During COVID-19, I was down with Covid. As a form of treatment, my family gave me the food made with millets and served me all the traditional recipes made from millets. This helped me in my recovery. I didn’t opt for any medication. Also, COVID changed the way we look at our health and healthy choices. It was when I got the idea that we can avoid many health problems if we consume the healthy and natural food. So, I came out with the ideas to prepare millet-based food options without any sugar or preservatives.

Being a woman, it is important to have family support. The family support makes the journey less difficult and encourages to put more efforts. I was fortunate enough to have a supporting family and being able to manage my business along with my family.

Initially, I started preparing millet-based food and distributing it to people without any cost. When the demand increased, I thought to convert it into a business.  My next challenge was to gather financial support. I tried to get loan but got rejected. With the support from BYST-HDFC Parivartan, I managed to get loan from the bank. They supported me in getting loan sanctioned without any risks and hassle. They provided all the required supports in documentation and the process in obtaining loan. They helped me understand the required documentation and whole process of securing loan. The mentorship helped me in marketing, providing linkages and packaging. They provided me a stall in HiTech Expo for three days free-of-cost. It helped me to secure a big order from the government official. This led me to expand my business in three more districts. They also supported me in every documentation work.

Now there are 25 employees in my company, out of which 23 are women. These women were housewives before joining the company. I trained them and gave them the employment. I want to contribute on my part towards providing healthy choices and creating livelihoods especially for the women.

I am also thankful to the supplier who are mostly the tribal women and the women from Self Help Groups (SHGs) supplying the raw materials on time. They provide organic and unadulterated raw materials. It also opens a door for them to earn some money.

Our target customers are students from schools and colleges. I want to contribute towards a healthy future for our youth who will eventually lead our nation. They will eat and get benefitted from our traditional and healthy foods, making a healthy food choices and healthy life choices.