Mondays couldn’t get any better. If Mala Mary Martina has her way, there would be no more Monday Blues. The Bengaluru-based young CEO of ‘I Love Mondays’ has been helping teens get a hands-on-experience of careers before they plunge into professional courses. With her recently-launched book I Love Mondays – Embrace the Next Generation of Careers #YellowCollar already making waves, Mala is determined that by 2021, to empower 10 lakh youngsters across India to make an educated career choice. “We have reached the perfect solution after four years of research and work in the industry. We are sure this will be a game changer not just for India but also for the whole world,” says Mala.
The story of Mala’s professional journey would resonate with most youngsters. She had chucked a cozy job after her Engineering to ‘explore herself’ before her startup ‘I Love Mondays’ took shape. She explains, “I pursued a degree in engineering because I wasn’t aware of other options. I was a good engineer, but just didn’t love it as much I would have wanted to. What I thought my job would be, and what it actually was, were different. This was one of the key inspirations to start ‘I Love Mondays’.
Mala published her first book in 2013, with limited copies that caught the eye of schools, parents and educators. Very soon she had HarperCollins knocking at her door to write a book to be published across India. Mala then reached out to people like A.R. Rahman, Santosh Sivan, Anil Kumble, Amish Tripathi, Sabu Cyril and many other prominent personalities who had made it big in their fields and documented their journey in her book to inspire the reader.
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While speaking of the role of the parents in the process of a child’s career choice, Mala says, “In my years of experience, through the work our company ‘I Love Mondays’ does, I have learnt the cardinal intent of parents. All parents love their kids and want them to be successful (which includes being happy). Unfortunately most of them seem ill-equipped to help their children make an educated career choice. But they are extremely open to learning and exploring.”
Recalling her experiences that led to her choosing what she’s doing now, Mala says, “I was awarded the best engineering student by VTU, Karnataka. By then, I was sure that I didn’t want to pursue engineering anymore. When in doubt, go back to the basics…. I went back to mine. I realised I was asking the wrong question — ‘What do I want to be when I grow up’. I faced answers like engineers, doctors, lawyer etc...the profiles that are already defined. So I changed the question — ‘What do I want to do when I grow up’. That is when the REAL answers came out. I wanted to contribute to the growth of my country. I wanted to help teens in the country. I basically wanted to make mine and others life more meaningful…… Post that decision I travelled to rural India for over four years and helped half a million youth discover themselves. In the process the idea of ‘I Love Mondays’, both the book and the company came into being. It was more out of need.”
Wasn’t there any family opposition? “Initially my parents didn’t understand what I was up to, but they gave me time and space to figure out my own path. My friends supported me despite not knowing what in the world I was up to. They finally understood what I was doing when my TEDx talk on yellow collar careers came out in early 2016.”
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The focus of the members of ‘I Love Mondays’ is to work closely with schools, sometimes taking along a celebrity who’d give the children an insight into their profession, thus expanding their world of choices. But it’s not always easy to squeeze in their programme into school curriculum. Says Mala, “Schools understand that it is important to do the right thing for the kids, but they are struggling to find a way to fit it into their class hours. I totally empathise with what they are going through. With demanding parents, sometimes under-equipped staff, schools do not have it easy. We are trying to take the burden off the schools and still be able to make an impact.”
As Mala reaches out to more and more students, is she gearing up to pen more books? “This book was written out of sheer need. Right now, I think my team is more equipped to write many more books on yellow collar careers as they work more with the innovators from various industries. And ‘I Love Mondays’ is extremely blessed to have a team of such empowered individuals who are focussed on helping the youth reach their potential,” smiles Mala as she signs off.
* Forbes has highlighted that 81 percent of the world’s population are not satisfied with their jobs
* An increased number of engineers in India find themselves in jobs other than Engineering
* With youth forming half the population in India, the need to help them make right career choice gains significance