Leading Ladies

34 RETAILER APRIL 2014 34 RETAILER MARCH 2016
The ecosystem to catapult women
entrepreneurship in the country has
emerged. And braving the change, we
have women leaders/entrepreneurs in
Retail who are very different from their
male counterparts. For male retail leaders,
the business is filling in the demand and
supply gap, getting investors on board
and making the most out of available
resources. But a woman leader is different.
For her, business is a fusion of her ideas
and passion channelised with right
amount of experience and fuelled with
her ambition that she transforms into a
revenue generating machine. In nutshell,
her business is her loved baby whom she
nurtures out of love along with carving the
best retail strategies to outshine in given
domain. Acknowledging the women power,
Retailer catches up with the women retail
leaders to know their brands from their
perspective, because as someone said, “She
believed she could, and she did.”
BREAKING
THE GENDER
SHACKLES
sharmila das

APRIL 2014 RETAILER 35MARCH 2016 RETAILER 35
Leading Ladies eRetail
My life...my motto
An engineer from BITS
Pilani, Richa Kar acquired
her Master’s degree from
Narsee Monji Institute of
Management Studies. Like a
true entrepreneur, she always
dreamt of starting her own
venture. Destinity it would be,
she started doing her research
in the lingerie penetration in
India while she was awestruck
to realise a good amount of
Victoria’s Secret’s revenue
comes through its’ online
sells. That was the EUREKA
moment that shaped the fate
of Zivame to offer lingerie for
every size and requirement.
As she says, “We want every
woman to experience Zivame
where shape and size is not a
bar. We want our women to
be confident and whenever
we achieve that, it’s a great
contentment.”
WOW moments
There have been quite a few.
However, the incident when
she and her team went extra
mile to deliver exact products
for a to-be wedded and injured
girl stood significant.
Future horizon
In her words, “Revenue wise,
we aim to achieve a turnover of
Rs 1,000 crore in the next few
years. We also plan to focus
aggressively on our private
labels and see Tier II cities as
the next drivers of growth.
LEADING THE
SIZING BUSINESS
My life ...my motto
The only Indian to receive the
Cambridge Commonwealth
Trust Scholarship for studying
Economics at Cambridge
University in 1994, Suchi
graduated from St Stephens
College, Delhi University and
procured her master’s degree in
Finance Economics from the
London School of Economics
where she won the British
Chevening Scholarship.
Suchi has had an illustrious
career yet she calls herself a
Delhi girl who has come home
after over 15 years to build
LimeRoad.com, a venture
conceived after the birth of her
second child, while snatching a
few minutes of me-time flipping
through a magazine.
Wow Moment
She has also been selected as
one of 15 women worldwide –
high potential leaders under
40. Lately, she was chosen
to address the Startup India
Standup India Event and
shared dais with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
She Values...
She has great admiration
for people who have
questioned status quo and
made lasting change happen
in their own contexts, and all
her core partners reflect the
same grain
Richa Kar
Founder CEO, Zivame
THE FASHION
ENTREPRENEUR
Suchi Mukherjee
Founder CEO, Limeroad.Com
ISSUE FOCUS

M
ira Kulkarni
is an
Ayurveda
aficionado used to
casually give away
her self-made,
Ayurvedic handmade
soaps to friends in
her college days.
She had no clue
then that she would
one day be busy with the final
details of opening her stand-
alone stores across the country
for her natural skincare and hair care brand made from
Ayurveda recipes ‘Forest Essentials’.
When Kulkarni started Forest Essentials in the year
2000 with a seed capital of Rs 2 lakh, and a product
range of just handmade soaps and candles, she claims
to have been unfazed by competition from established
brands like Biotique and Shahnaz in the niche market
for Ayurveda personal care products. Kulkarni graduated
in Fine Arts from Stella Maris College, Chennai and she
educated herself in various fine arts.
My life...my motto
I have donned many avatars of a journalist, of an entrepreneur,
has been a career woman all my life. Last 10 years I have
learnt so much, everything related to marketing and everything
from sketch board to the shelf, demand and supply, visual
merchandising, a 360 degree experience I have which is probably
the culmination of which makes a success in my present role...
BOLD AND BOUNTIFUL
Kalyani
Chawla
VP-Marketing
Communication,
Christian Dior
Highs and Lows in life
It’s been always high in my career
as I learnt from my mistake. Low
for me always being money as I’
was not a very expert in handling
finance and in business, one
cannot have the attitude of leaving
this responsibility to someone else.
Wow Moments
When I had my shop in Calcutta,
then when I was hired by Indian
Express, when I started my own
factory and started supplying to
the best people and brands and it
was absolute high when Dior hired
me and allowed me to continue
with my own business.
A situation you could
have handled better?
I could have had a fashion
accessory export company. I could
have run it better if I could have
handled it better.
ESSENTIALLY
GLAMOROUS
F
rom being a Delhi University rank
holder with a passion to be a historian,
Shriti Malhotra made an abrupt shift to
fashion, joining NIFT in 1992. And that move
laid the ground for her entry into retail.
“I opted to join retail because I wanted
to be part of something new and to be in
a brand that excited me. I joined Benetton
and the first three years in the company
as a Management Trainee and then as a
Product Manager doing multiple roles, which
provided hands on, on-the-job training in
retail,” Malhotra says. The Body Shop, which
entered India in 2006, now has over 125
(approx) stores across 40 cities.
THE AVID
LEADER
Shriti
Malhotra
COO, The
Body Shop
Mira Kulkarni
Director, Mountain Valley
Springs India Private Limited
Leading Ladies Retail
ISSUE FOCUS

Journey so far...
My experiences at Marriott in
the states, Gstaad- Switzerland
or Phuket, Thailand all have
been wonderful and all these
experiences led me to brave it
out on my own journey. In 2011,
NurtureU enterprise was formed
and we got Joost/Boost franchise,
master rights for India.
Low Moment
As we got the franchisee rights
and started approaching market,
another international brand of
similar nature was winding up
business in India. All malls and
commercial places had a doubt
of the success a ‘juice bar’ could
achieve. That felt like a low
point. You are new in the field,
excited as you just have obtained
the master license after a lot of
hard-work and it felt like you
are constantly being questioned
about your decision. But it didn’t
last long thankfully.
THE JUICE DIVA
Life on a high
The high point of course was
recently when I turned down a
location on a ‘product ethics’
basis and we lost the ‘site.’
And like they say, truth always
prevails and the best man
wins! We were asked to return
after another brand (no names
mentioned) started operations
and failed miserably. The
customer complained and
on public demand the
management had to get Joost
back. The joy of going back
and claiming grounds as
you know, your products are
honest and your work is good
was a certain ‘high point.’
WOW moment
Every time I receive a
message with ‘Joost selfie’ as
people try Joost at airports
and various other locations
and appreciate it. It’s a ‘WOW’
moment for me.
Take on Industry
As an industry, it’s important
to come together and work
with the current government,
to make it a hospitable
environment to flourish F
B business in the country.
Future growth
plans
At this stage we are a strong
team. Our past years of
experiences have made the
difficult part of this business
the ‘perishable raw material
sourcing’ streamlined. From
training to building the juice-
bar, Joost has never been in a
better shape to expand. Joost
starts franchising in the year
2016 and you shall see many
more franchisee stores this
year onwards. We plan to
end this year with at least 30
stores.
Rivoli Sinha
Founding and Managing Director,
Joost Juice Bars

My life…my motto
Having always been interested in design
as a child and possessing a natural skill for it
drove me to experiment and take on new challenges
with design. My foray into the retail sector in retail
design began in 1998 and has devoted significant
energy to mastering the nuances of the retail sector. As
the founder and chief creative lead at Studio J, which
I set up in 2011, I have spearheaded hugely successful
concepts in space design and visual merchandising for
a host of brands in India. Being the recipients of various
design awards and recognitions have been enriching
BRINGING RESPONSIBLE
EXCELLENCE IS HER FORTE
and push us to challenge our design thinking
further.
High Low Moments
As a design firm, recognition of our
expertise and seeing the impact of our
design concepts when it comes to actual
numbers for the brand has always been
extremely gratifying. The times that we
pushed the boundaries of traditional design
to come up with innovative and one-of-a-kind
concepts that had our clients applauding
our efforts as design collaborators is also
memorable for us as a firm.
I don’t see anything as a low point because
no matter what path you choose to follow,
challenges are a part of the journey and the
way to build your mettle in the business.
Take on Industry
The factor to consider is that though
expectations are to meet the level of
imagination and ingenuity of design
concepts like the west, do we have the
resources to meet the standards of quality,
finish and design thinking that it
entails? To make the industry
a viable one, we also need to
nurture and train talent in
the proper manner. Skill
development that would
enable the retail design
business in India to meet
international standards
isn’t really happening. The
need of the hour is to begin
from the basics and set up
a system that results in a
steady stream of skilled and
talented design professionals.
Future Growth Plans
Studio J has bootstrapped its way through
the last four years and it hasn’t stopped us
from taking on big and incredibly ambitious
projects. This year will have us teaming up
with international collaborators to enhance
our vision to be among top design services
company in India.
JennyAndrews
FounderDirector,StudioJ
ISSUE FOCUS
ACHIEVEMENTS
Creative business of the
Year award (2013) by the
India Retail Congress,
VMRD Award for Best Visual
Merchandising (2012 2013)
at In-Store Asia,
Award for Best Display (2012)
Conferred with the Designomics
award for Best Visual
Merchandising in 2013.

My life…my motto
Learning is an ongoing process. I
believe every day is a new learning.
While education builds up your
thought process, experience broadens
your vision. The whole journey of
building the brand from two stores to
55 stores has been challenging yet an
exciting one. Support of the family is
the biggest booster one can get and I
feel blessed to have so.
Everyone has highs and lows that
they have to learn from. Introducing
Rosso Brunello in the bridge to luxury
footwear segment has definitely been
a high point in my career.
Although Motherhood is a beautiful
feeling and a full time job, the
constant effort of juggling between
commitments at work and at the same
time devoting time to my kids took me
a while and I had to drift away from
work for some time.
Wow Moment
Making Da Milano an award-winning
renowned brand in the leather
accessories market will always be the
WOW moment of my career.
About the industry
The retail industry is unique that
relies strictly on aggressive marketing
and continuous innovation. Yes,
advancement in technology is one
area that needs constant development
in order to increase profitability and
lower the costs.
Future Horizon
Any decision we take is in the best
our understanding and well thought
off from the perspective of growing
the brand. We refrain ourselves from
taking decisions in a hurry because
that’s when problems look bigger and
solution gets fizzled out.
The brand`s strategic expansion
efforts are now concentrated at
international markets like UAE, Middle
East, South East Asia and Europe.
The brand aims to expand across
pre-eminent locations in international
realm.
THE LUXURY
QUEEN
Shivani Malik
Director- Marketing, Da Milano

SahibaNarang
Director,InfiniteLuxuryBrandPvtLtd
RachnaAggarwal
CEO,IndusLeague,adivisionofFuture
LifestyleFashionsLimited
My life...my motto
From getting my first salary to
launching Chumbak, I’ve had the
opportunity to enjoy many highs in
my career. No low points as such.
No opportunities lost. We believe
in learning from every mistake and
experience at Chumbak - it helps us
make better products and happier
experiences.
WOW Moment
Every moment has been a WOW
moment - from seeing the first
product we made, to selling our
first product, setting up the first
kiosk, opening our first large store,
our first collection of apparel. Every
milestone has been memorable and
looking forward to more and newer
WOW moments!
Future outlook
We are in the process of setting
up more stores across India;
employing strategies to increase
our pan India reach online and
through store experiences. We also
have international expansion plans
in the pipeline. Introducing newer,
vibrant and contemporary products
and designs as always are part of
the growth agenda.
THE WITTY LEADER
E
quipped with a degree in Finance from McGill
University and an inherent sense of entrepreneurship,
Sahiba Narang has successfully run several family
businesses.
Today, she carries this experience forward in her newest
role and endeavor at Infinite Luxury. Her comprehensive
corporate experience in executing and developing new
enterprises makes her a formidable player in the Indian and
international business community.
THE ENTERPRISING
WOMAN
THE MIND
BEHIND ‘FRIDAY
DRESSING’
R
achna Aggarwal, an MBA from
IIM, Ahmedabad, started her
career with Coats Viyella Plc.
She worked with Van Heusen and
went on to launch Allen Solly in 1993,
when she introduced the concept of
`Friday Dressing’ to the country, an
achievement she regarded as one of her
smartest business ideas. Until,
as CEO of Indus League, she
affected the stunning success
story of women’s jeans wear
brand Jealous 21.
In 1999, Aggarwal co-
promoted the venture capital
funded brand-marketing
firm, Indus-League Clothing
Ltd along with seven other
colleagues. It was acquired by
The Future Group in 2005, and
Aggarwal took over as CEO of
Indus League in 2008.
Shubhra Chadda
Co-founder, Chumbak
ISSUE FOCUS

There should be policies which attract investments
while minimising the taxes.
Organised retail forms only eight per cent of
the market, where in only four per cent consists of
a formally educated workforce (post graduates)!
There should be a better picture of this sector that
the policy makers must present so as to attract
quality students or workforce into this field, while
establishing reputed educational institutions and
introducing retail specific courses.
Future Horizon
I would like to remain a part of this exciting
domain of retail. Would also like to venture into
the analytics part of it while exploring verticals
such as consumer behaviour, decision making, and
consumer trends, hence identify gaps in retail and
address them.
My life…my motto
It has been an exciting journey of over 23
years with vast and multi-faceted experience
across several sectors such as education, film,
television, amusement and retail amongst
others. It would be difficult to define a single
high point in this vast journey; while there
have been several peaks during this journey.
There have been no two moments alike with a
plethora of new and exciting challenges. Being
a positive person, I am motivated to face new
challenges and grow with it.
With a rich experience of working with The
Great India Place, we had put in a lot of effort
in terms of planning key marketing campaigns,
décor, leasing and operations in order to
attract quality consumer base and there was
a day when we clocked the mall footfall at
over three lakh! That was indeed a high point!
There was a significant amount of learning
from there and insights on understanding your
target group. Those key learnings came in
handy while working with DLF Place, Saket.
With an introduction of rich tenant mix aided
by strategic marketing plans and value added
services, DLF Place, Saket is a preferred
consumer destination today and that is more
than a high point for me!
There hasn’t been a low point per se,
wherever I face a challenging situation, I turn
it around to learn something and grow with it
while moving ahead.
WOW Moment
During my assignment with Mukta Arts (a
film production company), we faced several
challenges with the opening of Whistling
Woods International Institute but we went
through unencumbered with courage and were
able to sort everything out and went ahead
with a smooth and successful opening. It was
truly a WOW moment for us back then!
Take on Industry
There is a need for the government policies
to favour retail, more ease needs to be given
to the developers and retailers in terms of
processes which should be an apt minimum.
WHEN BEST PRACTICES
MAKE A LEADER PERFECT
Benu Sehgal
Senior Vice President,
Mall Management, DLF Place, Saket
Leading Ladies Real Estate
ISSUE FOCUS

My life...my motto
You need to be passionate about what you do and it is
this passion that keeps me going and makes it possible
for me to keep attempting new things, without getting
discouraged by any challenges that may come in my way.
Also, I don’t pressurize myself by competing with others.
I benchmark myself against my own work and always try
to better myself with each new initiative.
WOW Moment
A recent ‘Wow’ moment was when we won three awards
for The Collection, UB City at the Asia Africa GCC Retail
and Shopping Centre Awards.
Take on Industry
One of the main problems associated with luxury mall
growth is the lack of infrastructure. A luxury mall needs
an eco-system that spells luxury surrounding it. You
cannot have such a mall placed on a traffic gridlocked,
potholed road. Infrastructural development is not always
in the hands of the average mall developer and this has
held back development to a certain extent.
A BORN LEADER
UzmaIrfan
Director,PrestigeGroup
The Journey so far…
Pushpa Bector brings along an extensive experience of
over two decades and has been a renowned name in the
retail and mall business domain. During her previous role
as the Vice President Mall Head of DLF Promenade
(for three years), she took the charge of the mall from its
inception to making it a successful and admired fashion
destination by designing creative marketing campaigns,
and establishing cohesive operations and processes.
WOW Moments
In the early years of her association with DLF, she has
also headed the Food and Beverage Division. The concept
of food courts initiated by her was a successful move
making her a renowned name in the Food and Beverage
segment in the country. Adding to her credit, she has
been instrumental in establishing over six food courts and
handling the leasing processes of the retail spaces in the
mall business segment of DLF Utilities.
Moreover, she has been honored the International
Women Leadership Award for the Excellence in the
Retail Industry organised by CMO Asia in 2013. Most
Admired Shopping Centre Professional of the Year at
Asia Shopping Center and Mall Awards 2014. Women
Leadership Award for Excellence in Retail Industry at
CMO Asia 2013.
THE MALL
STRATEGIST
PushpaBector
ExecutiveDirectorMall
Head,DLFMoI
Leading Ladies Real Estate
ISSUE FOCUS

BAGFUL OF SUCCESS
My life...my motto
My entrepreneurial journey commenced at an early age of 18. I
did two part time courses: one in textile and another in interior
decoration which have been instrumental in me having the
sensibilities of design that continuously contribute to both Baggit
and Nina Lekhi brands.
High Low Moments of life
Historically in 2001, the retail market in India was
revolutionising and the SOR model was introduced, and we
were feeling vulnerable to be part of this new model but at the
same time being an entrepreneur means charting into unknown
territories. So we jumped and became part of this new model and
the result of this initiative was tremendous business success at
every moment.
Future Horizon
We have a plan to open 50 new stores by the end of this year
especially targeting Tier II cities. We are working towards
opening at least one store in each city of India. Internationally,
we want to spread our wings in other countries as well.
NinaLekhi
FounderCreativeHead,Baggit
IndiaPvtLtd.
My life…my motto
Born in New Delhi into an
Air Force family, I’ve had
a fair share of growing up
across the country and having
friends of many cultures and
religions.
My first job was at 15,
selling credit cards. This was
my first encounter with the
real world. I cannot forget
my first day at work after
a day in training. I started
designing wrought iron
accessories, furniture and
cushion covers under the
brand ‘Knots Krosses’ at
20. I would sell them, retail
them at home stores in the
city including Bombay Store,
Contemporary Arts Crafts
and several more. My love for
retail drove me to become a
design entrepreneur.
In 2008, I set up Atelier
Homes in Pune. Atelier
Homes, started as a 1,000 sq
ft home store in a quaint by
lane on the outskirts of Pune
is now a 7,000 sq ft home
decor boutique in Koregaon
Park, Pune.
Highs and lows
of life
The day a customer rates
their experience as delightful
is the high and seeing an
unhappy customer is the low.
WOW moment
When a customer says, “We
love the experience.”
Future
growth plans
Spread our retail footprint
to1.5 lakh sq ft in the next
five years.
RoheenaNagpal
FounderDirector,
AtelierL’Orange
THE DESIGN EMPEROR
ISSUE FOCUS

Leading Ladies

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