From Students to Authors: Sheetal Kakkar & Vibhu Agarwal

[00:00:00] The first month we actually finalised the idea that ok we are doing this We wanted the forward by Honourable Minister Piyush Koyal So we tried that too I was attending Ankur Varikur session, the author and entrepreneur I could agree to write a blop for a book

[00:00:13] He was kind enough, he wrote a blop, a post that I put on LinkedIn People actually pay me for it You can easily get your pocket money So it's all about my will and my motivation to drive this further

[00:00:24] So if you have established yourself out there, I wanted Sheetal Kakkar to be a brand Hello everyone, welcome back to Wisdom Whispers with Abhishek Mittal Reverse mentoring, reverse coaching Right? These are some corporate terms that we have heard We have heard it many times

[00:00:44] Today, this is happening with me today So my guests today are students of my two IFT students Who have recently published a book And I will formally introduce them to everyone So let's start with first with Sheetal A scholar, sports enthusiast Known in Delhi University Circle

[00:01:07] Author and a content creator And the other guest which we have not physically present with us But virtually he's joining us He is Vibhu Agarwal The data wizard With a thirst of knowledge A lifelong learner Financial market enthusiast So let's welcome both of them to the show

[00:01:30] Hi Sheetal, welcome to the show Hi, so thank you so much for having us So both of us are very grateful that we are featuring on a teacher's show So thank you for that That's so nice Good to hear such good words for me as well

[00:01:43] Hi Vibhu, you are hearing us So welcome to the show Hello sir, thank you for inviting us to the show Great to have both of you on the show Why we are doing this episode is just because I'm so overwhelmed That even in college

[00:02:01] When you have so much pressure Of your assignments Projects Studies right After that we are getting some time That we can do all these activities Right So My first question is What was the primary Driver behind this idea? Right The most important thing is

[00:02:24] Okay, where did your thoughts come from? So already I had this will of writing a book And I was thinking on what topic can it be written So then while scrolling LinkedIn one day I found there's a book already written by Bitts Pilani students Called The Pilani Pioneers

[00:02:37] Where they have basically covered 25 of their Successful alums in the entrepreneurship field So that's somewhere where the ground was Sown for writing a book on a similar topic That's where basically I got an idea And while talking to some of my batch mates

[00:02:54] I finally reached out to Sheetal And then we discussed upon this idea to make it a reality Okay, that's good to hear That you had this idea Reading through Right It's also important that you are exploring Because there is some kind of exploration for ideas

[00:03:12] That's what I can understand from What Vibhu is talking about That it's not just that I slept at night And woke up in the morning The idea came I was exploring What is it? What are the other people doing So that I can get inspired from them Lovely

[00:03:30] Lovely guys So when you had this idea Both of you First First what did you do? How you brainstormed What you thought about it How to execute it Right So firstly when the idea came Vibhu came So I was like Oh my God

[00:03:50] Working with this IIT Bombay person Completely eccentric And he functions in a very different way Very focused And you know you don't understand That sense of humor is going on Or serious is going on And I was like very I was like okay

[00:04:04] Okay Vibhu has come up with the idea Let's see how he functions So both of us started Like if we talk about the process Both of us conceived the idea Both of us actively wrote on LinkedIn Both of us are influencers We have 15k plus followers

[00:04:17] So we were like Okay at least we can give it a try Both of us started Reaching out to the alums Vibhu was part of alumni relations committee So he already had a sense of Which alumni is working where And then he was like

[00:04:28] Okay let's shortlist 25 to 30 people Again active LinkedIn research And alumni relations that Vibhu had built We had shortlisted close to 30 alums Whom we could reach out to And then we actively started reaching out to them Then finally like The seven alums that we have actually featured

[00:04:45] They were the ones that Maybe proactive And you know we were able to tap them easily We had set up one is to one interviews with them Onka thought process samja And I think so they instilled that inspiration in us

[00:04:57] That it is possible for us to write the book And that's how finally like you know Both of us worked together I had a skill set of writing And Vibhu had a skill set of you know Maybe just putting things together

[00:05:08] So I was the one who used to write extensively And Vibhu was like You know compiling and figuring out if this is looking nice We also published it on Amazon Kindle So he was the driving force behind it Ki formatting isi kar dete hain

[00:05:21] Like you know let's edit it And he also took help I mean both of us took some help of our juniors So we were able to finally like you know Put together the draft Send it to the publishers Publish it on Amazon Kindle And finally complete the book

[00:05:34] We also had a book launch event in IFT Campus premises So we also had the support of the entire IFT fraternity So very grateful for that as well Great that's good because that was my I was thinking about the next question

[00:05:47] Is that how IFT gave you that support and comfort right Because alums ko reach karna First you have to connect with IFT as well Ki acha hum alums ko reach kar rahe hain And not just these eight First we have to reach 25 alums Or 30 alums

[00:06:00] And then we will shortlist ki kya Unka kya motive hain Not everyone will be ready as well Absolutely If you will ask me ki acha Me deslokas se baat karunga Desi tayaar ho jainke unke liye Book Unke opa book likne ke liye Not everyone will be ready

[00:06:13] Because everyone's life They don't want to make it public Correct Because you will not just capture a professional piece of it You will also have some personal bit of it So that it becomes little interesting for people Ki kya cha hain How the person is Right

[00:06:26] And so how IFT supported you in this entire process Right So sir I remember Vibhu and I would like Because IFT's administration is a difficult nut to crack So both of us like ki kya karna hain Batana bhi hai ya nahi batana

[00:06:41] But both of us realized ki IFT word use karne ke liye We need permission So I look as titled IFT Entrepreneurs So we are like kya baat to karne bhi Ki kya kya can't escape that So we went to Dr.Rastogi The head GSN or Graduate Studies Management

[00:06:56] He leads the college after the director So hum dono gayo unke paas to sir ne hain You know thoda aise kaak ki achhaa Book lik di So then he was like We basically went to him that we wanted the forward By honorable minister Piyush Koyal

[00:07:10] Considering that IFT is under the ministry of commerce Right So hum gaye sir ne hain kafi motivate kiya That you know this is how you can reach out to Piyush Koyal And you can go visit his office etc Thum ne wo bhi try kya

[00:07:22] Then on a day I was attending Ankur Vari Kuru session The author and entrepreneur The famous ISB and influencer now So we happened ki Vibhu ne bhot push kya ki You know Ankur se baat kalle I was like meh session attend karne jaar hu

[00:07:36] Mhe aise kessin annuli baat kar loon book ke baare mein And obviously if you write to such people It's very difficult to get an answer by Vibhu ne bhot type kar diya nahi sheetal karna hain Vibhu hiye karta to uska kaha mein yutata

[00:07:46] Sheetal ko push kar te raw Ki boh kuch materialise kar le So I was like Thi ke Vibhu meh baat kar tiye When Ankur was kind enough I got an opportunity after the session To talk to him So Ankur agreed to write a blop for a book

[00:07:58] He was like draft bhijdo Me ko samaj maa to mein Lik doon and obviously he was aware about IFT brand He was kind enough Usne blop lik diya Fihar hum kuch ek do hafte baat Dubara gaye sanjay sir ke paas Ki sir huma rahi book complete oghi

[00:08:10] And this is right in the middle of exams And we had exams everyday Me de to saath subject se Vibhu chel kar raha tha Trips bhi maa raha tha Maas Me thi yaar Vibhu kalliye complete And last week of college So let's finish this timely

[00:08:24] We went to sir ki sir hum ne book lik diya And sir ikdem shock me thi Ki tum ne book lik diya So hum doon ne kaha se Lik diya hum main ba samazon pe publish kaniya Aapka support chain getting that approval So sir ne kaar Tike perfect

[00:08:38] Tum book launch event kyon hi karthe the And both of us were like what Book launch event Like that's a very big thing for us So I think so that is the point Where we understood that you know IFT is standing right behind us And you know

[00:08:51] The entire event End to end execution was done by the student council And both of us received a lot of support From the fraternity And I would request Vibhu to add On this part also Vibhu, can you Yeah, can you share what exactly happened So with regards

[00:09:07] From the starting with regards to Getting the contents of the book So when we started out The thing was firstly Thinking ki alumni content likhiin gaye bhiyaan And you know Will they be willing to give time But the major boost came when

[00:09:19] Initially a couple of alums did agree And you know they gave They gave the written content in a very short span of time So we knew what we're doing is correct And it is basically possible So that's where somehow the initial boost came from And then after that

[00:09:32] Since I already had a lot of connections on LinkedIn It became relatively easy for me to approach The other alums too on LinkedIn regarding Writing the book Writing the stories So that's how writing the content of the book was Finally possible with regards to

[00:09:50] Finally proceeding ahead with the publishing thing As Sita mentioned ki Initially we had to take permission from the IIFT To use the IFT's name So smith ho raas a time lagya But after that A very good thing I liked About IIFT and Sanjay sir

[00:10:06] Was that finally Sanjay S. Togi sir Agreed to Agreed and initiated a book launch event for us For that particular book So that is somewhere I think that was a great boost for us And you know That gave us more confidence Ki what we are doing is correcting

[00:10:20] Even someone is supporting us So yeah that's what something I would like to say Lovely, lovely Thanks a lot Vibhu for sharing that So She the next aspect which I want to understand is What are the primary steps of From the seed of this idea

[00:10:40] To reach out to the publishing Right So if I have to actually classify into stages I would put it as conceiving the idea Putting together a team Then actually executing the steps So like if I have to tell six months for time periods

[00:10:56] How the first month we actually finalize the idea That okay we are doing this It is just Vibhu and I who are going to start it And maybe if we need some help we will figure out After putting together the team The execution part essentially involved

[00:11:09] Reaching out to the alums Finalizing the alums that you know So the seven alums that we have actually featured Are all males So one thing that we always felt That we were not able to feature a woman entrepreneur Maybe in the future editions we are able to

[00:11:22] So you like take a let's finalize them Then hosting the interviews with them Telling them our idea that this is what we aspire to do And I think so alignment with the alums Formulated the execution part And then once the draft was ready

[00:11:36] Like we had the proofread part We reached out to a lot of juniors A lot of other professionals That you know whatever content we have put together Is it okay or if you need any changes in that And then after finalizing the manuscript

[00:11:49] Finally we have reached out to the publisher So I think so these are the main stages That we went through Great great So next question I think you've Like what I think Maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong Building on this right

[00:12:06] What are the two three learnings Which you have got from this entire process Sir if I have to actually classify the learnings Typical three learnings that I had So first is definitely that You know there is no substitute to hard work

[00:12:20] Both of us really struggled in the beginning That you know we were doing something Where we didn't have any precedence In terms of you know our seniors So in IIFT's legacy This is the first time that Someone has written a book in the student tenure

[00:12:35] And this is something that was declared By Dr. Sanjay Rastogi in the book launch So both of us felt very empowered That way that you know At least the hard work that we've put in We are able to see the results there So second I think so that

[00:12:47] Finding the right partner Like you know both of us complemented each other Which I initially thought was not possible at all I was like where are you going with the IT mom? Otherwise both of us were like you know Just publish it on LinkedIn

[00:13:02] Maybe actually until the book publication Means to reach was something that was very far-fetched Whereas so we considered it as a moonshot But again like with a good partner Was able to do that And final learning was this only So that maybe you know

[00:13:15] Reaching out to help is not that bad All of us feel that you know We will be able to do it But I feel that if we just have more people on board Early in the stage that is more helpful

[00:13:25] So maybe reaching out to help is not something That you should be ashamed of So Vibhu a different question Maybe the answer might be the same To you is Irri, you have to go back And other than seeking help at the starting

[00:13:43] What will be the one more thing Which you want to change in this entire process? So I would feel I think one thing I would have started with pretty early Because it was kind of in my mind But it was always a self-doubt kind of a thing

[00:13:59] That is possible or not And basically it's more like You know if you ask anyone People say that it's not possible to write a book And in the MBA again people are more like To chill and just get through it Get the placement Get done with the placement

[00:14:13] So yeah I would say I would have If there's one thing I would like to change Is I would want to start it early And basically be more fearless And take that leap of faith to Think that these things can get done

[00:14:28] Right, but I think many of my guests Who have already come on the show They have talked about this That until you see a dream Correct Right And to achieve it you won't take the first step Right Till then it's a fear Correct Right

[00:14:45] When we took the first step After that it's all about My will and my motivation to drive this further Correct Right And as you said failure shouldn't be a fear Right Let it be failure Right And it's for you guys specifically When you are just starting your life

[00:15:02] After you're completing all the education So now there will be failure Right Now the corporate life will start I know that both of them have experience Both of them have already worked in corporate life Some failures will be in jail Because when we start

[00:15:18] When we start our career We get to learn a lot So we call it failure or challenges Or learnings So in my term it's learnings Right And any failure will help you to become a better individual Better professional in the world And not just in your professional life

[00:15:36] But even in the personal life Because failures will come every day So a very good learning Thanks a lot for sharing that Now Shital had a very good point And Shital would like to know more about that That whenever we are working in a team Conflicts come

[00:15:49] You said that Sir, I was working with a girl from IIT Bombay So I was getting jitters earlier So whenever conflicts came How you guys used to resolve that? Sir, I think so two things really worked for us A was both of us were very understanding

[00:16:06] So for example if Even if we had a conflict As Anita that we wanted a resolution right there And then both of us used to give each other time Maybe ponder upon it Or not reply to each other We left it on the blue text

[00:16:18] Next day we used to come back to it That okay how are we going about it So I think so understanding played a major role here And second sir, I feel that Common purpose So when you have a shared purpose I think so conflicts eventually get resolved

[00:16:32] Because both of you understand that You know you're working towards a thing That is mutually beneficial It's not like my benefit is there Or its benefit is there So I think so shared purpose Together kept us together That even if we had comments

[00:16:47] Even if we had things that were not aligned with us Eventually things fell in place So these two things worked for us Okay great One more question Now it's related with As you said that you both are content creators as well Right

[00:17:02] You have been writing a lot of things on LinkedIn And other platforms So how important is this skill in this current environment Right Where we are seeing a lot of influencers And even I am trying to do the same I am just trying to pass on our learnings

[00:17:24] Through these podcast To the young professionals So this is content creation So this content creation is such an important role In your life And Vibhubi will come back to you once Sheetal will give this answer So why should we do it Right

[00:17:39] So that it's not just you guys Whatever new students who are joining their graduation Post graduation Or even after starting their career You are new So you get some time in hand And this will help you Make a learning process Correct So starting with you Sheetal Sure

[00:17:59] So sir I personally started content creation In my first year of MBA Like actively started writing content And that was driven by two things So first was positive impact As you said that you know Sharing my learnings out there If that can help someone Without me knowing

[00:18:13] And just adding that to my piggy bank I think so the first point was that That creating an impact that truly matters And second was like sir I actually wanted to express myself So I wanted Sheetal Kukkur to be a brand Like when people hear about my name

[00:18:29] They can relate it to things like versatility They can relate it to things like A common girl could also make it big Or maybe just be inspired by my journey So I feel that brand perception Or you know people view me in a way

[00:18:43] That is something that I really looked forward to And that is how I started creating content In terms of advice to the young professionals That why people should create content If I just talk in very business terms I think so this is the future

[00:18:58] And if I just talk about my second year I have literally been monetizing So if I talk about a post that I put on LinkedIn People actually pay me for it And you know when I visit events etc Some are definitely pro bono

[00:19:10] But I can see that money is flowing in through such things So if you have established yourself out there I think so you can easily get your pocket money Which is very helpful Especially in today's generation Considering we are a consumption driven economy Everybody wants to spend

[00:19:27] You want all the luxuries in life So pocket money is very useful But second is like just in terms of Adding value to your CV Adding value to your life You find connections, you make people You meet people that can really impact your life in happy ways

[00:19:43] I have met so many content creators Who are now my friends And they are my true well wishers Maybe we do not talk on a daily basis But I feel they are supporting me more Than the people that I talk on a daily basis

[00:19:53] So you don't know where blessings are flowing in So that's why I am able to joke Okay, thanks Chidil Handing over to you Vibhu Sure sir So firstly sir If you would have seen I write content mostly on personal finance So that is something I felt

[00:20:10] You know people even though I am aware They do not generally are into much into personal finance They do not know much about investing So I thought I should basically help and educate people About investing So one way I could think of was

[00:20:24] Through content creation or writing on LinkedIn So that's how I started The next part was obviously then Also improving my writing skills So basically when I write content on LinkedIn I take feedback from my friends So they give some advices on how you can improve your writing skills

[00:20:39] So that was another aspect The third part later I realized was As a result of writing content on LinkedIn I built some following in because of that I was invited to some of the DU colleges For speaker sessions and personal investing

[00:20:53] So that again helped me create a personal brand And I believe it was more of an outside learning Apart from MBA where I was able to improve My speaking skills, interpersonal skills So yeah that was it

[00:21:04] I felt that this is somewhere I was able to do real MBA Rather than the MBA that I was doing in classes So that was the thing Apart from that with regard to the monetizing part As Sheetal has mentioned

[00:21:16] I mean I've never really thought of that in that way But if it works out definitely monetizing And creating personal brand is another thing Which I do look out for in the future Great, great Thanks So I think this is what I learned new

[00:21:33] Because we started working for our personal brand When it took us 5-10 years to do that Right, because then you realize that Now there is a requirement of personal branding Because when you are hopping Or you want to increase your network Or you want to build your leadership

[00:21:55] So content creation helps you a lot Because our first episode was on Networking and Leadership Building Where I started this entire thing Right, entire wisdom whispers First episode was on that Why because to me being a management consultant This leadership building is so important

[00:22:15] And it happens when your brand builds Like you both have 15k plus followers on LinkedIn So which means people want to hear something from you It's not just that people are following And my learning is that Until you give something to someone No one will give you anything

[00:22:33] Right Right And if you say uncle Bariko Right If you are not contributing to it Then he will also not contribute back to you Similarly because all these content creators Are so busy in their own world Or even otherwise as well It's not just content creator

[00:22:51] That set of people But otherwise Why will people listen to you Because you are contributing You are answering their questions You are interacting with them You are trying to understand them And if they are contributing Then you will also interact with them Correct

[00:23:04] If they will just say very nice That's okay It's one another comment In your entire comment list And if someone is asking you something How can you do it Or you can improve it I think Vibhu talked about One very important part is feedback

[00:23:19] Which is the most important part In our corporate life As well as when we are learning In our post grad or grad Because sometimes There are a lot of young professionals They are very receptive to feedback Right Right So that shouldn't be the case

[00:23:36] So thanks a lot for sharing that One last question of this section Before we close this And Ashital Are you thinking that You will further pursue this writing skill Right So that's actually a very interesting question I personally have not given it much thought

[00:23:52] I am currently going with the flow But this is something that I really like Like in terms of passion Kello Or you want to express yourself I feel writing really helps me In fact, when I was Like I've been at times

[00:24:06] Where I have received a lot of criticism In terms of whatever you're doing Is that even fine or not So I think so To seek validation I used to write for myself So I think so writing Is a hobby that I really embrace

[00:24:23] Or maybe if we can write more of books And maybe if we can encourage our juniors To continue this edition I would definitely look forward to that Great Vibhu, any comments here? Oh sir, again I have also not given it much thought Definitely I would like to

[00:24:38] Improve my writing skills In some form or the other Now as I am entering corporate Maybe it might be in the form of Even the corporate mails Or whatever work is there in the corporate thing But yeah In my personal journey I have not given much thought

[00:24:50] About how I would be going on To improve my writing skills Okay Let's just go with the flow That's what I can say Let's see where it goes With life Thanks Thanks Sheetal for joining us Thanks Vibhu for joining us virtually

[00:25:05] Thanks a lot for being my guest today Thank you so for having us It means a lot to us So thank you Great, great Thanks a lot So this was our episode With two youngest guests so far Two were co-hosts Which were younger than them They are different

[00:25:22] Right, but these are two youngest guests So far Both have different personalities The entire process which they talked about Right Starting from seeding an idea To executing it Taking right approvals Connecting with elements And finally publishing it Right This is a very big process But I think

[00:25:43] This journey is very important to live That's what I think Vibhu also said That So if you have seen something If you have a dream Then try your best to fulfill it Failure can happen Not every time you will succeed in your dream But failure is possible

[00:26:04] But do focus on your dreams And as we said Content creation is another big ocean Try to see Where do we reach? I am also trying this Let's do it So please do write to us If you want to hear any particular topic from our guest

[00:26:23] Like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel If you are hearing us on audio platforms Please follow us So for a time being This is me Abhishek Mithil Signing off from Wisdom Whisperers with Abhishek Mithil We will be back next week With another fascinating episode Thank you