Pooja Bedi, an actress and a TV host, is the daughter of Kabir Bedi (film actor and TV personality). She began her acting career in 1989 and went on to appear in movies like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee.
In 2020, Pooja launched her startup, Happy Soul, a multi-vendor eCommerce portal that aggregates the best of wellness products, services and experiences.
Aparna Mishra, Founder of Women Shine speak to Pooja…
1. What is your happy place?
I believe that happiness is a state of mind, what’s on the inside is reflected on the outside. So to me, every place is a happy place as long as you are happy. If you vibrate positive energy you will attract and spread positive energy. I follow an attitude of gratitude which keeps my happy quotient pumping and it mirrors onto my surroundings.
2. What role does self-care and self-love play in enhancing our mental health?
It’s rightly said that love makes the world go round. If you don’t love yourself, how can you expect others to love you? Only when your well is full can others drink from it. So what are you filling your well with? Many of us put others ahead of us, not realizing we are depleting our own resources, which eventually leads to stress, unfulfilled feelings, pain and neglect. Mental stress, anxiety and negative emotions lead to physical ailments and diseases. Hence, Self-care and self-love are vital not just to our mental health but to our holistic wellness.
A Happy Mind leads to a Happy Body and then to a Happy Life. Self-care can be anything that makes you feel happy, like eating food that’s good for your body, using chemical-free makeup and skincare, exercising, meditating and indulging in precious “me time” away from work& responsibilities so that you can do things that nurture your mind, body and spirit.
3. You are this versatile personality with a trail of successful avatars, which one of your occupations is closest to your heart?
Over the last three decades, I’ve donned many hats and every step of the journey has been a building block to get me where I am today. I always allow life to lead me and I’m happy to grow, learn and explore new opportunities.
Acting, modelling, being a talk show host and a columnist gave me the gift of experience and fame while the lineage I posses with my grandfather being an internationally celebrated healer, my English grandmother being an ordained Buddhist nun of the highest order, and the fact that I’m the 18th direct descendant of Guru Nanak Ji; has all lead to my journey as the founder of Happy Soul.
So every bit of this fascinating roller coaster has been close to my heart. Interestingly, an amalgamation of all the above has culminated in my journey today with Happy Soul. Changing lives has always been an underlying theme through my personal and professional journey and through my workshops, website, columns and the wide following I enjoy it’s now a life that’s interwoven with legacy, fame, passion, knowledge, dreams and all the hard work over the years
4. How did entrepreneurship happen to you?
It’s amazing how the dots join. I was a class topper, extremely sporty, always had a savvy for investments and clearly had leadership qualities. I also grew up with a very healthy understanding of that wellness is holistic and inclusive of the body, mind and soul. My mother filled my life with the works of Osho, J.Krishnamurthy, Jung, Freud and more.
Coupled with the spiritual journey of my grandparents, and my study of various meta sciences, all of it has had a huge influence on my perception of life. I spent more than a decade researching, studying and getting certified in a plethora of metascience related fields like Usui and Karuna Reiki, Heal Your Life, Soul Temple, Magnified Healing, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Hypnosis and so much more. Changing lives, changing mindsets and making the world has always been a theme song for me.
I guess, the business brain kicked in and I realised there was a huge market that was ready and waiting for exactly what I had envisioned and a credible, feasible, ambitious plan was executed and voila! The happy soul was born!
5. We saw you recently in the Netflix Original show ” MasabaMasaba” wherein you played a Counselor to the renowned designer. What was your experience in this?
The role was an irreverent look at the world of therapy and healing. It’s not one that I would normally make fun off in any way, however, having a sense of humour is a key ingredient in handling the various situation in life.
Playing characters is always so much fun and it’s wonderful to garner such appreciation from the masses. Being a part of web series, especially a number one show on Netflix, gets you noticed, keeps you relevant and a bigger fan base is a huge benefit to my business.
6. Would love to know more about “Wellness Wonderland”.
We have many verticals of wellness, some of them active and some of them in the process of creation.
Through our retail and e-commerce website, Happy Soul provides millions of people across India access to the best quality of natural, organic, eco-friendly, cruelty and chemical-free products and services. We disseminate the knowledge of holistic wellness through various sections on our e-commerce website such as wellness travel, blogs, healthy recipes, access to holistic practitioners, online coaching, and more.
We also are in process of creation of our product line as well as intend have a chain of wellness centres and to be the leading name in wellness festivals etc. We provide you with everything you need in the world of healing and wellness under one umbrella. Which is why I call Happy Soul a wellness wonderland.
7. Your take on the growth potential of the wellness industry.
Wellness is a 6 trillion dollar industry and India has a 500 billion market share. Wellness in today’s times seems to be the new buzzword and I think that’s great.
Health and wellness products along with alternative healing modalities like yoga, meditation, psychotherapy and others, have seen a massive surge in interest and sales.
It is one of the fastest-growing industries. Ayurveda, yoga, meditation and energy healing have been apart of Indian culture for centuries and now people are opting for these alternative healing options instead of allopathic medicines.
People are developing a holistic view and realizing that spiritual wellness is just as important as physical health and that both are intertwined.
8. What is your advice to our women readers who are keen to join the entrepreneurship wagon? pooja pooja pooja pooja pooja pooja pooja
Women have a clear advantage when it comes to business as we’re naturally gifted at bringing things to life. We’re fantastic at multitasking and we’re also naturally creative and intuitive.
My one piece of advice is to keep a logical head and don’t allow your emotions to get the better of you. What you believe is what you achieve, so don’t stop till you get there. Aim for the stars, you may end up with a handful of the sky, but at least it won’t be a handful of mud!
Women Shine wishes you all the best with your venture.
-Team WS
