#Superwomen2019: Don’t let anyone tell you what you're capable of: Sherina Kapany, sunSTRATEGIC Digital

Sherina Kapany, Founder sunSTRATEGIC Digital awarded in the Agnecy Professionals segment at #Superwomen2019 voices her thoughts on the woman-centric subjects of the digital ecosystem.

Sherina thinks that winning is a good feeling but, it's taking part that requires the most courage. Read on to know her take on the 'boardroom inequality', obstacles faced by women-led agencies, key changes needed in the industry and more.

How would you define a Superwoman in today's day and age?

In today’s day and age, someone who creates a prosperous reality for herself and others, just from a simple thought, with or without any external help is a Superwoman.

One quality that you think every superwoman has and that helped you win Social Samosa Superwomen…

The power to never give up.

How successful have women been in shattering the glass ceiling in the Media & Advertising field? Does the 'boardroom inequality' phrase still stand true?

Yes, very much! Boardroom inequality still stands true. Women are successfully shattering the glass ceiling in many fields of work, but we still have a long way to go before we completely shatter that glass ceiling in the media world.

I would like to call out on some people from media industry such as brand managers who tend to take women-run agencies for granted, take their hard work and share it with their favourite agencies, who don’t pay on time, who are promising work just to get strategies for free. This is harassment. This is us not being able to break the ceiling. And this makes me think that it is high time for women entrepreneurs to voice their thoughts and create a movement to make sure that brand managers are not taking any intellectual property of the women-led agencies or any regular agencies for that matter. Women entrepreneurs in other fields also face similar issues. Many clients feel that women entrepreneurs will give better discounts and that if we don’t stick to their so-called piddly budgets, our businesses will shut down.

And to take action, you don’t have to be on the field to do that. It can start on your social media platforms like LinkedIn. I remember sharing a thought-provoking post inspired by my experience in the industry on LinkedIn. It was viewed by thousands of people and many people (women-led agencies and regular agencies) commented on it with solutions and their own experiences, while relating to the situation.

In order to bridge this gap, it is very important that our ladies negotiate for better opportunities. And that they do not feel threatened enough to short sell their talent. Women in our industry deserve a lot more and they need to demand it with authority. I will not generalize but being in a job and going up the ranks is very different than running a business and ensuring you provide for staff in every way. And therefore ee need more people to understand that a position should not be a matter of gender. It should purely be based on the skill and capability an individual brings on the table.

Also Read: #Superwomen2019: Meet Kamiya Jani who quit her full-time media job to follow her dreams

What are the key changes this industry needs in order to make workplaces gender neutral, safe, and nurturing?

1) Remove the bias that women in the media industry or advertising industry is up for anything.
2) The big brands should give women-run businesses/agencies a chance to work for them. I feel there should be a quota where a certain percentage of campaigns or projects should be given to the women-led companies/agencies.
3) I have come across more males in higher positions as compared to the females and a change in that is going to be a great step towards gender neutral and nurturing workplace environment. This is the one change that I am most certainly looking forward to.

One Superpower you wish you had?

I wish I had the superpower where I could save people’s hard work, ideas, and intellectual properties from getting stolen by the big companies during the pitch presentations and meeting.

The'Superwomen' you diligently follow and who inspired you…

Kangana Ranaut. She is a one-woman army, fighting against all the norms and hypocrisy of the industry she belongs to. A true epitome of bravery and boldness. She is not afraid and the funniest part is that powerful people are afraid of her not being afraid!

One tip to women out there attempting to scale heights…

Don’t let anyone box you into a cage and tell you what you are capable of. Come out of that cage, create and break your own ceilings. Don’t be in a hurry to reach your goals, be patient and get a 360 degree experience of every situation you are into.

Social Samosa Superwomen 2019 was organized in association with – Raisin, Pitaara, Jean Claude Biguine, and White Owl– as gifting partners, Sheroes as Community Partner, Boathouse Media as Video Partner, Women’s Web and Being Woman as Online media partners.