Ami Ved - Ep. 11

[00:00:00] Ami Ved: There is a lot of empathy which is needed. There is a lot of customer, service enhancing on the reputation of the company, a trust which can be built. all these are a part of when you say executive presence to speaking with a client, all of these are important elements. So definitely it helps you.

[00:00:21] Ami Ved: Storytelling skills are extremely important. In any industry that you work with, you highlight on sustainable practices and impacts by storytelling. There is a lot of, trust built in creating your brand image. the brand, you, whatever you are, the company that you represent, you are a brand for your company.

[00:00:42] hello, and welcome to episode 11 of spinning values podcast. An original podcast produced by Inscape media for Beekaylon Synthetics. In this episode, we have Ami Ved a communications and soft skills specialist.

[00:00:58] To talk about how we [00:01:00] can use communication skills in the textile industry. So without further ado, let's get into the conversation.

[00:01:07] Kartik Chaudhry: So hi, Amy. Welcome to spinning values. This is a podcast that we had started some time ago for Beekaylon. Beekaylon is a pretty old company, a few decades old company, and it's good that they are trying out new things. This podcast is one of the initiatives that they have taken and, it is really working well.

[00:01:28] Kartik Chaudhry: So the idea is to get, people from all across different facets of life, who are experts in their own capacity. and we thought that it'll be, it could be a great conversation talking to you as you bring in a lot of years of experience in what you do. let's start with introducing yourself.

[00:01:47] Kartik Chaudhry: Why don't you tell us, tell the audience about yourself a little bit, about your background and what you do.

[00:01:52] Ami Ved: Hi, Karthik. Thank you so much for inviting me here. And, yeah, talking about myself. My name is [00:02:00] Ami Ved. I am a soft skills expert and communication coach for 19 years now. It's been 19 years I'm doing this. I run a company called Speak with Ami. I do a lot of corporate training programs and one on one training programs, spend a decade in China, again, teaching English as a foreign language.

[00:02:19] Ami Ved: So I hold a lot of rich experience of training into the area of communication, spoken English, and, all kinds of soft skills in India and around Asia, mainly in China. So that's about me. That's

[00:02:37] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. So when I was reading your profile, I, I read an interesting thing that you, like you were a customer service rep at one point of time, and then how did that whole, transformation happen? How did you end up becoming a communication trainer? How was that? What inspired that transformation?

[00:02:57] Ami Ved: as far as my education is concerned, I'm a commerce [00:03:00] graduate. And by the time, we graduated in the year 2001, two, three, four, these years call center industry was in boom. Okay. And it was, a very, popular industry and everybody was getting into it, it was easy money if you had a pickup and a drop.

[00:03:16] Ami Ved: So that's when I was into sales and marketing at the same time. And I decided, moving in from banking or sales customer care into call center, where I did a lot of sales and customer service. Now, when I started as a customer service representative, and especially in the BPO industry, you have all of these, a lot of, trainers who are, a lot of foreign trainers coming into the picture who train you.

[00:03:45] Ami Ved: So I always wanted to be on the other side of the stage and my school, and college or all these, my background, I have always been a last venture and I wanted to move out as a front mentor. [00:04:00] So why customer service? Because I've been a people's person, always like talking to people on the phone, helping them with queries and things like that.

[00:04:11] Ami Ved: So somehow this area motivated me. Why not to teach this and why not to get on the other side of the stage? And when I was, when I saw a lot of trainers, especially foreign trainers in my companies, coming and training us on our accent, the way we speak, empathy, telephone etiquettes, manners. So it, it was very inspiring.

[00:04:34] Ami Ved: I, I, liked that and I chose that as a career at a later stage.

[00:04:39] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. that's interesting. before I move on to the next questions, why, don't you tell her, tell our audience about some of your clients that you deal with? So they know the, at what level are you working at?

[00:04:52] Ami Ved: Okay.

[00:04:53] Kartik Chaudhry: are some of your key clients that you work with?

[00:04:55] Ami Ved: Okay. I'm not supposed to open all the names,

[00:04:58] Kartik Chaudhry: if you [00:05:00] can,

[00:05:00] Ami Ved: companies. I worked with BFSI sector. I, as a trainer right now, I worked with companies like Brother International. I worked with, a lot of banks. I worked with , JM Financial, Saint Gobain. BNP Paribas.

[00:05:19] Ami Ved: And these are some of the companies I've been working with currently.

[00:05:22] Kartik Chaudhry: so they are who's who of the corporate world in our country and internationally. And anyone who wants to find out, can Google your name and probably see exactly what, all clients do you work with. So tell us, I also read that you worked at Accenture at one point of time. time. And, tell us how that some key insights and some experiences or some experiences about working there and being the only graduate among MBA trainers, that's something I read and delivery, delivering soft skills, training, how, there's some key insights if you can about.

[00:05:57] Kartik Chaudhry: How that experience was.

[00:05:58] Ami Ved: So I've trained [00:06:00] more than 000 engineers in Accenture. And I worked as a consultant for Accenture. So this happened way back again, after moving from BPO industry to customer service to getting into, HR and training. I had this opportunity where, which was open by Accenture, where we had to train a lot of campus to corporate and all kinds of soft skills modules, to, the engineers, pan India.

[00:06:29] Ami Ved: And, when I, when I was chosen and, to do their Bangalore office, and we went into the training room where a lot of trainers were with me, I realized that it was a whole team of MBAs, except me. that was like, a aha moment because I was very young at that point of time and we had a lot of experienced trainers, rich trainers with rich training experience or studying management graduates and MBAs.

[00:06:58] Ami Ved: So that was, [00:07:00] it, I was the only graduate in that whole room. And, we had to clear the certification, train the trainer, where, I, don't know how I did that, but I was very motivated somehow, I, always wanted to train. I always being a graduate training an MBA to, I've even trained IITians.

[00:07:22] Ami Ved: So it just motivated me somewhere. It was, not so easy to clear the, round where we had to do a lot of, certification, but somehow I prepared myself, we had these two days of intensive train the trainer. And then I would sit all night working on my presentation skills, talking in front of the mirror.

[00:07:48] Ami Ved: That time we did not have cameras and webcams and, these phones, smartphones, but I would just practice. And I think that's, I, I loved stage [00:08:00] at some point of time. I still love stage. So that's what, motivated me to get into that part of the training,

[00:08:06] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And I heard it. I also read it in your profile. You were in China and you moved to China and you were teaching English as a second language there. If I'm not wrong, that seems like a significant shift. Beekaylon does a lot of work with China. there is all sorts of misconceptions in the media about China.

[00:08:22] Kartik Chaudhry: I want you to tell us how was that experience? How was it working? In China. And how was the experience teaching the Chinese students, English?

[00:08:33] Ami Ved: So I moved to China because of my husband and, I was at the peak of my career when I was training for Accenture in the year 2000, 2000, I would just, if I have to take you through the hierarchy or the way I worked, I started as a customer service rep. In fact, prior to that, I started as a sales executive doing door to door marketing in all the companies.

[00:08:55] Ami Ved: across Balad Estate to Nariman Point, and then moved as a [00:09:00] CSR, customer service rep, and then got into, call center industry, which opened, a big, training world to me. I was also a voice and accent trainer once upon a time. So I had studied American geography and stuff very well. Now in the year 2007, when I was at the peak of my career, I got married and, my husband was working in China.

[00:09:24] Ami Ved: He was doing a lot of trading, for, a city called Shaoxing, which is one of the world's, I think Asia's biggest textile city, like in India we have Surat and stuff. So we have, Shaoxing in China, Shaoxing, And when I moved there, I was, I had to start from scratch because I was like, corporate training, living in Mumbai, moving in a small town of China.

[00:09:51] Ami Ved: I was like, now what, next? I saw a heavy demand of, ESL teachers there. [00:10:00] English as a second language teachers. Again, China being communist, they were open to foreign teachers. Okay. When it comes to teaching in the private institutes and these private institutes are very, expensive institutes with a lot of traders and people from textile suppliers, they spend a lot of money to study English or learn English.

[00:10:24] Ami Ved: So I, first, I started working in a university. Again, it was not easy to get in there because they consider Indians as non native speakers. Of course we are, but Because they are non native, they can't speak English well. And when it comes to know, it triggers me a lot because I think Indians speak excellent English.

[00:10:46] Ami Ved: It's not about being native or not native. However, my BPO experience helped me a lot because I'd learned American accent and I'd learned American geography. And my mother lived in England for a long [00:11:00] time. And, coming from a Gujarati family, we have a lot of relatives in US and UK, and we know a lot of cultures.

[00:11:07] Ami Ved: So firstly, when I would apply for jobs, there was a big, no, there was rejection saying that we don't hire Indians looking at my passport or whatever documents I had. However, I started walking into every teaching and a training institute there, every, company. And when I started walking in, I think I made my place because I was strong with accent, with, with, native accent or if I had to welcome myself as hi, my name is Amy and I'm coming from India, but my mother's lived in England and my father's been in India, but we speak great English.

[00:11:47] Ami Ved: I've been a corporate trainer. It was easy for me to make place for myself. I think I was the only Indian at that point of time in my city, Indian woman working, for Chinese companies. [00:12:00] And then the door was opened to a lot of Indians after that. In English speaking, English is a foreign language, communication skills, and, when textile companies go for exhibitions, these trade fairs like Canton Fair and all these Shanghai fairs, English is very important because they have to communicate with people, it's a whole supply chain.

[00:12:27] Ami Ved: They have to communicate with everybody there. I tried to create a course content on Textile English or how to speak in fairs and exhibitions and how to speak to people in different situations. Again, it had to do a lot with customer service, with the soft skills which I mastered. it did help me there.

[00:12:49] Ami Ved: And, after getting nose to working in the companies, there was a time when I became director to the foreign teaching team. So I would [00:13:00] manage the entire, a group of foreign trainers, British trainers there.

[00:13:07] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay.

[00:13:09] Ami Ved: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:11] Kartik Chaudhry: And you did mention, absolutely. Yeah. thought of it. Even though we do a lot of work with textile companies, for their fairs and we do design a lot and, but we've never thought that it could be another skill that, somebody should probably invest in within their company to ensure that people who are there at the fair, at the stalls.

[00:13:35] Kartik Chaudhry: They know how to deal with people. They know how to speak. And especially when you're going international and there are so many textile fairs that happen in China, Germany, there's Domotex Hanover, which is like the biggest textile fair. there's, so much effort. These companies put in, putting up their stalls and putting up those designs and stuff like that.

[00:13:54] Kartik Chaudhry: But, it's pretty interesting to learn that they should probably also invest in [00:14:00] training the people who are going there. Yeah. Then how to deal with those people. so so that, this gives a nice seat to my next question, which is, given your expertise in communication training, see these textile companies like Beekaylon ultimately they are, even though they are, their revenue probably would be in hundreds of CR. They manage, they export to all over the world. They are doing very important. They are playing very important role in nation building, but we will still consider them as a medium sized business.

[00:14:31] Kartik Chaudhry: With the heavy focus on manufacturing. So most of their staff probably will be working in the factories. Smaller part, but percentage of their staff is in the head office back in Bombay, who are talking to these customers. How do you think, the, skill that you get to these, to the table.

[00:14:51] Kartik Chaudhry: Which is effective communication. Say, if we have to analyze it through taking an example of textile industry or any medium sized businesses, because we are [00:15:00] in a textile podcast, so we'll stick to textile. How do you think it can help in fostering collaboration across different stages of production? and the supply chain management, are you getting my point?

[00:15:12] Kartik Chaudhry: there is a sales team there are these guys in the factory. Who are experts in what they do communication might not be their strong skill, but they are technically very good some of them, even the factory workers So there is definitely a communication chain that's going on between say higher officials at the factory Who understands the technical aspect and who can also communicate with at least the factory staff. Then there is a, then there is a sales team, which probably sits in, in, in Bombay, who are the guys talking to various potential customers and customers? How do you think, given your expertise in communication training, how would you see this? And how would you see, like you, if we, if, they had to hire [00:16:00] somebody like you, how do you come in and simplify this communication, across different stages of production in a manufacturing setup?

[00:16:09] Ami Ved: okay. So thank you for that question. So mainly when it comes to, role of effective communication, if you have to take it with a textile company or a company like this, There are a lot of elements, mainly if, a trainer has to go there, we go with, the problem area. We go with, we do a lot of need analysis where we ask companies on what is the problem when it comes to communication or speaking or, any kind of soft skills, what is the problem and mainly what companies come up with or what it helps them as an overall collaboration, from supplier to manufacturer to retailer, everybody's aligned.

[00:16:54] Ami Ved: communication helps in minimizing error delays. It helps in building [00:17:00] relationship, building rapport. There's a lot of trust. So teamwork is very important here. soft skills plays a very important role when you have to do teamwork, which is enhancing collaboration across global supply chain. it helps in problem solving.

[00:17:18] Ami Ved: Communication would definitely help in solving problem, conflict resolving, adaptability and a lot of customer service, which helps in, dealing with the clients. So if you put these pictures, if you put these, you develop a framework on these areas or specifically one particular area, which is a weaker area or a problem area, we work on that for with an intensive training program, which can help them to build their skills on those aspects.

[00:17:51] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So you see, given the challenges that are faced by the medium sized businesses, I think something like, [00:18:00] and also tell me if you agree with me, something like investing on teaching communication to their staff probably is very low on their budget. I'm talking about medium sized businesses.

[00:18:10] Kartik Chaudhry: Of course, when, there are banks and there are bigger companies whose focus is do like for them, it's absolute necessity to have, a trained staff, a trained group of people who can speak well, who can communicate well. But then these medium sized businesses, they are, all their energies are consumed in just getting their output delivered.

[00:18:32] Kartik Chaudhry: They're getting more business. How do you, like, how do we convince them that, like that there will be a significant improvement if they also take this communication skill development seriously. And, how do you think, if you have to. Talk to them. And if you have to tell them that, this is something very important, even for you, we know that you, this might be, lower in your priority, but how, do you think this [00:19:00] can help grow their business and how, it can positively impact their growth?

[00:19:05] Ami Ved: See, communication is a very big umbrella. Okay. And I think nothing works without communication. You call verbal, nonverbal. You talk about body language. You talk about meeting clients, email writing to everything happens with communication. It's the first thing. And, you can see interpersonal skills. So even if you are a midsize company or not a very big company or in any area, communication is something which definitely helps.

[00:19:37] Ami Ved: It doesn't have to do every time with speaking in English. It can be any language you communicate with, but, there is a need of presenting. There is a need of, executive presence, there is a need of collaboration. And it, I think communication is one big area [00:20:00] here, which, is a must for every company.

[00:20:03] Ami Ved: I think even, from the time the good is made to the final, going to a retail market everywhere you need communication. It is a, very big area.

[00:20:17] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So as we are talking about it, why don't for the, for your, for our audience, you tell us what all this communication training entails, is it, as you said, it's not just about the language. Language is a part of it. It could be, but I, when we are talking about soft skills of communication, are you talking about body language, like you mentioned, executive presence, what it is.

[00:20:43] Kartik Chaudhry: So if you can touch upon and tell us a little bit about these things and what these things are, I think that'll be really helpful. for the listeners.

[00:20:51] Ami Ved: So what happens is, especially you've seen in these fairs, when people get into, the, when they are, there are these global [00:21:00] fairs, like Canton fairs and textile fairs, or, anywhere where you have to present to an international client. And even if you are. meeting him on virtual platform, which is a virtual etiquette to meeting in person.

[00:21:14] Ami Ved: There is a way, your body language matters 70 percent at least. So the way the way you act, the way you dress, the way you speak from the time you open your call, you open your, speaking skills till the time there is a closure. there is a lot of, lot, which can be communicated.

[00:21:36] Ami Ved: There is a lot of empathy which is needed. There is a lot of customer, service enhancing on the reputation of the company, a trust which can be built. all these are a part of when you say executive presence to speaking with a client, all of these are important elements. So definitely it helps you.

[00:21:57] Ami Ved: Storytelling skills are extremely [00:22:00] important. In any industry that you work with, you highlight on sustainable practices and impacts by storytelling. There is a lot of, trust built in creating your brand image. the brand, you, whatever you are, the company that you represent, you are a brand for your company.

[00:22:19] Ami Ved: And when it comes to brand, one very important factor is verbal or nonverbal communication. The way you present yourself, the way you look, the way you are the face of the company. So it starts from there, the elements that we cover, talking about you as a brand of the particular company that you are with, till your verbal, non verbal skills or your written skills, your email writing, and everything is developed.

[00:22:46] Ami Ved: So it's all interconnected, but they all help you.

[00:22:49] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So this actually, I am curious to know this. See, I'm sure there are certain things that can be taught, but how much do you [00:23:00] think is, something like a good, like a person is a good communicator versus a person is not that good communicator, but it can, he can be improved. How much do you like, because you meet a lot of people, you deal with a lot of people and you train, a lot of people.

[00:23:14] Kartik Chaudhry: Do you think some people have a natural advantage? And they are just by the virtue of, the way they have grown up, the kind of environment they have at their house, the kind of hobbies they have, do they have certain kind of advantage and they are naturally good at it versus some, people are like, no matter how much you train them, there is no way they can be put out.

[00:23:39] Kartik Chaudhry: do you see these differences? And, yeah. Is it, true that anyone can be taught everything or is it like some people have an advantage over the other?

[00:23:47] Ami Ved: good question asked. See, yeah, definitely the environment matters. When it comes to communication, environment matters. The way you're brought up, the school, the environment, wherever you come from, [00:24:00] it definitely matters. But again, communication is a skill. skill is what, if I say Lata Mangeshkar is a great singer, is it a talent or is it a skill?

[00:24:11] Ami Ved: It's a talent. But if I say, You sing as good as Lata Mangeshkar. It's a skill develop. The same way is communication. Communication is a skill which can be developed in to, anyone actually. but of course, there's a lot of effort. There's a lot of, hard work. There's a lot of practice, which is needed, but it's a skill and skill development is possible.

[00:24:36] Ami Ved: I have seen if Chinese can speak great English, I think anybody in the world can. And not only about, China, but people all over the world. We see people in Bollywood communicating so well when they come from the backgrounds when they, where they've never spoken English, to the way they work on and develop.

[00:24:55] Ami Ved: So communication is a skill which can be developed. Definitely background plays a [00:25:00] very important role, but even if you don't have a good background, You can work on your communication.

[00:25:07] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And then that brings me to another informal question. How much do you think accent matters? does it matter? Or is it just about the confidence with which because I come, from Delhi and then I moved to Bombay and I've, seen that a lot of people are like, I might pronounce a word wrong and they'll be like, no, it's not pronounced like this, it's pronounced like that.

[00:25:30] Kartik Chaudhry: does it matter in larger scheme of things? or is it just a snooty behavior of say South Bombay or South Delhi people, especially being in India?

[00:25:40] Ami Ved: It's a very, tricky question here.

[00:25:43] Kartik Chaudhry: What is your personal view? What is your personal view on this?

[00:25:47] Ami Ved: see, because I have studied and it has helped me. I think if you can polish on your accent, it will, it does matter. It does matter because, it helped me see, [00:26:00] Hindi. I don't know if it's okay to speak a bit

[00:26:03] Kartik Chaudhry: Yeah,

[00:26:04] Ami Ved: Like again, I'll take an example of Lata Mangeshkar where they say, your voice is my identity.

[00:26:09] Ami Ved: Okay. So for me, my voice worked everywhere. My accent worked everywhere. At the same time, of course you can't really, you see a lot of people really faking their accent, which is not needed, but neutralize neutralizing an accent is extremely important. Okay. Now, Delhi people speak different Mumbai in India is a country is a rich country with 90 languages.

[00:26:32] Ami Ved: So we have so many dialects. Now, again, when I lived in China, again, Chinese also have different dialects and not all native speakers, not all Britishers or Americans speak great English, frankly speaking. But what is important is neutralizing your accent, Hmm. So the more you neutralize. You can speak globally.

[00:26:56] Ami Ved: So I wouldn't say you need to have a strong, [00:27:00] when you say accent matters, you don't need to have a strong American accent or a British accent or a, very strong Indian accent for that reason. But you need to have neutral accents so that you can speak to everybody all across the place. And it's easy.

[00:27:16] Ami Ved: It's, a skill to be, to learn. It takes time, but we, I work a lot on jaw exercise and jaw moments, or, the way, your, the is spoken. So there, there is a batch I do for it professionals, but should be, people from South of India. Telangana or Karnataka, which is very, different.

[00:27:39] Ami Ved: Now, again, if they are all IT professionals and they have to work with companies in North America or Brazil or anywhere, it's just, it's, very hard for people to understand them. So accent matters in a global market, accent matters. Even in India, if you speak neutrally. it helps you to grow somewhere.[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Ami Ved: I wouldn't say it is everything, but somewhere, especially where you have to speak. And in today's world, where we have everything on social media, where we are presenting us ourselves or anything we are doing, it helps you. It's, an add on. If you speak,

[00:28:18] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. we are approaching the words, the, end of the podcast, probably I'm going to ask you three more questions. again, before we get onto the planned questions that we had one more question, I've heard this, they say Indian accent or Indian English when properly spoken is the most neutral accent.

[00:28:43] Kartik Chaudhry: is there any. Truth or is, does it mean anything or is it just again, one of those things to just say that whatever we do is the best. What is your, again, personal view on that?

[00:28:54] Ami Ved: see, I believe, we know English and in India, we learned English because British has ruled India. And [00:29:00] we spoke a lot of British English. if you've seen our books and textbooks and all, if you compare some American words to British words, we've been using that. but just come back to your question once again.

[00:29:12] Ami Ved: like

[00:29:13] Kartik Chaudhry: say, I've heard, they say that Indian accent when spoken properly, probably the way we are speaking is the most neutral. English that exists is, there any truth in it or is it just again, we think that there is.

[00:29:29] Ami Ved: know, I, don't know. Okay. This is the first time I'm hearing, but yeah, we do speak neutral English. We do speak neutral English. I don't know if it is, you can't see it's completely correct because we have a lot of dialects, we have mother tongue in everything, you come from north, you come from Gujarat, you come from south.

[00:29:49] Ami Ved: And I realized this when I was going for call center interviews, in, in the year when I was 21 year old and there was one particular year in my life where I was [00:30:00] rejected hundred times. Okay. One year, one year. And I realized, and I mastered it that, what is it that is not working? So definitely accent, I won't say, and I see Indians, and then I became an HR once upon a time where I had to interview people on the basis of their accent.

[00:30:21] Ami Ved: So neutral accent is extremely important. Not all Indians speak neutral accent, but, yeah, neutral is what really matters. And, I think. If you see overall in the world, no one has a perfect accent for that reason. But no, there is no new, but it can be developed. And in India now, the way our economy is working, the way we have CEOs and CFOs all over the world, the way we are, dealing, I think, we do speak a lot of neutral accent.

[00:30:59] Ami Ved: [00:31:00] Now we do. but it is, developed over time. It's not that it's come from the roots,

[00:31:06] Kartik Chaudhry: sure. So basically, yeah, there is no right or wrong way to speak. There are different ways. It depends on where you are, which time you are in, what context you are in. that sort of, yeah, clears my doubt. So now coming back to the, to the, to your, core skill, conveying, brand values is important for any company.

[00:31:30] Kartik Chaudhry: Again, if you can share some insights on how communication training can help Medium sized businesses, to effectively convey their brand values to consumers and to all the stakeholders. How does that, communication training comes into the picture there?

[00:31:47] Ami Ved: communication again, from the time you take executive presence to you take, project management, task delegation. You talk about leadership skills, networking, growth. [00:32:00] In every aspect, there is communication involved here. And, if you are a face of your company, especially if you're into sales, marketing, and customer service, that's the main time when your brand value is there.

[00:32:18] Ami Ved: You are there in the picture, you are there in the market, or you're speaking, you're the face of your company and your verbal, your nonverbal, your email skills, or, your written communication is extremely important because how do you, if you have to say that first hello to your client?

[00:32:38] Ami Ved: Or you have to present your company or you have to give your elevator pitch of you as a brand, representing your company. If that itself doesn't come out well, how do you further build the relationship? So here, brand value plays a very important role. [00:33:00] important role.

[00:33:02] Kartik Chaudhry: So again, basically also that the larger point there is the brand is just not your logo or, or the values that your people are, your brand, how they dress up with the brand, how they behave with not only to consumers within the organization is also a part of the brand. So the brand is a way larger concept than just a logo or something like that. Okay. now there is. there is one question about diversity and inclusion here. So I think we'll take that. again, with your focus on empowering individuals and organizations, how do you envision communication, training, supporting initiatives for diversity and inclusion? within again, larger organization or smaller or textile industry or whichever, what is your larger point here?

[00:33:51] Ami Ved: Okay. When you say diversity and inclusion, I will say four. areas here. First one, training. Training [00:34:00] focuses on cultural competence, active listening and empathy. Okay. When it comes to specially communication or even interpersonal skills, you can take. Second, when it comes to inclusion, it creates respect, respectful and open, it opens work, open workplace for everyone.

[00:34:20] Ami Ved: It helps you in innovation. Thirdly, it encourages diverse perspectives and ideas and, an open forum to speak. And there is a lot of satisfaction, which enhances employee satisfaction and retention. So if you see, take these four areas where training, inclusion, innovation, satisfaction, you have to put it together.

[00:34:42] Ami Ved: It definitely helps and supports initiatives for diversity and inclusion within textile industry. And for that reason,

[00:34:50] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. Okay. my last question to you is, is about you. So you started your own company Speak with Ami, right? that's a [00:35:00] big leap, right? A lot of people want to start their own business, but somewhere there are doubts that they have. So what motivated you? Take this step, considering, they're in like every industry right now is competitive, but I'm sure your industry is also, pretty competitive.

[00:35:15] Kartik Chaudhry: And, also I heard that, when you were starting the business, that was the time when you had just taken on the role of a new mother also. So how was that time and how that, that, that leap happens if we can, if you can tell us that. Then I think we can leave the end, end the podcast on an inspiring note.

[00:35:33] Ami Ved: sure, definitely. So what happened is, from customer service to call centers, to sales, to, Training, corporate training was my market. I was at the peak of corporate training and I moved to China. I moved to China. I was at the peak of my career in China. I developed myself as a director to the foreign teaching team.

[00:35:54] Ami Ved: And, my husband decided to move back to India and we had to move for work and a couple of [00:36:00] reasons when I moved here, with a one year old baby and I was in a sabbatical and I had to start again. Now, when I see India, I saw the entire saturated market, especially training and coaching. I think every second person wants to get into training, coaching, become a speaker, influencer.

[00:36:21] Ami Ved: this is a very saturated market right now, especially my industry. And I was like, what do I do next? How is it going to help me? And people told me to eat Chinese because I speak basic Mandarin. And then they told me you teach public speaking to kids because you like it and a couple of things.

[00:36:38] Ami Ved: So I was on a sabbatical. I was, I live in Mumbai and, part of Mumbai, a very good part of Mumbai called Pavise. And I had a club here called as Toast Master. Now, this was a public speaking club. So one day I just enrolled in this club and just became a member where you just go and you tell your stories [00:37:00] and you just talk about it.

[00:37:01] Ami Ved: And I was on a break and I wanted to get back to back into training, but I did not know how do I start here? So I had to give some kind of a speech there. And I spoke about being toddler's mom, okay, which has nothing to do with corporates. And they had a kind of competition, which was a club level competition.

[00:37:21] Ami Ved: And then you get into area and regional level. I won that contest. I went to area level and then I think I even went to the other, the third level. And when I, won, I was like, okay, people are here to listen to me. somehow people like me and I think I should get back. into training and when 2020 happened, okay, so I was building on into, I was keeping some options open.

[00:37:50] Ami Ved: Do I train kids? Because right now I'm a mother. Do I get back into, do I train Chinese people? Like I was training English in China and do I train your Indians to get into [00:38:00] learn Chinese? And then COVID happened and COVID was like people had different things, perceptions on China and what to do. And. I got some batches to train for TIS and a couple of organizations and universities as well.

[00:38:15] Ami Ved: IBS, TIS, a couple of companies where I thought this is my niche, this is my area and this is where I want to be. So definitely a public speaking platform helped me and a lot of hard work. I formed my company again in 2019 and I started, getting leads through LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a big market, big, market.

[00:38:39] Ami Ved: It's a gold mine. I am a LinkedIn talk voice 2024 this year, they've declared. and, I got, I think I started adding small articles and my life experiences related to communication, everything on LinkedIn. And that's where [00:39:00] I started my journey again. I took some hundred days challenge on posting regularly, being consistent over LinkedIn.

[00:39:09] Ami Ved: And that's where I, I got back my, area and I got back into corporate and all these corporate clients that I spoke about. a big thanks to LinkedIn here. So a big thanks to LinkedIn and a big thanks to the consistency that helped me to grow. So yeah. Yeah. That's how I build on my work.

[00:39:35] Ami Ved: I speak with Ami. I build on my company and, rest is just there. It's there. And I'm still building.

[00:39:42] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And, do you want to, before we, say goodbye, do you want to tell the people where they can look you up, on LinkedIn? Do you have a website if they have to get in touch?

[00:39:53] Ami Ved: sure. Sure. you can get in touch with me. on LinkedIn.

[00:39:59] Kartik Chaudhry: [00:40:00] So you can find me as Ami Ved on LinkedIn.

[00:40:04] Ami Ved: At the same time, I have a YouTube channel called speak with Ami, And mainly you will find me on LinkedIn, Instagram. Also, I am there as speak with me, but, my main work comes from LinkedIn. So you can reach out to me for a discovery call on one to one conversation, working on any kind of communication challenges that you have.

[00:40:26] Ami Ved: All right. that was, this was a great conversation. I personally learned a lot and I hope you know, anyone who's also learns a lot. goodbye. thank you so much for

[00:40:35] Kartik Chaudhry: being part of spinning values.

[00:40:36] Ami Ved: Thank you. Thank you, Karthik.

[00:40:38] Thanks army for coming on the spinning values podcast. It was great to chat with you. If you want to listen to the rest of the episodes. Head on over to beekaylon.com/spinning values. Thanks for listening. And we look forward to meeting you on the next episode.