Ms. Nisreen Mustafa Lokhandwala – Founder, Amber Soft Skills Academy
This entrepreneur from Surat is shaping up aspiring students’ career through counselling and soft skill development.
From starting her career at the age of 17 as an assistant to the Manager of a machinery showroom in Pune till running her own venture in form of Amber Soft Skills Academy, it has been a long journey for Nisreen M Lokhandwala. And she has been enjoying the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurial expedition with every smile. Mainly into training for IELTS, Communication, Management and Leadership Training along with enhancing language development skills; Nisreen’s firm has been edifying students across all age groups for a successful career path.
The year 2019 has been greatly rewarding for Nisreen as she bagged the “Best Emerging Entrepreneur in Education” along with the “Best Woman Inspiring Award in Education” from Gujarat. The fact that Generation Next requires education, skill development, and right source of guidance; provided her the kick to start her venture. With a decade into her firm, she has successfully helped in employment, upliftment and development of the youths.
As a self-motivated and self-made woman, she always believed in herself. Her two children has always been the source of immense strength and motivation. Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, she is associated with “Al-Jamea-Tus-Saifiyah University”, Surat for around two decades as a senior faculty, where she counsels students of State, Central and International board to develop their study methodology, memorizing techniques and handling Board Examinations to get a competitive edge in scoring the optimum.
Like any other entrepreneurial journey, Nisreen too had to face many hardships initially and is grateful to have them, as it made her stronger and encouraged to move ahead with firm determination. She battled through all negative experiences in personal life to strive for establishing herself as an entrepreneur. One of the most stirring struggles has been the judgemental and biased opinions of others towards her.
While referring to the challenges she faced in achieving her goal, she puts forward a strategic point. Nisreen points out “The shift in mind-set and constantly changing my approach towards the environment is itself a challenge. In retrospect, however, as I deal with such challenges, I feel “complete and whole” as a person; because by the end of the day what matters is a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction in one’s life.”
Being passionate about photography, travel, and fitness; this alumni of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, knows how to toggle between various responsibilities in life and that’s probably where her success mantra lies. A strong believer of women empowerment, she has been influencing a lot of women through her writings and blogs. She also effectively utilizes her vast online network to spread the spirit of empowerment among women. She has rightly assessed the market of Gujarat and figured out that – the younger generation, aspire to study or settle in western and European countries; but lack the right skill set. That’s where she pitched in her services to them.