Episode 37: Deepti Sharma

Deepti Sharma, named on the esteemed Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, embodies “the pivot,” whether through volunteer work or her own startup. Community is her passion.

She served on the board of directors for the Business Center for New Americans, a microlender that creates a pathway to self-sufficiency for immigrants, refugees, and women.

Today, as founder and CEO of corporate catering concierge service FoodtoEat in NYC, Sharma continues to empower immigrant women and minorities specifically, providing a platform as food service providers. The marketing mind behind #IMadeYourFood puts a human face behind any catering event she hosts.

Sharma is a mother of two boys and also one of 17 mentors at WE NYC (Women Entrepreneurs NYC), an initiative dedicated to helping women start and grow their businesses. Find out how Sharma does all this, and so much more, on this episode of SheVentures. 

Key Moments

• 04:18 — Community is at the heart of everything Deepti Sharma does. Find out how and why politics played a big role.
• 08:50 — Sharma describes her past role with the Business Center for New Americans — an organization that has helped over 4000 immigrants to date who often don’t have high enough credit scores, guarantors, or sufficient knowledge of our system to start their own businesses. 
• 12:49 — Listen to Sharma describe FoodtoEat’s business model and how it has evolved. 
• 16:14 — Sharma discusses the challenges of the first few difficult years of getting FoodtoEat off the ground. Many people thought she was too young to be taken seriously. Eleven years later, she’s going strong.
• 20:10 — Find out how to scale the B2B side of your business. 
• 23:20 — What is one of the biggest things in a startup that can go incredibly right or wrong? Hiring. Check out Sharma’s tips.
• 28:45 — How does Sharma choose the restaurants and food vendors that her company works with? It’s not as simple as taste testing!
• 31:55 — Learn about Sharma’s second (yep, second) startup, Bikky, and what problems it solves for the food-service industry. 
• 38:07 — Sharma is one of 17 mentors at WE NYC (Women Entrepreneurs NYC). Find out why mentorship is so important to helping women grow a business.
• 41:00 — With more than 10 years of experience working with women and minorities, Sharma gives us her top dos and don’ts for running a business.