Welcome to our section where we bring you stories of and conversations with inspirational women who’ve changed lives and given back to the community. Today, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome Nansi Mishra—Co-Founder of 100x Entrepreneur & LinkedIn Top Voices 2021: Next Gen. At 100x Entrepreneur, she connects with VCs & startup founders and helps share their mindsets, milestones & growth stories via podcasts. A champion for working mothers, she talks to us about balancing career & parenthood as a young mother, by working only 4 hours a day.
A few snippets from our conversation here
Adarsh: Hi Nansi! Welcome to The Corner Office. Tell us how 100x Entrepreneur came to be.
Nansi: Thank you for having me, Adarsh. Community building is something that comes naturally to me. I hail from a village and observed the struggles & hardships that many people face in rural/small towns, be it migration, jobs, etc. Connecting with people & telling their stories helped me build this skill. I wanted to learn more about this along with content & marketing, and the startup world seemed like a good place to start. It was then that my husband & I decided that we both wanted to evolve & experience more things, to become 100x of ourselves. We connected with entrepreneurs & VCs and started sharing their conversations & journeys. That’s how the podcast 100x Entrepreneur came to be.
Adarsh: That’s great! You recently mentioned on LinkedIn that you work for only 4 hours a day & how that’s not the only choice but the only option. Could you elaborate on that?
Nansi: When I found out that I was pregnant, I had mixed feelings—I was happy that I was going to be a mother but I also wondered about what would happen to my career. As a young mother at 24, I really enjoyed my maternity leave & the whole pregnancy time. But after 6 months, I realised I’ve been following the same routine & started feeling the pressure of wanting to go back to work. I began having negative thoughts, and it started affecting my physical & mental health. I lost 16 kgs! After a year, during my baby’s first birthday, I realised that work gives me satisfaction. What I actually needed was to structure my hours, rather than feeling irritated at the baby, which would only make me feel more guilty. Previously, I thought that I should do everything on my own but then I realised that it was difficult. I then started asking for help from family members. Those 4 hours really helped me—I felt happy & productive, and it gave me the confidence I needed. Beyond this time, as our baby is still small, I need to ensure to be with him.
Adarsh: That’s so heartening! So, how does it feel to be running a venture with your husband?
Nansi: Having Siddhartha as a Co-Founder really helps. We have an understanding of each other’s strengths & weaknesses and divide our work accordingly. There are days when I feel overwhelmed & on those days, he’ll take the lead. Despite having a full-time career himself, Siddhartha will be patient with me as he sees me throughout the day.
Adarsh: As LinkedIn Top Voice, what does having a voice mean to you?
Nansi: It certainly made me more confident. Earlier, I wasn’t sure about sharing my motherhood stories. But I realised that when you know the right way to share your story & are authentic, people will connect with you, be inspired by you. After my post, so many mothers shared their own stories with me! So yes, eventually, you end up making an impact, discovering yourself & your own voice.
Adarsh: To conclude, is there anything you’d like to tell the Next Gen watching this, especially those from Tier III cities?
Nansi: I believe that balance isn’t about getting to do everything. It’s about getting to do the things you love without compromising elsewhere. That’s the key to a successful work-life relationship.
All images used are the sole property of Nansi Mishra and cannot be used without prior permission
