Patricia Narayan – An entrepreneur who owns chain of restaurants called “Sandeepa” in Chennai.
She also lives in a well-furnished apartment in Velachery and has around 200 people working in her renowned restaurant.
But, as they say nothing comes easy in life.
And, even if it comes there are many twists and turns that mould our very life. Well, even Patricia Narayan went through her life lessons that made her today a proud independent lady.
Today, she is one of the brave ladies that stands tall and inspires others as well.
Let’s take a look back in her life…
From Patricia Thomas to Patricia Narayan
Patricia was studying in Queen Mary’s when she met a Brahmin boy Narayan. Well, they both fell in love with each other and decided to get married “secretly”. But, things turned bad and she had to tell her parents about her secret marriage which made the couple break ties with their family.
Trouble in paradise
Patricia was happily married to Narayan but things shattered and turned worse for Patricia. She found out her husband was heavily into taking drugs and alcohol and it was difficult to get him out of this situation.
In her struggling life she became pregnant but certainly had no money to meet ends. At 18 she was left out with her two children.
It all started with 50 paise
She started her own cart on Marine Drive, Mumbai. This was her start, 31 years ago, she earned only “50 paise” on her first day by selling a cup of coffee. She felt disheartened but worked the next day as well. The next day went off good and she also started selling sandwiches, ice-creams and juices.
Patricia Narayan’s work life
Patricia Narayan never gave up in her life and stood firm in front of all the hurdles. She took up many odd jobs that included catering at the Slum Clearance road where she served 300 people at Bank of Madurai canteen and later she started serving almost 700 students daily at National Port Management training school.
You know what’s interesting?
By working at Marina and school canteen she earned around 1 lakh per week. Isn’t that great?
Another big shocker in Patricia’s life
Right when she was taking the steps towards success, the news of Patricia’s newlywed daughter and son-in-law’s death broke her. It was back then in 2004 that gave her the sad news of her life. She took some time off and gave the business in hands of her son Praveen.
Sandeepa Chain of Restaurant
Patricia’s son started the first restaurant called “Sandeepa Chain of Restaurant”. Patricia came back 2 years later to start the business along with her son Praveen and the restaurant was named after her daughter’s name.
There are now around 200 employees working today in the restaurant.
FICCI Woman Entrepreneur Award 2010
In 2010, Patricia was the proud winner of (Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) FICCI Woman Entrepreneur Award 2010.
14 outlets of Sandeepa
Yes, you heard it right. This woman who faced extreme challenges in life but never backed out. Now, there are total 14 outlets across Chennai that provides her daily income of rupees 2 lakhs.
Along with her well furnished house, she also owns her own luxury car. She is the true example of how being strong and determined can make you achieve what you want no matter how many hurdles you face.
