Born on 16th September 1993 in New Delhi, Supriya Paul, the CEO and Co-founder of Josh Talks, along with her business partner Shobhit Banga, founded a YouTube channel in 2015 at the age of 20.
Josh Talks started with just one central language, Hindi, but as the followers grew, it flourished to collect over 8.5 million followers and more. It currently encompasses over nine languages, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and many more. Conducting more than 2500 online talks and 1500 offline workshops and events, Josh Talks strives to inspire the youth of today to fulfil their potential. It is a diverse talk show platform that features multiple celebrities and stars that share their stories and their ideas.
Supriya has always been one to stand out ever since a young age; she always strived to be different by learning classical music for 13 years. Even when everyone else in her class was deciding what to pursue further, Supriya co-founded a startup called Josh Talks that everyone doubted as they thought this venture wouldn’t be profitable as the company’s ideology was more suited for an NGO.
The struggles Paul faced when sowing the seeds for the success of Josh Talks were harsh sod. Her parents wanted the best for her, although they were sceptical about the success of Josh Talks because there was a deficiency of venture capitalists who would take up this opportunity. Determined, Supriya wanted to see the business boom and strived on, and the first flower bloomed in march 2017 when the revenue of Josh Talks reached 40 lakhs; although it was the beginning, the business continued, and towards 2019 it grossed over 5.58 crore. Paul’s perseverance and strength ploughed the way to the company’s success, and this quote of hers fully describes what helped her follow through.
– “When you don’t follow the herd, it takes time for people to accept what you have carved.”
– “You have to hang on when the odds are heavily stacked against you; trust yourself and your capabilities.”
Pauls’ failures are something she holds true to herself and is proud of because she believes her success came from her learning from her failure rather than being ashamed of them.
Supriya is multi-faceted in being a writer, co-founder and entrepreneur. She is the author of the book ‘All You Need is Josh: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Conviction in 21st Century India’ which talks about inspiring stories and no matter what circumstance you are provided with, you will get through it. She even launched an app called Josh Skill App which offers short-term and affordable courses to enable people to build their skills for their profession, which has over a million downloads.
Looking at her journey, she has been granted multiple awards like Startup of The Year, Women Entrepreneur of the Year, Forbes India’s Women Power List 2020, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020, and so many more. All these and more to come only symbolise the faithful and undeterred strength and perseverance Supriya Paul holds. Supriya Paul is a role model to the rising entrepreneurs making a name for themselves.
