A Forbes 30 Under 30 on What It Is Like to Be a Young Female Founder of a Start-up in NYC

Thrive Global

Women, Entrepreneurship, Life Purpose and Beyond: A Conversation with Deepti Sharma, a Forbes 30 Under 30 and CEO & Founder of FoodtoEat

I stepped into WeWork office space in New York City on Park Avenue on a cold rainy Friday morning to be immediately energized by the entrepreneurial vibes from many millennials passionately engaging in discussions over colorful tables, talking on their headphones, sitting or lying on a huge couch dedicatedly typing on their computers. After settling down and working on my laptop for a while, I was warmly welcomed by Deepti Sharma, a Forbes 30 Under 30, a mother of two, and the founder of FoodtoEat, a concierge catering service company based in NYC that champions small business owners. The now-31-year-old CEO with seven years managing her own business, in her very start-up outfit of a feminist fleece that read “The Future is Female”, black jeans and silver sneakers and down-to-earth authentic style shared with me her beautiful stories and wisdom on entrepreneurship, equality, purpose, parenting and work-life balance.

ABOUT FOODTOEAT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP & LIFE PURPOSE

Amy Nguyen: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Deepti Sharma: As a kid, I definitely remembered saying those shiny things like an astronaut or a ballerina as any other kids would do. My parents suggested I be a doctor but they did not reinforce the idea. I loved Science and Math but wasn’t sure it was the direction for me when it came to building a career out of it. As I volunteered to help disabled kids at schools, I felt it was so strange to see kids with cerebral palsy as I had never seen such young kids dealing with disabilities. I then realized that these people needed someone around to help them. The experience fueled my ambition to run communities with underprivileged people. Therefore, when growing up, I planned to go to laws school with the belief that it would make me intelligent enough to do the job well.