The idea of Blend Community was triggered during the pandemic when Razia saw how badly the F&B industry suffered and she wanted to help food brands revive their business without bleeding for profitability, courtesy the food aggregators. Personally, food, fashion and fiction are her passion areas, and she noticed that there weren’t any platforms that cater to these three themes specifically. She wanted to create a platform that curates and distributes relevant content all in one place rather than users having to go to different pages for different topics. That’s how the whole idea was born of creating an online community that celebrates, shares and curates stories around these three specific categories.

After establishing Blend Community, her co-founder, Hariprasad Shetty and she wanted to find a way to monetize the community they had built. That is when they got the idea for ‘Blend For Food’. With that, they are building India’s first Content to Commerce Food Tech Platform powered by Creator economy & Community Tech. BFF will be a one-stop destination for all things food. Consumers need not have different apps scattered for different needs like, ordering in from restaurants, groceries, recipes, etc. They are the only players in the market that will bring all your various food choices in one place to make it a hassle-free food ordering experience.

What gets Razia excited about her startup is the fact that this idea is still so new in the country and she doesn’t see anyone else doing it as of now. This makes her feel secure in the fact that they’re on the cusp of something extremely special.

This sense of security does not shield her from paranoia. She says that a start-up is the founder’s brain-child or baby. Due to this, the success of the start-up is a lot more personal not just tangibly but emotionally as well. Hence, there’s undeniable paranoia around “What if”. What if the brand tanks, what if no one resonates with the idea, basically what if nothing works out. However, she has found that the way to overcome that is to understand that ideas don’t exist in perfection. You’ve just got to start and keep working on perfecting it.

Being not just a start-up founder but also having a full-time corporate job definitely makes it challenging to have a work-life balance for Razia. But, she has found that finding the right partners, teammates and resources is very important in order to manage it. She believes, as you’re establishing your idea, you need to try to attract talent and team members to not only believe in your vision, but also be able to execute it. Finding the right brands and companies to partner with, is another important aspect in executing your vision the right way.

Razia Ali started her career with banking sales, but she always had a penchant towards communication which made me make an early switch to advertising. She realized she had a passion for shaping brands and consumer perceptions. She loves ideating with people from varied niches and finds great joy in helping translate them into realities. She led the Consumer and Small Business marketing efforts of a large tech company. She currently has her a full-time job while also working on her start-up. She was also an Angel Investor to aspiring Start-ups and entrepreneurs. She has leveraged her passion towards brands, fashion, food and her experience in the advertising and marketing industry and brought to life a brand and community of her own. The ability to do that, in a male-dominated, food-tech industry is what sets her apart.

Inputs- Razia Ali, Founder, Blend Community

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I was always interested in spirituality, but I can say my spiritual journey began in earnest when I started reading the Bhagavad Gita during my first pregnancy. I also studied the Vedas, Upanishads, and Swami Vivekananda’s works in quest of spiritual knowledge.

I can say that I had a blessed life, and I had not experienced any major problems. But the birth of my daughter Shruti, who was a special child, changed my life forever. She had a shunt in the brain and underwent four brain surgeries by the time she was just four months old. I had to take Shruti to various doctors in therapy centers. I realized that having a special kid is a huge trauma for any parent, but the situation is especially challenging when one is not financially strong. Special children have special needs and they require certain things to just survive, but these things are very expensive, and way beyond the reach of most people. The poor have to struggle through every single day of therapy. Moreover, the therapy does not lead to immediate results, and it takes years for special kids to acquire even basic skills.

While I was much better off, some instances got me thinking. Once I came across a couple during therapy who used to have only buttermilk for lunch every alternate day because they didn’t have money. I was shaken, and I told myself that I need to do something to help such people. Initially, I started supporting needy people I came across during visits to therapy centres with Shruti. I had helped 10 people, but I realized that there are many more people out there who need help. This is how the idea of establishing an NGO to support such people came, which took shape in the form of Madhuram Charitable Trust. I did not know how to begin, but the law degree came in handy. Our intention was noble and we received support from everyone.

In just over two years, the Trust has achieved much more than I had imagined. We have supported more than 1,000 special kids in one way or the other. Later, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, we launched Project Stepathon with an aim to distribute prosthetic legs to physically challenged persons. We have distributed high-tech prosthetic legs imported from Germany to 85 beneficiaries so far, and we aim to cross 100 very soon.

Going ahead, I plan to ensure the beneficiaries of prosthetic legs are literally standing on their own by providing them with employment opportunities and helping them become financially independent. I am in talks with companies that can absorb some of the beneficiaries.  Another target going ahead is to open an aqua therapy centre for special kids. These kids are looked down on in general facilities due to a lack of awareness about their condition. I am already talking to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, which is very supportive of such a center. I am confident there will be good news to share shortly.

(The author is Founder and Trustee of Madhuram Charitable Trust, an NGO working for the specially abled)

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