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Miki Agrawal, Best-Selling Author, Inspires Readers One Page at a Time

Miki Agrawal

An author’s distinctive worldview provides depth and texture to their work. Perhaps the writer has progressed through several different careers, forming opinions of each job while knowing that they are all key to professional and personal growth. Or, they may have chosen an unconventional lifestyle, fully aware that their choices buck many traditional cultural and societal norms. Serial entrepreneur and author Miki Agrawal has experienced both scenarios firsthand. She has started three innovative businesses, each of which thumbed its nose at a particular societal convention or taboo. In each case, she essentially disrupted an entire industry.

In the lead-up to each company’s launch, Miki Agrawal was besieged by comments from naysayers who said the concept would not work. The pessimists also projected poor market acceptance and disappointing sales. Nevertheless, Agrawal forged ahead and transformed each idea into a successful company that continues to thrive.  

Miki Agrawal Embraces Her Transition to Published Author

As she developed and grew each business, Miki Agrawal began to feel a desire to share her cathartic experiences with others. Her overarching goal: to inspire readers to take proactive steps to enjoy a more rewarding life.

Toward that end, she has written two well-regarded books. “Do Cool Sh*t: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business, and Live Happily Ever After” offers insights on transforming a personal passion into a viable career.

Miki Agrawal’s second book, “Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman,” focuses on disrupting (and rewriting) 13 societal conventions. “Heart Wisdom,” her much-anticipated third book, will focus on mental and emotional self-care. This work is set for a Fall 2021 release.

Do Cool Sh*t

Bookstores are chock-full of detailed “how-to” guides that talk about turning a hobby or passion into a career. Each book features the author’s own spin while often involving a methodical approach based on conventional principles and practices.

Miki Agrawal’s first book is decidedly different. Officially titled “Do Cool Sh*t: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business, and Live Happily Ever After,” the 2013 Harper Business volume is geared to aspiring entrepreneurs who prefer to live life far outside the box. 

As a disrupt-her, Miki Agrawal embraces big visions and develops bold, audacious strategies to achieve them. In her view, nothing is off the table.

For example, she details how to launch a business with minimal financial resources and maximum determination. Agrawal also offers tips on frugal product testing along with “guerrilla marketing” strategies that can generate high visibility and gratis press coverage. Her marketing tactics will likely attract considerable attention in today’s social media-heavy landscape.

Throughout “Do Cool “Sh*t,” Miki Agrawal garnishes her entrepreneurial advice with a healthy topping of irreverence and wit. Her “take no prisoners” mindset will be useful for recent college graduates who cannot seem to find real direction. In addition, “Do Cool Sh*t” will appeal to restless professionals who want to break out of the cubicle and determine their own destiny.

Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman

In 2018, Hay House published Miki Agrawal’s second book, which thoroughly explores the mechanics of disruption. In “Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman,” she analyzes 13 aspects of life that are good candidates for disruptive transformation. Examples include purpose, career, money, and culture of complaints vs action, among others.

Agrawal carefully dissects each area, showing society’s expectations of how women should behave. She also provides historical background on each belief’s evolution. Then, she explains how to disrupt each one, providing readers with guidelines for disrupting that area in their own lives.

She also explains that it’s possible to retain an attitude of childlike curiosity while continuing to be a responsible adult. Finally, she includes stories of successful women who have ignored society’s dictates and blazed their own trails.

Miki Agrawal’s Inspiration for “Disrupt-Her”

Miki Agrawal wrote her “primer for disruption” shortly after her son Hiro’s birth in 2017. The book was inspired by the negative feedback she received while building each of her businesses.

In retrospect, she realized that these objections were driven by long-held societal norms. In fact, there was indeed a receptive audience for each product. However, those consumers had to break through their own barriers to see that product’s merits.

Living with a Disruptive Attitude

Finally, Miki Agrawal offers insights on cultivating a disruptive mindset in every area of life. “So many areas of our lives need disruption, and it all starts with HOW we question and view the world.”

To put that different worldview into action, Agrawal recommends that each woman follow her own singular path. “In the Disrupt-her, I call it the lit path. And what I mean by lit path is following and doing the things that light you up! The lit path should be filled with things that you are excited about learning in this world! You should be passionate about your lit path!”

In conclusion, Miki Agrawal recommends that each woman surround herself with a partner, friends, and/or family who support her mindset and goals. Ideally, they will each be engaged in their own disruptive journey, helping to break down societal taboos while making their own imprint on the world.

Heart Wisdom: A Preview

Miki Agrawal’s “Heart Wisdom,” set for release in Fall 2021, brings the need for self-care to the forefront. During the past four years, this hard-driving entrepreneur has stepped back and reflected on the emotional and spiritual costs of her fast-paced lifestyle.

To re-center her mind and body, Agrawal has engaged in multiple healing modalities. She has also expressed her thoughts and feelings in her journals. These explorations have led her to develop affirmations that will help readers to let go of unhealthy emotional and mental baggage and adopt an attitude of mental and spiritual wellness. 

Three Businesses that Shaped Miki Agrawal’s Authorship Journey

Each of Miki Agrawal’s thriving businesses was sparked by her dissatisfaction with some aspect of her life. Rather than repeatedly complaining about the issue to her friends, she devised a solution and built a business around it. Each successful company harnessed her disruptive spirit and desire to forge her own path.

WILD Gluten-free Pizza Restaurant

Miki Agrawal’s traditional business school education provided good preparation for her Deutsch Bank investment banking analyst job. Working in New York City, she was deeply affected by the 9/11 events.

Upon re-examining her priorities, she decided to embark on a professional soccer career with the New York Magic. From there, she worked in video production after being injured.

Tired of working long hours and having few healthy on-set meal choices, Miki Agrawal decided to channel her dissatisfaction into a solution. In cosmopolitan New York City, she opened a farm-to-table, gluten-free pizza restaurant called WILD. 

Fresh, healthy ingredients were the order of the day at WILD. Launched in 2005, the thriving eatery has three New York City locations and is doing very well under a business partner’s purview.

Thinx Period-proof Underwear

In 2008, Miki Agrawal channeled her frustration with menstrual products into a line of period-proof underwear called Thinx. The company now makes several related products. They also support Ugandan schoolgirls’ education by contributing to donations of reusable pads.

TUSHY Bidet Toilet Attachment

Next, Miki Agrawal disrupted the toilet paper industry. Fed up with toilet paper’s inefficiency and environmental impacts, Miki Agrawal designed TUSHY, a sleek-looking bidet attachment that’s compatible with conventional toilets.

The streamlined, easy-to-install TUSHY device gradually gained market acceptance. Not surprisingly, it became wildly popular during 2020’s toilet paper shortages. Today, TUSHY products continue to be available on the company’s website. Retail distribution plans are in the works.

Recognizing that there is a global need for better sanitation, Miki Agrawal is helping to improve those standards in numerous Indian communities. In partnership with Samagra, TUSHY donates funds to introduce hygienic latrines to residents with substandard sanitation options.

Writing the Next Chapter

As Miki Agrawal plots her career’s next chapter, she keeps an eye on the business and cultural landscape. When she spots an area with plenty of disruptive potential, her wildly creative approach and sheer determination will likely drive her to find a better way.

At the same time, she places a priority on self-care. She enjoys regular massages, and she receives mental and emotional support from her husband Andrew and a cadre of good friends. Finally, Miki Agrawal begins each day determined to disrupt the status quo and discover a more uplifting way of life.

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