Feeling unproductive? Vani Kola shares some inspiring words to beat quarantine blues

When the going gets tough, the tough get going, they say. Vani Kola, too, believes that it’s only in the face of adversity that great enterprises take shape.

The Kalaari Capital fFounder and Managing Director recently took to Twitter to share some words of wisdom with her 72.9K followers, trying to ring in some optimism as the fear of unemployment looms large across the world.

Citing an example of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and Thomas Nashe on Thursday, the 56-year-old entrepreneur said that these famous names did their best work during a period of quarantine in their lives. She added a hint of positivity to the doomed year that's coming to an end, and urged people to not get bogged down by the isolation.


"This is one way of thinking positively about 2020. Who knows what life-changing innovation will come of it in the near future," she wrote.


On Wednesday, quoting a tweet from news anchor Jon Erlichman, Kola recalled her initial days when she started as a teaching assistantship for $700 (now approximately Rs 51,700) a month. The venture capitalist, who currently heads a $200-million company, said that she managed to save money each month from her salary.

In his tweet, Erlichman - a BNN Bloomberg anchor - had listed out the first jobs of some of the big personalities of the world. Jeff Bezos had worked as a McDonald’s cook before becoming the Amazon boss, Oprah Winfrey was a grocery store clerk before she went on to host her own show, Warren Buffett was a paperboy before owning a multinational conglomerate company, Bill Gates was just a programmer before he built his own empire, Elon Musk worked in a lumber mill job before becoming the second wealthiest person, and Sheryl Sandberg taught aerobics before transforming Facebook for the new generation.


The businesswoman, whose Twitter bio describes her as an avid hiker and meditation and yoga enthusiast, emphasised on the importance of self-belief and hard work for her 'humble beginnings' that resulted in 'high achievements'.

Success truly is a mix of hard work and believing in yourself! And in times like these, we could all do with a dash of optimism, and hope.