On a wing and a prayer: that’s how Malti Bhojwani started her entrepreneurial journey
Malti Bhojwani became a life coach and an Ontological trainer with the intent to help others see the bright side of life. She is an example of how to turn personal adversities into opportunities, and help others gain inspiration and strength to move ahead in life.HerStory got an opportunity to meet and talk to this power woman, about her turmoils, loss and success.
Overcoming personal challenges
Malti started out as an English teacher in Indonesia. She subsequently studied fashion designing and Gemology. Later she joined the family business in Australia. She dreamt of a normal life when she was married early. But life took a different turn when her marriage didn’t work out and she separated at 26, along with the responsibility of a young daughter.
“I was drawn to personal development for the first time when I attended Tony Robbins seminar where we walked on burning coals. I also did an intensive LGAT (Large Group Awareness Training) that branched from the HPM (Human Potential Movement). I learnt to take responsibility for my life and to give up playing the victim and feeling sorry for myself. I also experienced the role of a coach in these trainings and was inspired,” says Malti about the beginning.
Malti enrolled herself with International Coach Federation and trained to be a life coach. Although she decided to be an entrepreneur, things were far from easy. She was not clear of the market she wanted to sell to or how to reach them. For about three years since the beginning of 2000, Malti battled financial challenges along with her personal demons. “Many many well wishers told me to get a real job, but I persisted, and only today can say that I am reaping the rewards,” she says.
One of the things that helped Malti personally come out of her situation was her steely resolve, and her faith in God. Malti encapsulates her experience in the article titled ‘7 Recovery Steps to get over a break up’.
From shunning self-pity and taking control of her life, Malti is an inspiration to people. “I was quite fat and over-weight,” says the petit lady, who today doesn’t have a single ounce of extra fat on her body. “I realised that my happiness had to come from me and not from any external force or person. I learnt to truly fall in love with myself again and with my purpose. I focused all my energy and time towards my business and building my brand,” explains Malti.
The entrepreneurial journey
Over the years, Malti has trained over 500 people and helped them look at life differently. The services she offers as a life coach extends over three-four months for a single individual, where Malti meets and talks to them regularly to help them recover. Her venture, Multi Coaching International, conducts training workshops and corporate training besides individual counselling. Among the various trainings she has done, Malti picks a one-day workshop for Microsoft in Thailand for their senior leaders as her best. “Having never worked in the corporate world myself, initially I was intimidated, but managed to connect and create some lasting changes in the perspectives of all the attendees,” she beams.Malti is also the author of two books ‘Don’t Think of a Blue Ball’, which has received international acclaim and has been translated into Bahasa Indonesia. Another book, ‘Thankfulness Appreciation Gratitude’ is in a reprint. She has plans to release several more books in the coming years.
Malti also relies on social media, her own website and YouTube channel to connect with potential clients and reach out to people who need help. “I work with a diverse range of men and women from large corporations as well as entrepreneurs, housewives and artists. Ontological coaching is the coaching of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’. At the core, we are all similar in our desires and challenges. We need to acquire new habits to truly become who we are. It investigates what makes a human being,” says Malti.
Her dream is to provide a platform that serves people (mainly women) to live the life they desire with help from practitioners and experts – not just from within India, but even internationally. Malti will shortly be opening her life coaching and personal development space in Indiranagar, Bangalore, called The Brain Spa. “I have been very inspired by Oprah Winfrey,” she confesses. There are challenges ahead as far as the Indian consumer is concerned and Malti says there is still a lot of myth-breaking that needs to be done around life coaching and ontological training.
In India, seeing a therapist or a life coach is still considered a stigma. This is where the digital world can help, says Malti. “Online media gives them distance and privacy, and people can approach me without feeling conscious,” she adds.
From bringing partners on board, to expanding her reach geographically, Malti has a long way to go. And the one person she draws a lot of inspiration from is her 22-year-old daughter, who is working in the publishing industry in Australia.
Malti shares three steps to deal with personal setbacks
1. Let go of mistakes and regrets. We all do the best we can based on the resources and awareness we have at the time. It could not have been different, and remember this truth for anyone who has ever hurt you. They too did the best they could for themselves at the time and it was not personal.
2. It takes effort. Don’t expect it to be easy and don’t compare yourself or your journey to anyone else’s. Success is an exception, so be exceptional. Be unreasonable. Reasons are excuses, and hold us back.
3. Replace the voice in your head that says, ‘I am not good enough’ or ‘I can’t do this’ , ‘It is too hard’ with one positive and strong voice that continues to say ‘I am good enough’. Hold your body in a position of dignity, which screams this out.