This week we talk with founder and CEO of the GLYD travel app, Monika Bhasin. She shares her deeply personal journey of loss, finding love and acceptance from within, and connecting the world through travel. Monika talks about how she came up with the concept of the GLYD travel app and the process to build and launch the app. She also talks about being raised by her grandmother in India, moving to the United States to live with her parents and the expectations that come with being a part of a traditional Indian family. This episode is a powerful one.
Episode Highlights:
How Monika went about the app building process, as a non-developer:
- Took classes to understand development
- Taught self a little bit of coding
- Used the internet and really immersed herself in the subject matters
- Important to be open to learning
Biggest lessons she’s learned:
- You have to be passionate about what you are doing.
- You need this passion to help you persevere through the challenges.
- On the flip side, don’t be afraid to realize when you are no longer passionate about what you are doing.
- Don’t be afraid to take the leap of faith more than once.
- Believe in yourself.
- You are your strongest link and your weakest link.
- It’s you that takes this bus forward or backwards.
- You have to fail in order to succeed. Don’t be afraid you failed. But keeping moving forward.
- It takes a lot of courage to understand to admit to moments where you don’t feel good and make a change.
About Monika Bhasin (in her own words)
I’m Monika Bhasin, an avid barrier breaker. Usually those barriers are within my mind, aka my invisible fence. Being born a girl with dark skin, I was always frowned upon and somewhere inside me from a very young age, I felt the need to always do what I want. I felt that if just by existing I was an inconvenience to people around me then there is no reason to listen to them, right? So began my life’s journey.
I didn’t live with my parents until I was 11/12 and to live with them I had to move to the US, a totally different country, culture, school system, FAMILY! I was constantly pushed to be a doctor, the only profession that exists in my family’s mind and most Indian people I know. That’s the only thing I DIDN’T want to be, no surprise there! However, the need to please my parents overtook me and although I didn’t become a doctor, I did become a Scientist. After seeing that even that didn’t please them, I set out to finally live my life.
I went from being a scientist to taking part in a year of Acting school, which gave me the opportunity to wait tables, work in insurance, retail, and everything else I didn’t think existed since I grew up so sheltered. Taking that bold step out from under my parents helped me meet my husband, and pursue a life that I absolutely love. I met my husband on a job I picked up while waiting tables and that’s a story for another day. That pivotal step also set me out to end up where I am today, a Founder of a company setting out to connect the world through travel.
I love what I do and honestly, the problem I’m solving goes back to my roots. I always wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere, that I was a part of something, that I was home..wherever that is. With GLYD, when we travel, you can connect with locals so they can help you feel as if you are home wondering the streets of the world. I hope you connect with me on GLYD (it’s free to download on GooglePlay or iOS) and share your part of the world with our GLYD community.
Follow Monika online at:
Instagram @_monikabhasin or @glydapp
Twitter: @glydapp
Facebook: @glydapp
Download GLYD: http://open.glyd.co
More about GLYD: http://www.glyd.co
Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit
If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit.
Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
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