1. Early years
I have done my schooling from the convent of Jesus and Mary Delhi, followed by a degree in economics from LSR. I was keenly involved in Bharatnatyam and in my younger years avidly performed on stage and gave television performances. I was fortunate to be trained by guru late Shri K N Dakahjnamoorthy and Dr Mrs Vyjayantimala Bali.
Travelling is love that has come a long way with me and has become a passion and a career choice, which means today, I have the best of both the worlds!
2. The motivation behind Bespoke
I was always interested in discovering destinations and had an eye and feel for luxury. My work experience with Japan Airlines taught me the benchmark of providing high-level travel services and the true essence of hospitality.
I could sense that there was a gap in the Indian market for a bespoke service which curates high-end travel experiences combining knowledge about destinations with excellence in personalised services, for a discerning traveller. India was changing and Indians as they started earning well, wanted luxury and customised experiential travel.
Bespoke was born to provide customised holidays and celebrations planning to the evolved travellers in 2008.
3. Helming gender equality at the workplace
I like to give opportunities to women for employment in my company. Also, we have pay parity in our company and opportunity is given equally to all. I strongly believe that we should move towards Gender neutrality rather than “equality” because when we achieve that it means we have arrived. Gender equality is about parity whereas gender neutrality is about it being a non-issue.
4. Support and hiccups
I feel I am blessed. I always received good support from family and friends, and, in fact, they further became my brand ambassadors as I moved on from a job to becoming a woman entrepreneur.
Knowing your audience, identifying the right business, understanding personal finances and what kind of investment will the business requires…all these are crucial to going independent. And I learnt all this along the way. It’s tough but it is also exhilarating to see your business grow and blossom.
5. Challenges of being in the aviation industry.
Yes, the aviation industry to a certain extent is gender biased.
While working in the corporate side of it you do see maternity leaves etc., being taken as a hurdle.
While I sympathize with female aviation professionals who have been victims of sexism, but I feel we have come a long way. We see far more mixed-gender crew, including pilots. Today, there are no obvious barriers for a woman who wants to enter the aviation industry, and from what I can tell, we get paid just as much as our male colleagues.
6. How will our readers access the services of Bespoke?
They can access our services through our website :
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Bespoke-Tailor-Made-Experiences-831194816979193/
Email:
Phone 981103334
7. What are your views on Feminism?
While I do not believe in “isms” I do believe in working towards a gender-neutral world.
Many people offer up the argument that women are not the “same” as men so there can’t be equality. Feminism has been associated with strong, forceful and angry women, and our society continues to punish forceful women.
Feminism at its core is about the equality of men and women, not “sameness.”
My favourite quote is by author Ayn Rand
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
8. Advise to women entrepreneurs
The world is yours as long as you believe in your self, challenges would remain and can be overcome with a single-minded focus of following your dreams and never giving up on them.
My motto, treat the word impossible as “I am possible.”
