If inspiration is what you are looking for right now, then take a look at Jessie Melvin, aged 26, who has started her own entrepreneurship in America and has successfully brought it to India as well. This multi- talented lady has created her own benchmark- and has chosen to go for the untrodden path. Yes, it is true that her journey has not been an easy one but she says it is worth the effort. The idea of this business of import and export did not click her mind all at once. Instead, she likes to narrate the idea as an instantaneous one which changed their lives. When Jessie was in her college, she heard her sorority girls talking about having a new agenda which would be a bit new and can be fetched as well. Soon after she completed her college and joined at work where she would have to do research on the Indian students and their lifestyle. Now, this was a witty decision on her side since she could now have an access to Asian countries and which she could bring together with the US.
Her journey begins when she created a team of people who were willing to work in the same manner as they discussed before and started working in a collaborative manner.
The company name is BH Imports, Mission KS and it is the one that is located in Kansas. Now since she was new to the project, she had a lot to learn but she was determined to do so. At first, she worked on a number of fields like jute, granite, leather, and some other products as well- and then they started looking for good Indian companies that were willing to join hands with this start- up company of the US. But Jessie was smart enough to look into the facts that the companies that were chosen were giving the right kind of quality that they desired.
Hurdles that she has faced so far:-
Being an American, it was not at all easy to communicate with the Indians since there were a lot of areas in which the people knew little or no English. In those places, communication gap is the biggest hurdle that she faced. But Jessie was not the one to sit back and stay put. That was the time when she decided to learn some of the major languages of India so that her stay could be a bit more comfortable and the communication gap could be lessened gradually. She even went to Bangladesh for a couple of months in order to learn Bengali- since most of her time in India, she resides in Kolkata. Till date, she has been successful in bringing the Indian and the American business styles together and soon hopes to merge both of them so that the dimension of importing and exporting is no longer of such hassle.
She has also mentioned the fact that there is a lot of difference when it comes to the Indian style of business- since the American style seems so precise. But she also knew that if exporting garments was to be the next level, then it was better for her to go for India since there are varied styles of dressing here- it being a diverse country. She feels there are “more colours and styles to the dresses in India” than in the US and she herself has ‘fallen for India as well”. Her entrepreneurship was hindered by some basic elements but she has been able to cross the hurdles with the help of her parents who have been supportive of all her plans right from the beginning. And now, even her father has come up to help her daughter grow and expand in this field as he is “immensely proud”.
When asked about her inspirations, she said she had none. Now, that is hard to believe that she pulled up this company with sheer willpower and determination but yes- that is the fact. She also claims that her friends have been with her and that pushed her limits even more and made her believe that she could achieve whatever she desired to. She used to read a lot of books like the Art of the Start and Learn Start-up and that is where she gained all her entrepreneurship skills. With the help of these, she hopes to have more branches of the company all around the globe and explore all the other branches of items that India has to offer her. Right now it is only limited to garments and jewellery, but with the progressing date, she hopes to find even more essential out of this country that could be useful for the Americans. She just knew working hard was the key to gaining success and despite much discouragement, she just moved along. A project that once started as a small one has now crossed the boundaries of the country and moved to yet another continent. To her, it was her parent’s support that mattered and her constant perseverance. She wants to inspire the readers out there by saying, “I would just say to have the courage and keep conquering things that are hard for you and celebrate how you are learning and growing along the way!”
Today she is one of the youngest entrepreneurs who has chosen not to work under anyone but to work with the others so that she can have recognition of her own. Jessie Melvin is just a living example of the fact that if you dream hard, and you have the will force to fetch those, then there is no way in which you can be stopped- no matter what hurdles come to your path. She was nothing but a small town girl studying in a college who could turn out to be just a person working for salary- but instead, she chose to be an entrepreneur- and here she is, inspiring you all at this very moment!