Mentors

Principal Mentor

Venkatesh Iyer

Venkatesh Iyer, Commerce graduate, started his career with a Clearing House Agency while pursuing his graduation. He then worked with other private organisations, including ESANDA Finanz (Auto Finance Division of ANZ Grindlays Bank) while dealing with multiple financial products like Travelers Cheques, Credit Cards and Auto Finance.
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Principal Mentor

Vijaya Iyer

Vijaya Iyer, an Economics graduate from Mumbai University, worked with a few private sector organisations including Citibank’s Phone Banking Division. Her entrepreneurial journey, starting in 1998, started with Debt syndication, expanding into offering Personal, Professional and Home Loans to later providing Cash Credit Facility, Over Draft Facility, Bank Guarantee.
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Mentor, Median Growth Partner

Dr. Amanpreet Gill

Amanpreet, or Dr. Aman as she is called, is a dentist by education, a part engineer by upbringing and has the makings of an entrepreneur in her since childhood. Being a shadow of her father during younger days while he ran his own engineering industry business successfully, has given her real world knowledge of the challenges
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Mentor, Growth Partner

Ar. Vinay Desai

Vinay is an architect with a passion for interior design and architectural layouts. He creates interior spaces that maximise utility of every inch – be it a cosy home or a high-energy office space. He has built an impressive portfolio of clients with longstanding relationships since 2000 and is growing further by the day.
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Mentor, Growth Partner

Shivakumar Valadi

Shivakumar Valadi, or Shiva, is content and marketing strategy consultant with a background of engineering, marketing and IT consulting. He has been part of multiple MNCs and worked across countries, giving him a rich and varied experience. He has built a successful start-up industry in the past, while also supporting operations
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Mentor, Growth Partner

Ratan Rajai

Ratan Rajai, a hospitality industry specialist, has learnt the tools of his trade through both education and experience. Post his educational qualification in hotel management, he has worked for the leading names in the hospitality industry both in India and UK. Starting from the bottom rung, he has learnt customer servicing
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Ignite your business growth. At Zeal N Zest, we empower entrepreneurs & founders with Explore, Evolve (activity based workshops) and Elevate (annual mentoring program) to achieve consistent, sustainable success.

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Venkatesh Iyer

Principal Mentor

Venkatesh Iyer, Commerce graduate, started his career with a Clearing House Agency while pursuing his graduation. He then worked with other private organisations, including ESANDA Finanz (Auto Finance Division of ANZ Grindlays Bank) while dealing with multiple financial products like Travelers Cheques, Credit Cards and Auto Finance. In 1998 he joined hands with his wife Vijaya Iyer for their first entrepreneurial venture of Debt Syndication wherein they were arranging various kinds of loans (Retail Banking and Wholesale Banking) for Small & Medium Enterprises. The company’s journey went through a growth path and then a complete revival post the recession of 2008, adding to Venkatesh’s rich experience, leading to adding a new vertical in 2016, to advise entrepreneurs on a retainer basis for streamlining and smooth operations in their business. Venkatesh is member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation since 2011. He held several regional leadership roles including Regional Director for BNI, Mumbai East Region and Area Director Consultant for BNI, Navi Mumbai Region. He is fondly known as a Master Networker, Super Connector, Great Giver and Business Mentor, for the vast and profitable relationships he builds for himself and other business owners. Venkatesh loves to listen to podcasts and audio/video snippets of management and business leaders globally, gaining inspiration and developing himself through implementing the same. He is an avid sports lover, very passionate about cricket, and loves doing analysis at the end of a cricket game. He also spends many a busy evening or late night keeping track of soccer, badminton, tennis and Formula 1 racing. A secret bathroom singer, he thrives on Bollywood songs across the years.

Vijaya Iyer

Principal Mentor

Vijaya Iyer, an Economics graduate from Mumbai University, worked with a few private sector organisations including Citibank’s Phone Banking Division. Her entrepreneurial journey, starting in 1998, started with Debt syndication, expanding into offering Personal, Professional and Home Loans to later providing Cash Credit Facility, Over Draft Facility, Bank Guarantee, LC etc. for Business Houses from various Banks. The recession of 2008, and the subsequent recovery of the organisation into a stable, yet agile company, added to her repertoire of experiences and skills. In 2011 she also took up Mega Franchise of a Gifting Company, while adding a new vertical in 2016, to advise entrepreneurs on a retainer basis for streamlining and smooth operations in their business. The passion to add value for entrepreneurs encouraged Vijaya, along with her husband Venkatesh to start the Business Mentoring organisation Zeal N Zest in 2019. A past member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation, she has a wide network of personal and professional contacts across industries and geographies. While not mentoring other entrepreneurs, Vijaya hones her cooking skills in the kitchen with an idea of opening her own restaurant someday. She also de-stresses by reading fictional, spiritual and self-help genres

Dr. Amanpreet Gill

Mentor, Median Growth Partner

Amanpreet, or Dr. Aman as she is called, is a dentist by education, a part engineer by upbringing and has the makings of an entrepreneur in her since childhood. Being a shadow of her father during younger days while he ran his own engineering industry business successfully, has given her real world knowledge of the challenges a business faces in the real world. Dr. Aman, has her own dental practice clinic, and aims to be known as one of the leading Retreatment and Rehabilitation dental clinic chains in the country. She is often the ‘go-to’ person for several of colleagues in the medical industry for ideas of how to address business situations and innovate in their practices – a skill picked up during her days with her father, further honed by building her own dental practice and continuously being polished while associated with Zeal N Zest. An avid traveller, she is often found on the road, behind the wheel, or bungee jumping off a cliff or trekking in the wilds. She believes in building connections and growing through collaborations – a quality that serves her well as a member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation.

Ar. Vinay Desai

Mentor, Growth Partner

Vinay is an architect with a passion for interior design and architectural layouts. He creates interior spaces that maximise utility of every inch – be it a cosy home or a high-energy office space. He has built an impressive portfolio of clients with longstanding relationships since 2000 and is growing further by the day. He believes in nurturing – be it the small plant in his home garden or raw talent in his company and elsewhere. This belief that everyone has talent and that they need to be nurtured in the right way to bloom and make their mark, has been enhanced further during his association with Zeal N Zest. When not at work, he is found tending to his plants in his home garden or cycling to new spots – enjoying the ride as much as the destination. He builds partnerships and collaborations with multiple professionals to deliver quality services to his clients – which makes him a respected member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation.

Shivakumar Valadi

Mentor, Growth Partner

Shivakumar Valadi, or Shiva, is content and marketing strategy consultant with a background of engineering, marketing and IT consulting. He has been part of multiple MNCs and worked across countries, giving him a rich and varied experience. He has built a successful start-up industry in the past, while also supporting operations for his family-owned manufacturing business He believes that every company and person have their own story that is waiting to be told to the world. He helps start-ups and SMEs with their content development for various collateral, both in digital and offline formats. He enjoys working with them to create their marketing strategy roadmaps which help them grow their companies to the next level, a practice that he continuously enriches with this association with Zeal N Zest. He loves to read – from comics to management to fiction, go on road trips and capture memories using his camera. He loves to network, collect stories and connect people to help them grow their businesses – making him an active member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation.

Ratan Rajai

Mentor, Growth Partner

Ratan Rajai, a hospitality industry specialist, has learnt the tools of his trade through both education and experience. Post his educational qualification in hotel management, he has worked for the leading names in the hospitality industry both in India and UK. Starting from the bottom rung, he has learnt customer servicing and management from managing the front office and reception desk to later managing most hotel and hospitality operations. He then returned from the UK to revive and manage a family-owned resort, converting it today into a much-in-demand destination for both friends and families getaways and events like weddings and corporate offsites. Ratan used the lessons he learned from his experiences to set up processes and enable teams that address their guests’ requirements and ensure a satisfied smile every time. He is also involved in setting up retail centres for a leading multinational beverage brand in Mumbai and surrounding localities. He believes in helping businesses set up their processes that ensure smooth functioning and enable team members to take decisions proactively, allowing the management to focus on more critical and important tasks – a quality that he has further honed during his association with Zeal N Zest. Ratan de-stresses by listening to music and expanding his experiences through travel. An avid networker – his pleasing personality and ready smile make it easy to have engaging conversations and build a network – which serves him well as an active member of BNI, the world’s largest referral organisation.organisation.