Today we’d like to introduce you to Dhriti Chatterjee.
Hi Dhriti, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
It is a fact that to start a new journey, you need to finish the old one. We can never carry our baggage while embarking on the journey of growth. That’s difficult, rather impossible. And I firmly believe that if we want to reach somewhere, we have to walk through many phases- hardships, failures, achievements, and being on the threshold of giving up. Hence, my life was no different.
When I started my entrepreneurial journey, I was already working as a technical trainer that was paying me a handsome salary. And like any other person, I also believed in having a secured life- at least one that doesn’t make you worry about money. But you gradually understand that you are born for bigger purposes when you start being uncomfortable in your own comfort zone. That is also when you come out of the cocoon and actually start doing something destined but not identified yet. I did not leave my job because my boss was too bossy or did not love what I was doing or moulding myself in a timeframe seemed difficult. But suddenly I was not feeling content with what I was doing. It felt like I am having the potential to do something better. And that is when I realized this is the high time to start following my passion of creating something of my own and chasing my dreams. That one realization changed everything. And I started a fresh journey of entrepreneurship at the age of 30.
I started my first venture and co-Founded Didactics IT solutions LLP (DISL) with two of my very talented friends in 2009. But, as the life of an entrepreneur is never a cakewalk, and at every step, you encounter the most unexpected things, I have had a difficult time that lasted for more than three years. I started facing the most prevalent issues like gender biasedness, trust breaches, unhealthy rivalry, and whatnot. But as I mentioned earlier, the moment I feel uncomfortable, I start doing something to get rid of it; I started looking for ways to convert those adversities into opportunities.
Instead of letting those situations control my head, I started learning my lessons from them. That is how we win, isn’t it? To defeat your bigger enemy, you must make them believe that they are big, and then when their superiority complex starts influencing them, you play your turn shrewdly. Sounds like the game of chess. That is how life is. But amidst this state of proving myself, again and again, the most important thing was being missed. I was so engrossed in the journey that I became utterly careless about my health, which hit me severely. And for almost a year, I dealt with many health criticalities and spent countless sleepless nights. And you would be surprised what I learned finally- there is nothing more important than health. Our health is our true wealth, and from there, my battle with my health issues and a journey of living a healthy lifestyle started.
In 2017, I suddenly or say eventually encountered the term Virtual Reality and entered into the second phase of my life. I was born with an artistic mindset that’s in my genes. Since Virtual Reality touched my heart and my practical mind indicated this technology has immense potential to grow beyond imagination, I couldn’t stop myself from taking a leap and doing something with it. As an avid learner, I started learning more about technology. I reached out to the veterans, especially Professor Mukherjee from MAKAUT University, West Bengal. In October 2019, for his guidance, it gradually started feeling like I was reaching where I wanted to be. I’ve been invited to the World XR Conference in the Nanchang Province, Republic of China. And that experience was ecstatic. But when I came back to India and researched the impact of VR in this country, I found out my motherland is still in the crawling stage as far as this emerging technology is concerned. And I pledged to make my country aware of VR/AR/MR/XR and all I could through my social handles. But time always has a different plan. When I was ideating how to reach people and make them known to VR, the pandemic shook the world. And all my businesses shut down one after another. Though the reality was hard to accept, there was no escape. It took me some time definitely, but I made myself believe that this was not the end and probably the start of a new journey- all over again. And that is when my life changed, and a new idea passed my mind. I realized that to become better, we need transformation at different stages of our lives, then why not transform something that is much needed. And we started offerings online LMS (Learning Management System) portal, software service, and digital marketing.
That is how my new venture DcVision VR started shaping shape, and in November 2020, I started an academy that aimed at helping my nation learn VR/AR/MR/XR. We work in these emerging technologies, covering almost every industry vertical, especially education, tourism, healthcare, and entertainment. And my plan for this year looks like venturing my 360 VR films this year.
After 12 years of hard work and hardships, I could finally recognize my efforts. I got awarded as ‘Women Entrepreneur of the year 2021’ by the Bengal Pride Award in association with the West Bengal Govt. Though the time was hard, my perseverance, consistency, and self-confidence got me where I am today. To become a successful entrepreneur, everyone needs to have these qualities. And one thing which is more important than anything else is planning. Every stage of your life must be planned. And planning is not only about starting anything, but it is also about having successful exit strategies. In the past 12 years, whatever I learned, I learned from my struggles, failures, and mistakes. And after my hard work started yielding results, I promised myself that this was not going to be the end. And I started encouraging other women who want to become entrepreneurs but are unsure how to start. There are certain setbacks in our minds that don’t let us do great things like fear of failure, insecurity, poor subject matter knowledge or simply market knowledge. But once we can conquer those, set new goals, and achieve things we never thought we could. And to give my dream of motivating new-age entrepreneurs, I created a platform ‘Prathama- I’m worth it to acknowledge the hardwires of women entrepreneurs who have achieved many milestones in their lives and motivate others. Prathama is helping women entrepreneurs, especially struggling startups, with knowledge like entrepreneurial mindset, the importance of digital marketing, dealing with depressions, financial skills, how to deal with legal issues, investment issues, and more.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The life of an entrepreneur is never a cakewalk, and at every step, you encounter the most unexpected things, I have had a difficult time that lasted long with the most prevalent issues. These are the extra baggages that I had to carry along with my other common occupational hazards. But as I mentioned earlier, the moment I feel uncomfortable, I start searching for another way out instead of knocking the same door again and again to get rid of the problem. I started looking for ways to convert those adversities into opportunities.
We’ve been impressed with Didactics IT Solutions and DcVision VR, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’ve ownership of two companies. Co-founded DISL in the year 2009 and founded DcVision VR in 2020. We are the most dependable national vendor in the field of training & training infrastructure services & digital marketing for almost all prime OEMs like Trend Micro India, Fortinet, Sophos, Fire-Eye, etc. Most MNCs, including Accenture, TCS, CTS, Capgemini IBM, RedHat, etc. We are also known for our training & training infrastructure services. We started our online training programs during the post-pandemic phase, which are already very popular and in demand. We train on coding technologies, emerging technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and we have advanced courses on cloud computing, cyber-Security, Cyber Psychology, and Blockchain. Our startup mentoring program is a 3-month program that gives the new entrepreneurs innovative directions to take their venture and achieve more. Our biggest strength is our skilled and experienced team that delivers the desired result to every project in the decided timeframe.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Before anything else, my family matters to me the most. Because they are the people who stood still by my side during my thick and thin. Whether I fail or win I know they will accept me for the person I am. Along with family, when you have a set of people who believe in you, push you to do better, motivate you to become the best version of yourself, you need nothing more. And I’m lucky that I have such people in my life. And now if I concentrate upon the most important thing that matters in a professional setting, I would like to say it’s my self-respect. I have never prioritized anything else more than my self-respect. Because, no matter what you lose-money, power, self-confidence you can gain everything with time. But once you start losing your self-respect, it’s hard to regain it. I also say to people, ‘Do everything you feel is right in order to become a successful entrepreneur but also make sure that you are not losing your self-respect or hurting others’ self-respect in the process. After all, respect is commended, not demanded and it applies to everyone.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected] | [email protected]
- Website: www.didactics.co.in | www.dcvision.in
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/vrmentor.dhriti?r=nametag
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dhriti.c1978
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC_4smeVCilhDuygfe9TtxLQ
- Other: https://dhriti.swipepages.co/dhriti-360-vr-workshop
