Ritika Mittal, textiles entrepreneur on the one-of-a-kind saris she creates at MORA, her fascination with the North-east and why she doesn’t want big business!

Interview by Aparna V. Singh

Coming across Ritika Mittal’s MORA sarees is something of a shock. Few of us even know that the North-eastern states of India produce some exquisite silk fabrics unique to them. Even stranger it is to find them allied to Kalamkari techniques from Andhra Pradesh and ending up as saris that look traditional, yet have a certain je ne sais quoi about them.

When I came across MORA on Facebook, I knew that I had to interview the woman behind it, and find out more.

Aparna V. Singh (AVS): I’ve learnt from your website about the curious way in which MORA started up, with you designing saris for your own wedding. How did it grow into a business venture?

Ritika Mittal (RM): I designed my first sari in November 2008, just before my wedding in December. I had been working in media for over a decade – before I decided that I wanted to do textiles. I had no formal training in textiles, none at all – so I was like, let me try this and see how it goes! What happened was that I went backpacking to Ladakh for 2 months, and once I was there, I realized that what I really wanted to do was work with the local women’s groups – and the only way I could do that was with textiles.

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An interview with Mukta Darera, Founder of iReboot, a life orientation company which helps people discover themselves and  their true career calling.

Interview by Aparna V. Singh

Mukta Darera started iReboot in 2008, to help people change directions in their lives. Here she shares her experience with helping people re-look their lives and identify new career directions.

Aparna V.Singh (AVS): Tell us a little about yourself.

Mukta Darera (MD): Born and raised in Mysore, I am a firm believer in second chances – a concept that is the very foundation behind the initiation of this company. I graduated in Electronics & Communication Engineering from SJCE, Mysore and soon became part of the prestigious Intel family; the place that triggered my thoughts to build a world where people can “reboot” from where they left off. I later went on to an entrepreneurship program at IIMB, where the seeds for iReboot were sown.

As for my passions, I’ve been lucky enough to be all of these – travel guide, tutor, examiner, drummer, theatre actor, anchor, voice over artist, radio jockey, master of ceremony and a Kathak dancer. I have always believed that there is really no limit to how enriching one’s life can be. And the choice to enrich one’s life is in the hands of each and every individual.

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Meet Jessie Paul, previously CMO of Wipro, and now working to create Paul Writer, India’s first community for B2B marketers.

By Aparna V. Singh

Traditionally, we think of Marketing as aimed at the ‘ordinary consumer’ like you and me. However, businesses also sell to one another, and this area of Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing is fascinating and challenging in its own way.

Jessie Paul is the Managing Director of Paul Writer, a marketing advisory firm she founded in early 2010 to work with clients in the B2B, services and technology space. What drew us to interview her was her creating the Paul Writer community, a first of its kind for B2B marketers in India.

Previously Chief Marketing Officer of Wipro’s IT business and as Global Brand Manager at Infosys, Jessie has been among the most influential business women in the Indian IT industry.

(Note: This interview was conducted in early June 2011). Continue reading →

Nirmala Menon, CEO of Interweave Consulting helps Indian workplaces create an enabling environment for people of different gender, regional origin and communities.

While “Diversity” is a concept Indians understand instinctively, we know little about actively managing diversity at an organizational level. An experienced Human Resources professional, Nirmala Menon is the Founder and CEO of Interweave Consulting , a diversity management solutions firm. Here, Nirmala tells us more about diversity management in India, the rise of new, flexible work environments , the issues that different employees, especially women face , and how actively dealing with these issues can help.

Interview by Aparna V. Singh

Aparna V. Singh (AVS): How and why did Interweave and the idea of offering diversity management support in India come about?

Nirmala Menon (NM): After a long career with ONGC, I had gone to the U.S for an additional Masters degree; while in the U.S, I worked with a Small Business Centre. This was the time when a report called Workforce 2001 was making big waves there, on how U.S workforce demographics were changing, and businesses had to change accordingly.

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Lack of accessible daycare prevents many women from working post motherhood; we talk to Sridevi Raghavan of Amelio, a daycare chain with a difference.

By Aparna V. Singh

After working with Ogilvy & Mather, the well-known global advertising agency, Sridevi did her MBA at Harvard Business School, which is where her dream of starting up a daycare centre evolved. Amelio is a daycare chain based on an ‘on-site’ model, where an employer offers daycare space and facilities for employees’ children. Amelio has been co-founded by Sridevi with her husband, Raghavan Jawahar (in fact, they had previously given us some useful inputs on couples running a business together).

Aparna V. Singh (AVS): Tell us how you came up with the idea of starting an on-site daycare business.

Sridevi Raghavan (SR): While I was working in the advertising industry, I used to see many of my senior colleagues struggling to manage their careers once they had their children; they would be begging the maid to stay late or trying to make other arrangements. I knew that under the strain, some would eventually decide to take a break while a few others would continue to suffer. It would have made their lives so much easier if they had a daycare at work or nearby.

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Lavanya Nalli, next generation owner at Nalli, the iconic Sari store, shares with us her journey into the family business.

By Anne John

Generations of Indian women buy fine saris at Nalli. But, how is the brand meeting the challenges of a new century? Lavanya Nalli, President of The Nalli Group of Companies, has come a long way since she joined her 80+ years old family business just a few years back. She has since established her own line of stores named Nalli Next showcasing a contemporary and chic clothing range and gone on to win many accolades for her work. Here, she discusses her own journey and the vision for the brand.

Anne John (AJ): You come from a well established business family with access to experienced people and capital; did you face any obstacles at all in the beginning?

Lavanya Nalli (LN): I think one of the first obstacles I faced was entering an extremely male-dominated industry.

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Here, Women’s Web talks with Shubhra Chaddha, (Co-Founder of Chumbak with Alicia Souza) and attempts to discover the secret of how they come up with such crazy-fun products.

By Aparna V. Singh

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Toy Design is no child’s play – it needs to be fun, yet safe, affordable and creative. Enter Suhasini Paul, Toy Designer and the brain behind many interesting board games for kids. 

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On the excitement and challenges of the Indian start-up environment with Nandini Hirianniah, Co-founder of The Morpheus, a start-up mentoring firm.

By Aparna V. Singh

Nandini Hirianniah co-founded Madhouse Media, India’s first online/offline movie rentals company in 2004. Madhouse was acquired by Seventymm in 2007 and after working with the new entity for a year, Nandini moved on to create a start-up incubation and mentoring firm, The Morpheus with her co-founder at Madhouse, Sameer Guglani, and Indus Khaitan.

Here, Nandini talks about start-ups in India, the opportunities open to them and the causes of failure. She also discusses Morpheus’ work with start-ups, especially with helping them survive early stage troubles.

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Dr. Nishi of Chillibreeze, who manages one of the largest writers’ networks in India, offers insight into this challenging field.

By Aparna V. Singh

Chillibreeze is a firm that’s made a name for itself in the highly competitive content writing and editing market in a relatively short time; it was only in 2004 that Ralph Budelman, the CEO and chief founder, came up with the idea.

Dr. Roopa Nishi Viswanathan, a medical doctor, joined Chillibreeze in 2004, writing content and managing customer projects. Today, she is a Director with Chillibreeze, oversees business development, writers’ services and is responsible for the overall content and marketing strategy.

In this interview, Dr. Nishi discusses with Women’s Web her unconventional but exciting career path as well as the opportunities and challenges in the content writing field.

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