The Brand Called You

Waste management in India is a big issue. There are many projects indulged in making a circular economy and managing the waste produced in India the right way. One thing that contributes to the waste of the country is the non-biodegradable used sanitary pads. Women on average use 6 pads a month that go straight to the dustbin and they have no use after that. This is a huge problem that was unattended until now, but now we have social entrepreneurs like Ajinkya Dhariya, who have made the development of a sustainable society, the mission of their life. Ajinkya Dhariya is the founder and CEO of PadCare Labs. He is a mechanical engineer and sanitation and social entrepreneur. By sanitation and social entrepreneur, we mean that Ajinkya is developing a circular economy with the used sanitation products.

A famous neuroscientist has said, “The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells-called neurons – lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built so far.” Our brain has the power to tap the hidden potential that lies within all of us. Here, comes the role of neuro coaches who help us understand the mechanism of brain functioning enabling us to follow certain rules and processes that will eventually greet us with results beyond our imagination. Today, we have Saloni Suri, a self-taught neuro-coach who takes us through the potential of neuroscience and the beauty of brain functioning. She uses the neuroscience model of change, which merges with spiritual wisdom to help rewrite minds.

Charles Groenhuijsen rightly said, "Good news is no news". Whenever you switch to the News channels, what kind of news do you see in general? How many times do you get news through the News channels? Very less, right? This news pattern is not area or country specific. This is human psychology which is rightly understood by TV and News professionals like Charles Groenhuijsen, who is also our guest for this episode.

Infosys is the first Indian company to open the NASDAQ stock market. Several reports have shown the admirable working of the organisation which has forced western outsourcing firms to change their business models as well. Indians today prefer joining Infosys over many other global giants. What goes behind handling a global business and the mentorship for people and leaders is essential. Today, we have Mr. Tan Moorthy a seasonal business leader who heads Infosys delivery operations in the US, Canada, and Latin America to discuss some valuable leadership lessons.

In 1997, in the UN event, Carbon Credits were created in order to incentivize projects all around the world to decarbonize the planet. Basically, if a company is polluting in a developed country, they need to pay for the pollution to the companies which do the opposite in the emerging markets. This is measured on the basis of carbon emission. Every ton of Co2 emitted is one Carbon Credit which a company has to buy. In 2017, our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Francisco Benedito detected some inefficiencies in the existing climate market. It was found out that one can apply technology to make these markets more transparent and traceable. This is why ClimateTrade was created as a platform which uses blockchain technology to provide transparency and traceability in climate trade transactions. Francisco Benedito is the CEO of ClimateTrade and the co-founder of ClimateCoin. He has been awarded as the best organization for decarbonizing the travel industry. He has also been voted amongst the top 100 SDG influencers.

Jeff Bezos has said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A strong brand is formed and is sustainable only when it connects to people on emotional and rational levels. It needs to offer something unique to customers and not just focus on the product on a superficial level. A brand manager’s role is extremely critical to build and maintain the reputation. Today, we have Mr. Soumya Solanki, the Managing Director of Kantar Insights of West, East, Central Africa, who discusses it at great length with us. Soumya discusses the importance of having a clear brand purpose. He talks further about a brand providing a meaningful benefit to the consumer.

This is the story of a simple boy who had high ambitions. Samrendra Kumar, whom our host addresses as Sam, is an ex-Army man and the co-founder and the Managing Director of MitKat Advisory. Sam was born and brought up in a village in Bihar. He did not have much facilities living there and did not get an exemplary education as well. So when he stepped into the Nation Defence Academy, he saw fine men all around him as his batchmates and insecurities and inferiority complexes hit him hard. But, his hard work paid off and after four years, he was commanding the passing out parade and was awarded the Sword of Honour and the President's Gold Medal.

From going on a first date with your lover to planning a day out with your family, watching a movie together in the cinema is always included in the schedule. Movie-going is such a go-to plan for every generation. With the help of our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Mr. Tushar Dhingra, let's understand what makes the experience of the cinema halls so comfortable for us. Tushar Dhingra is the Founding CEO of Dhishoom Cinemas. He is a tenured retail and entertainment leader. He is also the ex-CEO of Smash Entertainment. He has served as the Chief Marketing Officer at PVR and the Chief Operating Officer at Big Cinemas.

There are people who want to work for society, there are people who work for society, then there are people who help others in working for society. One such personality is with us today on our show who has made 'Social Impact' as his career. We are pleased to invite Mr. Roshan Paul as our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You. Roshan is a social entrepreneur and the co-founder of the Amani Institute which is supporting social impact leaders. He has been awarded and felicitated several times. He is also an author who has written books like 'Such a lot of World', 'Your Work begins at No' and 'The New Reason to Work'.

People often judge and predict our professional life based on our personality when we are very young. We also choose our careers that suit our personality. In Michelle's case, she contradicted her personality but ended up doing what she always wanted to. Michelle Martin is a Radio Host, a TedX speaker, and a moderator. Michelle also hosts a finance show titled 'Your Money'. In the conversation, she tells us that she has worked for TV and Radio, but right now she is focusing on the business world and markets, personal finance management, entrepreneurship, etc. She is working on sharing inspiring stories that might spark some positive change.

Marketing takes business products or services to the customer and helps maintain good relations. Especially, during times of crisis, which any business organisation is bound to be in due to several factors, the right approach to marketing communication help in sustaining the relations with the stakeholders. With the advent of the Internet and social media, the range of scope of MarCom has undoubtedly increased, but it sticks to its core value of disseminating the right information. Today, we have Ms. Swati Bhattacharya, a leading MarCom professional who shares her insight on keeping business afloat in today’s time. Coming with experience in sorting crisis management, she also devotes her time to CSR.

Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room. It is not always about the companies we work for, it is also about our branding. The value, the skillset, the experience we bring to the table in any field. It starts with the right mindset and thoughts, and today we have India’s pioneer of personal branding to talk about its importance, enabling us to become leaders in life. Tune in to listen to this enriching conversation. Known as “The Personal Branding Pioneer in India," she is the speaker and coach focusing on thought leadership. Tanvi describes the concept of personal branding as a “celebration of yourself.”

Being a CEO in any organization is a big achievement. But, our guest for today has been the CEO of the CEOs. We are pleased to invite Scott Mordell to our show today. He is the former CEO of the Young Presidents' Organisation (YPO). He had joined the organization at the age of 33 as a member. He has served the YPO as a CEO for ten years from 2010-2020, which is the longest in the history of the YPO. He is currently the CEO of The Florida Group.

William Shakespeare has said, “Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” Adversity is a part of life but is not a permanent state. As human beings, it often gets difficult to realise that when facing any challenge, however, with right mind training and some conscious efforts, one can learn to embrace these challenges and move forward for the better days. Our guest, Colby Sharma, talks about the same in his book, “The Curveball.” He has overcome a learning disability and continued to be a law graduate. Tune in to listen to some interesting insight in handling the not-so-good days of life.

"To create a strong business, you need to master two things, first one is to create energy, another one is to build a character."  These words of wisdom are given to us by a business expert and our guest for today's episode, Christo Popov. Christo is a very learned and experienced person in the field of business. He has worked with over 25 startups and knows about every nerve of a business. He is the Founder and CEO of Fast Track, a leading consulting company. He has also worked with Shell and SABMiller. He has also spent a year in India studying about Vedanta, Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism and Zen. He is a member of YPO.

Networking, they say, is about planting relationships. Today’s guest, Mr. Nick Jonnson, who runs a networking organization talks about specializing in peer small groups. He is the founder and managing director of Executives’ Global Network, Singapore. Uniquely, he also aims to help alleviate the loneliness that usually comes to people at the top. He is an author, speaker, athlete, and mental health educator. Driven by a mission, he works relentlessly to remove the stigma associated with mental health in workplaces.

Whenever we think of opting for a government service, the preconceived notion is that it would be very slow and would take a lot of time and visits for the job being done. One also has to bribe at different levels to get the service. To eliminate this unsatisfactory practice and bring systemic changes to the government system, our guest for today, Gaurav Goel, took a step. Gaurav is the Founder and CEO of Samagra, which is a mission-driven consulting firm. Gaurav tells us that the core thesis of Samagra is better governance as a lever to create large scale impact, fundamentally believing that while a lot of things can be done outside of the system, but if one wants to touch millions, especially the underprivileged and transform their lives, one has to work with the political and government processes. Samagra was founded about nine years ago and since then it has been working with different state governments to improve the system processes.

It has been rightly said, “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Fitness is not just about becoming a model. It’s about self-awareness that leads to spiritual and mental well-being. In today’s episode of The Brand Called You, we have Charlie Johnson, a personalised fitness coach and a founder of Charlie Johnson Fitness. He has been on Forbes Magazine’s list of the top three coaches. Tune in to listen to his thoughts on the importance of fitness for people of all ages.

Change is eternal. As time is passing, everything is changing, or we can say, transforming. People are transforming, psychology is transforming, the way of looking at things is transforming, likewise, organisations and their structures are also transforming. In this episode of The Brand Called You, we bring you a transformation enthusiast, Jagdish Belwal. Jagdish is the founder and CEO of the Jagdish Belwal Advisory. He is a board mentor and has an organization called Critical Eye. He is the former CIO of Tata Motors. He has also been awarded, recognized and felicitated several times.

We often come across the realization that nobody on earth can love us more than our parents. The bond with them goes beyond all disagreements and arguments. Now imagine the plight of those young kids who lose their parents! They are left all alone with their vulnerabilities to grow up in society. SOS Children's Villages, a non-government global organization, was made after the second world war to look after such kids who are all alone in this big wide world. Tune in to listen to this organization's work with the President of SOS Children’s Villages India, Mr. Rakesh Jinsi. SOS Children’s Villages is a global non-government organization working for the holistic development and normal upbringing of parent-less children.

A huge percentage of Indians are still living under the below poverty line. There are a large number of people whose annual family income is below 2.5 lakhs. Money isn't everything, but it is very important when it comes to fulfilling dreams. This is a major problem. But, there does not exist a problem that doesn't have a solution. Foundation For Excellence is an organization, which is working for such talented individuals. They fund the education of academically brilliant students and support them to study. In this episode, we have the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Foundation For Excellence, Ram Kolavennu, with us. Foundation For Excellence (FFE) is a 25-year-old social enterprise, which is determined to support financially weak academically brilliant students, who have aspirations and want to continue their studies. FFE funds their education.

Often considered and left underdeveloped, rural India has people with undiscovered aptitude. We often talk about development in rural India, but it is only possible if we include them in the process. Today’s guest, Mr. Ajay Chaturvedi, a banker turned entrepreneur, is a great believer in people and their untapped potential. He is the founder of HarVa XPO that entered the Limca Book of Records for being the first all-woman BPO in rural India. Ajay recalls how his travels to some parts of India as a banker made him realize the potential in Indian rural communities. He calls India a producer's economy as opposed to a consumer’s economy.

When we think of making an investment, we either think of investing into real estate or other high-end things. These things are not always available for common people with less salary. To make the opportunities of investments available for common people, Rohas Nagpal and his team are working on a project called The Wrapped Assets Project. Our guest for today, Rohas Nagpal has a keen understanding of technology, blockchains, and the cyber world. He is the Chief Blockchain Architect of the Wrapped Asset Project. Rohas started his career in early 90s in the field of hacking, then he moved to investigation and cyber security. In the year 1999, Rohas co-founded the Asian School of Cyber Laws to educate people about the cyber world and to do real-world investigations.

Today, we have Mr. K. Jayshankar, the Managing Director of Empowered learning Systems, Pvt Ltd, a business consulting organization. He is an executive coach for some top global business leaders and United Nations officials. He has also written a book on family business, “Succeeding in Business: Nurturing Values in Family Business”. Mr. Jayshankar calls him a student of family business owing to the love he has for studying it. He discusses the family business in India, stating how some businesses have been running on for more than 300 years now. He explains how a first-generation lays the foundation for the business, the second generation consolidates it and then, it lies on the third generation to decide what to do with it.

The personality we are talking about and our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Bashar Wali is a hospitality expert. He is the founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality and This Hospitality. Bashar founded these startups during the pandemic. Practice Hospitality is a hotel management company. They work for different hotels and help them manage them and serve hospitality there the right way. They manage the hotel keeping the human at the center of experience. This Hospitality is a multi-functional organization.

In today's episode of TBCY, we have with us, a modern-day adventurer who takes us through some of these life skills. Tom Fabbri, who dreamt of becoming an adventurer at the age of 28 is a classic example of “age is just a number and mindset." He is on an ambitious mission to climb the world’s Seven Summits. He talks about his belief in harnessing fear to achieve dreams. His book, “Ageless You” speaks volumes of his belief that age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. Let’s listen to his inspiring journey from being homeless at 28 to achieving these great heights, both literally and professionally.

In this episode of The Brand Called You, we are learning about the large percentage of Indian diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America. Our guest for today, Mr. Adjiedj Bakas, is also an Indo-Caribbean and will help us understand more about his community in the Caribbean. By profession, Adjiedj is a Trend Watcher, author, TV personality and speaker.

Today, on TBCY, we have Sunil Lalvani, founder and CEO of Project Maji, a non-profit social enterprise engaged in providing easy access to clean water to African rural communities. It is an interesting conversation as he talks not just about his organization's sustainable work, but also claims that this serious water problem is solvable.

The power to be able to invest in an organization comes with great responsibility. Our guest for today, Anshul Jain, is fulfilling her responsibility successfully, for a very long time. She is the Managing Director of Lighthouse Funds. She is also a Board Member in several companies. Lighthouse Funds is a company that provides funds to companies in need. They operate in different ranges of companies, but the centre is always the consumer. However, they have invested in healthcare brands, wealth, digital and manufacturing brands as well. They are working with brands like Nykaa, Aqualite, CERA Sanitaryware, Fab India and many more.

Today, we have with us Mr. Subhabrata Maitra, the founder of, “A Custom Palette”, a management consultancy and investment consultancy with a portfolio ranging from food & beverage to advertising and education business. He is also a co-founder of “The Foodstore App” based in Dhaka, Bangladesh that focuses on serving food by utilizing modern technology at service. Tune in to listen about working in the hotel business, the adoption of new technology, and the impact of food on our life.

Sam Pitroda is a telecom engineer. He is also known as the Father of the Indian Computers Revolution. He is an internationally respected development thinker, telecom investor and entrepreneur. He has been credited for having laid the foundation for India's technology and telecommunication revolution in the 1980s. He was the Chairman of India's National Knowledge Commission. He has received numerous awards and recognitions including 20 honorary PHDs and is currently chairing five NGOs.

Steve Zeitlin is the founding director of City Lore, an organisation engaged in celebrating and preserving folklore, history, and community traditions. Steve believes in the idea of honoring the living legacy of stories, places, traditions through recognising the ordinary humans who are knowingly and unknowingly, consciously and subconsciously preserving it. In today’s episode of TBCY, we delve to discuss the importance of these traditions that give meaning to the concept of life. An episode that will make you feel good about the world and ponder about what we can do to preserve our culture.

This episode of The Brand Called You starts with our host, Lisa Lipkin sharing her story of the time she was living in New York City and how a phone call with Xaviera Hollander changed her life. Well, our guest for today is none other than Xaviera.   Xaviera Hollander is pretty bold and straightforward. She doesn't care about being politically correct or what others think about her. She speaks what she finds right without the fear of being judged. Not only her vocals are carefree, but her actions are quite bold too. Xaviera Hollander was in the prostitution business for many years. She did it because she felt it was the right thing to do.  She has authored many books and has also co-authored a book with Robin Moore called 'The Happy Hooker' which became the best-selling book of its time. The book is centered around the life of Xavier Hollander. In the book, she talks about the twists and turns of her life look at different stages.

It is rightly said, one can achieve anything if he/she is a student for a lifetime. Curiosity and the ever-learning nature of human beings can open a world of myriad things for them. Our today’s guest, at The Brand Called You, proves how one can achieve anything at any age with the right attitude. Steve Cohen is the founding partner of a law firm, Pollock Cohen LLP, and specialize in whistle-blowers and class action lawsuits. Before becoming a lawyer at the age of 58, Steve has worked in advertising, winning two Clio awards and publishing. He has also produced Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” documentaries. Besides that, he has served in the navy, wrote seven books, and has launched several start-ups.

Many of us dreamt of becoming a pilot or a doctor or something fascinating as children. As we grew up and started to explore the world, got to know about different things, our dreams changed.Our guest for today, Jignesh Bhate has a similar story. Jignesh tells us that both his parents were teachers, his mother used to give tuitions at home as well. So the whole ecosystem of his house was filled with studies and knowledge. When he grew up and he had to choose a stream for further studies, his father asked him to go for commerce. This is how his journey of being a CA started. Jignesh tells us that education is the only mantra for success according to his parents. Being an obedient son, he completed his CA, and after that also did LLB to increase his knowledge. Jignesh holds multiple academic degrees. Jignesh Bhate has been the topper and the gold medalist in his CA years. He is also a qualified lawyer. After that he moved to the Biotech industry.

With the pandemic and online availability of books, we cannot underestimate the job of a librarian. Picking the right material to read as per our need is after all very important. Today, we have with us Ariel Zeitlin, a senior librarian at Montclair Public Library who takes us into her magical world of books as she dives deep into her everyday job roles. She has also worked as a travel writer, and movie producer, and writer. Ariel talks about the beauty of her job, which allows people to share all kinds of stories with her. She calls it a relationship of “familiar strangers.”

Our guest for today is the woman who has brought the feminine lens to innovation, especially in the corporate world. She is a French turned American woman, Fabienne Jacquet. Fabie is the founder and CEO of Innoveve. Innoveve is a consultancy whose mission is to transform innovation by embracing feminine energy. Fabienne has worked as an innovator for numerous companies. She is a scientist and a chemist too. She has given 31 years of her life to the corporate world. But she had soon realized that something was missing. She understood that corporate decision-making lacked the feminine lens and knew that integrating feminine energy into corporate life could not only enhance the work experience and satisfaction among employees but could also lead to tremendous profitability for the company. Fabienne is also the author of the book called 'Venus Genius' which is the female prescription for innovation. It is centered around the theme of innovation through the feminine lens.

In today's episode of TBCY, we have with us Mike Klein, the founder, and principal of Changing The Terms, which is involved in aiding the businesses by preparing strategic communication plans, tools and measures. He is also the author of a book titled, "From Lincoln to LinkedIn, the 55 Minute Guide to Social Communication.” He shares great insight into his work and the challenges faced in the current corporate environment.

With the pandemic, the way companies looked for people to hire and the way HR functioned has drastically changed. Let's see how exactly has the transition been and what roles do search firms play in helping individuals and companies fulfill their requirements. We have Reshma Ramachandran, the group senior Vice President and the Head of Transformation of the Adecco Group which is the world's second-largest human resources provider, as our guest for today's episode. In today's video, Reshma tells how The Adecco Group functions and talks about the important parameters that decide whether a person will get the job or not. She highlights the importance of skills and says that if a skilled individual is placed on the market, he will be headhunted regardless of his age.

Philanthropy: defined as an act done for humanitarian purposes. However, it is also defined as a charitable donation to worthy causes on a large scale. This is where the NGO GOONJ comes to play its role, as a gap bridger between urban prosperity and rural poverty while shunning the idea of charity or donation. Anshu Gupta, also known as the “Clothing man” is an Indian social entrepreneur who established GOONJ, a non-governmental organisation based on the idea of utilizing the unused material of urban homes in the remote villages of India.

Today’s episode of The Brand Called You brings you a very diversely accomplished leader, Mili Shah Esq. Mili Shah Esq is an accomplished and multifaceted banker, lawyer, and hotelier in the USA. With this diverse unique skillset of the three specialisations, Mili takes us through the intricacies of each and how they are intertwined. Trained as a lawyer and a banker, she assists her clients in funding and legal aspects. When asked if she would choose one specialism over another, that would be a very difficult choice.

The two key issues when it comes to changing the gender equation in society are birth control and education. Women empowerment has been on a rise. While some organisations are accepting the changes, there are some resisting the changes with respect to creating a nationality balanced and generational balanced environment. Our guest for today is Avivah Wittenberg Cox who is the Chief Executive officer of 20-First, a global consulting firm working with companies interested in capturing the competitive advantage of gender nationality and generational balance. Avivah believes that "Men and women together are far stronger than either gender on their own."

This episode of The Brand Called You, brings you a very accomplished personality, Sachin Agrawal. Sachin is the co-founder and CEO of ConsultTrans Technology Solutions Private Limited, a company that has built a technology platform to improve efficiencies for large transport providers and large users of such transport solutions. This platform will ensure that companies will not need to deal with multiple suppliers. Sachin has developed "key insights, knowledge and passion to drive businesses" which have helped him to make this journey from a professional manager to an entrepreneur.

Banking forms the backbone of any country’s economy. With the increasing use of technology and rapid digitization, the financial backbone has undergone a tremendous change, which is believed to be largely for the good.In today’s episode of TBCY, we have with us Mr. Atul Bhatnagar, board advisor and a former banker who delves deep into the topic. He compares his time in the banking sector with the current environment.Atul speaks about how mobile phones are revolutionizing the way business is done at the retail level in our country. The high speed of executing things like opening a bank account in just five minutes or approving the bank loan in 59 minutes has given easy funding options to a number of small start-ups across the country. He compares today’s generation to speedboats that have the ability to move fast.

Building one's own house is a dream of almost everyone. When one actually gets to buy a house, he has some expectations from it. Our guest for today, Pradeep N Lala, turns those expectations into reality. He is into the real estate business and helps people in making their dream house and offices.Pradeep is the CEO and Managing Director of Embassy Services, which is a part of the Embassy Group, one of the largest realtors in India.Embassy Services manages all formats of real estate assets for the Embassy group. They have so far been focussed on Bangalore but with recent acquisition of a portfolio from India Bulls, they will be expanding their services to include Gurugram and Mumbai as well.

Microsoft is one of the top tech companies of the world engaged in developing global products that enable businesses and the general public to do their tasks easily, efficiently, and smartly. IT sector was one of the few in the world that continued innovating with new technologies to help sustain the world carry their business during the pandemic.With digitisation growing exponentially, the future of technology and its impact on human lives become paramount to understand. We discuss the same in today’s episode of The Brand Called You, with Farhana Haque, the Group Director of Devices Sales of Microsoft India.Let’s tune it to learn about India in the global market, digital economy, technology, and future.

Parenting is known to be one of the most difficult yet rewarding jobs in one's life. A child’s early parenting is often the most cherished time. However, it comes with its own set of uncertainties & challenges making one constantly question his/her style.There are judgments from society, a vast amount of contrasting information on parenting, and one’s instincts for the child’s best care.We discuss the same on our today’s episode of The Brand Called You with our guest Sumedha Khoche, who is the founder of KinderPass, a digital child health platform.She brings to you her vast research findings, knowledge, and experiences on parenting and childdevelopment, answering your questions to get more confident with this lifelong job.Tune in to listen to this enriching conversation.

Our guest for today, Anant Kasibhatla, is a Limca World Record holder for Memory. He is a memory expert and a Focus and Memory Coach. Not only can he remember everything, but also make other people remember too. So you can actually train your brain to remember everything.In his opinion, memory needs to be trained in a manner that is very similar to what we may see with any other skill that we would like to possess.

Our today's guest, Mr. James M Kerr helps the business leaders to do exactly the same. Let’s listen to him about what does it take to become indispensable.Mr. Kerr believes in the power of being indispensable as it comes out vividly from his company name “Indispensable Consulting” and the book, “Indispensable: Build and lead a company customers can’t live without.” He helps the businesses to do so by assisting in their vision statement which they try to turn into a compelling story so that the stakeholders and customers can visualize it.

Our guest for today is that courageous woman who decided to step against the patriarchal society of Arab when she realized that working women were being stereotyped. We are talking about Samar Alshorafa, the founder and CEO of She is Arab. It is a platform to increase women's participation in the workforce in Arab countries. She has also been recognized as one of the 50 global leaders driving social impact. She has earlier worked with the World Bank and the European Commission.