Today we’d like to introduce you to Hetal (Joshi) Nagaraj.
Hi Hetal, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since the company was launched other way around from solo artist to need of a legal entity, I will take liberty to make it about me and how it became a company.
I was officially launched in my artistic journey in India in 1993–94, at age 13, through folk dance, drama, and theatre stagecraft. I was thoroughly guided and trained by my own teachers and gurus for my very first commercial gig.
This became a stepping stone & an early foundation led to a shared vision, culminating in my establishment in India in 1999—where, at age 19, I launched my first graduate-batch of students.
After my marriage, I relocated to the U.S. in 2004 and re-launched myself as a solo artist and also launched a PR company Reachh Mediaa, which was Hyderabad & Mumbai (India) based company.
The name ‘Grace and Grooves’ was spontaneously announced on stage, by me from a shortlist of possibilities, and right away it sparked the publishing and news as in printed materials, which then became the official identity of the company.
In 2011, Grace and Grooves was officially registered across multiple U.S. regions, including Texas (DFW: South Irving, Keller/Southlake), Detroit (Michigan), and Kansas City (Missouri) through my senior classmates & PR.
As i grew as solo artist & get my kids schedule in place, the whole idea & concept of solo artist & services in performing arts emerged out of need to extend services to public and to have a company name to take projects and do it on larger scale. The whole company was launched with registrations of my own kids friends, their classmates, my due date club friends, & their various activities friends. The need to register company and grow became inevitable, unstoppable as the gigs would attract monetary payouts. In place like USA, if these organizers run w2, 1099, liabilities increase automatically which then follow through with insurance and such other process as a requirement. I could not hide as a freelancer as my students or myself had to grow.
Establishment of company is purely a need to address it as one entity that covers all the activities within, including my own.
About My Trainings & Background : https://www.graceandgrooves.com/hetal-nagaraj
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Business has never been a smooth road but the fact that life was very early prepared me very well. By 17, I had built ventures in India across salon services, insurance trainings, MLM, and textiles, which shaped my discipline and business acumen.
Coming to the U.S. as part of a global NRI family made adaptation easier, though as a solopreneur, every challenge rests on self-reliance. Unlike many who tend to learn by searching or through trials and errors, I was already trained to execute. I had my first successful batch age of 19 in India itself. One batch in 3 genres was an experience on practical grounds, in place like India where challenges are far more manual!
The service industry always brings hurdles, but I hold no regrets. My background and life had began in service industry infact from MLM. I have always faced people head on head!
My greatest test came in 2021–2022, when consecutive fraud incidents disrupted every area of my life – financial, personal, business and professional. I navigated it tactfully, and today stand proud of having endured and rebuilt.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My specialities extend beyong performing arts from 1999. From 1999, over 20 years of education, experience, and successful project delivery across 19+ disciplines including client servicing, sales, software engineering, construction, HR, IT staffing, CRM, SaaS, ERP, B2B/B2C, project management, and corporate leadership, I have a strong IT foundation ensuring proficiency in software and applications. I have also specialized in IT training since 2016.
Just my own specialities brings 40 years of expertise in Indian Performing Arts, mastering Bharatanatyam, Indian Folk Dances (all styles, all of them), Indian Martial Arts, Bollywood/Cinema, Cinematography, Theater, Stagecraft, Hip-hop, and Contemporary performing arts styles serving as a solo-investor producer, director as well as 99% participant as a team, for all projects.
Personally, I have taught 3,500+ students in the USA and India, with 4,000 graduates across various levels. I also mentor and instruct for commercial projects in each of these specialties which brings this number to 6000 for all the collective fields. List is conviniently available on www.graceandgrooves.com
Additionally, I bring 4 years of experience in the commercial food industry, 2 years in sports, 27 years in wellness and finance (own businesses and clients), and 6 years in construction and remodeling.
By 2024, I have personally trained over 6,000 individuals in various fields directly, alot many before Grace And Grooves was registered in Texas, USA.
I do not offer my trainings under any other name or company, nor do I offer any courses online. With 400+ skills backed by certifications, I am dedicated to delivering excellence in all endeavors, aiming to expand my impact through meaningful projects that benefit humanity.
The need of company registration was other way around, as mentioned above!
I am proud of my every achievement not only for myself but for my Elites & Graduates, as i own it from scratch and my Elites and Graduates too own theirs. I am extremely proud of my Elites & Graduates to do such an amazing work under me to make me this successful.
While the other fields or several brands did not start until my degrees or college years or some as late as in 2015 unlike my Indian Folk Dances and few others to name on list. Indian Folk & Bharatanatyam at the age of 13 and age of 19 way before my degrees or even high school. This field is open to younger age groups unlike degree based fields. I personally feel, performing arts aka Grace And Grooves Corp just gets a higher edge in my own life as compared to my other fields because you can see 10 years difference right there. Thus, automatically extends to G50, internationally.
I think, my performance or achievments in every field or rather any of my brand within Grace And Grooves is on one curve, if i were to count year or phase from its starting point is Consistent and Constant. My family priorities stay as is till date! My schedule too is exact from nearly 15 years.
Grace and Grooves or anything I do is not about fabricated models, it is about structural models in vertical leadership, and that’s one of the toughest. Talent is everywhere, structure is not. Over the years, i gathered mastery over this niche of training, development and research, and it comes natural to me eversince my teen years. It was something identified by my peers very early in life.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
All those years of Trainings, Education & Knowledge, Discipline, Execution or Implementation, & Resilience. One life. I think at some point, every factor is important. Above all family and friends support, knowledge of country of operation & business process matters.
During these years from 2021-2024, the incidences of multiple frauds in my business threw me off of my personal life, my other goals and, finances. It delayed and stalled several brand activities and several Elites’ work was stalled as well. Some of my international Elites lost their only chance to bag their very first projects in the only time of gap year of college or holidays as the projects were strictly by dates. Once it is missed, it takes fairly to find those gaps to jump back in or to get on track.
It tested my every mental & physical boundaries and my capacity to face media as well; for my folks, and for the business altogether to clear misconceptions with extreme caution. Life of my Elites and Graduates was questioned because of that fraud individual as people wanted answers if it those were mistakes of Elites or Graduates.
I had to stand up for my grads and Elites to make sure that the blames are not on my innocent Elites & Grads or any of my minors for all the foul play deliberately conducted by fraud. All of the mess, tested my relationships with every single individual including those who have seen me way before the company was registered.
Vertical Mode of Leadership is purely task based and there is no room of confusion of duties or responsibilities to each brand or activities or to individual. Above all, i maintain google sheets and such Ai tools to track every progress of every individual, thus it was only me who clear those misconceptions! People have right to know and I have absolutely no problem addressing every tiny query just about anywhere to my notice!
I am definitely blessed to have such wonderful family, extremely supportive happy clients/families of my graduates and Elites, my kids with whom i share my business struggles, my dad, my aunts who knew about this mess from news & media.
I cannot possibly imagine, what would i go through if i did not receive this amazing love, support and all the amazing experience of trainings from my people. This time demonstrated my capacity to handle not only media, but lot of other mess and also how well i was groomed in my days!
Every single day, i thanked my environment, education, knowledge, trainings, my dad, my aunts, my family who made me this well.
Pricing:
- custom
- custom
- www.graceandgrooves.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hetaln.com and www.graceandgrooves.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GraceAndGrooves and https://www.facebook.com/hetalnagarajdance
Image Credits
The Grace Effects by Hetal Nagaraj.
