TTT #36: "Build Your Own Path" with Spandana Palaypu
Spandana Palaypu, ever since she was a kid, has loved interacting with people and, therefore, she took every opportunity she got for the same. Through her conversations with workers, she realized how many of them were skilled in different areas and, perhaps, even had degrees. However, their circumstances disallowed them from utilizing those assets. This, she realized, was primarily due to multiple middlemen between a job-seeker and employer. And eventually, to bridge this, she ended up finding her own start-up, ZoEasy, based on this to help blue-collar workers find their dream jobs.
She mentions the three areas that she had always been passionate about: education, employment, and healthcare. Going back into her school days, she speaks about how her inclination towards the latter made medicine the obvious career path. Thereby, she delves into the process that went into making the decision to drop the idea of becoming a doctor, and shifting to business, pursuing the same at University.
Having experienced the importance of a connected network after the connections through winning One Young World’s Lead2030 Challenge provided an immense boost, she encourages aspiring young people to create one. She talks about diverse experiences that shaped her into who she currently is, such as the World Challenge that gave her a new sense of independence and responsibility.
Lastly, Spandana talks about finding time for oneself to maintain a balance between work and the other aspects of life. She tells us to let go of our inhibitions and challenge ourselves, without letting rejection hamper our learning curves and enthusiasm.
There is a saying in Telugu, in my language, where if you throw a rope through a mountain, if you pull, either you get the mountain or you end up losing the rope.
Being featured in the World Economic Forum, Financial Times, and Forbes amidst the myriad of fancy accomplishments, what she has achieved could seem pretty intimidating. But Spandana describes herself as just an ordinary 25-year-old. She gives us the belief that perhaps, investing ourselves towards something we are passionate about can make us reach any mark we could dream of.
