The challenges of moving countries, changing careers and having children have not diminished Ekta Tejwani’s enthusiasm for life, an enthusiasm reinforced by joy she gets from meeting and helping mothers through her app.
What’s your story?
I love life and the challenges it throws; and as much as I rant, I face it head-on and get going!! My journey has been something of a rollercoaster ride, from moving countries, changing careers, to an MBA post marriage, launching two startups, having babies right after launching, and as things started to get settled, moving countries again. During Covid!
I would say, my story has sure been Interesting!!
Through the course of finding what I want, I found my passion to build a support network, building a community of mothers through a fun Tinder-like networking app called MUMZ!
What started as a passion project, has evolved to be a scalable solution for mothers across Asia. With Singapore as our next stop, we hope to spread some cheer and help Singapore moms find other mom friends with a swipe!
What excites you most about your industry?
The people! Meeting mothers from different walks of life, sharing their struggles and joys in their journey of motherhood, and being able to provide a solution that helps breaks the ice for building new connections, finding another mom to have adult conversations, a break from routine and just to be able to find a friend to have coffee with in those early years of motherhood is beyond exhilarating for me as a mother myself!
What is your connection to Asia?
I was born in Kuwait, lived in India post Gulf-War, and moved to Hong Kong after my marriage 10 years ago. Between the to-and fro visits between India & Hong Kong, I am now super excited to explore another amazing city within Asia. Singapore.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
My heart will always remain in Hong Kong, an easy, efficient & wonderful community in which to run a business. That being said, I hope we get the same warmth in Singapore as we have received in Hong Kong!
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
I share this at every opportunity I get because it has done wonders for me:
The Mantra for success is simple. “When you leave for home from work, know you have given your professional best, When you leave home for work, know you have left a happy family home.”
Who inspires you?
I may be biased, but I get inspired by the mothers I meet. Every mother I have met has a story to share. Throughout her story are many snippets from which one finds encouragement, support, ideas, solutions, empathy and the power to take on life as a resilient roaring woman! and that definitely includes my mother!
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
While working to launch our e-commerce model for hosting products & services run by mom entrepreneurs across Asia for the members of our community, (our mothers), I came across 3 mom entrepreneurs who were potential clients, who suffered heavily and their businesses were greatly impacted by the pandemic.
The three moms reacted in different ways; one pivoted and flourished, one closed down and started something new, while one worked on her partnerships to stay afloat! Learning from these mothers made me realise if your heart is in the right place (and your mind too), you can do wonders!
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
As cliched as it may sound, I have found my peace and happiness with all that I have experienced. I am what I am because of my past experiences. So apart from maybe sleeping more before kids, I think I am quite happy with how life is shaping up!
How do you unwind?
My children, (aged 4 and 1) are my best buddies. Sometimes they may be the reason I need to unwind, but spending a chill evening in the park, cooking or just reading books together in our corner is my favourite thing to do!
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
I have been to Goa 11 times and Bali 3 times so it’s difficult to pick which one I would choose over the other. But good food, beach, and great company are a must!
Everyone in business should read this book:
I have a few that I definitely would recommend –
Corporate Chanakya – by Radhakrishnan Pillai
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – by Stephen Covey
Lately I read Progressive Partnerships by Callum Laing!
and the next one I want to read is Delivering Happiness: by Tony Hsieh
There is So much to learn!
Shameless plug for your business:
“Tinder for Moms” – I use this tag line for my networking app platform description all the time!
That being said, MUMZ is a community building, networking platform for mothers. We endeavour to be “that village” across Asia, every mom needs to raise a child. With just a swipe, a mom can connect with other nearby mothers based on children’s ages, common interests and favourite times to meet! The platform also supports mothers to create playdates, events and has a dropshipping e-commerce platform supporting mom & dad owned businesses across Asia to sell their products & services to the community.
How can people connect with you?
You may reach out to me on Linked – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekta-tejwani-8216115/ or send me a message at [email protected].
Social Media Links:
Website: https://meetmumz.com
Facebook Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/1777197592373932
Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/meetmumz
Instagram : https://instagram.com/meetmumz
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To hear how entrepreneurs around the world overcome their challenges, search your favourite podcast platform for ‘CallumConnects‘ to hear a 5-minute daily breakdown.
Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built, and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder and CEO of MBH Corporation PLC. He is the author of three best-selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’, ‘Agglomerate’, and ‘Entrepreneurial Investing’.
Connect with Callum on Twitter and LinkedIn
Download free copies of his books at www.callumlaing.com
