In this Meraklis Beings podcast episode, we have Shilpa Ajwani, Founder & CEO of Unomantra, a Business Strategy Consulting & Leadership Advisory Firm. She uses her rich professional experience of 3 decades to enable growth for brands, leaders, communities and organisations using her unique “purpositioning” approach. Notably, she is also the visionary behind SHEmantra, a thriving global community of women entrepreneurs in the Coaching & Consulting domain, fostering empowerment and collaboration.
Shilpa has had an illustrious career with reputed MNCs and has earned a rock-solid reputation as a transformative leader. Among the many accolades that she has won was CEO of the year 2017 conferred by the Economic Times Polymer Awards while she was leading Tupperware India as the Managing Director. She’s a much sought after Speaker, Panellist, Mentor and Advisory Board Member.
Topics Covered in the episode
1:55 – Pivotal moments from her 3 decades of leadership journey enabling growth for brands, leaders, communities and organisations
10:13 – The intention behind moving from global leadership roles to entrepreneurship
11:37 – 5 A framework to turn breakdowns to breakthroughs
22:52 – What is purpositioning? How can a brand build their positioning on purpose
36:21 – Communicating and building communities around your purpose and brand
41:37 – 3 ingredients to build a solid foundation of a well-lived life, and more
We have the privilege of hearing Shilpa’s journey, highlighting two to three pivotal moments that have contributed to who she is today. We’ll explore her decision to embark on her entrepreneurial journey at the peak of her career and the factors that prompted this transition. Additionally, we’ll discuss the challenges she faced during her 25+ years as a leader and entrepreneur, focusing on one of the toughest hurdles she encountered and how she navigated through it.
Shilpa is known for her unique approach called “purpositioning,” and we’ll dive into how she recommends self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs start their journey of creating a differentiated strategy for themselves. We’ll also explore the process of communicating and building communities around one’s purpose, drawing from Shilpa’s experience with SHEmantra.
As many listeners are in their 20s or early 30s, we’ll seek Shilpa’s advice on building a strong foundation for a fulfilling life and tapping into their fullest potential. We’ll also discuss how one can turn a breakdown into a breakthrough.
Towards the end of the episode, we’ll engage in a rapid-fire round where Shilpa will share insights from her own self-transformation journey. We’ll cover various topics, such as her preferences as a morning person or night owl, her top three choices in books, movies, or podcasts, her role models and the qualities she admires in them, her perspective on the pandemic in one word, her non-negotiables in daily routines, what being her best version looks like, a message for listeners on their self-transformation journeys, and a key takeaway from the podcast.
As Shilpa would say, “Don’t think about breaking your comfort zone, think about stretching your comfort zone.”