Meet Sharika Chauhan, Founder of Maya’s Worldly Wonders®
“Follow your gut.”
Sharika Chauhan is an ex-finance executive who walked away from a 17-year career in financial services and private markets to build a creative, IP-led children’s brand from scratch. She is the founder of Maya’s Worldly Wonders®, a children’s travel-adventure series centred on a bold British-Indian girl who explores the world with curiosity, courage and empathy. What started as multiple self-published books has grown into a multi-format IP spanning illustrated chapter books, school workshops, merchandise and an animation project currently in development.
At its heart, Maya’s Worldly Wonders® is about representation, emotional intelligence, and helping children see the world, and themselves, with more confidence and compassion. Sharika writes from lived experience as a South Asian woman, a solo traveller, and someone who grew up rarely seeing herself reflected in the stories she loved. Alongside the creative side, she runs the business and growth infrastructure behind the brand, including publishing, IP strategy, partnerships, licensing, marketing, advertising and long-term scale.
The problem she refused to ignore
“The idea for Maya’s Worldly Wonders® came from a gap I felt growing up and continued to notice as an adult.” She loved books, yet rarely saw girls like her at the centre of adventurous, curious, world-spanning stories.
That feeling became more tangible when she began volunteering with the Bookmark Reading Charity, supporting primary school children with reading. She saw first hand how many children were struggling to engage with books, especially those who didn’t feel represented in the stories they were given. It highlighted the very real reading crisis facing children in the UK, and how closely confidence, literacy and representation are linked.
“Following your gut doesn’t mean ignoring logic or feedback. It means knowing when to listen, and when to commit.”
The moment that shifted her focus
“Yes, and it didn’t happen behind a desk or during a strategy session. It happened in rooms full of children.” The defining moment came when she read Maya’s Worldly Wonders® aloud at libraries and schools for the first time, slightly nervous about how long their attention would last. Instead, they stayed fully engaged for an entire hour.
They listened, asked thoughtful questions, laughed at the funny moments, and eagerly shared their own stories and curiosities about the world. They wanted to talk about different cultures, bravery, travel and their own experiences. “That was the moment it stopped being ‘just a book’ for me,” she said, and it gave her the conviction to think bigger and commit more deeply.
Why Maya’s Worldly Wonders® is different
“There is a clear gap in the children’s book and literacy space when it comes to South Asian female protagonists at the centre of global, adventurous stories.” Maya’s Worldly Wonders® exists intentionally in that gap. “Maya simply exists as a curious, confident British-Indian girl moving through the world, and that normalisation matters.”
Sharika comes into the creative industries from a finance and private markets background, and approaches storytelling as a long-term, scalable business. She wears multiple hats, from writer and creator to publisher, marketer and IP strategist. The brand is built as a cohesive ecosystem spanning education, merchandise and screen, and the move into animation is part of that thinking.
How she leads
“I’m naturally decisive and headstrong,” she said. She researches and makes strategic decisions, and she is conscious not to over-research. “Too much analysis can turn into hesitation, and hesitation is often where momentum dies.”
Risk-taking shows up in her choices. She left a secure corporate role in 2015 with no job lined up. She agreed to become a co-founder and COO of a fintech startup in March 2020, at the start of a global pandemic.
What she’s building right now
The most exciting and slightly daunting project she is working on is the development of the Maya’s Worldly Wonders® animation. She describes it as a completely different beast from books, stretching her in new ways, and pushing her to collaborate more deeply while protecting the heart of the stories.
At the same time, she is preparing for her first large-scale exhibitions. That includes designing and launching merchandise, getting involved in the creation of the Maya doll, and investing in trade display materials to bring the world to life in physical spaces. She is currently developing her sixth title in the series, inspired by her travel in Thailand.
Founderland and finding her people
“I’ve only recently joined Founderland, but even in a short space of time it’s felt like a community I genuinely want to be part of.” Founderland offers a sense of shared understanding and ambition, particularly among women founders building thoughtfully across borders and sectors.
“What really draws me to Founderland is its European perspective,” she said. For her, Founderland represents connection, perspective and momentum. She is looking forward to learning from others, contributing where she can, and growing alongside the community.
Her biggest challenge—and how she moved through it
One of the biggest challenges has been entering a traditional industry as a self-published founder. The children’s book world is heavily gatekept, and founders building outside traditional routes can face invisible barriers.
Early on, she received poor advice, including being told she didn’t need a proper business bank account or formal structures because she was “just publishing books.” She stepped back and treated Maya’s Worldly Wonders® as a serious business and IP-led brand. She took responsibility for learning intellectual property and rights protection, accounting, cash flow and operational structure.
Advice to her past self
“Follow your gut.” She grew up with a strong emphasis on stability and financial security, which led her into finance. She learned that seeking too much external advice can overwhelm clarity, and that a strong underlying feeling about a direction is often worth trusting.
Who inspires her
“One leader who really inspires me is Mira Murati.” Mira Murati is one of the most influential women in artificial intelligence; as former Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI, she led the creation of breakthrough technologies like ChatGPT, DALL·E and Sora, demonstrating how technical brilliance and bold leadership can reshape entire industries.
She admires how Mira brings clarity and conviction to complex, fast-moving environments, and the balance of ethics, safety and long-term impact. She also names Reese Witherspoon as a creator who inspires her, and cites films like Avatar and the world of Harry Potter as creative fuel.
How she stays grounded
“I stay grounded in the bigger mission.” Seeing the impact on children, parents, teachers, schools and libraries keeps her going, including moments such as a child staying engaged with a story for a full hour, or a parent saying their child finally felt seen.
Resilience comes from remembering why she started and allowing herself to evolve as she goes. She focuses on consistency, curiosity and momentum, and keeps showing up with intention.
A mantra she lives by
One mantra she comes back to often, borrowed from Keanu Reeves, is this: if someone says 1 + 1 = 5, you can just say “OK, great,” and get on with your life. “Choosing what not to engage with is sometimes the healthiest option,” she said.
Follow Sharika’s Journey
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