For the Month of April we are sharing stories of hope and inspiration for National Month of Hope. Sometimes hope is the deciding factor on if we will continue our journey or stop in our tracks. As we share the stories of this amazing individual we hope that you are filled with hope and are inspired to keep on your path of greatness.

Co-Founder of Stashfin Shruti Aggarwal shares with us her story.

Shruti Aggarwal is the co-founder of StashFin, an app-based digital lending venture started by a team of former financial service professionals, dedicated to disrupting traditional lending in India. A graduate from Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, Shruti pursued Chartered Accountancy and Masters from the prestigious Columbia University in New York. From being a young team leader to launching global initiatives, Shruti’s professional journey is nothing short of inspiring. As an accomplished financial expert, she has led strategies for top banks and spearheaded her family business, apart from launching two successful startups. With immense love for numbers, Shruti started her professional journey with PricewaterhouseCoopers and has been contributing to the finance industry for close to two decades now. Founded in 2016, the team at Stashfin is an eclectic mix of professionals who have worked with reputed firms in Banking and Financial Services such as Bank of America, Merill Lynch, Citi, Deloitte, Kabbage etc. in India and USA. With exposure across multiple functions including technology, customer experience and process re-engineering, the team is leveraging its collective experience to deliver best in class services and great convenience to its customers. With help of the advancements in technology and the growing drive towards digitalization, the company provides financial freedom in a much smoother and efficient manner. StashFin also received astounding recognition on LinkedIn’s recent list featuring the ‘Top Startups from India’. Shruti considers her ex-boss Sonia Toledo, a successful financial executive based in New York and Nykaa founder, Falguni Nayar as her role models. As an avid traveller, Shruti has travelled far and wide internationally. She loves spending time with loved ones, especially children. Shruti a multi-tasker, is highly self-driven, loving and most disciplined. Running and photography are her other passions that she follows diligently.

Do you have a story of hope or inspiration? Please share with me. 

Throughout my life journey, I was fortunate enough to come across several inspiring women who helped shape my life in more ways than one. Being level-headed yet headstrong is something I get from my mother, who continues to inspire me every day. One of the most prominent names in my professional journey would be my ex-boss and mentor, Sonia Toledo, who is an extremely accomplished financial executive based in New York. In addition to this, female entrepreneurs from India like Mrs. Sudha Murthy and Falguni Nayar (the founder of the Brand “Nykaa”) have been a great source of inspiration to me and women of any age.

What is the name of your business? What type of business is it?

The name of the business is StashFin. The idea behind StashFin was clear and simple – ‘Financial Freedom for one and all’. The inspiration came from the idea of making finance and credit easily accessible to all, especially the underbanked. There are untapped categories of borrowers – the young professionals who are new to credit and the underbanked- which the traditional lenders find expensive to service. As a company, we are cognizant of the fact that making finance available to such categories of customers would be imperative for the growth of the Indian Economy and serve a bigger purpose. While I would say that we are definitely on the right track, look forward to growing faster than the economy. Fintech is such a sector where the rules and the game changes almost every fortnight and hence, keeping up with the pace of technological and financial advancements while keeping the goals of ‘financial freedom for all’ in mind is the way forward for us at StashFin.

What does hope mean to you?

Hope is the ability to believe, with hard work and perseverance anything is achievable. Whether it’s a new beginning, a second chance, or wishing for a miracle. With hope, there is a new light or window of opportunity for reassurance that the possibilities are infinite and that anything is possible as long as you believe and are willing to put in the hard work!

What are some tips would you like to share about remaining hopeful or becoming inspired?

Keep in mind what you’re grateful for, especially in these tough times. There is always something to be thankful for, no matter how tough things may be :

1) Eliminate toxic people around you

2) Concentrate on the positive aspects of your situation and stay happy

3) Hear everyone out but do what is best for you

What is your favorite inspirational or motivational podcast? Why should readers listen to them?

Tim Ferris podcasts are both inspirational and educational.

Share your top 2 inspirational or motivational books and why?

1. Becoming by Michelle Obama

2. Stretched Too Thin: How Working Moms Can Lose the Guilt, Work Smarter, and Thrive By Jessica N. Turner I like them because reading other people’s stories about their journeys in life can give you a better perspective of what the journey of change can be about.

Who keeps you inspired or hopeful?

Staying focused on what I am solving for as a mother keeps me inspired and focused.

How do you remain hopeful?

Hopefulness alters one’s perception of reality. The way we expect the world to change, changes the way we see it. However, it also alters objective truth. It has the effect of being self-fulfilling. Believing this i stay positive and hopeful.

How important is it to remain hopeful or to spread joy to others around you?

To have hope is to wish for a positive result that will improve your life in some way. It can not only make a stressful current situation more bearable, but it can also change our life in the long run because envisioning a better future motivates you to take the measures required to make it a reality.

What keeps you inspired?

Since staying at home can get a little monotonous after a while, I make sure to have some “me time” every day. It is nothing elaborate- just an hour or so. I try to work out a little or sometimes just listen to music and unwind. Catching up with latest chick flicks on Netflix is my own time.

What does community mean to you?

To me, community entails people who are woven together like cloth. We depend on one another, learn from one another, rejoice with one another, and mourn with one another. However, much like a cloth, the fabric stays solid even though one thread is damaged or broken.

What do you feel a community needs to be inspired?

Yes, I believe a community should be inspired to create a better ambience for everything as it all starts with a healthy and fruitful community.

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