About Deepa
Co-founder of Vitasa, a company focused on redefining the aging process, drawing inspiration from nature and Ayurveda
Experienced medical practitioner
Fierce advocate for Healthcare Policy reforms that prioritise accessibility and affordability
Key ‘a-ha’ moments from this podcast
Set clear goals and maintain regular check-ins to succeed as a founder with a full-time job
“Balancing full-time leadership roles while steering the ship at Vitasa has been demanding…but goal setting has been our secret sauce. We create time in our schedules for Vitasa and have set times for regular check-ins….we emphasise transparent communication”
Write down ideas and break them into small, actionable steps; use basic accountability practices to stay on track
“Every time we come up with a great idea, we always write it down on a whiteboard and break it down into small steps to follow these steps. Accountability has been key - it is a very basic, elementary school level practice where we write down each step and cross it off as we do. There is no big software management tool that we use”
Engage with your community for feedback and never miss an opportunity to learn from those with expertise
“Vitasa is a team sport…we have a huge community in healthcare that we interact with. We are constantly bouncing off ideas with them and we talk about Vitasa so much that people know us as the Vitasa ladies. Some women would just pull us over and talk about their personal issues…and we can always learn from that. We are so shameless that we never let go of an opportunity, especially when we knwo someone has some expertise”
Stay open to unconventional ideas; evaluate each one fairly as it might turn out to be valuable
“One of the things that we always have had openness to is to “offbeat” ideas. We are new to business, so what may seemingly appear to be an offbeat idea could be a great idea at the core of it, so we always give everything a fair chance. Nothing is off charts for us!”
Invest in your business if possible for more control, and manage finances simply, like a household budget
“We believed in our business model so much that we decided to invest in our own business. I know it is not a possibility for everyone, but we decided to do that. We also wanted more control, and so decided to bootstrap in the initial stages. Finance is not our strong suite, so having the need to report to an external investor with all the business modelling would be too complex for us. We approached finance like any other household budget - rainy fund set out, decide how to spend every dollar”
Deepa’s advice to women who want to build businesses on their own terms
“Never rule out the bizarre…I was wary about getting into business to begin with as a first time founder. [At the beginning stage], you’ll always be googling answers and you will come up with answers that everyone has come up with, which may not work for you. So, don’t be afraid to come up with your own bizarre solution even if it is not mainstream. Have the confidence to stick by what sound correct to you in your mind”
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