A former participant in Dress for Success Vancouver's Professional Women's Group, Deepika Gupta's path has shaped her into a strong,
successful woman who is looking to give back.
On October 29, she shared her inspiring journey at Dress for Success Vancouver’s 2nd Success Luncheon, hosted at the Pan Pacific Vancouver hotel. Over 200 guests were in attendance for an afternoon filled with speakers, networking opportunities, and stories like Deepika’s own. Read her empowering speech below!
On October 29, she shared her inspiring journey at Dress for Success Vancouver’s 2nd Success Luncheon, hosted at the Pan Pacific Vancouver hotel. Over 200 guests were in attendance for an afternoon filled with speakers, networking opportunities, and stories like Deepika’s own. Read her empowering speech below!
Good afternoon everyone. My name is Deepika Gupta
and I’m honoured to be a part of the Success Luncheon panel amongst these
inspiring women.
I was born in India
amidst a lot of institutional barriers which are a trademark in Indian society.
I grew up in a very traditional family where money was never a problem but
dreams were. Dreams were never regarded anything more than illusions but my
father always tried to convert every dream of mine to reality. He taught me
this important lesson: “Get the treasure of education. You never know when
adversity will hit. You never know when life will go wrong. If you ever face
hard times, education pays off. It’s the only thing that people can’t steal.” So
in spite of a lot of resentment from other family members, I did my Masters in
finance.
Shortly
after that, my father fell ill and lost his life to Cancer. I lost my lucky
charm. Nothing went right after that.
I
married a businessman and hoped for happier times. A few months later, I became
pregnant and then my husband’s business collapsed. We were devastated. I fell
into a deep depression and it led to further complications in my delivery.
When
the baby was born, we didn’t have enough money to pay for medical expenses and
asking my family for help was not an option. So I decided to start up my own
business to take care of my son. This brought a lot of disgrace to my family,
only because I was a girl.
I
continued to work and became the single breadwinner. Since my husband’s family
helped with the business, I took them into our home. As a family, I wanted us
to stay together. When you go through tough times, it’s easier to face
adversity together.
However,
when the business began to flourish, my husband’s family took over the business
and pushed us out of the business and out of the house. I felt betrayed. Again
I was homeless and had a toddler to support.
I had
to start from scratch again. I lost all my
positivity, all my courage. But then I was reminded of my father’s
words. I had to believe in myself. Even after every challenge, I had to say to
myself “I can do this.”
My
education helped me land a job as a business school teacher. Within a few
years, my hard work was recognized and I found myself promoted to assistant
professorship. Slowly but surely I started to come out of my shell.
I took
another step forward. I wanted a better future for my child so we applied to
move to Canada. When we lost everything,
I lost the respect of my family. I wanted to regain that and moving to Canada would
give me another chance.
Moving
overseas is a big thing. It becomes difficult to adjust to new culture. I was referred to Dress for Success Vancouver and joined
their Professional Women’s Group. I had never heard of something like
that before, where people would help you become a part of their society. At the
Professional Women’s Group, I developed many friendships and I feel like I can
connect with so many people because our lives match. Today, I work as an office
manager at an engineering company but I feel like it’s time for me to pursue my
dream. I have started to write Princess in Disguise- a fiction novel
inspired by the adversities I’ve faced in the last decade. I also want to work
for female wellness and contribute to society. That’s my mandate.
In
life, you should be revengeful towards your adversities by being successful.
Let the adversities know that you can face them, say “I am going to prove you
wrong.” The help I’ve received from Dress for Success and the women I have met from
the program have inspired me to share my story. I want to encourage
girls all over the world to strive hard to go to school and finish their
studies. Getting an education is a treasure that can help you survive through
though times in life.
In front of you are donor cards. Please open
your hearts and make a donation to support a woman like myself through the
Dress for Success program. When you’re
falling short of funds, you just need a single friendly hand - Dress for
Success was just that. Dress for Success Vancouver empowered me. They gave me
the confidence to follow my dreams and I’m grateful to be here today to share
them with you. Thank you.
Deepika is just one of the many amazing
women that we at Dress for Success Vancouver get to work with. You can support a woman like her through the Dress for Success programs – to put one woman
through our 18-month Professional Women’s Group aimed at career development
only costs $180. To find out more about our impact, please visit
dfsvancouver.org.
