It is known as the least favorite day of the week, a day that often drags along with it a lot of laziness, lack of interest and zero enthusiasm. Can you guess what day that is? It is the furthest day from the weekend and the closest day to FML vibes. For most people, that day is the oh so dreaded Monday. If you could relate to at least 1% of what you just read, chances are you have experienced the Monday Blues at some point in your life. But wait...the story behind the business you're about to read now can give you a whole new perspective on Mondays and maybe even change the way you view your work, week, and time. This story begins with the ideas and passion of a very diligent and ambitious woman named Ami (who BTW loves Mondays).
Ami has had pretty much all of her career years focused on impact and community. She started out in the education, economic development and microfinance sectors and eventually found her way into building a financial technology start up from the ground up. See? I told you she was an enthusiastic one. After transforming the startup from having 0 users to 1,000,000 across three continents, and 5 years later, Ami decided to start fresh with another community and impact-oriented role. Even though Ami had worked with mission-oriented companies and had great passion for the business, she also learned the hard way that not prioritizing mental and physical wellbeing leads to negative outcomes. If you've been a victim of burnout culture, raise your hand and know you're not alone...also, keep reading. So, as Ami started opening up about this with her friends and family, she realized she was having more and more conversations about this. The truth is that work-related burnout is a widespread problem that has only accelerated in the past years. Ami started hearing from many people that they felt their relationship with work was broken or unhealthy. This was a problem she wanted to learn more about and contribute to finding a solution. That is when Mondays was born.
Mondays is an evidence-based innovation studio that delivers high-impact solutions for the modern work environment. Basically, what they do is create products and deliver information that can help modify your relationship and experience with work into a more pleasant and happy one. For Mondays, the template for balance starts with you and the life you want. They encourage supportive workplace environments, positive mental health, self-care and nourishing relationships as the starting point for work-life balance, or what they prefer to call work-life integration. Building from that foundation of professional wellness, they want everyone to have a healthy relationship with their daily work. They believe that is the key to optimizing professional performance. It’s a win-win for companies and people. You thought no one understood what it was like to deal with a nagging boss, meet nearly impossible deadlines and fake smiles to your co-workers? Well, Mondays gets it and they want to make it better and also, you should show HR their website www.mondays.com. You're welcome.
So now that we've made you feel seen and cared for with the story of how Mondays came about, here is some business advice from Ami, the woman who is achieving what I thought was quite impossible, making me actually like and enjoy Mondays.
How to know if your business idea is a good idea?
Talk to lots of people about the problem you want your business to solve. The voice of the customer is the one that matters most -- if you’re solving a large, urgent and valuable problem for them, you’re in the right place.
Best tips on funding for someone who is just starting a new business.
Just start! And once you do, set up realistic mini-milestones that you can accomplish in days or (at most) a week at a time.
Build in accountability to this roadmap and celebrate your progress and momentum.
There’s a lot you can do with little to no capital, you just have to keep moving!
Best learning experience you gained from starting Mondays
I’ve learned how important it is to surround yourself with people you can learn from, put the problem you’re trying to solve (and the people you’re trying to solve it for) at the center of every business decision, and to use setbacks to fuel you and help you grow.
One of my biggest lessons in building Mondays has been that when things don’t go to plan (hello 2020!), it can create new and unexpected opportunities.
So, we know Friday is hands down the favorite day and we don't disagree, but knowing what you know now and after going through their products, how about considering Monday as the second favorite? :)
AMI FILLS IN THE BLANKS…
- The best spot in your current city: Will Rogers State Park and El Matador State Beach are two of my favorite.
- Favorite book: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
- Podcast you listen to the most: Hidden Brain on NPR.
- #1 most played song right now: Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat
- All-time heroine: Jane Goodall.
- The best match for your zodiac sign: Many of my good friends are Scorpios (I’m a scorpio too!)
- Currently obsessed with: Rollerblading.
- Best exercise/type of workout for you: I’m a huge fan of hikes/walks and have been practicing yoga regularly since I was 11 :)
- Favorite day of the week: Mondays of course! The Mondays brand is inspired by the late-90’s cult classic Office Space, where the main character was diagnosed by his boss with a “case of the Mondays”. The truth is that the vast majority of the 150,000,000 American workers who work out of desks, vehicles, assembly lines and checkout counters know that feeling very well. Our company and our brand is about taking a different approach to our work. We hope to turn “the Mondays” into something we enjoy rather than something we dread.
- Your favorite way to sign off emails: Warmly,
All photos courtesy of Ami Gosalia
To learn more about Mondays mission and products, visit Mondays.com
CHECK OUT OUR WORK FOR MONDAYS HERE
