Monika Bhasin Teaser 00:00

Kind of design the GLYD platform as a social media at the front. When you download the platform, you'll see feeds, you'll see the explore feed, and you'll see a more personalized feed, which is the people you follow. And what I am trying to build with that, or what I'm building on, is we are trying to create this community of travelers and locals who are really focused on experiences and really showcasing their local city, and really love traveling and want to share with the community. The things that they discovered while they were traveling.

Intro 00:29

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:57

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and we're doing something a little bit different this year with some of our episodes. We're repurposing some of our favorite episodes around specific topics related to entrepreneurship. This month we're focusing on entrepreneurship and community. Us, we, our, together and we're gonna look at entrepreneurship and industries in different types of entrepreneurship and ultimately what that really means. But we're also gonna delve deeper into the importance of community, networking, niche communities and how that supports being a CEO, entrepreneur, and business owner. So sit back and enjoy these special episodes.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, I have Monika Bhasin of GLYD. Monika, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Monika Bhasin 01:39

Well, thank you so much, Gresham. I'm really excited to be on the show and share my insights with the community.

Gresham Harkless 01:44

Yes, I'm really excited to have you on the show and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. What I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Monika so you can hear a little bit more about all the awesome things that she's doing. Monika grew up in a small village outside the capital of India where they had no running water or electricity and didn't even have toilets, but that's a story for another day. But that was the beginning of her life and she moved to the US at the age of 12, and after college, she took up a job in the sciences that would make her parents happy. After some years of collecting courage, she quit her corporate job to pursue her passion, of which she had no idea. She went on to find it, and through many jobs and businesses she did, and that's when GLYD was conceived. Monika, are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Monika Bhasin 02:26

Yes, I am. I'm excited.

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Gresham Harkless 02:28

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had is, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your story, your CEO story, and what led you to start your business.

Monika Bhasin 2:35

Well, as I mentioned and as you said, I told the community that I grew up in a very small village. You know, my mom was married very young, so I was born to her when she was only 16 years old, so she couldn't really take care of me and she had to hand me over to her mother. And so that's why I grew up in that village because her mom and her parents were farmers and that's where they lived. So, I kind of always felt that need to connect to my parents because I didn't live with them for almost 12 years. That need to connect really just kind of settled in me and it just became a part of me. And when I started traveling, I always felt like I kind of got that feeling again because throughout life I kind of fulfilled that need to connect with friends. And then I started living with my family and then, you know, connecting with other people was always a big part of my life. When I started traveling that lack of connection all came back to me and I felt like I needed to do something. I felt like that just, visiting the landmarks and areas was not enough for me to actually experience a different city or a culture because that's really what I wanted to do.

I wanted to connect with other people. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to see how other cultures are, and there was none of that without actually meeting the people who live there and spending time with them. So you know, I looked and scoured their internet for something like GLYD right now and at that point, about five years ago, there was nothing like that. So I decided if it's not there, I'm going to build it. And so I decided to do a lot of research and that's how it came about. But it took me a while to find my passion, as I'd mentioned in my story. Because after I quit my corporate job, I thought of it as the world is my oyster, right? Because I could do any, and I don't know where that belief comes from, but I always had that belief that if I put my mind and heart into something, I will achieve it. There's nothing in the world that would stop me. And I believe that everybody in the world like I know, I know that about everybody in the world. If they put their mind and heart into something, they will achieve it Gresham. Even though I don't know most of the world right now if somebody comes to me and I don't know them and they say they want to do something, I can wholeheartedly believe in them and say, if you really want to do this, if you have set your mind and heart to it. I know you can do it.

You just have to have perseverance and just if you have, and if you have that passion, it will keep you at it. And I always had that belief about myself that I can just do anything I wanna do. So I decided, you know, let's, let's try acting. So after I quit my job, I went into acting school. I went to Newark Film Academy, and I started waiting tables. That was an experience. And it was ironic because, you know, I grew up Hindu and we don't eat beef and all this, and my first job was at this high-end steakhouse. So, yeah, I mean, there were just like a lot of great learning moments. I really have enjoyed my journey and I can't wait to see what my life holds. And I think that's one of the things that I would tell anybody who's getting on a journey or who thinks about their life. You know,  it's all learning points that you get in your life. These little pieces of information. You got to keep learning because life is all about learning.

Gresham Harkless 5:51

Yeah. That makes perfect sense, and so I thought it was pretty awesome, like this app that you have. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about Glyd and what it's that you're doing with that.

Monika Bhasin 05:58

Absolutely. So, you know, over the past decade we've realized how important social media is, right? And we even utilized social media to make our buying decisions. I realized when I was doing my research that a lot of people were saying, Hey, you know, I'm coming to Chicago. What's there to do? Hey, I'm going to Paris. I saw that you went there last year. What is there to do? And or, Hey, I'm coming to LA, could you show me around. So taking that into consideration, I kind of designed the Glyd platform as a social media at the front. When you download the platform, you'll see feeds, you'll see the explore feed, and you'll see a more personalized feed, which is the people you follow. And what I am trying to build with that, or what I'm building with that is we are trying to create this community of travelers and locals who are really focused on experiences and really showcasing their local city and really love traveling and want to share with the community the things that they discovered while they're traveling so that if somebody is traveling to the same location they've traveled to, or perhaps they're coming into your hometown, your neighborhood, they can say, Hey, Gresham, I see that you've gone to Italy last year. It seems like you and I have a lot of things in common. Could you perhaps make an itinerary for me, like a digital itinerary. And from the posts that you make in Glyd, you can actually choose and collect them in an itinerary form and send them over to me.

Then, I would have a list of things to do while I'm in Italy, suggested by a friend that I know, or someone I'm following, who has a lot of similar interests as me. This is a more curated, custom list of things to do while you're away. Or perhaps if I come to your town and say, you know, I have four days in your town, I would love for you to show me around for two days maybe, perhaps be like my local tour guide or like a rented friend or, I hate to say that, but it's very similar like you're. It's like when a friend shows you around because you're picking the person, the local, based on your common interest. A lot of times what happens is when people go on tours and whatnot, they end up getting grouped with people that they have nothing in common with, or the tour guide is not very funny or is super historical or you just have different interests. So this is meant for people to connect with like-minded people so they can have better experiences of different cities and different cultures, because I believe that, people are the heart of the city, they are their culture. So unless you connect with them, you're never gonna really experience a culture. And that's my whole idea behind Glyd, is to really provide that insight from the locals who live in the cities that you're traveling to.

Gresham Harkless 08:27

Yeah, I love that. And it'll be even powerful like you mentioned if you're able to know people that are in this certain community or wherever you're going, city or country, and they will be able to kind of be your tour guide, like you said, or rent a friend, so to speak, so that you can have that awesome experience that you're looking for.

Monika Bhasin 08:41

Yeah, and you know, imagine there are people in the world, Gresham, that don't have the resources to travel, right? They, can't get visas, and they don't have the finances to go abroad. So imagine what you're doing for the locals. You are actually bringing the world to their feet. You're, helping them travel right in their hometown because they're gonna communicate with you. They're gonna interact with you when you're out on the town with them, and they're going to learn about your culture, about you, about where you come from. And so not only am I helping people travel the world, but I want the travel to come to people who cannot travel. And I really wanna empower the locals as well, because the Glyd is a way for people to make money as well because these itineraries are gonna cost people money.

It's not gonna be outstanding. I mean, crazy expensive, but the locals are gonna be able to monetize their local knowledge. And people who travel, they're gonna be able to travel more because they're gonna be able to monetize their travels as well. And they're gonna be encouraged to really dig deep into cultures and have that time, have those resources. So that's another part of Glyd that, you know, I'm really passionate about.

Gresham Harkless 09:43

That makes perfect sense and I think that's really, really powerful. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this might be for Glyd, it might be for yourself, but it's something, and you might have already touched on it, but it's something that you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets Glyd apart.

Monika Bhasin 09:56

What sets apart Glyd is the social front that it holds to build that community of travelers and locals to build that trust, to build that curiosity, to build that wanderlust, really, that's, I believe, and I know that is a secret sauce. That connectivity to people when you're sitting on your couch and you can connect with somebody who's sitting 10,000 miles away in China or in, you know, in Tokyo or wherever. And you know, for me personally, my personal sauce is my meditation. I can't stress enough how important self-care is. I think that the biggest relationship you're going to build is with yourself and that that's the hardest relationship and that's the most fulfilling relationship if you have that set. I think that's, a life's work you're constantly gonna be working with yourself, and covering so many different levels of yourself to yourself. And I think that's the hardest work of my life and that's the most fulfilling work of my life.

Gresham Harkless 10:50

I love that. And that's definitely a great reminder for everybody to kind of take into account that self-development and filling up your cup. So now I wanna just switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

Monika Bhasin 11:07

One of my hacks is writing everything down. I tend to have so many things on my mind that I tend to forget a lot. So writing everything down helps me stay focused, check things off, and makes me feel accomplished, that I accomplished something, and it gives you those little wins that are more on the professional side and on the personal side, like I mentioned every morning everybody's meditation is different. I listen to positive and videos on YouTube. I know I listen to a lot of law attraction, a lot of the universe talk, and a lot of those things where energy is a source of everything, and that is my meditation. I don't close my eyes and try to focus. That's really not how I meditate. Everybody meditates differently. But I listen to these videos and I visualize my future and I do a lot of self-work through that.

Gresham Harkless 11:55

I love that. And yeah, I too write everything down because I don't have the best memory. And sometimes when you sit down you don't realize if you're doing so many things, but if you write it down and you start to check stuff off the list, you're like, wow, I really did accomplish a lot today. Even though sometimes you might forget all the things that you did.

Monika Bhasin 12:10

Exactly. Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 12:12

Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this might be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop in a time machine and go back in time, what would you tell your younger business self?

Monika Bhasin 12:22

I would tell myself what I've learned through my meditation, which is to watch your thoughts. They become your words. And I think, I don't know if Napoleon Hill said that or somebody said that. It's not, these are not my words, but these are words I go by and I think everybody should, and I wish I had known this before. Watch your thoughts. They become your words. Watch your words. They become your actions. And I really, encourage everybody to watch the way they think and be conscious about their thoughts because their thoughts become their reality because their actions end up becoming their day, what they do throughout their day. If you tell yourself you're having a terrible day, you're gonna end up having a terrible day. If you tell yourself you're gonna, have a great day, you are most definitely gonna have a great day. So I really encourage people to really watch their thoughts and be more conscious in their lives on a daily basis.

Gresham Harkless 13:10

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, Monika, what I wanted to ask you now is my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on this podcast. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Monika Bhasin 13:22

Being a CEO means that I work every day relentlessly without any loss of enthusiasm. I really love what I do, but being a CEO also means that the buck stops with you. You know, if something goes wrong, it's up to you to fix it and there's nobody else. Being a CEO means freedom. Being a CEO means empowerment. Being a CEO means confidence to me. Being a CEO means that I wear a lot of different hats. And being a CEO also means that you got to encourage and empower the people who work with you. I am a firm believer in that. The thought that nobody works under you, they all work with you. We're all a team, and it's really important for you to constantly remind that to yourself and to your team, that we're all on the same level. We're all working towards the same goal. And, you know, when things get rough or too busy, we sometimes forget a lot of these things. So, it's really important for you to constantly remember that. Because you're the CEO you're the leader of whichever organization you're a part of, and it's really important for you to lead by example and really empower your, employees and the people you work with.

Gresham Harkless 14:27

I definitely agree with that Monika, I really appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was  pass you the mic, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know on how to get and also how to get ahold of you and of course, download the app.

Monika Bhasin 14:41

Absolutely. So I would really like to emphasize, you know, the philosophy. I really want everybody to start their day with positive thoughts and perhaps write two to three things that they're grateful for every single day. Sometimes they may get repetitive, but those repetitions will become blessings when you're going through some challenges. Yes, you can get a hold of me through, I have Instagram_ MonikaBhasin, and  definitely download the app, GLYD. It's pronounced Glyd. Glyd around the world and in different cultures, and that's why I named it Glyd. You know, a little thing that a lot of people don't know is that the first name that I had thought about for Glyd was actually shot down by Facebook. They sent me a cease and des list letter about you can't use that name. You can't be in this industry, and this and that. So, yeah, you know, it was a blessing in disguise at that moment. I was like, what the hell? No, why are they bullying me? But it all happened for a great reason because I love the word Glyd because it also stands for Go Live Your Dream. And I want everybody out there to go live their dream because life is too short and you only got one.

Gresham Harkless 5:48

Very well said. Well, awesome, Monika, I truly appreciate you. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Monika Bhasin 15:53

Thank you, Gresham. I really appreciate it and I hope we have inspired at least one person and I hope everybody out there has a great day.

Outro 16:01

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO podcast, powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us at five Star. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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