It’s over 8,000 miles from Gwinnett County to India. But the geographic distance is probably the least difficult part of the trip Charu Deshetty has taken.
Her journey from being a wife and mother in Asia to now running her own PostNet business in Duluth has been filled with challenges. She has overcome those challenges with a willingness to learn, a focus on customer support, perseverance and hard work, sometimes literally working through tears to get the job done.
As long and hard as Deshetty — who everyone knows as just Charu — has worked to build her business, she is also quick to acknowledge the help she’s gotten along the way. Family, customers, coworkers and even competitors have stepped up to help and support her.
Born in India
“I was born and raised in India,” Charu said. “I came here with two suitcases and my son, who was two years old.”
Her husband Shaker had come over earlier. He had started his job and had found a place for them to live. The laws at the time required her to wait three months.
Even though the 8,000 mile trip was behind her, Charu found out that her journey was just beginning.
“Everything was so new for us,” she said. “I didn’t know what to buy from the stores or how to buy it. Everything was different.”
Grocery stores in Georgia were very different from the fresh food markets and street vendors she grew up with in India.
Her family at home knew how different it would be over here but were still very supportive of her moving. “They knew it would be a good life,” she recalled. “My uncle, at the airport, said ‘From now on, you are on your own. And I have full faith in you.’”
Although she didn’t realize it at the time, it turns out her uncle’s words were very prophetic.
Started in childcare
After getting used to the cultural changes in her new country, Charu started work in childcare.
“I started in a daycare,” she said. “I worked there for six months. And then I went to a Montessori school and worked as a Montessori teacher for 30 years.”
When new owners took over the school, things began to change and not for the better. Charu gave it two years to see if the situation would improve, but it didn’t. She knew she needed to leave.
“I finished the school year, and it just didn’t work out,” she said. “I wanted to do something different.”
PostNet
She said the opportunity to run a PostNet store “fell in my path. I don’t know why. I believe in the Supreme Power and I think the Supreme Power brought me here.”
Shaker was the first person she talked to about starting the store. He fully supported his wife’s decision and with that, she began what might be the biggest part of her journey: going from schoolteacher to businesswoman.
“I’ve always been a teacher with the children,” she said. “I never did a cash register! I was never behind the counter. I never did anything like shipping and printing.”
Everything was new to her. “Completely from A to Z,” Charu said. “I didn’t even know what a business banking account was. I remember two or three times I asked people if they thought I could do this. They said, ‘Charu, you can do it.’ And now I’m running this business.”
It took a little while for Charu to think of herself in her new role.
She said it was “bizarre” to her when people would call her a businesswoman. She recalled the time she was having trouble filling out an application and asked her daughter Samaica how she needed to answer a question. Samaica told her to write down “Owner,” but she hadn’t thought of herself that way.
Steep learning curve
Moving from teaching to running a business presented a whole new world to Charu and there was a lot she had to learn.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said. “There was so much to learn. I came from a different world. I didn’t even know where to get the electricity.”
Finding a store location, construction, telecommunications, supplies — it was all new to her. In the culture she grew up in, taking care of those things was not a woman’s responsibility.
“Being an Asian woman, I was used to the men taking care of things,” she said. “I’m not saying they did everything correctly, but it was just like that. And that made me realize, if any man can do it, I can do it too. So that made me take this adventure on myself.”
At first, Charu didn’t even know how to use a computer.
“I didn’t understand this technology,” she said. “Thirty years ago, Montessori teachers did everything by hand. There were no computers. So, I don’t even know how to click the button. Now I’m learning.”
Help was there when needed
Charu worked hard and put in long hours to get to where she is today. But there were times when she needed help and, fortunately, others were there to provide it.
Her choice to operate a PostNet franchise turned out to be a good one. As a franchisee, PostNet provided her with valuable assistance. They gave her week-by-week lists of what she needed to get done. They told her what licenses she needed and how to get them.
There was also the woman at the bank who helped her understand new terminology. The people at the courthouse who helped with the licenses. Her DHL, Fedex, UPS and USPS drivers have provided assistance. Other PostNet owners and even some local competitors have been willing to help with the ins and outs of printing.
“The printing language was like Chinese for me,” she recalled. “I had no idea about this. I go visit the other printers around here. They have helped educate me.”
And of course, her family has been a great support.
Charu was very close to picking a store location in Forsyth County. But the day she was supposed to sign the papers, it just didn’t feel right to her. There was pressure to make a decision. Samaica and her son Twesh supported her in the decision to not sign, reassuring her it was normal to have a change of heart.
Recalling one of those days when things seemed a little too much to handle, Charu told me about the sound advice Samaica gave her — advice she still relies on.
“She said, “Mom, anytime you feel like that, just take a break. Go get coffee. Go for a walk. Just do something different. Then go back and it’ll work.”
Even more family support comes from her dog Sakhi who is at the store with her most days. Sakhi’s co-worker status started one day when Charu didn’t want to leave her home alone during a thunderstorm. Now she’s a customer favorite. They even bring Sakhi homemade treats and clothes that she loves to wear.
Hard work pays off
Charu has worked hard to get where she is today and it’s paying off.
She was asked to take on a customer that another store deemed “difficult.” With a little bit of humor and a whole lot of excellent customer service, he is now one of her best customers.
It’s a testament to Charu’s focus on customer service that her Duluth store has regular customers who come from Snellville, Braselton, Athens and even Stone Mountain.
In just one year, she has gotten over 120 online reviews, all of them very positive. One woman wrote “I would have given six stars if I could.”
Looking at how far she’s come, Charu said, “The thing I’ve learned is patience. It’s hard to do, but every time I fell down, I stood up. Sometimes I don’t know how.
“It feels so good when I give them the print job and everything is done, and the customer says, ‘Thank you’,” she added.
Photos courtesy of Samaica Deshetty
