1 – You’re a trailblazer in the fashion industry. How do you balance your role as the Group Director of Pret Study by Janak Fashions Pvt. Ltd and your creative involvement with Study by Janak?
When it comes to handling the brand, I have always been moving focus towards the creative part as well as the promotion part of it. What you are mentioning here is for me just one role instead of two different rules. Being a Group director for me does not stop at only handling the teams Taking strategic decisions, even the creative side comes with it. from merchandising to the shoots, to marketing and promotions, to displays even client handling, for me it comes all together.
2- Given your journey from a traditional joint family to becoming a successful entrepreneur, how do you think women’s empowerment has evolved in the business world?
I always say and believe that each one has its own journey. My coming from a traditional joint family did pave away for me when it comes to balancing the home and the career aspect. Today it is nice to see that women have the choice of stepping out of home along with handling the familiar responsibilities and definitely evolution is pretty visible whether it is in the business world or the corporate world. What is most important is that one gets to exercise the right to choose whether to stay at home or whether it is going out to work. even the roles and responsibilities that were early or limited for a male domain and now Opening up for women.
3- As a leading woman entrepreneur, what challenges did you face early in your career, and how did you overcome them to achieve your current status?
One of my biggest challenges has been to make way in a brand that was from primarily a male dominated brand. I started working in the marketing segment of the brand and eventually started my women line which was more because of the recommendations of friends and family and since then establishing the communication for the brand has been my focus. Advertising and Marketing are very hard cock areas when it comes to negotiation and handling the agencies, having men doing that part. I have been blessed to have great teams working with me and even good agency did not give me such a hard time 🙂 But like I said no success stories are made overnight or without any challenges and I have had my share but looking back at it today everything for me was a great learning point.
4- With your extensive experience, how do you see the role of women in entrepreneurship changing in India, especially on the occasion of Women’s Day?
I don’t think we need to look at any day to acknowledge that women are empowered. For me the day a woman gets to exercise her own choice whether it be her career or family or anything at all that is the day when they are truly empowered. Whereas, as far as the role of women in entrepreneurship is concerned, I think a lot of women today are coming forward with their unique ideas and starting unique businesses in this landscape which I think is great. Also, the acceptability about the fact that a Startup of a very innovative idea can come from a woman and it can work has seen a massive difference.
5- Your approach to entrepreneurship is deeply rooted in emotional involvement. How does this Emotional connection drives your decision-making process, especially when faced with challenges?
When it comes to my decision making, I would always like to gauge all my options and of course the emotional part is always involved in it because I always believed that anything that comes from your heart truly helps you move forward in the right direction of course with the balance of the mind. And as far as challenges are concerned every decision that I make which has any difficulty is involved in it. I always like to weigh all my options and locate it from a very human perspective considering that there is more than one person involved in it. Of course, I always like to involve my teams in the entire decision-making process.
6- In the male-dominated world of business, how do you think events like Women’s Day contribute to raising awareness about the achievements and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs?
Like I mentioned before I do not think you need any one day to celebrate women empowerment. It’s not what I think the Idea of women empowerment is.
7- Given your background in fashion and entrepreneurship, if you had to pick one fashion trend that represents the spirit of women empowerment, what would it be?
One fashion trend would be embracing the feminine side along with a modern touch to it. Also, I will not point it out to your train but I think the fact that even today when it comes to occasion where a woman likes to dress traditional but in her own modern way which I think is quite liberating
8- Your company, Study by Janak, specializes in Stylized Occasion Wear. How do you think the fashion industry can further contribute to promoting and celebrating women’s individuality and Empowerment?
Like I mentioned before I think that when we are talking about stylized occasion wear, we want to convey this to our women clientele that we have a huge range for them which will help them embrace their own true self. Our collection is definitely still quite rooted in our traditions yet it has a flare of modernity and contemporary to it, which makes it ideal for the women of today
9- In your opinion, how can successful women entrepreneurs like yourself inspire and mentor the next generation of aspiring businesswomen, especially in the context of Women’s Day?
I think when somebody reaches the benchmark of being termed as successful it is important that at that time, they start hand holding the younger generation and mentoring young Minds to make the way forward because truly that’s how the torch of women empowerment can be taken to the next level. From my side I always make sure that I become part of such initiative where young women are looking and making a mark with the own unique ideas and that I am there as a mentor to help them succeed in the goal
10 – As a successful entrepreneur, what is the significance of Women’s Day for you personally, and what message would you like to convey to women aspiring to make their mark in the business world?
Honestly for me each day is a woman’s day for me, as it is every day, I get a chance to make a difference in the life of a woman whether she is a homemaker or someone who is starting off or my team members or my younger generation, every time I am able to help them in achieving their goals, is what makes true Women’s Day celebration for me.
