Interview with Dr Deepankar Das | Workplace Wellness Coach | Author | Human Factor Specialist | Ergonomics Consultant | Physiotherapist | Founder At Physio Ergo
As part of our ongoing quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from the startup ecosystem, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur – Dr Deepankar Das for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. Dr. Deepankar (MPT in CardioPulmonary) is a a Workplace Wellness Expert, Author of Amazon bestseller book Ergonomics for Corporates, a member of the Indian Society of Ergonomics, head of ergonomics training at Max Healthcare, and founder of PhysioErgo – a leading specialty physiotherapy and ergonomics clinic at Gurugram.
He is a strong proponent of “Work healthy, Live healthy”, Dr Deepankar has conducted Ergonomics assessment and training programs at over 150 organizations and addressed over 80,000 people through his numerous appearances as a keynote speaker at leading Physiotherapy and Ergonomics conferences across India.
He is also working very actively with schools to ensure postural corrections are made at the formative age before they become habits and cause irreversible harm in the long term. Dr. Deepankar is widely published in trade journals, news dailies and online blogs as a leading voice on Ergonomics. Let’s read more about her inspiring journey so far and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Take us through your background and your journey as an Ergopreneur;
It was the year 2008 while interning at Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences during my Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy, I extensively researched on ergonomics.
To widen my research, I sent letters to all the officials of local banks such as SBI and Pravara Sahakari, stating my aspiration to conduct an awareness lecture to sensitize them on how they could work more efficiently, and ensure great posture while working to evade and eliminate any kind of physical pain. Intrigued by this relatively unfamiliar concept, they arranged for a lecture.”
My friend, Neha Kanjolia, and I went to educate them, and we conducted a small survey to support our data. I later presented this to our professor, Mr Sandeep Deshpande. Surprisingly, he noticed our work! Not only was our work complemented by him, but I was also advised to take things a step further by conducting a similar survey in other metros like Gurugram, where corporate life needed an intervention.
It was then that my journey began. Over a period, I have learned a lot about ergonomics, and now it feels like the right time to share my knowledge with others who may need it.”
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a hospital set up job?
I chose entrepreneurship because I always wanted to do on my own and that’s why I started my own clinical practice straight away after my master’s degree.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
Back in the day, my friend Anuranjan and I used to visit every floor of commercial buildings in Delhi NCR and we approached HR departments of all kinds of companies.
Since we didn’t make prior appointments with them, things wouldn’t always work out. We heard all kinds of responses ranging from “Get back to us with your profile” to “We will most certainly get back to you when needed”. These were my days of struggle that made me strong and taught me patience.”
While hosting awareness seminars and health camps to create awareness incorporates that did sign me up on occasions like health month, I came face to face with a bitter truth. Even though great information and knowledge on positive lifestyle habits came literally to their doorstep, people working in corporates would not find it important enough to come and attend them! This also led to the realization that they didn’t come because knowledge alone would not fix their pain. They needed active engagement. This is when I started conducting workshops. The crowds started flowing in and the participation skyrocketed. This effort was a huge success! It also gave me an insight into all the real problems that people working in a stress-induced corporate environment were facing. This led me to my next step.
Now life has taken full circle, now I am in a position to say no to them and choose which corporate I have to work.
Last year also has written a book Ergonomics for Corporates which is now no1 amazon bestseller
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
I am still learning how to do business, to be very honest I am a very emotional person both personally & professionally.
My mantra is Emotions because this will never die on this planet.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Initially, it was difficult to consult overcall but later when I started doing more than 20 webinars in a month and started consulted around 10 patients/day guiding them how workplace problems can be treated at home also provided you follow basic guidelines and avoid mistakes.
During these video consultation, I ask patients to show their workplace, their regular postures and other areas where they do daily stuff and based on this virtual assessment I can easily find out the root cause and give them a better solution.
Now I am enjoying this new style of consulting.
I have also started 5 days WhatsApp class to Live Pain-Free at a very affordable price which was super hit which I’m still running on a regular basis.
Soon will be launching my online courses on Ergonomics
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
This is what I follow and that’s only I can recommend – Success is in our mind, I think I am successful
This word has so many meaning for so many people. To me, some of those keys are:
1 – Believe in yourself
2 – Be true to yourself and never work for money rather upgrade yourself every day.
3 – Don’t waste time by procrastinating.
4 – Be consistent on your journey.
What has worked well for you so far?
The domain or expertise I have chosen is fairly new, unexplored, unorganized.
I have tried many strategies like changing sectors to work sometimes education, factories, hotel, airlines, dental, Institutions or corporate world.
I used to do seminars to sensitize people but later I have realized they are not implementing what I am teaching, therefore I changed my model of doing workplace assessment followed with more than 5 steps.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
When I am under pressure I stop that work and chill for some time or spend time with my daughter (over 5months old). I meditate and sometimes I write my success stories which boost so much energy.
What are your plans for the future?
I wanted to build a Health Tech platform to serve the community so everyone can live pain-free.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
