precisely the time when things started playing out in her favour.

Blazing a Trail:

She went to Pune, to pursue her Master’s Degree in Business Administration. There she chose a module which allowed her to work while studying and got herself placed in a Corporate training company. Her work profile was in the marketing sector but she stretched her working hours to learn as much as possible. She spent her break-times in seminars, where one of her senior used to deliver sessions on ‘Life Skills’. Shweta then assisted her while she went to train the professionals of MNCs. She happily served tea and snacks to the participants just to be present there and simultaneously, learn. Even after, tiring working hours, she used to manage her time and make modules from what she learnt in the whole day. Since the beginning, she has followed the mantra – “Wake up, Dress up and Show up”. And keeping the same mantra as her motivation, she soon started off as a trainer; however, small the number of audience, she had her mother and her best friend, as her constant. There were times, when people tried to pull her down. They mocked her as some ‘modern-day-baba’ and went on to call her a ‘fanatic’. But she had a clear positive vision and a huge faith in her own work. She had built a strong inner system, relying on which she kept going on and didn’t let criticism disturb her pace. She then studied NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Program) where the roots of her ideology got nurtured. She then invested herself completely in understanding the thought patterns of the human mind.

Becoming an Influencer:

From going door to door to share her ideas, to giving free seminars and training, Shweta dedicated her years in spreading awareness on mind power and building a strong base of trust and understanding among her growing audience. After almost, half-a-decade of persistent efforts and hard work, she brought the wave of change she always intended to.  Now, when she announces her public seminars on either ‘Positive Thinking’, ‘Happiness Therapy’, ‘Mindpower’ or any other Life skill subjects, within an hour,  her show gets booked; tickets get sold out and furthermore, hundreds of people go back home disappointed because they couldn’t get the seats on time.

Living the Dream:

During her childhood, when the teacher or her mother used to ask, “What do you want to become, when you grow up?”, Shweta had this clear vision of herself, speaking on a microphone, people listening and applauding. Back then she never knew what kind of profession would that be, all she knew was that she will come out of the shell, that as an introvert she was so accustomed to living in. She denotes everything she is today to her supportive mother, her husband, and both their families. The positivity that her professional life gives her, makes her personal life bloom too. These are the people who keep her going on. She cherishes the icon she has become in the city; she has been honoured as one of the top 60 women entrepreneurs in India with innovative business ideas in 2016 by BRITT India and iHeart Global Inspiration Women’17. But what keeps her deeply rooted is her mantra to take only one day at a time. The glory, the success, the happiness that’s only for that one particular day to celebrate; and the same goes for failure. Next morning, it’s a new day, new start and another chance to work hard with revived enthusiasm and pursue the fresh goals.

She says, “Every day is a new day. Always approach it as a fresh start, let the magic of new beginnings flow in you.”