ITV

Tag: informal chat

  • Weekend Unwind with: Wiggles founder & CEO Anushka Iyer

    Weekend Unwind with: Wiggles founder & CEO Anushka Iyer

    Mumbai: In this week’s edition of informal Q&As with industry executives through our Weekend Unwind series, we have Wiggles founder and CEO Anushka Iyer opening her heart and mind to us by sharing her nuggets on life and mantras to deal with the curveballs that life throws.

    As the founder & CEO of D2C pet care brand, Wiggles, Anushka confesses to having always been a pet lover, adding that it is her empathy towards the four-legged creatures that enables her to really make a difference. She has built Wiggles to be India’s first petcare brand to be certified by the IBPSA, USA, and to receive the first veterinary licence for cannabis-infused oil for pets in India. An International Management graduate from the Rennes School of Business, a Grande Ecole in France, and Canine Care at BCCS, she has been featured in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia, Class of 2021, and has been named as one of Silicon Asia’s 30 Best Business Leaders.

    So without further ado here goes…

        Your mantra for life

    Mindset is everything. The correct mind frame and perspective can make the dullest day, a brighter one.

        A book you are currently reading/plan to read

    I’m enjoying reading “Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars,” “Cure Diseases,” and “Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall” at the moment.

        Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic

    Go easy but do it, what matters is the right mindset and maximising your full potential.

        Your comfort food

    My hands always reach for dal chawal or curd rice.

        When the chips are down a quote/philosophy that keeps you going

    My pets keep me going, no quote required. The fact that I come back home to six fur babies who continue to be by my side and love me unconditionally, is more than enough to give me all the energy I need.

        Your guilty pleasure

    I love trying out all new brands and products because I believe people are doing some really exciting innovations but my real guilty pleasure is endlessly scrolling dog and cat videos!

        When was the last time you tried something new?

    I tried vegetarian sushi two days ago and I have my doubts about trying that again!

        A life lesson you learned the hard way

    Good things don’t come easy but they do come.

        What gets you excited about life?

    My purpose is to build an equitable world for all animals.

        What’s on top of your bucket list?

    A trip to Turkey. I want to try the hot air balloon experience and buy some rugs.

        If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

    Let go just a little bit, allowing things to happen in their own course. As Bruce Lee says, be like water. Be flexible in both mind and body.

        One thing you would most like to change about the world

    Compassion and understanding towards all beings and life. We saw a lot of pet adoptions during the pandemic and also a lot of abandonment as soon as offices opened. I hope the world is more caring and kinder towards animals who can’t advocate for themselves.

        An activity that keeps you motivated/charged during tough times

    Spending time at Petsville, our boarding and day care facility, reminds me to keep going forward in the right direction and not look back. Just seeing dogs happy in a pet-curated adventure land brings me immense fulfilment.

        What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?

    My family, friends, fur babies and loved ones. Always.

        Your go-to stress buster

    My three-year-old Lhasa Apso Wiggles. He’s the apple of my eye and the inspiration behind the brand and all that we do. Would you believe there was a time people thought they had to take Wiggles paw-prints to sign cheques? That was hilarious!

  • Weekend Unwind with: Deep Mehta, co-founder of DigiChefs

    Weekend Unwind with: Deep Mehta, co-founder of DigiChefs

    Mumbai: With the weekend upon us, IndianTelevision.com rolls over to the next in its series of informal, fun snippets that peek into the mind of corporate executives – akin to a virtual water cooler chat. An attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better, by having them share their nuggets on life and their mantras to deal with the curveballs that life throws – not necessarily revolving around work life – and sometimes going beyond work.

    This week, we have on the hot seat the co-founder of DigiChefs- an independent creative agency based out of Mumbai. Deep Mehta calls himself a passion-driven entrepreneur who “helps startups scale their topline”. Having started the agency with his co-founder Marmik Ajmera in the later part of 2015, they have grown almost organically to a team size of 65 people in these six plus years and worked with over 300 clients.

    Here it goes:

    -Your mantra for Life
    There are three actually:
    You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take
    Use your “fear of failure” to do incredible things in life
    Be kinder than is necessary

    -A book you are currently reading/plan to read
    The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.

    -Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
    Cycle your way to a fitter you.

    -Your comfort food
    Chaat!

    -When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
    You didn’t come this far to only come this far.

    -Your guilty pleasure
    Binge-watching movies & shows.

    -When was the last time you tried something new?
    I started playing table tennis (using a coach) last week. That’s going great, enjoying every bit of it.

    -A life lesson you learnt the hard way
    Never let success make you complacent. Always be on the lookout for potential falls and work towards minimising them. Learned this the hard way when we were so confident (a tad bit overconfident) of our sales skills, that we stopped sales once our bandwidths were exhausted for a good two months. This, instead of constantly nurturing leads in those months so that we could onboard projects once we do hire talent or complete older projects.

    -What gets you excited about life?
    The very fact is that you can make mistakes, and it’s completely okay, and, the sooner you fail, the faster you learn! You can only get better. This very thought gives me the confidence to keep taking bolder decisions and pick up more challenging work than we did yesterday.

    -What’s on top of your bucket list?
    Doing a Ski course in Gulmarg this coming winter.

    -If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
    When in doubt, ask for help without hesitating too much. There are some genuinely good people out there waiting to help!

    -One thing you would most like to change about the world
    One: End civil wars/ fights and 
    Two: Make people kinder towards the animals around us

    -An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
    Gardening! I have 76 plants at my home, and I take care of each of them.

    -What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
    Talking to my best friend (and now my wife) Poonam.

    -Your go-to stress buster
    Listening to some lo-fi music.

  • Weekend Unwind with: White Rivers Media co-founder & Ceo Shrenik Gandhi

    Weekend Unwind with: White Rivers Media co-founder & Ceo Shrenik Gandhi

    Mumbai: IndianTelevision moves on to the next in its series of informal, fun snippets that peek into the mind of corporate executives – akin to a virtual water cooler chat. An attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better, by having them share their nuggets on life and their mantras to deal with the curveballs that life throws – not necessarily revolving around work life – and sometimes going beyond work.

    This week, we have on the hot seat White Rivers Media Co-founder & Ceo Shrenik Gandhi. A zealous entrepreneur, Gandhi cofounded White Rivers Media in 2012. Since then, the agency has featured in Deloitte Tech Fast 50’s ranking- a benchmark of fast-growing tech companies worldwide- five years in a row. Gandhi is also a regular speaker at digital and entrepreneurship summits, including TedX.  

    So here goes…

    ü  Your mantra for life:  My mantra for life is very straightforward- Give joy and pay it forward, always.

    ü  A book you are currently reading or planning to read: ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear is a book that has truly moved me.

    ü  Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic: My fitness routine has always been quite simple. It’s basically, getting a cardio workout by 7:30 am and dinner before 6:30 am.

    ü  Your comfort food:  I’m a big fan of Indian cuisine. So, any Indian meal is my comfort food.

    ü  When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going:    When the odds are not in our favour, it’s important to have faith in yourself and believe that things will get better. So my go-to quote in tough times has to be: ‘Believe. Believe in a better tomorrow, always’.

    ü  Your guilty pleasure: Binging on my favourite ice cream from NOTO would probably be it.

    ü When was the last time you tried something new?  I believe I am a curious learner by nature and someone open to new experiences. Last week I tried polishing my table tennis skills, while this week I’m going to try my hand at golf.

    ü  If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?  For the longest time, I was afraid of failing. But if I could give my younger self a piece of advice, I’d say, “fail faster” because failure is what leads to growth.

    ü  What gets you excited about life?  Every day, I get excited about the next day, because every tomorrow has the potential to be extraordinary.

    ü  What’s on top of your bucket list?  Well, I have a long due vacation to Iceland, so it’s fair to say that backpacking in Iceland tops my bucket list.

    ü  A life lesson you learnt the hard way: Again, just two words- Fail fast

    ü  One thing you would most like to change about the world: The world is in desperate need of empathy, and it’s about time this changes. Apart from that, on a more practical note, more financial prudence is the need of the hour.

    ü  An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times: Yoga is something that keeps me charged throughout the day, especially on challenging days.

    ü  What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?  I think meditation works magically when life gets you down. It helps me clear my head which eventually leads me to come up with solutions.

    ü  Your go-to stress buster: As cliche as it may sound, getting some cardio done at the gym helps clear my mind, and it’s my go-to stress buster.

  • Weekend Unwind with: advertising veteran and author Jayshree Sundar

    Weekend Unwind with: advertising veteran and author Jayshree Sundar

    Mumbai: IndianTelevision.com is kicking off an informal, fun series titled ‘Weekend Unwind with.’ It’s a peek into the mind of corporate executives – akin to a virtual water cooler chat. An attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better. By having them share their nuggets on life and their mantras to deal with the curveballs that life throws – not necessarily revolving around work life – and sometimes going beyond work.

    We set the ball rolling with Jayshree Sundar – an industry veteran with over two decades of illustrious career in advertising, helming agencies such as Leo Burnett and Lintas. Sundar is also a published author of books such as “Don’t Forget 2004: Advertising Secrets of an Impossible Election Victory,” and “The Tambram’s Recipes.”

    So here goes…

    ü  Your mantra for Life – “Make every minute count”

    ü  A Book you are currently reading – “Deep Focus: Reflections On Cinema by Satyajit Ray”

    ü  When was the last time you tried something new? – “Started writing books in 2018. I have three published books in four years!”

    ü  What’s on top of your bucket list? –  “To write a web series”

    ü  Life lesson you learned the hard way – “Don’t judge a book by its cover”

    ü  What gets you excited about life? – “Road trips into small places”

    ü  A piece of advice to your younger self? – “To have taken up the many modelling offers which came my way. In short- to experiment more”

    ü  One thing you would most like to change about the world? – “Hatred based on caste, colour, and religion”

    ü  Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic – “Counting my steps and being active mentally and physically”

    ü  Your comfort food – “Bengali food”

    ü  When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going – “This too shall pass”

    ü  Your guilty pleasure – “A good romantic film”

    ü  An activity that keeps you motivated/charged during tough times – “Working on my next lecture or analysing and writing about interesting films or events”

    ü  What lifts your spirits when life gets you down? – “Getting on a call with friends/family and having a good conversation on diverse subjects”

    ü  Your go-to stress buster – “Listening to a good podcast”

    ALSO READ | Indian general election is largest target audience one is ever going to deal with: Jayshree Sundar