Meet The Woman Behind The Cover Of The November 2020 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Abhijita Kulshrestha

Abhijita Kulshrestha, is a Senior Director, Astrologer, Life Coach and Astro Gemologist with Gemstoneuniverse. She is a PGA and GIA certified Astro-Gemologist with additional qualifications from prestigious institutions like SSEF.

She is a mentor to several successful entrepreneurs who get benefited from her sage counsel and applying her Sacred Gemstone recommendations.

Abhijita is a communication professional and holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism besides being an NLP Master practitioner.

Prior to her soul-level engagement with the world of Vedic astrology, gemstones, and association with Gemstoneuniverse, she had a long stint in ‘wordsmithy’! She’s had professional stints at Mudra institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA); RK Swamy BBDO, Bangalore, and Times of India. She currently contributes to Thrive Global, is a contributor at Huffingtonpost and Entrepreneur, and has been featured in several international publications of repute.

She is the author of two books – Cosmic Sutra, A Handbook of Healing (self-help/healing/spirituality), and Ambrosia Sides (Poetry) published by Har-Anand- A Leading publishing house in India.

She was the winner of the Ms. Super Brain of India contest 1999 conducted by The Competition Success Review.  Global Millionaire recently caught up with Abhijita and here’s what went down:

These are uncertain times and we would like to know about the most essential trait that businesses and leaders are talking about. How do you approach change?

When a business is established, there is always a vision behind it. I choose not to call it a dream, but a vision. Dreams are evanescent – they vanish. But visions are haunting and in a good way. They are more likely to stay until their manifestation. Good businesses are based on scalability and resilience, among other things. Basic as it may sound, it is the truth. Change is a constant and whether the founders or leaders do like it or not, it will happen externally- with paradigms shifting in terms of political, economic, social, cultural factors, etc. or through internal shifts on your personal trajectory – your own resourcefulness, age, maturity, circumstances, etc. will press on. At Gemstoneuniverse we understand the psychological and seasonal shifts that are inherent to all systems and beings, so there is relative ease in traversing changes. Of course, one cannot anticipate the nitty-gritties of the change but that there will be a requirement to change from time to time is understood well.

How has COVID -19 impacted your business?

COVID-19 has been a real eye-opener in terms of outlook – one’s own as well as what the customer wants and largely towards the environment and the superstructure that we function within. After these few initial tremors on the economic landscape, we pulled ourselves together – Gemstoneuniverse as a brand has been oriented towards providing a solution always – that is our core competency and that’s what we are known for. The very first thought was to care for our own team and I can say quite proudly that the entire team is still with us. We were not pushed into the zone of layoffs. In fact, we are in an expansion and hiring mode globally.

In fact, regrouping has been stronger and even as I say this there are initiatives afoot that will present a more responsive and empathetic team, along with consistent quality products, services and be the bankable presence that we always have been. There are efforts towards making the digital experience more rewarding for the customer, whether it is on the website or through online meetings /sessions. Gemstoneuniverse has been a consistent performer where exports are concerned, we are also looking at enhancing the experience of the local buyers as well, who now have to rely more on digital exploration and adaptation. It is all about the ease of the process and the seamlessness of it all.

Our esteemed mentor, Respected Guruji Shrii Arnav-the author of the magnum opus of Astro Gemology-The Secrets of Jyotish Gems has in fact laid the perfect example of turning adversity into opportunity by expanding into Thailand, a big gemstone hub globally. Truly, one can define reality by carefully choosing the meaning to give to the circumstances.

What are some of the key understandings that have emerged through this situation?

Amongst others, things that sound stand out quite emphatically are that loyalty, trust and credibility are irreplaceable treasures (if I may call them so) and these aren’t won overnight. You need to have the stamina to keep pushing through the years and a strong work ethic to earn them, along with a team that ensures no dilution of quality and promise. This has worked for us.

Two – People, especially clients don’t forget how you make them feel. No matter what the pulse of the time is, the experience that you provide to your customer including shared empathy, true concern, and compassion are never forgotten. This is what helps a business stand out and remain in the mind space of the customer, long after a crisis like this will have blown over.

Gemstoneuniverse is the biggest retailer of Gemstones Online and has attained the tag of Gold Standard. How do you maintain the pole position & what are some of the hurdles faced along the journey?

To have a business rooted in an ancient science like Indian Astrology/ Jyotish is a matter of pride for us and to be the pioneers of the Jyotish Gemstone Therapy an outrageously powerful system of healing with Jyotish Gemstones as developed by Guruji Shrii Arnav comes with a lot of responsibility.

We witness wonderful outcomes for people almost every day and this isn’t a one-off fluke. It is a consistent feature for us for the last two and half decades. However, we live in a world where people with half-baked knowledge or a skewed perception based on “rational/ scientific thinking” have only created confusion. In reality, if a person spends enough time studying – actually studying this discipline he or she will not be able to disprove or disregard it as they seem to, because of social proof or simply because they’ve had a bad experience with an unscrupulous person. As with any other choice, discernment and making intelligent decisions are always in the hands of the end consumer. For us, fortunately, we’ve had clientele we are equally proud of! However, shaking off the labels and perceptions takes time – the handiwork of centuries cannot be undone in a few years

The second challenge has been to have people understand the concept of precious gemstones and the value proposition that Gemstoneuniverse brings to the end consumer. The usual connotation of gems is in association with royalty or something that is typically out of reach. The gemstone industry especially the coloured gemstone market has little organisation and structure. There isn’t much knowledge and awareness about natural gemstones either when it comes to an average customer as well. We decided to put information out there – as comprehensive, open, and factual for anyone to be able to access it. To choose a precious commodity like a gemstone in a market where imitation and synthetic gemstones are aplenty, with sellers attaching impossible legends to trinkets in order to make a one-time fortune, with precedents of having been cheated in the past; buying a high-value item and investing highly valuable personal trust either, isn’t an easy job.

Gemstoneuniverse has educated, been consistent with its pricing, offered reliable, globally accepted certification by best labs and these are some of the factors that have managed to inspire confidence. The language of communication has remained consistent – this is the voice of trust and sincerity. Some of the transformations have been so dramatic that people with their official names and designations verifiable on LinkedIn & other social platforms have vouched for good changes on video!

You see it’s a slightly different business that hinges on privacy a lot, something like image consultancy – everyone wants it, takes help of it but wants the others to believe that one was born with it – the panache, success, and magnetism with no external aid in any manner. No qualms with that as customer privacy is an extremely high priority at Gemstoneuniverse.

As far as Gemstoneuniverse being the biggest source to buy Gemstones Online and being the Gold Standard in Planetary Gemology and maintaining the pole position is concerned we are constantly focussed on customer centricity, involved in relentless innovation & research, expanding our quality network to moving ahead in the Gemstone Supply pipeline so that our customers get the best quality at the least price. The philosophy of Respected Guruji Shrii Arnav is to make the customer win every SINGLE time. He says if the customer wins-we win and every single team member practices that philosophy in heart and spirit.

You are correct. The fact of the matter remains that fascination with gems and jewellery has been there in all human beings from as far back in time as we know. Can you explain this a little more?

It is no secret that all human beings are inherently drawn towards things that have beauty and those which have value to them. You can analyse your point of attraction vis-a-vis anything and these two will be the consistent factors that are invariably present in that equation. Gemstones are a delightful gift of Mother Earth that has both beauty as well as value and therefore it becomes a proposition hard to ignore.

Whether you have a luxury watch company or an exclusive phone maker or a couturier or any designer/ innovator looking at creating exceptional value in their product, they invariably use gemstones to enhance not only the visual appeal, commercial value, but also notional value and pride of ownership. Who wouldn’t feel pride in owning a real treasure!

How does one benefit from gemstones by using them in the way you seem to advise? Does it really enhance one’s luck and fortune?

There are several areas in which a person may be seeking help, a solution, or a breakthrough – professional life (gain of fame and popularity, business growth, partnership assessments, promotion, finding focus, battling odds, interpersonal dynamics, etc.); financial matters (trading, investments, increasing assets/ wealth, etc.), relationships in all their warps and wefts; health matters – (both physical and mental) and so many more things that come associated with the human condition and aspirations.

Vedic astrology helps in drawing up a map of human life that mirrors an individual’s life from womb to tomb – the horoscope or the birth chart. This in turn helps in arriving at an understanding of the planetary energies that will aid an individual and those that will play out the role of karmic teachers, whose lessons may not be easy. Planetary gem therapy is all about using natural, treatment-free jyotish quality gemstones/ Navratna Stones to harness the energy of planets that can aid us in our progress and growth. These are the top 2 percent gemstones in terms of quality.

Each of the nine planets has characteristic planetary energy and color transmitted through light, attributed to them. (Color is a component of light. A colour is energy of a specific wavelength and frequency.) Planetary gem Therapy works on the premise of the passage of light through the gemstone into the human energy system via touch. Natural gemstones are a powerful tool that helps harness the power of this solution. A person, when wearing the gemstone of an appropriate and powerful planetary energy can achieve all kinds of success.

What would you advise a person looking to create wealth?

Wealth is a very broad term and incorporates not just monetary wealth, but also one’s legacy, ideas, and human capital created and curated cautiously in one’s lifetime. In order to create true wealth, one has to have a vision – one must learn to think actively instead of being spoon-fed; must put a premium on one’s time and focus and most importantly invest in people. What also becomes imperative in terms of wealth is that it cannot be thought of without having a system that loops back into taking care of the environment we work within. Sustainability is the backbone.

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