MonkeyBaba to Lurnable to Today: The Journey So Far.

Well, today, the 27th of January 2022, marks the 4500th day since the domain MonkeyBaba.com was purchased.

What a fantastic journey it has been!?

In these 4,500 days, I've been working on student advisory, strategy consultancy for education institutions & businesses, and the development of EdTech products. All with the hope of giving life to the idea of creating a platform that would enable children to make the right educational decisions.

Delivered several successful projects in the international education domain that included helping investors with buying education institutions in the UK, market research for viable investment opportunities in education, degree validation & endorsement, forging international partnerships, and developing training programmes and market-entry strategies for institutions, investors and individuals alike.

Launched a couple of EdTech startups to cater to different pain points, again within the international education industry.

So many learnings and lessons. So many gains and insights. Both in entrepreneurship and in life.

Whenever I lost a little bit of hope in my pursuit, I was always blessed with another circumstance – whether a project or an opportunity – that helped renew my faith and belief in the idea, in the journey.

Whenever I lost a lot of hope in my skills and abilities through bad partnerships or failed projects, I was always blessed with several more great people – in the name of advisors, mentors, partners, team members and clients.

I have no pains. Only lessons and learnings. Also, acceptance that everything is a part of the bigger picture, the bigger process of becoming an entrepreneur, a business leader.

Entrepreneurship, like life, is a process, a journey that is very personal to each individual. Each setback will test the beast in us and train us to tame it. Every success will test the humility in us and train us to keep things under control.

In short, every instance will bring out a person in us that we never thought existed. And the challenge is in how we let that person influence who we are. If this is not a journey of personal growth, what is?

There were days when tears and fears were my constant companions. There were days when opportunities and ideas kindly joined the troupe. But in all these days, I never once regretted taking this path. It was always about the idea, the reason, the purpose ... of creating a platform to enable children to make the right educational decisions.

This was the idea I carried with me constantly even as I explored other concepts and opportunities within the international education industry.

It was this idea, the reason for venturing into this journey, that makes me write this today. This idea, this line of work, which my daughters call my middle child, has become a part of my professional identity around which I've built all my other pursuits and projects.

Today, after nearly 108,000 hours of living this idea, I am extremely happy?and confident to share that we have finally found a way to bring it to life. And it's all thanks to the terrible mistakes, the failures, the good and bad business decisions, the EdTech startups and several other projects that I had the opportunity to be a part of during this time. These experiences, along with exposure to technology, services and solutions, have helped give shape to the AI-based decision-making platform to help children make the right educational choices.

We are getting ahead in this journey, even if it is just a teeny-tiny step. We are moving ahead from being just an idea to now a patent-pending concept to becoming a product soon. Hopefully, in a few months, we would be able to share its very first version with you all.

Until then and forever after, my heartfelt gratitude for all your help, support, care, encouragement, shares, likes, hearts and claps – it means a lot to me, to all of us. And I sincerely (and greedily!) expect to have your continued support going forward.

Will keep sharing product updates in the coming months. On the other hand, if you believe in our purpose, think we make sense and would like to help support us in any capacity, please do reach out to me.

We never shy away from a great business conversation and relationship!

Finally, as I've often said before, I truly believe that there is immense strength in vulnerability. And our truth speaks louder when some experiences confuse our moral compass. Everything I have done since February 2013?— the day I first announced the concept of Monkey Baba as a poster via Facebook, nearly 3 years after registering the domain — is bare open and available online, for everyone to read and understand the arduous journey of an entrepreneur who is struggling her way through the?humbling realities of the business world. Learning, adapting, pivoting, but moving ahead in the direction of her soul's call.

If even one person learns something from my journey and gets to avoid the silly mistakes I have made, if even a single person gets inspired to start their entrepreneurial journey, or plunge into pursuing?something their heart wants, I will feel truly blessed. For we?are a social animal — knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, we influence each other's lives. I wish mine is a positive one for you.

Godspeed.

Nithya Prabu.