Feministaa

Salvate Your Bucket List Craving with Smriti Modi

By Team Feministaa in

30/09/2022
Haven’t you been sipping coffee with friends one fine evening and discussing about the things you would rather be doing in life? Smriti Modi was in the exact same situation in 2012. She had a prick to get going on the things she always wanted to do, whether it was going on an adventurous trip or parasailing.
“The Itch List is like an extension of my personality. It’s a place where one can list all the things that they absolutely MUST do on this planet and put a scratch-by date to each, to keep reminding themselves of their urges. If you’re having trouble scratching them alone, buddy up with other members or invite friends to join and see how quickly your Itch List becomes a Scratchbook worth bragging about,” says the founder.
All of us have a list rattling around in our heads of crazy things we want to do, places we want to go to, stuff we want to learn, experiences we want to have. “Few years of working and as we progressed from students to excited-fresher’s to mundane-9to5 workers, I realized that everyone (my friends and colleagues) was itching to do a lot beyond their jobs, but more often than not, those ‘things’ remained as unfulfilled dreams which they would hopefully pursue ‘someday’. Nagging my friends to do that stuff on their ‘someday-list’ became my mission,” she adds.
Starting up on her own had been on Smriti’s ‘Itch list’ for many years. And once, she got confident and determined to go for it, there was no looking back. With a lot of consultation and reassurance, she started on to make sure every marks off items on their bucket list. She finally took the plunge in April 2014 and started up! Smriti won the Courtyard’s entrepreneurial challenge -The Elevator Pitch which helped her start the beta testing of the website.
“I had a 60 second elevator pitch. I made sure that I was crisp and clear in presenting myself. I put in half the time to explain the concept and make sure people resonate with the idea. With the time I had left, I explained how I would use the money if I won it,” says Smriti.
It takes a lot to present your idea in a minute, and speaking right to a VC can give you jitters. But Smriti was prepared for it. She wrote it down and literally tried to memorize the script to her pitch.
Starting up after a successful career might not always be easy. “In the beginning, not getting a monthly pay-check seems like the biggest challenge but once you’re working on something more meaningful – pay-check is the last concern,” she says. Like any other startup, challenges are around entering an unfamiliar industry and setting up a good team. “Finding the right people to work with was a challenge, I took that part very seriously no matter at which level I was hiring,” she adds. Since she had a lot of support from her parents, trying and failing was encouraged.
“My dad believes that it is way better than not trying at all. My husband also shares my passion for The Itch List. This is a great thing for me,” says the founder, who had been working for 7 years with a successful corporate career.
Being an entrepreneur means never standing still. It’s a new industry and there is never any excuse to stop learning. The world is continuously changing and developing, and as an entrepreneur, it is important for Smriti to keep abreast of new and interesting developments. “The thirst for knowledge has made me push myself and learn something new every day,” she claims.
She recommends the future women entrepreneurs to start as soon as possible. “The best time is now! Make sure you put an end date to whatever you want to achieve and take help form people to achieve it. And as Swami Vivekananda also says, Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.”

Sonia Motwani

A full time business analyst and a passionate writer, she is hopelessly attracted to the passionate struggle story that every women entrepreneur has lived today! We possibly couldn’t have had someone better than her to write about women achieving new heights in the startup sector!

Your opinion matters

You May Also Like

Welcome to Feministaa!

Watch Inspirational Interviews of the most influential Achievers! Connect With Us to join the community!