From finance to children's books: Meet the Raleigh mom behind the Hello Namaste! board book series

Chika Gujarathi worked in finance for a decade, but eventually gave in to her love of all things creative.

Today, she and her husband live in downtown Raleigh with their three kids, ages 2, 4 and 6, and Gujarathi is a writer, photographer, children's book author, and, as she tells me, "overall creative doer." Right now, she's building her Hello Namaste! board book series, which is designed to teach young children Hindi, and dreaming up the perfect travel destinations for her family to write about on her travel blog.

"Some of my secret (and not so secret) passions include traveling with my kids, riding my bike, changing the furniture layout in my home almost monthly, and lately, channeling my nonexistent green-thumb into de-weeding our yard (talk about turning a negative into a positive!)," she tells me.

I checked in with Gujarathi to learn more about her, what she does and where to find her. Here's a Q&A:

Having grown up in India, I was desperate to teach my kids Hindi too. But I never found a book that they willingly reached for or played with. And being a perpetual tinkerer, I figured I'll make one at home using some markers, construction paper, and glue, you know!

But when I heard that other parents felt the same way, I decided to do something about it on a bigger scale. Fast forward to now, the Hello Namaste! books are sold in all local bookstores in the Triangle, on Amazon, and on my own author's site called Hello-Namaste.com. I've shipped them nationwide to parents, grandparents, schools, and community centers.

With each book I sell, my heart grows bigger and prouder. Being an Indian is such a big part of my identity and now I get to flaunt it daily with these books.

The artwork came easily to me, but everything else was not so simple. It took a year of many late nights of hand drawing the illustrations, of learning the publishing software to digitize and create layouts, of finding the proper partners, of proofing for quality, before the books could be produced just the way I wanted them.

My standards were way too high for a first-time author, I realize now. I didn't want paperback books. I wanted board books. But not just any board books. They had to be interactive where kids could trace, doodle, and draw with their own dry-erase markers. They also had to stand up to my then one-year old drooling on them. But I got it done.

No matter how hard or helpless I felt on some occasions, there was never a question of stopping or quitting. It's just like parenting where you chug along no matter what, and then one day you wake up and feel like time flew by just like that!

My favorite place to travel within the United States as a family is New Orleans. The city has so much to offer in terms of music, art galleries, and food; there is so much beyond Bourbon Street that most of us are familiar with from our formative years. It's walkable and lively. And best of all, you can push the stroller with one hand and sip a Sazerac with the other.

Outside of the United States, Spain is probably my most favorite country to take the kids. It's not that long of a haul (with several overnight direct flights that aren't too costly), the time difference works to your benefit because no one there eats dinner before 10 p.m., and the food and people watching can't be beaten.

This means we stop more often instead of trying to blaze through a touristy to-do list. We interact more with locals because we seek out playgrounds, grocery stores, and family-friendly establishments, and we always eat more ice cream. They teach me to enjoy the little things and find reasons to love a place that are more personal rather than superficial. Travel gives me and my children a shared sense of adventure that is unlike anything else.

Then there is travel which is ALWAYS on my mind. I want to squeeze in as many road trips as possible around North Carolina this year, and also plan one big adventure abroad with the family (Italy or Scandinavia?). Lastly, I would love to get my ducks in a row and start a Podcast called The Antibland which builds on things I talk about on my website already, but also provides an opportunity to connect with other fun and inspiring people on a bigger scale.