Meet Rakshita Dwivedi-She has the spirit of the Sun
A quote by Lisa Allen “Let my free spirit be my legacy” perfectly explains the personality of this girl.
She is lively, she is like a free bird, who belonged to a typical north Indian family. Rakshita is brought up with aspirations to do something in life. The something is going to be “Big” or “meaningful”, she let her fate take that call and she focused on taking a step first.
She was brilliant for as soon as she completed her MBA, she was the first student of her batch who got a job offer from an IT company. Often, we’re tied to family tradition and so she was. Getting married at the “right age” is believed to be one of the major milestones in north India. Respecting her family traditions, she got married at the age of 23 in 2005. After marriage, she had to choose between moving to the States with her husband or staying back and continuing with her job. Her parents were quite rigid to send her along with her husband. Her little something was about to start but she stepped back and agreed to move to States. Her batchmates used to tease her about being the first one to be placed from college and the first one to back out.
They moved back to India in 2006. She finally started to do consulting work and eventually got a break in big brands like Headstrong and then worked with Impetus in Noida.
Life was good, stable!
Her husband Abhishek is a technology enthusiast, he worked in IT and technology demands continuous learning. As he was quite passionate about his field, he wanted to continue his studies for which he wanted to move to Mumbai. They say, “Relationships are always stronger when you are best friends first and a couple second”. Rakshita & Abhishek’s relationship is a sheer example of that. They share a beautiful bond where they understand each other, support each other, and complement each other in every aspect of life. Once again, Rakshita had to choose between staying back with her successful career or moving to Mumbai. Abhishek also respected her choices and let her take space and time to decide. She initially stayed in Lucknow for a few months and finally decided to move to Mumbai.
They started to settle in Mumbai and things were going well for both of them. They welcomed their baby boy 2 days after India won the World Cup in 2011, defeating Sri Lanka in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While she was traveling to the hospital for her delivery, roads were jam-packed, excitement was at its peak all around. The maternity break was a much-needed-pampering break that she was longing for. She wanted to enjoy motherhood to the fullest. Though, the thought of doing something kept nudging her. Deep in her heart, she was never a fan of big earnings, but she believed in “Touching lives”.
Her baby boy was growing yet, a comeback for someone resilient like her was not difficult. She started working with an HR consulting firm “PlugHR”. They offered her to work from home permanently. Though, WFH was a rare offering especially in the HR domain back then. She received a lot of social media exposure as an HR professional in PlugHR. She created her Twitter handle and eventually became an HR influencer. She started to enjoy the whole space of connecting and talking with people around the world. No doubt, she is an excellent conversationalist. Her job profile was such that she used to work closely with young & passionate entrepreneurs. She found them so inspirational much so that they left her thinking, “Why can’t I do something of my own?”.
Speculations begun! She was channelizing her thoughts to choose between social media and HR consulting or something completely out of the box. She was just a thought away from that “something”. She concluded that the former two is a cakewalk for her, and she continued with it anyway.
Along with her job with PlugHR, she also started a food blog named “Recipe Dabba” in 2015. Abhishek being an IT enthusiast, registered the domain under that brand name quickly. She curated healthy recipes and shared them on Facebook & Instagram. To her surprise, she started receiving positive feedback from her connections. She also baked cookies and they sold too but she didn’t want to bear the pressure of meeting deadlines and delivering orders.
Being a mother, her every move was child-centric. Even her recipes are child-centric yet healthy, such as “Beetroot paratha, Spinach corn sandwich, etc.” She laughed whenever parents ask her “How do you make your child eat all of this?” People even avail counseling sessions for improving eating habits of their children.
The wind of change kept blowing until it swayed her away and compelled her to find her calling.
She finally figured out her space of interest. She was courageous enough to quit PlugHR in 2017 and decided to dedicate her heart and soul to “Recipe Dabba”. She experimented and created innovative recipes. The response traffic made her realize that she can touch lives. Ever since she has been experimenting every day and has been committed to creating everything unique for kids.
She has launched a trademark program called “Cook with RD” under which she organizes workshops for kids where they can make healthy recipes. The most interesting part of these workshops is “No fire recipes” – no cooktop, only assembling of ingredients. There is another series called “21-days challenge”. She spends a significant amount of time with kids in one-on-one sessions and understanding the eating habits of the kid and coming up with curated habits that kid can adapt and pursue. Under “21-days kitchen challenge”, she teaches life skills, healthy eating habits, and taste & presentation. The foundation of this online program is solely innovation.
Rakshita has touched around 2000 lives so far. Her success mantra is “building connection with the kids”. She understands the psyche of the kids which enables her to build an instant connect with them, making kids open up to her. This is how she is able to bring a change in Kids’ lifestyle.
Anyone can sign up for the workshop at as low as Rs 299/- for the one-on-one class of 90 minutes. The returns are not monetarily huge on which Rakshita smiles and says, “My revenue is when I make a kid fall in love with healthy food. When a kid gives up watching TV for 21 days straight, do Yoga, exercise, and deep breathing. When a kid makes pasta based on my recipe every time and when the kids get appreciated by their parents for all of these achievements. It makes me happy”. She finds it fun!
From the turmoil that life kept offering, Rakshita has always made a breakthrough. Her journey has been interesting, full of milestones and beautiful halts. She is grateful and gives all the credit to her husband for whatever she has achieved so far. She has been recognized for her innovative contribution on various platforms. She has numerous accolades in her kitty already. She feels grateful to her family who has always supported her. She has also inspired her son so much; he wants to forward the legacy of Recipe Dabba when he comes of age. He is so proud that his mom’s profile populates in google search.
Yet again In April 2021, they moved to Bangalore. But this time, she didn’t have to give up anything anymore. Rather, the pandemic made her realize that she could run the show online from anywhere. She truly is the mirror image of a free bird now. Rakshita is also pursuing a full-time nutrition course to add more flavors and shades to her brand. She believes that opportunities are available for those who are ready to hit the dance floor and she has been enjoying tapping her feet on the different tunes of life.