Priya Amin
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Summary
Hey everyone. I wanted to quickly jump in and let you know about the release of the audio version of my book, The Entrepreneur Ethos, narrated by David A. Conatser. If you want to support the show, you can buy it wherever audiobooks are sold. Links are also in the show notes.
Now on to my guest for today, Priya Amin. Priya is cofounder of Flexable, a company dedicated to help with child care when your regular child care falls through. She calls it the “911” – or the “bat signal” – of child care.
Priya started out in corporate marketing for IBM and then Nestle. In 2010, she had her first child and realized that the corporate world was not very friendly for working moms. She quit her job and became a stay-at-home mom. When she attempted to return to the workforce after a few years, she found herself at a disadvantage because of the “motherhood penalty,” so she launched her own marketing consulting company. Then she and another Pittsburgh mom got together and hatched the idea for Flexable. They won a spot in a business accelerator program and began by providing “pop-up” child care at events like conferences and networking meetings.
Like so many impacted by the pandemic, Priya found she had to pivot drastically when covid hit. Seeing a great need to help parents working from home alongside their children, Flexable now provides virtual child care. Parents can arrange for their child to be led virtually in an interactive activity for an hour while they participate in a meeting or get some work done.
It’s just the beginning for Flexable as the company navigates new terrain while trying to meet a very real need. As Priya notes, the problem of child care has a huge economic impact, and it’s a problem that requires everyone working together to find solutions.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actions to Try or Advice to Take
Amin and Flexable demonstrate how some problems may be too big for one person or company to solve. Here are some tactics Amin has used:
- Consider attacking just one piece of a problem, or the place where there’s the most urgent need. Flexable focuses on the need for backup child care on short notice.
- Look into partnerships and collaborations. Amin found her cofounder through a Facebook group. Flexable has partnered with other organizations to provide onsite child care and are looking into opportunities to collaborate with other agencies in areas where there is high need for child care.
- Now more than ever our society is in need of innovative ideas and solutions, and some aspects of the economy are growing exponentially. While times are hard for some, it may also be the best time to start your own business because of new opportunities.