Meet TheGlitzMegaStarMom Gunjan Taneja who is the co-founder of UClean, a leading chain of laundry and cleaning services in India. Gunjan is one of the few female entrepreneurs blazing trails in the laundry service industry. With more than 14 years of experience in brand consulting and building, Gunjan brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, particularly in branding, marketing, social media, supply chain, and product development. Her affinity for delivering original concepts and stories sets her apart from the crowd. As a working mother herself, Gunjan understands the challenges faced by mothers who juggle work and family responsibilities. Read on as Gunjan talks about being a part of TheGlitzMegaSTarMom and more…

As a part of TheGlitzMegaStarMom initiative, could you tell us about the magical moments of your journey as a MegaStar Mom and what TheGlitzMega StarMom initiative means to you?

My motherhood journey was bumpy but when I look at my life, there is nothing more than being a mother I wanted to be, so I am glad that I am a Mom today, however difficult the initial journey might have been. It is exactly 7 months from the day I want to be a mother to the time I actually have my baby in my arms. With time, I am learning to be a mother and the journey to being MegaStar Mom continues. This initiative means a lot to me because I truly believe Mother’s Day should be celebrated every day because it is the hardest job in the world. However, when you have one special day everyone tries to make most of it but moms should feel special on regular days too. I really hope and pray every day is celebrated as Mother’s Day.

TheGlitzMegaStarMom initiative recognizes the unique challenges that mothers face in their personal and professional lives and aims to provide resources and support to help them overcome these challenges. Overall, TheGlitzMegaStarMom initiative is an important platform that celebrates and empowers mothers to be successful and make a positive impact in the world. It provides a space for these mothers to connect, share their experiences, and inspire each other to achieve their goals.

Could you describe your experiences as a momfluencer/ mompreneur? Pick out three of fave moments with your little ones.

Being a mompreneur is one of the hardest things I have attempted. However, it is also one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As moms, we are uniquely equipped with high emotional quotient. One thing I have experienced particularly with mompreneurs is their ability to deliver exceptional service even during adverse situations. They are patient and far more resilient.

Every day is a different experience with your kid, but, if I have to recount three experiences that stand out for me, they would be as follows:

a. My daughter Saanvi was born 9 weeks premature. She was in NICU for 2.5 months. The beginning of my motherhood journey was quite different from a lot of mothers. One evening I was working in the office and the next day I was the mother of a 1 kg little girl. I couldn’t see her for 2 days and was not allowed to hold her for 20 days. In the beginning, I felt more like a nurse than a mother. However, I used to spend my first 20 days just looking at her and touching her in between. One day, I was just scribbling on her palm with my finger. Suddenly, this fragile girl holds my finger real tight. All these days I was visiting her thinking she wouldn’t even know who I am. However, that day she told me that she couldn’t wait to be with her mommy and gave me the courage to hold tight.

b. I still can’t forget her first day of school. She started school right out of covid. She had been a homebody and a protected kid till 3.5 years of age. Suddenly, she found herself amongst a class of 25 strangers, some of them crying inconsolably. As I observed her from the window, I saw that she was trying hard not to cry. The moment I went in to pick her up. I saw tears rolling down her cheeks and she hugged me real tight; it was her way to tell me that I tried to stay strong, but I am so relieved to see you.

c. I don’t know if it’s my parenting or it’s her nature, Saanvi is a very caring kid with a high EQ. When the entire family was down with covid, she became our biggest strength. She looked after everyone from the tender age of 2 by passing on medicines, thermometers and oximeter around the house from one member to another. She gave us so much hope and courage that I can never forget those moments with her.

Tell us about three challenges and rewards of running a successful business or being an influencer while being a mother.

One of the biggest challenges as Mompreneurs is that we have too much to do and there is so much on our plate. As an entrepreneur, you have to handle everything in your business, your role is not restricted to one part of the business. Once you have a particular role in it that’s the hardest thing to do, this is one of the challenges. Another challenge is being a mompreneur, you are not responsible for one family but also responsible for multiple families who are associated with you in the way of being a salaried employee or the vendors you are working with, another life you are engaged with that’s an added pressure pretty challenging to carry as an entrepreneur not just as a mompreneur

Another, as an entrepreneur you looked up to a role model and to keep up a persona to be a boss – so you need to control your emotions every day, and inspire the team every day and that is really really hard. Thirdly, people tend to assume that you have a lot of freedom to work your schedule than a salaried person. But it requires a lot of sacrifices because you are mentally always occupied with your business or baby, they need equal attention for time and love. So it becomes very difficult to balance sometimes.

As a mompreneur, I have the liberty to work my hours, independence to work my schedule on days I can start late, end late and keep my meetings around my daughter’s schedule… these are the perks of being an entrepreneur and this is one of the reasons of I love to be mompreneur. Second, you have the freedom to work at your pace, you can actually pace up the trajectory of your career, shift your career the way you want, you can take an opportunity as many as your schedule time allows, as your life allows freedom to create opportunities as per life situation is one of the rewards.