Tena Pick founded Project KAL in Bangalore to work with boys and young men preventing gender-based violence. She shares a story from the Middle East where a woman attended her workshop with a closed eye after being assaulted by her husband, arguing that gender equality requires engaging men. Pick advises entrepreneurs to do one thing exceptionally well and maintain professionalism through punctuality and keeping your word.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Kaina Pick with us. She is a gender and development expert and founder of Project KAL, a social enterprise that targets boys and young men to stop gender-based violence based out of Bangalore, India. So welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Of course. Awesome to have you here. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So for the past 6 years, I have been living and working in the Middle East. And while I was working on the ground in a Middle Eastern country, I was doing a workshop for women, doing a business development workshop for female entrepreneurs. And one of the women came with her eye closed because her husband hit her. In the face because he did not want her to come to the workshop outside of the house. And that was when it hit me that when we talk about gender equality and empowerment, we're constantly looking at 50% of the puzzle and we're not engaging all of the pieces of the puzzle. So the most valuable message here is that when we say gender, we don't speak just about women, but we actually think about how do we close the gap between men and women and empower both equally. Hmm.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Uh, that would definitely be intersectionality, not just in feminist studies and gender studies, but across the board. Uh, so when you work in the entrepreneurial sector, you see very often that there is no communication between industries and between sectors. Uh, so we need better communication and more scientific approaches and intersectionality between all of the players in the ecosystem.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
So there are two pieces, one for budding entrepreneurs, and that is do not try to be everything for everyone, or you will end up being nothing to no one. I've made the same mistake as well, constantly thinking of services to add and markets to serve. Instead of focusing on doing just one thing really, really well. And the second piece is for everyone, and this one should go without saying, but it really doesn't, unfortunately, and that is professionalism matters. And that means being true to your word, being punctual, being respectful of people's time is really important. And if you treat all of your relationships with the same level of professionalism and respect, it is going to get you very far.
And, um, If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
So I would tell myself, you will end up having a career in a field you did not even know existed. It is okay to feel lost when all of your peers kind of seem to have their lives and career paths sorted way earlier than you do. But if you keep on nurturing your interests, keep reading and learning, you will carve out a spot for yourself that will allow you to get up every day and be really excited about what's in store.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Definitely redefining success for yourself. Not chasing the ideals put forward by others, but really occupying your truly authentic space and believing in what you do. And definitely doing a lot of yoga.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I actually do not read a lot of nonfiction. So I'll separate this into fiction and nonfiction. For nonfiction, it's Foucault's Power. It's instrumental in understanding societal structures and dynamics. And it's really important for everyone who is working within the social sciences space. And fiction-wise, Mystery is a Fine Balance, which is a lesson in modern Indian politics as well as the strength of the human spirit. And I find that actually good literary fiction is a great tool in learning about the world around me. And it can always be implemented in business. So don't feel bad if you don't read as many nonfiction books as the CEO lists on LinkedIn.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
That would be, "If not me, who? If not now, when?" by Hillel from the Ethics of the Fathers, because it teaches personal responsibility for things that are wrong with this world and that we want to see changed. And it also has a sense of urgency, which is really important to me and I'm sure to a lot of people like me that have a tendency to procrastinate.
Thank you so much for coming on. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find and/or connect with you online?
I'm the only Tana Pick on the internet as far as I know. So you can add me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and follow Project Cal as well on all the platforms.
Perfect. Thanks again for joining us. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
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