Designer Anjali Phougat considers her mom to be a big inspiration. “My parents are my favourite teachers because I think parents teach you about everything – Jyothi Venkatesh

They give you great values and before you start any school, your schooling begins at home. My mother is a big inspiration for me.

She owned a small boutique where I felt encouraged to start my own fashion line. I was born in Gurgaon, Haryana.

My mother is my mentor and I feel inspired by many great designers,” said Anjali, known for her talk show titled Designer Dream Collection Diva Series.

She believes that mentors encourage and enable another person’s professional or personal development.

“A mentor can help focus their efforts by setting goals and giving feedback. As a result, companies that want to build employees’ skills often create mentoring programs,” she said.

Her mentor and ideal is Sadhguru. “He is not related to fashion world but I am inspired by his ideology about life and inclusion,” said the designer.

“Every business should be for human well-being and any activity we do should be inclusive. It is very important. Business should be run in an inclusive manner.

I learned this from my mentor and that’s my goal for my fashion line to add value for everyone and solve a problem and make it inclusive and take Indian fashion to another height,” she said.

It’s important to find a mentor who is willing and able to take you on. “A good mentor is someone who will support and encourage you to reach for higher goals, to take the next step and to push yourself in to succeed in business.

The perfect mentor is one who is experienced in an area where you need a little bit of extra help because you may lack the knowledge or experience,” said Anjali.

“A good mentor will help you stay accountable to your goals, they will help you pay attention and stay on track.

When you get frustrated and want to give up they will push you harder and keep you going.

A mentor can be invaluable to ask you the hard questions and challenge you to come up with the answers,” she concluded.

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