Girl Power with Meenal Signal

 



I am so delighted to share my conversation with Meenal Singhal founder/owner of an education and learning business called A Grade Ahead. I had the opportunity to meet her in person and also do a yoga session with her. After talking to her, I left with so many new learnings and couldn’t wait to write this blog to share with the world. I am sharing our summarized conversation below. I hope many young girls like me find inspiration in this story.

1. When you first started your business, what were some challenges you faced?


Meenal and her husband Parag started the business together. They realized they had to take some early risks but had to make sure their life was taken care of since they had just moved to the US with their then 7 year old son. The business required their full time attention and their first challenge was to decide as a family how they would navigate quitting their jobs to grow the business. In 2004, Parag quit his job and then a year later she also quit her job to focus on the business full time.


2. What is your definition of failure?


She said failure is something that you can learn from. I found this very profound and was very curious to learn about an example of something she experienced and learnt from. She shared that in their business they couldn't reach as many people as they would’ve liked to but even the people who were joining were quitting because they didn't either like the syllabus or the students were not doing the homework persistently. So from this, Meenal was always working on tweaking the program to overcome the feedback they were getting. She said it is so important to keep updating your business based on feedback you are receiving. This was such a great insight for me that failure is about the learnings and working on improving whatever activity you are doing.


3. How did the name A grade ahead stand out?


They started with the name Math Wizard because they were focussing only on Math. In 2015 they hired a marketing manager, who recommended that they add English to their program and should rebrand the business so that not only students but also teachers thought that this business was much more than a place to learn only Math. Later on they went on to do camps and even science programs. So the name A grade ahead, covered the essence of how their business was growing. This story was so interesting because I heard about a similar experience in my interview with Brooke.


4. How do you keep yourself motivated?


Meenal is always motivated by the results of the students who grow and learn at A Grade Ahead. Her team who has stuck around for greater than 10 years also keeps her highly motivated about the business. The idea of growing a business with a trusted team keeps pushing Meenal forward.


5. Throughout building your business were there any special memories or events that occurred?


One of the early memories that was very special was the first check she received in the business. It was for $18. She still has that check that she has kept as a memory for herself. This student was a customer who came from outside their friends and family circle so it was extra special. This was the beginning of many more special memories down the lane of building the business.


6. As a female founder what advice would you give to me and other girls who want to be entrepreneurs?


She advised me that there are no shortcuts in life to be successful. You have to put in the hard work consistently. Meenal said that girls can do anything that they desire and set their mind to. Girls have equal power as men to do anything. She said, if you have a talent, never doubt yourself that you can’t do it. This message really touches my heart and makes me want to continue to write more blogs, something I love to do.


This was such an amazing and heart touching conversation. I learnt so much from her not only about her business but how she developed her entrepreneurship skills and thinking. I hope many people are inspired by her story. I really want to thank Meenal for her time to share her inspiring journey with me. 


If you would like to reach out to her, here are his social media links down below.


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AGradeAheadCorporate

Blog: https://blog.agradeahead.com/

Website: https://agradeahead.com/


I would really love to hear your feedback and comments. Please reach out to me@hanikachhajer.com.

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