Deepa Shah is the European and Singapore Chief Financial Officer of brand and communications research consultancy Hall & Partners. She has risen through the ranks from a junior finance assistant to become one of the youngest CFOs in her company. Under her leadership, Hall & Partners revenues have grown from $47 million to $140 million. She was recently awarded the Asian Women of Achievement Award for Business. The article profiles her career accomplishments and philosophies, and highlights her commitment to diversity and mentoring others.

1. T H E L U X U R Y B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E F O R A S I A N E N T R E P R E N E U R S
£4.99●SUMMER2016
WELL SUITED
TOP IN TRAVEL
FULL OF VERVE
DEEPA SHAH
VVA S I A N W E A L T H
M A G A Z I N E

2. 28 A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k
WINNER OF THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
AWARD FOR BUSINESS, DEEPA SHAH ROSE
FROM OFFICE JUNIOR TO CFO OF A $140M-REVENUE
BUSINESS. NIMA SUCHAK MEETS HER TO
FIND OUT ABOUT HER SUCCESS.
D
EEPA IS EXCITED. Having won the prestigious Asian Women of
Achievement Award (AWA) for Business, there’s a lot going on for
the European and Singapore Chief Financial Officer at brand and
communications research consultancy, Hall & Partners.
She has consistently pushed boundaries to achieve a lot for her
young age, and the judges were particularly impressed with her philosophy of
challenging herself and doing her best to learn new things every day.
Still in her 30s, Deepa is one of the youngest CFOs within the Omnicom Group
Inc. A diverse role, she is responsible for M&A and the overall finance function of
each of the European and Asian businesses, as well as serving as a strategic partner
to the Global CEO and leadership teams. She has led the development of the
businesses in Dubai, South Africa, Asia and Australia since 2011.
“When we sold Hall & Partners to our holding company, Omnicom Group Inc, it
was a $47m business globally, and now it delivers $140m in revenues. Seeing the
business grow and being part of the team that has contributed to this is a massive
achievement for me.”
RISING
Photographs: Kam Parmar
On location at The Savoy, London
STAR
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3. | I N T E RV I E W |

4. ›
30 A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k
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She is a commercially strategic
partner for the business and clients.
“My job is to build relationships that
matter – with clients, colleagues, and
teams that I manage. Being a trusted
strategic partner is really important.
People respect what I have to say and
you have to continually build on that.”
PATH TO SUCCESS
Deepa joined Hall & Partners as a
Junior Finance Assistant fresh out of
university. It was her first job, and she
rose through the ranks of the business
over the last 17 years.
“I started as an office junior but
never in a million years did I think I
would become CFO.” It was no easy
feat. She put in the hours, sacrificing
personal plans, and worked hard. “You
have to be ambitious and strong-willed
if you want to progress. I always want
to do better and challenge myself to
get further, both professionally and
personally. She admits that it doesn’t
get any easier the higher up the ladder
you go. “If you want to get to the top,
there are always going to be personal
sacrifices – to an extent, as long as it’s
not damaging to your personal life. It’s
really important to have a work-life
balance. It’s not about working harder,
but working smarter, I’m constantly
challenging myself and my team about
what we can do more efficiently in the
amount of time we have and get the
same results.”
But it’s clear she’s not a ‘traditional’
CFO. “People are often surprised when
they meet me. This environment can
be dominated by older, mostly white
males, and a lot them are traditional
accountants. I’m seen as a bit of a risk
taker, someone who breaks the rules. “I
don’t own a tailored suit – it’s not me,
and if you put me in one I would feel
so uncomfortable. It’s important to be
yourself at work, dressing so people
can see your personality. In the absence
of a sharp suit, and only wearing high
street brands, I prefer to accessorise,
so I splash out a bit more on quality
jewellery, a statement bag and a decent
watch.”
RAISING AWARENESS
With the AWA win under her belt,
Deepa wants to raise awareness of
causes she is passionate about and
says it is important to give back. She
SOME THINGS ARE
ESSENTIAL
● I love: Cars. I’m a petrol head. I’d rather
have nice cars and no money
● I drive: a Porsche 911 GTS
● The last book I read: The Nightingale, by
Kristin Hannah
● My favourite city: I travel a lot, but always
look forward to coming back to London
● Favourite App: Instagram…because I love
looking at other people’s pictures!

5. 31A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k

6. 33A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k
TIPS TO BE A WINNER
IN BUSINESS
● Excellent communication skills
● The highest level of integrity
● Build relationships that matter
● Always be fair
● Build a winning team because you
can’t do it all on your own!
recently accepted the role of Chair
of Trustees of the charity Lives Not
Knives which focuses on educating
schools on knife crime, as well as
working with young people in gaining
skills and training so that they can
enter employment. She is also an
ambassador for Women of the Future,
which connects award-winning women
to mentor young people in schools.
A major focus is being a ‘voice of
representation’ in her industry, raising
the issue of the lack of ethnic diversity
in the media and communications
industry. She describes going to an
International Women’s Day event for
women in media and communications
and out of 300 women, less than 5%
were from an ethnic background. This
spurred Deepa to promote ethnically
diverse cultures through businesses. “I
hate the word diversity as it sounds
so clinical. It’s a known fact that
generally, a well-structured ‘diverse’
workforce will give you a more
talented pool of people, with different
skill sets and different experiences, and
knowledge. It should be a natural part
of the recruitment processes because
ultimately it’s going to benefit your
business full circle…great work, happy
clients, healthy bottom line, better
rewarded employees. Most importantly,
it is imperative to ensure that a
‘diversity programme’ is not a required
tool to influence a company’s culture,
but that diversity is that culture.”
Deepa has been invited to join the
steering committee for Omnicom in the
UK, to assist in the area of diversity.
And in her capacity as an ambassador
for the Women of the Future, was
asked to talk to students about careers
in marketing, media and advertising at
the Foreign Office.
“It’s important for young people
to believe they can achieve anything
they put their mind to. Developing and
challenging others is essential because
I want them to grow and it’s good to
push them out of their comfort zone.
My role models do that for me. It’s
about being better today than you were
yesterday.”
Her own network of role models
and mentors support, challenge and
encourage Deepa in her journey. Her
family has been a major influence in
her life. “My father is a businessman
and he has always told me ‘do what
you want, as long as you’re happy,
but whatever you do, just do it well’”.
She also cites her former boss, former
global CFO of Hall & Partners, Colin
“IF YOU BELIEVE
IN YOURSELF
AND YOU TRUST
YOUR JOURNEY,
GREAT THINGS CAN
HAPPEN.”
Munday as a massive inspiration.
“From the start of my career to where
I am today, Colin has developed and
trained me. I got to know my base
knowledge through him – what it is to
do good business, to be a good person
in business, key values you should
consider when you are dealing with
people, clients, even when dealing with
commercial experience.”
“I will never take on anything that
I can’t give 100% to, or that I’m not
passionate about, because I know I
won’t deliver on it. If you believe in
yourself and you trust your journey,
great things can happen.”

7. AND THE WINNERS ARE…
FOLLOWING ON FROM DEEPA’S INTERVIEW, WE SHOWCASE THE OTHER WINNERS
FROM THIS YEAR’S ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS.
F
ROM A MONGOLIAN yak
wool entrepreneur to
a BBC health reporter,
the recipients of the
annual Asian Women of
Achievement Awards 2016,
held in association with NatWest, were an
incredibly diverse and inspiring group of
women.
The awards, which are held in London
and now in their 17th year, celebrate the
contributions made by Asian women, both
professionally and in their communities,
across the UK. Guests of honour this year
included Princess Badiya bint El Hassan of
Jordan and Baroness Helena Kennedy.
Winner of the Entrepreneur Award was
Nancy Johnston, who won for her social
business Tengri, which brings eco-friendly
Mongolian yak wool to the forefront of the
British fashion industry. Meanwhile, BBC
health correspondent Tulip Mazumdar was
honoured for her brave reporting on the
Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Sara Khan
won the Social & Humanitarian Award for
her work championing women’s rights and
countering Islamist extremism.
This year Julie Hanna was honoured
with the Global Empowerment Award.
Julie is an Egyptian-born entrepreneur
named by President Obama in 2015 as
Presidential Ambassador for Global
Entrepreneurship. She is an investor and
adviser to companies and institutions
globally, and since 2009 has served as
executive chair of the board at Kiva, the
largest crowdlending marketplace for
global entrepreneurs.
Commenting, Pinky Lilani CBE and
founder of the awards said: “We are
thrilled for all the winners, who are
united by their passion and inspirational
achievements. The diversity of this year’s
winners highlights that whether they
are martial arts champions or children’s
book authors, Asian women in Britain
are bucking sterotypes while making an
enormous contribution to British life. I am
immensely proud to stand alongside this
inspiring group of women.”

8. 35A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k
THE AWARDS
● Arts & Culture – Shweta Aggarwal,
creator of Dev and Ollie Books
● Business – Deepa Shah, CFO,
Hall & Partners
● Entrepreneur – Nancy Johnston,
CEO and founder, Tengri
● Professions – Amina Memon,
professor of Psychology, Royal
Holloway University of London
● Public Service – Tulip Mazumdar,
global health reporter, BBC News
● Social & Humanitarian – Sarah Khan,
co-director and co-founder, Inspire
● Sport – Harleen Kaur,
British Champion, World Martial
Kombat Federation
● Young Achiever – Bonnie Chiu,
co-founder Lensational and Shiura
Rasheed, programme manager,
Thomson Reuters Foundation
● AWA Chairman’s Award – Tahira
Widolf, general store manager, Asda
THE ASIAN WOMEN OF
ACHIEVEMENT CELEBRATE
WITH THEIR AWARDS.
| AWA R D S |