Chahat Aggrawal

In a short span of your journey from Yale University to becoming the Founder CEO of Impact Study Biz, you have garnered a variety of experiences like writing, winning a beauty pageant and a film making course too. What made you pin-point and pick up the profession as a Brand Strategist?

During the entire journey, strategy was always a part of my work. Whether it is writing, directing, designing, etc. It’s a natural gift where you can step back and see a bigger picture and how to accomplish it. I am a problem-solver by nature and I like to take things under my wing and make them grow! I realized when I was working as a management consultant that I am leaning more towards brand and communication and I could identify gaps there which were invisible to people, who had a lot more experience than me. That’s when I knew where I can add value that no-one else can. By working over 20 brands on their strategy and successfully solving business challenges was a good enough proof point to know that I picked the right direction.

What would say is the most key component of success? Consistency, Knowledge or strategy?

Consistency – is good, but if you keep on doing what you have always done and expect a different result it doesn’t work and you don’t grow. Knowledge – is the basis on which we raise our actions and build our action plan for success, having said that, just having knowledge isn’t enough one must know what to do with it. And that’s where Strategy steps in – Strategy is about knowing what to do and most importantly what not to do! It’s the key factor that interprets the knowledge, data, act builds workable action points to get desired results. You don’t grow by being consistent, you grow by being sustainable. You need to take calculated risks, learn from your mistakes, and build those learnings into your strategy. Strategy is your key to success!

In today’s times, women are emerging as Influencers and successful entrepreneurs. Has the equation of gender discrimination undergone any change in the industry? What are the challenges that you often face being a young and successful woman entrepreneur?

We would like to think that there is a change, but not enough. The growth of women as influencers or successful entrepreneurs is still too little to make a difference! The discrimination prevails and being in an industry that is run majorly by men, I face it more than I would like to admit. Inappropriate emails, comments on our social media handles, website, LinkedIn is an everyday thing. And most of these are sent by other working professionals who are more interested in having an all-women company rather than focusing on what we do. Not just that I have come across a meeting where this man who is in the startup industry for a while now and helps to raise funds, just completely ignored my existence but kept on talking to every other male entrepreneur who was there. When I questioned it, I was told “he is not comfortable with women”! This is one of the most common things. People don’t want to invest in a company run by women, and I have been told this reason to my face. We have a long way to go to get to gender equality, where everyone is seen as equals and women are not being objectified and undervalued for their contribution.

The Pandemic showed us the vulnerable and volatile side of life. What suggestions you would like to give to upcoming Start-Ups to face such unpredictable challenges in the course of business?

Time and again, we have faced financial crises, political unrest and now in 2020, we faced a pandemic. The market is a volatile place. For businesses to survive any such uncertainty, they need to be sustainable and always have a crisis management plan. When you are running your company on sustainable growth rather than dynamic growth, you will survive any financial crisis. Also, one critical learning is to invest in your brand! Brands that people connect with have a high emotional value, and when any crisis arises, we want to go-to brands we trust. So, just following these basic steps: 1. Build a strong sustainable foundation. 2. Invest in brand growth. 3. Have a crisis management plan. You can face most of the challenges thrown at you at times of adversity.

For any organization, its work culture defines its style of working and growth. What kind of work culture exists in your organization and how did you establish it?

The work culture is very simple. It’s all about performance. There are no time logs or micro-management. Each person has certain deliverables and they are accountable for them. Everyone is productive at different hours, and conforming them to one schedule is just not efficient. We are innovators, and their freedom to choose our own path with one vision helps us create a bigger impact. I trust my team and we are quite open with our opinions and are always willing to learn and grow. It all starts with you, the leadership. I am available to my team at any given time, I ask questions to help them formulate a solution rather than just telling them what to do. And most importantly I provide them opportunities to take a lead and own their work.

Please share your experience of working with OYO and how did you help this brand to achieve remarkable growth in a short period of time. What was your takeaway from the whole experience?

OYO was a great experience, working on so many products and markets was incredible. My main objective was to focus on the value that the brand brings to the people, and provide a sense of belongingness with each communication, rather than a commodity. Creating global guidelines on how the brand should function based on pure sentiment and the standardized uniformity in how it looks, Creating a local connection in different continents while keeping the brand true to its home values was a big accomplishment. It taught me a lot about the ground reality of business, and how one short-sighted decision can come as a big liability later on. Working there was a big reality check on the start-up industry, it’s different, it’s fast, it’s innovative and those are the principles I have kept in mind when I help my clients grow.

Can you describe/outline your typical day? What entrepreneurial tricks have you discovered to keep you focused and productive in your day-to-day busy schedule?

My daily routine has evolved over time, I used to think that waking up early makes a difference but turns out having a peaceful sleep is more important as it keeps your mind fresh and healthy.  I start my day at 8 am, with some tai-chi and lemon water. I think it’s the most refreshing start of the day and prepares you for all the challenges. Till 11 am I make sure to read and respond to all my emails and prioritize the work for the day (the trick is to stay away from your phone). Post eleven is when I have team calls, and get on the messages and start working on creating and delivering the work. I stay productive till 7 pm and my secret is the music. Whenever I feel overwhelmed I have a short 5 or 10 min break and, I speak to my friends and family or just listen to some music and then back to work! After this long stretch of just working, I make sure I go for a run as it not only keeps your body fit but also your mind healthy.  Just adding any 2-hour exercise in your day, staying away from your phone when you wake up, and having some “me” time is a must if you want to function as a balanced human being. These things build productivity and tweeze creativity. When you are overworked and tired it doesn’t help you or your team. Because my learning is that the work will never stop, so you gotta make time to include these things to be more efficient.

If you were to write a book about yourself, how would you name it?

If it is about my life’s journey I would name it “Amazing adventures of India’s daughter”.  Because my life has been a big adventure! I have lived and worked in 3 different continents. I have mingled with various cultures and religions. I have explored a wide range of professions. And all of them have contributed to making me the person I am today. Hence the amazing adventures! India’s daughter–  is a badge of honour I carry with me no matter where I am in the world. I am aware that I represent my nation and the end objective is to always make it proud.

But if it’s a book about my learnings I would call it “The C word” its the play on my name and the Change I have been working hard to bring in the world, via gender equality, creating monopsony in business and overall shift in how we label success and get rid of the taboo that surrounds mental health.

What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

The most satisfying moment in the business was when we were running at full capacity and people were reaching out to us to work with them during Covid-19. Because we had established our success rate over and over again, Instead of us reaching out to the market, the market knew what value we offer, and we’re reaching out to us to help them meet their objectives. As a company we are all about quality, hence we are mindful of the projects we pick up. If we are working with a company the result needs to lead to success, there is no other option!

According to you which are the 5 books, everyone should read, and also who are your top 3 Authors and what impact they had in your journey?

I love reading, I am the person who owns 100s of books. It’s hard to pick just the top 5 as each book adds some value when you read it.

If I have to pick only 5 Books, I will say every person must read

• The Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Adapt by Tim Harford
• The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

The top 3 authors that had the biggest impact on my journey are Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and Robert Greene. Reading the amazing work of Jane Austen since my teenage years, built me into a very driven woman, where the concept of standing up for yourself resonated with me. Later on, Shakespeare introduced me to creativity, the art of writing, the true nature of life, betrayal, pain, and life learning were very real, and works of learning from other people’s mistakes. I recently discovered Robert Greene, like 3 years ago but his writing and storytelling helped me build a better understanding of people and how they think and why.

Could you share a few tips for Young Entrepreneurs? If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?

I would say ask WHY and find a reason bigger than yourself before you start any sort of business because that is going to keep you on track with all the ups and downs. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, as that’s the learning you can incorporate for great success. We hear these success stories and we think that it happened smoothly, that is not true –  every entrepreneur makes mistakes and implements those learning in the business and repeats. To find a clear “why” and go for it! Learn from everything and everyone but stay true to yourself, because in the end, it’s your vision, your purpose, your success, your failure. And once to get rid of the fear of failure you are already sorted! As I say there are no such things as obstacles, only opportunities.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Empowering Our Kids’ where we are trying to encourage and inculcate reading habit from a young age. We are trying to pick up 20 to 30 must read books for children and try and make them available at our library in Jaipur, also take this initiative across the globe. Please suggest some books which you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character defining age).

• The Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
• The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim.
• The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine Lâ Engle
• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
• The Fellowship of The Ring by JRR Tolkein
• Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
• The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene
• The Owl Service by Alan Garner
• Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

Rapid Fire Round

Favourite Place, Person, Food, beverage  – London, Mom, Chicken Tikka Masala, Black Coffee

Your other Talents  – Painting

Your First Love – Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)

Favourite Quote – Great things never come from comfort zones.

Favourite Character from a book – Sherlock Holmes

What if Round

What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?

I am assuming this is apart from the standard human needs of Family, Food, and Natural elements. In that case, I would answer

Love – I think when we care for someone else we become a better and more responsible person. So I will pick a dog as it will make me happy and they are the most loyal and friendly creatures I have ever come across.

Purpose- We need to do something, contributing to this word is what keeps me going. I will pick a laptop with internet access so that I can share my view, work on helping others, and have uninterrupted access to the world to make some contribution to it, no matter how small.

Individuality – A Perfume is something which is very personal. I think we all need something that is just for ourselves. A way to express yourself. It’s your own thing that gives you a sense of individuality and makes you feel special. I am not sure why but it just brings me peace.

What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?

Generation Inequality – Building a world where everyone is treated equally. Equal opportunities, equal accountability, equal pay, and most of all equal respect! Currently, the world is in turmoil, we may think that we have made progress but that’s not true, the generation inequality is the problem. Gender should not define what you can do or how you should be treated. We are all made equals, we must be judged based on our actions and skills. There are already too many issues in the world that need to be solved, so if we get rid of this basic discrimination then maybe we will evolve as better human beings.

What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?

This is interesting, I think I will invest a big chunk in healthcare and A.I.

COVID has given us a reality check on us being on top of the food chain, but we still are a very vulnerable creature. The diseases that we see popping up randomly every year, need a solution. That lies in better primary care, better supply and waste management, better medical science, and finding cures and vaccines. The combination of A.I. and healthcare is where the future lies. If we don’t have a cure for diseases that haunts us, maybe in the future A.I. can step in and provide us with the tools and knowledge we lacked.