Superwomen 2022: When you work towards goals with the right attitude, success follows - Gauri Awasthi

Gauri Awasthi, DIGITAL EDIFY gives a run down on working women, her journey, and what the industry can do to help women run efficiently.

Talking about WFH and hybrid work culture and how women strive to balance their work and personal life, Gauri Awasthi of DIGITAL EDIFY and the newest winner of Social Samosa Superwomen 2022, gives insights on the A&M industry.

Edited Excerpt:

What do you think it means to be a superwoman in the New Normal?

Superwoman in today’s hustle-bustle life is someone who is able to strike a perfect balance between her professional and personal life at the same time without neglecting any of the two. You dust out your office pressures, deadlines, business forecast, and office management the moment to touch your door-mat and are about to step in the home, likewise avoid taking too many personal calls if not urgent; don’t avoid but just restrict yourself at both ends. The New Normal actually powered this Superwoman a bit more, not only she was managing work-from-home but her home, her kids, her family, her pets, her helper staff, her parents, her neighbourhood, and her close ones as well. So I would coin it as, “Wonderwoman instead of just calling her Superwoman”.

A big part of success is mental health & work-life balance - how do you ensure to create work-life balance for yourself & those around you?

I firmly believe in setting priorities and questioning myself as to where I picture myself 5 years from now. The answer to this question makes me work backwards wherein my goal is set and I work towards achieving it. My son needs me as much as my team does and striking a perfect equilibrium between the two is challenging. To maintain the equilibrium, firstly, I abide by my habit of penning down a to-do list, which helps me, track and strike off the progress of work both in my personal as well as professional life. On the professional front, I follow my vision which leads to my goal to be achieved, having conviction in oneself and the team’s efforts and last but not least be a people person, and be empathetic to your team, which will help you bring the best out of them.

While a lot has changed for the better in the A&M industry, what kind of challenges continue to exist for women? Especially with the whole WFH & hybrid work situation

In one instance we are saying that there is a striking equilibrium between men and women audience at work but the workplaces fail to deliver as per the expectations of a workingwoman. Such as creating relaxing/restrooms for women if we can give smoking zones for men, similarly having a crèche to keep your little ones there while you work, family day/trip which encourages women employees to enjoy with their kids and family in the work atmosphere itself, introducing no staying back late post 6 pm ensuring women safety if need be for extra hours then proper safety measures to be provided.

The HR and Training teams should work towards providing some training workshops to especially women employees on - psychological, career growth, personal development, and performance coaching and feedback fundamentals. These are some of the challenges which women face while at work.

Also Read: Superwomen 2022: Bureaucracy is one of the major issues in our industry says Deepa Menon

What in your opinion, helped you excel in your career?

Superpowers - 5 skills/qualities of which I am proud - Headstrong, Charismatic Personality, Leadership, Team Player, Optimistic

I guess all these mentioned above have been imperative in my life's journey so keep moving straight, focused, headstrong and reaching your goal post. The journey has been successful and eventful with its ups and downs. I have grown in the industry, learnt from my mentors, give away my piece of advice to my followers and subordinates, learnt from my mistakes, and paved my mark for the future with more conviction and affirmation; assuring myself to keep moving, keep stretching to that last mile and do your best. My mistakes, my arrogance, my disbelief, my professional rivalries, my promotions, my demotions etc. all have given me the learning to become a good, sorted, composed human being before anything else.

The career journey has been rewarding so far since I have tried to put my life experiences into my career life goals. When you work towards your goals with the right attitude success will follow you while you chase the world. The life goals and lessons are best to teach and learn from which I did and each time it made me a better person.

Now as I plunge into the next phase of career life which is - Entrepreneurship, I wish to put my best put forward here as well.

One Superwoman you look up to & why?

The Superwoman I am completely Awe-struck by, is the terrific Indra Nooyi, an Indian American business executive and former chief executive officer of PepsiCo. She has been consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women because of her strong leadership merits. Leaders have a lot of power and influence. ... That's why it's important to cast the right shadow of leadership. Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, shows the impact great leaders truly have – things like creating a vision, having courage of your convictions, and unleashing the power of your people.

One thing you would like to change about this industry?

In the times of COVID19, user behaviour has evolved digitally across categories and has canvased a greater need for a business to evolve from Digital Transition to TRANSFORMATION.

In the efforts to transit business digitally, brands are dependent on boutique agency skills rather than taking a focused brand amicable approach, to help them achieve their goals. Hence the investments are also hay-wired missing the strategic performance-driven approach, which leads to over-spends, reaching only the break-even without touching the “finishing line” leading to Conversion to the topline. The brands currently need a strong arm which helps bridge the gap by providing a strategic, digital transformation approach, brand’s audience, user behaviour with a design thinking aptitude, performance-driven ROI approach, channel ergonomics and latest business trends adding to the top-line of the business.

One tip for all aspiring A&M professionals out there?

Maintain the equilibrium. I also abide by my habit of penning down a to-do list, which helps me, track and strike off the progress of work both in my personal as well as professional life.