Jeevanjali Chanderpaul – From humble beginnings to a successful business owner

February 18, 2021

GxMedia
4 years ago
0

Having a desire for a better life, financially, has led 22-year-old Jeevanjali Chanderpaul to launch her own business, but despite the journey wasn’t easy, she managed to swerve, dodge, and become a conqueror of her obstacles.

Founder of The Yogi Fharmacist, Jeevanjali Chanderpaul

Jeevanjali was born on the 16th May 1998 at the Suddie Public Hospital to parents Parmanand and Saroji Chanderpaul. This young woman then grew gracefully in Devonshire Castle, Region Two, with her four (4) brothers.

Reflecting on her formative years, Chanderpaul relayed that she belonged to a low-income family, which made her feel inferior when among the other “rich kids.” She added that she had very strict parents who contributed significantly to the well-rounded persons she has become today.

Chanderpaul also revealed that her parents made “huge” sacrifices to ensure that she and all her siblings were well taken care of.

“We were thought to be humble and contented because, as my parents would say, ‘not everything you see, you must have.’ So those words stuck behind our heads. We don’t ask for much. It was always part of our humble upbringings despite financially, things were always hard, and my dad always tried to make ends meet.” She painstakingly expressed.

She attended the Hampton Court Nursery and Primary Schools, from which she was awarded a spot at the renowned Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School after completing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

Jeevanjali confessed that she was never fond of school and would always make excuses in an attempt to return home. In fact, she said, “I never thought I would have gotten this far academically,” but success started to follow her, and that motivated her to work harder in order to make her parents proud.

But seeing my parents struggle to make ends meet as I grew older, I felt having a sound education will make my life easier as I never want to face the same fate my parents did. So, I finally accepted that I need to go to school so I could have a better life, and that’s when I wrote NGSA and got second place at my school.

In due course of time, Jeevanjali successfully graduated from the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School, copping 12 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. After taking one (1) year off from studying, she applied to the University of Guyana to read for a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy.

The first year of studies was paid for by her dad, but in the second year, her dad was unable to continue his contribution as a result of some grave financial constraints. As such, she contemplated dropping out but was directed to the Ministry of Public Service, where she applied and was awarded a scholarship to continue her studies.

This is where I learnt the hardships of life. University basically made me into a sad broken individual. The pressure was so much that I never thought I would have made it to the end because there were so many times that I wanted to quit. I always wondered if I will be able to complete my degree or it will end me, while on top of that, I had limited financial resources.

She added that holding on to the end made her life so much easier because now she holds a BSc in Pharmacy and is currently awaiting the completion of the 1st year internship at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to become a licensed pharmacist.

In the meantime, she is also seeking an outside job within the field so as to acquire some more experience but has great intentions of serving the Government of Guyana for the mandated period of five (5) years.

Launch of her business

After the COVID-19 pandemic sent shock waves through Guyana, early last year, Jeevanjali had time for a self-introspection and concluded that she wanted a life where she can be financially stable and make a name for herself. So, in order to achieve this goal, this young lady realized that she needed multiple sources of income, which can be garnered from a self-owned business and her career job.

Without hesitation, Jeevanjali began reading self-growth books along with other materials that can help her ‘kick start’ her business. She also sought guidance from a coach, who helped her to execute the business idea.

“I grew to love yoga for the past three years and fitness within the past year. So I decided to start up a business with the encouragement and motivation from my coach, which I’m forever grateful for. I always wanted to do something like this, but I never had the confidence or motivation,” she posited in her remarks.
“Having someone to help and guide you is a big plus. I became confident over time, though sometimes I had doubts, but I know I will never return to the person who never believed in herself.”

In September 2020, 22-year-old Jeevanjali created her business page titled “The Yogi Fharmacist” and officially launched it this year selling yoga and fitness products.

Immediately after establishing her social media presence, Jeevanjali said that many persons contacted her for information about the starting of her yoga classes.

However, as it is right now, she said that business has been a bit slow owing to several facts, including the COVID-19 pandemic but will soon rise as she is working on alleviating these challenges while working around the guidelines of the pandemic.

“I’m having patience, and I believe that I will prosper as I continuously remind myself that this is just for a period of time and soon my business will be flourishing.” This daily affirmation helps prevent the instance of being discouraged as a result of the slow business growth. “I’m expected to have new products very soon, so I’m sure people will definitely be interested because I aimed to bring the very best fitness and yoga products to the nation at large,” she enthusiastically stated.
She remarked, “One of the challenges I face is realizing people are not very supportive of you when you try to do something that will improve your life. I think the reason for this is because they are scared you will become more successful than them, so it’s quite challenging to have the support of families or friends in sharing my post, on social media, as a means of promoting my business page.”

Jeevanjali credits her success to her parents while noting that she is aware of how they are “extremely proud” of the person she is today because they both worked hard to mould her into the person she is since they were victims of school dropouts.

I want to encourage people, who come from poor or average families, to believe in themselves that success will come one day. Believing in you is the first step to success. Find someone to guide you/ mentor you because having someone who believes in you makes you more confident, and most importantly, you have to put in the work if you want to see real results because nothing happens overnight.