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Plannr Consulting, founded by Advika Rajesh and Srilekha Cherukuvada, is a non-profit organization that spreads mental health awareness, provides resources, and hosts events for students. In our interviews with Srilekha and Advika, they discussed how the organization came to life, the challenges they have faced as a non-profit, and the lessons they have learned through being entrepreneurs.
Plannr Consulting was created when Srilekha and Advika were in high school. The idea started when Srilekha wanted to combine her interests in entrepreneurship and life coaching to create something in the non-profit sphere that would help her combine her passions and create an impact on her community. One month after starting the organization, Advika joined the team, and their journey together has helped them flourish both personally and professionally.
Srilekha (left) & Advika (right)
Being in the non-profit sphere comes with a lot of fear and uncertainty. To cope, Srilekha works to create connections among the team and emphasizes the importance of having strong team relationships. She has also experienced imposter syndrome as a sophomore in college, but every failure has given her an opportunity to grow. When it comes to challenges faced by the organization, Srilekha explained that initially getting started during the COVID period really strengthened the online platform of Plannr and growth was good. However, now that things are back to normal, it has been challenging navigating and understanding what resources are beneficial online versus in-person. Additionally, another challenge has been discovering how to provide value to team members, as they are not paid. Providing service hour incentives, like awarding Presidential Volunteer Service Awards (PVSA) and brainstorming team-bonding involvement exercises have been helpful. Plannr is currently looking to grow further by acquiring new members and learning how to better cater to society's needs.
Srilekha's values have changed throughout her journey as a founder. She values respect, kindness, and self-care and has learned to say “no” more. She strives to keep kind people in her friend circle, as you are who you surround yourself with. Srilekha's older sister has been one of her biggest role models and mentors along her journey, and watching her sister grow and improve has been inspiring. She is also grateful for her parents' financial and emotional support. Advika's values have also changed over time, and her personal values of empathy, communication, and open-mindedness have helped her in both her personal and professional life. Through her time in Plannr, she has improved on skills like how to help others feel comfortable in new environments. She also learned to accept failure and grow from it.
In the future, Srilekha sees Plannr Consulting continuing on the same path, hosting more in-person and online events, getting over the hurdle of getting more people invested in the team, doing more policy-oriented research for mental health equity in schools, and having a podcast in the future. She also wants to push out their directory collection of resources. Advika hopes to have Plannr focus on in-person campaigns and spread globally. They also want to destigmatize men's mental health, which is often overlooked. As for Advika's personal goals, she wants to get into medical school and help low-income communities with healthcare, potentially through involvement in Doctors Without Borders.
About The Authors:
Elena Gil '23
Management Information Systems
Yulisa Vega '23
Management Information Systems
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