Shradha Sharma, The Star Behind the Making of YourStory

Curating a unique storytelling platform that brought many untold stories to our scrolling screens, Shradha Sharma’s YourStory began with telling the story of many newly-formed startups chasing big dreams! Fast forward to over 12 years, YourStory is now home to more than 70,000 stories of over 100 people and 11 local languages. But the single idea that this platform began with was the brainchild of Shradha, who was former Assistant Vice President at CNBC TV 18 and kickstarted her own entrepreneurial journey in 2008. Here we bring you the journey of this starry-eyed woman entrepreneur, Shradha Sharma, who has paved the path for many like her along with providing with a unique platform to shine!

 “Don’t wear the labels that the world puts on you.”

Education 

Shradha Sharma was born in a small town in Bihar and was brought up in Patna. Being an ambitious and intelligent student, she bagged a seat in India’s top colleges, St. Stephens Delhi, for her bachelor and masters in History. Having a postgraduate degree in 2003, she also studied Mass Media and Communication from MICA.

“Don’t expect someone else to make the magic happen for you, do it yourself!”

Career

Shradha Sharma started working at Times of India as the Brand Advisor in 2006. Later, she moved on to CNBC TV as Assistant Vice President in 2007. Working there, Shradha started her dream project, YourStory, in 2008 as a side hustle. Soon, in July 2009, she gave her full attention to building the startup of YourStory in Bengaluru, India. 

The Making of YourStory!

YourStory was launched in 2008, where Shradha Sharma has been holding Founder and CEO’s position for more than 12 years now. Working at CNBC TV, she came across thousands of stories to tell. Stories that were unheard of but very true. Finally, Shradha decided to give those stories a platform. Launching her Media Technology platform specifically for entrepreneurs, she had a lot to tell.

But there were some unforeseen obstacles in Shradha’s journey. When she started YourStory in 2008, she lost her mother in 2010 which led her towards depression. But it was her devotion to her newly started venture that she was somehow able to come out on the other side stronger and as she hustled to make it a success, every story she came across made her more confident and passionate about YourStory.  

To tell the stories of emerging entrepreneurs, she contacted many up and coming names she came to know while working at CNBC TV. But many refused to go forward since she was not working for the same channel thus a big name was not attached to those stories anymore. She was able to convince only a few of them and they joined in!

Shradha Sharma describes the concept of YourStory as ‘Tell the tale of an entrepreneur that is breathtaking and whose story can card up one’s sleeves, will get focus in our corporate structure.’ 

“When you know you have to fend for yourself every inch of the way, it gives you a different kind of grit and tenacity”

Achievements and Accolades

Shradha Sharma’s perseverance finally paid off as YourStory is reaching more than 10 million readers every month with more than 20,000 stories of entrepreneurs and startups. Here are some of the other achievements she has received:

• In 2015, Shradha was selected as one of the top 500 LinkedIn influencers around the world.
• In March 2015, she received the L’Oreal Paris Femina Award for Online Influence.
• In 2015, her startup YourStory received a contributed funding of over $8.5 million.
• She received the NASSCOM Ecosystem Evangelist Award for her efforts in building an inclusive startup community.
• She was awarded the Villgro Journalist of the Year Award in 2010 for her coverage of startups.
• She received the PAT Memorial Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2016
• She was LinkedIn’s most viewed CEOs under the Internet category in 2016
• She is famously known as ‘the biggest storyteller of India’s digital space.’ 
• She has featured in a teaching story as “5 women Indian entrepreneurs in India you should know about.”

“The fire to succeed will come from things you did not get, you did not learn, you did not have”. 

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Shradha’s belief and hard work broke the shackles of society and made YourStory what it is today. Working as a successful entrepreneur, Shradha has proven that no dream is too ambitious; all you need to do is work for it. Her inspiration to share stories has made Shradha arguably the biggest storyteller in India’s digital space. We are sure that her hard work and integrity inspire you as well. We hope you take steps towards your dream career as well as Shradha did for herself. If you need any help in taking admission to your dream university, or choosing the right career for yourself, reach out to our experts at Leverage Edu, they will guide you every step of the way! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Quora.