Wife, mother, home maker, entrepreneur, educator, Psychologist and parenting counselor ; these are some of the synonyms for Riddhi Doshi Patel , i.e me and I am equally proud of each of these mantels.

I am lucky to have been born in a family that respected individuals and encouraged their children irrespective of their sex.

A chance overhearing of a conversation between a group of teenagers at the adjoining table at a Cafe changed the course of my professional life early on. The total disregard for values and disrespect for their parents shocked me. That is when, with the help of a friend I decided to open an institution that taught youngsters to value and respect their seniors irrespective of their place in their lives. 

Together, my friend and I launched Rhhyns Academy Pvt. ltd., where we taught children good values through the medium of art and dance. Besides coaching the children, we also conduct shows with dance, stories, puppetry sessions on etiquette and communication

I am a Child Psychologist, Parenting Counselor and Mental Health practitioner . With more than 15 years experience in the betterment of women and children, I believe that hard work, persistence and conviction make you a successful entrepreneur.

I have meticulously designed and executed workshops and training programs to empower, educate and update skills of women from all walks of life. My workshops and programs that are aimed at young adults and teenagers touch upon etiquette, personality development, nutrition, mental health and socio-economic behavior. I have created multiple avenues to handhold parents in their journey of Parenting through my venture Parent - Tales.  

Parent-Tales has guides uploaded on Facebook to support Parents and under Parent-Tales, I have successfully completed 10,000 plus Parenting workshops and masterclass across India and have been on panel at International conferences in my capacity as a Child Psychologist. 

Being a National Award winning Trainer, I also conduct trainings for Personal & Self Development and have undertaken Student’s Guidance and Counselling programmes and Empowerment Workshops for Women and Children. 

Got a chance to talk about my life journey for the first time in 2017 on the platform of TEDx and then for 3 consecutive years , I got a chance to be there on the TEDX stage . Currently , I am advisory to multiple TED-Ed clubs across India and support young minds to carve their niche.

In 2015 I launched LAJA. The focus was on helping women look within themselves and find that spark of confidence and then give it enough fodder for it to grow into a fire. Initially all I did was have monthly get-togethers at a Coffee Shop. The aim was to get the women out of their homes, in a new setting and giving them a space to open up and talk freely. 

Then I started introducing talks by women, about their journey to self-discovery, about the challenges they faced and about how they were successful now. The idea was to inspire the women who heard these successful women talk. 

I then launched Vocational Training workshops where we brought in Experts who trained the women in a skill – be it painting, jewelry making, stitching. The idea being that women who were driven enough to make a change in their lives could use the learnings of the workshop and try and become self-sustainable and financially independent. Once that too took off successfully, there as no looking back. 

I put up a team and together we planned and implemented online expert talks, offline expert interactions, outbound fun experiential learning exercises, LAJA market and the Annual Laja Conclave – TATVA. 

We are not really a Community but are a Forum; that gives every woman a non-judgmental space to be herself, without bias or preconceived notions. You could be a school dropout or an MBA, a 100cr earning entrepreneur or someone with Rs 2000/- turnover monthly; you could be married, divorced, widowed or single; you could be from the North, South, East or West of India; you could be a business woman or a homemaker; you could be childless or have children; you could be anyone, it does not matter. What matters is that you are a woman and want to do something with your life. That ambition, that fire, that spark is what we look for. Sometimes that ambition is visible, sometimes its buried deep and we need to urge it out. 

The main thing and important factor is that LAJA is a Forum for women and through this forum we wish to help women find their empowered selves and light up like a thousand watt bulb. Once a woman knows her power and her self-worth, she can in-turn light up the lives of not just her immediate family and friends but the society at large.  

The main aim of LAJA is to help women find themselves, their empowered selves, their confident selves and once they have done that, there is no stopping them. How do we do it? We do it by having them meet and hear inspirational stories by inspirational women, by organizing workshops and hands-on training programs where they learn or upgrade their skills, by conducting on-line and off-line expert talks where they get to learn something new about a new subject or area, by taking them on outbound trips where they learn to push themselves beyond their comfort zones and triumph, by organizing LAJA markets where they get to showcase and sell their painstakingly handmade products, by arranging for mentors to mentor them, to help them and support them when they need emotional support, and most importantly by taking time to sit with them and listen to them as they pour their hearts and woes out.  

We at LAJA are all tied by an invisible sense of sisterhood that binds us to each other.

The proudest moment for me was when Facebook acknowledged LAJA as a Community that brings people together, brings awareness and makes an impact. For me, it was like my baby had graduated with flying colors. This recognition and every recognition that my team at LAJA gets from external agencies through awards, speaker opportunities and invitations to other community events is what gives me pride. 

This is me and my journey of life - I believe - Life is beautiful - create memories each day