This is the interview of Khyati Bhatt – Founder & CEO of CueKids and Simply Body Talk. (International trainer & Body language consultant).
Who is Khyati Bhatt?
Khyati Bhatt is the founder, CEO, chief body language consultant and head trainer at Simply Body Talk. Her newest venture is CueKids which aims to encourage nonverbal skills in kids.
She has worked with the Elite forces from Indian military. Simply Body Talk has built a niche internationally in nonverbal communication.
Khyati has also worked with senior leaders from international companies including Adani, Deloitte, Wipro, Google, Capgemini, Panasonic etc.
Tell us a little about yourself
I have trained for mastery in nonverbal communication with retired FBI special agent Joe Navarro and am a certified expert in reading microexpressions by Paul Ekman.
I have been featured as a body language expert from time to time by leading media houses. I have also received several national and international awards for business excellence.
Through my venture Simply Body Talk, which is more than six years old now, I have built international presence having worked with senior leaders from corporates like Indian Army, Google, Capgemini, Deloitte, Adani, Panasonic, Essar, Wipro to name a few.
How did you get your idea or concept of CueKids?
I started CueKids because my husband had challenged me to organize a birthday party for my child based on the concept of body language – something we were doing only for senior leadership teams.
At that time, this seemed impossible. But once we arranged the event, it gave me ample ideas in the kids segment where the educational system was lacking in providing required feedback and inputs to children as far as people skills were concerned.
Not only that , having read this subject of nonverbal communication for a long time, I also realised the places where incorrect training was being given by teachers to kids about tackling stage fear, emotions etc. Hence I started this venture CueKids in June 2019.
What service do you offer at CueKids
We provide skill building programs for kids 7-12 focusing on body language for themes like Public Speaking, Emotional Intelligence, Exploring all Senses etc.
Through different formats like corporate events, online courses, offline events, parenting sessions etc. All our courses are designed in house and currently we have presence across the world.
Khyati, What is unique about CueKids?
Body language is a subject not much explored in India using the right research and science.
All our programs for children focus on adding an edge to their personalities by tapping nonverbal communication.
Our programs are updated from time to time, are customized once we understand the level of knowledge of kids in any particular program, activities require kids to think for themselves, and takeaways are shared with parents after each session. Feedback on kids is also given to parents at end of the course.
What made you choose this type of business?
There are myths about the subject of nonverbal communication in India. Which is why I started my first company Simply Body Talk.
As my child was growing up, I observed how in the educational system also there are a lot of gaps about this subject knowledge which need to be corrected. Parents also need to be taught about key concepts of raising children – there are aspects which if parents don’t focus on, they can hugely affect the personality of the child.
For example, if we restrict girl kids to be “proper” according to cultural norms, research has proven, it undermines their confidence as adults.
What was your mission at the outset?
To spread the correct awareness of the power that nonverbal communication can add to the personality of kids, if they become conscious of it from their young age.
How many employees in CueKids?
currently CueKids independently has 3 employees with support of associate network and the core team of Simply Body Talk as and where required.
What’s your company’s goals?
To be scalable within a year’s time and reach out in all international geographies, providing a gamut of choices and expertise level for kids to select from.
We also wish to build an application that automatically keeps track of progress of child and suggests activities for them to improve.
How do you build a successful customer base?
Word of mouth, social media, backup of parent company, offline marketing, associate tie ups. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I could not stick to a corporate job. i don’t strictly consider it a failure since there is learning in everything one does, and if anything, i learnt what type of culture i would never want in the companies i build.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
My mother-in-law. i joined her business before i started my own. and the concepts, the patience and the thinking for long term that she taught me over my time of working with her seemed to be hindrances while i was in the business.
but when is started out on my own, all those precious lessons became the differentiators in keeping my business afloat, ensuring quality to my clients, and thinking for the future.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
sometimes i have hesitated to take the plunge fast or firing under performers. while i have arguments for why i took these decisions, an entrepreneur is required to think on their feet and take harsh decisions.
I could have started CueKids much sooner, but I started only once I felt challenged to prove my worth. If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
To keep your eyes open to ideas since ideas come from anywhere. And every time you are in need for a new inspiration, the idea that you can get from your surrounding does not need to be out of the box.
Sometimes it is simple things which also make you click the two and two to create a six. But make it a point to learn from every new person you meet.
It is my belief that everyone has something new to teach. And entrepreneurs need to keep self learning all the time.
Does CueKids help the community or society?
It does help the society in general since our aim is to build a community where communication is more transparent.
Currently we don’t do any CSR activities proactively, but if projects do come up to serve the less privileged segment to improve their children’s confidence, we would be more than happy to contribute.
We hope you find the inspiring interview of Khyati Bhatt (Founder & CEO of CueKids and Simply Body Talk) useful and inspiring through your entrepreneurial journey and will keep you inspired.
Like this interview of Khyati Bhatt? Or have something to share? Write to us:
Are you an
Entrepreneur or Startup? Do you have a Success Story to Share? SugerMint would like to share your success story. We cover entrepreneur Stories, Startup News, Women entrepreneur stories, and Startup stories
|
NOTE: The images in this article belong to their respective owners. If you feel that any images posted here is a violation of your copyright, please write to us.