Shwetha Pinto

Blast from the Past

I was brought up in Goa and being a meritorious student, the obvious choices I was offered was medicine or engineering. I wanted to do something different and wanted to chase my passion. And finding my passion wasn’t easy. With a shift from Goa to Mangalore, for higher studies, came a shift in my confidence and self esteem which enabled me to stand out in a crowd. My graduate studies in Human Resources lead me to find my hidden ability to speak to a crowd with impact and therefore to my passion, training. Hence, I specialised in training and facilitation and started taking up small assignments with other trainers. Always dreamt of having a finishing school for young boys and girls to help them put their best foot forward but did not know how to make it a reality.

Then it all Changed

With several training certifications over the years, I was constantly on the lookout for something more. And that is when I came across ICBI and browsed through the website for two years, wondering if I would ever be able to take it up. And somehow the law of attraction worked and exactly when I was on a maternity break, ICBI started a centre in Goa. Although I had my hands full with a baby at home and a part time PhD, I decided to take the leap and do the course to give me the edge.

I was naturally inclined to Image Management, as I had a flair for putting a look together for just about anybody. The course at ICBI helped me enhance my knowledge and broaden my horizons as a trainer.

Conquering New Horizons

With the completion of my course, I decided not to go back to full time teaching and started my consulting firm ‘ALCHEMY’. Since my heart lies in working with young college students, I continued part time teaching in subjects like communication and public speaking along with workshops in etiquette and interview facing skills. In addition to that, I have been working with small firms and enterprises in training their staff to create customer delight.

I wish to start a small finishing school to groom youngsters and prepare them for bigger roles along with enabling women to establish an image of their choice. I want to make people believe that they can be anything they want if they have the passion and determination.

My #MoreThanAPayCheque moment

My #MoreThanAPaycheque moment was when after a session with college students, they gave me a standing ovation and came running in turns to take selfies with me. Made me feel like a celebrity!! In addition to that, when some of them said, “Ma’am, you are my role model from today, I want to be like you!”, It overwhelmed me, and I felt that this is what I am meant to do – Make an impact and change peoples’ lives!