Project Spark

"Motherhood is tough." "You lose your sense of self and somewhere you're looking for your old self, ending up frustrated." "You got to do what you love because you have another person to inspire now."  These are a few standouts for us amongst other things that Nrithya and I spoke about in this episode.  A song-writer, a singer, a toddler mum and the co-founder of Love, Baby Rose, Nrithya...

With the sole purpose of bringing to the fore the 'she' perspective in how brands communicate to women consumers, Heetal and Shweta decided to leave behind their agency life and instead start Nine Yards Communications Consultancy back in 2020. Having seen how brands have evolved over the years but yet speak about themselves instead of addressing the "why" of their existence has been a pet peeve fo...

With everyone's New Year Resolution including a travel segment for 2023, this episode is one that digs into behind-the-scenes of organizing travel plans from a professional lens. Bhawana Rao has started 4 travel companies focusing on different aspects of travel - Travel Mocha, Stratos Lifestyle, Encompass & The Picnic Company and has tonnes to share from her own experience of visiting 43 count...

Varsha Adusumilli was in for a surprise when she realised that she had never paid attention to the fact that she was part of a minority cohort of women who have had the chance to carve out their  growth trajectory in their own terms. This reality check turned out to be a book called Wonder Girls, that is a collection of 15 stories of people who dared to do things their way. In other words, th...

As 2022 comes to an end, Project Spark's co-hosts, Pooja and Smriti reflect on the learnings they've encountered in the last four months. From showing up, to developing a routine that suits you best and setting yourself up for success by your own terms amongst many other nuggets, the journey so far has been nothing short of amazing. Listen in to this wrap-up episode as Project Spark is all set to...

As a bio-tech graduate who was in the middle of her PG degree, Prasun decided one day that none of this was making any sense and headed back home to her parents to follow her passion for art. As a self-taught mandala artist, illustrator, educator and entrepreneur, Prasun has organically and painstakingly built her brand "Prasun Fine Arts" via Instagram that resonates with people from across the wo...

As the founder of her second venture, Gul Meripehchan, Lavanya has always listened to her heart when it's come to bringing her ideas to life. Having worked on building SkillMarathon from scratch to live her passion towards training, Lavanya has now embarked on this exciting journey on how jewellery can become part of your identity. 

"On the days that I don't feel like it, I don't show up because I believe that as leaders, it is important for us to show up with the right frame of mind for our teams" was our biggest takeaway from our conversation with Chaitali Pishay Roy of CPR Consultants. Listen in to this sparkable on Chaitali's journey as a communications professional and how she's living her purpose of providing access to...

Married young and into a joint family kept Soujanya busy for 7 years and she enjoyed all the challenges motherhood threw at her. At a time when many women sit back and tick all the boxes of life, she wanted to go out and still do something for herself. So she started her career from scratch. We hope this story inspires many other women sailing in the same boat!  In this episode on Project Spa...

The second part of Prasannavika's sparkable is all about how she managed to keep the ember that her art teacher from seventh grade alive and to have finally taken the plunge to make a business out of it. And to her, success is all about how she engages with her customers face-to-face at every opportunity she gets, resulting in a community of people who have become her cheerleaders over the years....

In this two-part series with Prasannavika Raghavan, illustrator, Madhubani artist and founder of Sundarakala, we do a deep-dive on various aspects of art and how it serves as a medium of expression both, for the artist and the buyer. Having left a full-time job behind to start Sundarakala and pursue her passion for art and specifically, Madhubani, Prasannavika's journey has been about creating art...

Sucré was started by Shraddha during the pandemic but the idea of wanting to become a pastry chef was seeded back in the day when she heard a chef at the pastry kitchen in Taj, Goa tell her that women did not have what it takes to stand long hours and endure long hours of labor in the kitchen. There's been no turning back ever since and Shraddha has so much more in store for Sucré and herself in t...

Your home is no more a utilitarian space; it's a place that makes the smallest and the biggest moments special, and that’s where Nestasia fits in like a glove. With the mission of bringing design and trends to one’s home, this three-year old startup was started as a side hustle that swiftly became a full-time business in no time. Listen in as we do a deep-dive with Nestasia's co-founder, Aditi Aga...

Anjali started learning music at the age of 6 and stayed focused by practicing at 5:30 AM every single day...when many of us are just finding our next favorite toy. This is a story of practice, patience and perseverance - the 3 P's that Anjali swears by.  Tune in to listen to Vidushi Anjali Sriram speak to co-host Pooja Sriram about her journey, how she found her 'home' in Carnatic music, wha...

A full-time marketer and home cook whose love for food is palpable (and contagious), Sreya has kept this spark alive for over two decades now. From replicating recipes to experimenting with unusual combinations (read miso spaghetti) and now curating her own recipes, she is working towards her cook book, titled "Table For One".  

Enduring a divorce is one, but living through the stigma that the society puts you through is another. Destigmatizing divorce and the various labels that comes along is what Shasvathi has been working hard towards banishing for over 3 years now. Moreover, extending support that not just addresses the right resources required for one to go through the immediate and mid-term after-effects of divorce...

It takes patience and perseverance to be successful in a business even if you have all the talent. This episode of Project Spark digs into the story of Preethi Sriram who found her Ikigai in New Bord Photography. As a mother, a founder, a business woman and an artist, she tells our co-host and her sister, Pooja Sriram, how she does it all with a smile.  This is a Children's Day Special Episod...

From doodling on rough paper, to printing her first bunch of christmas cards and to now working on a 2023 calendar, Rehna Abdul Kareem, the founder of Paper Planes Doodles is working towards becoming a children’s book illustrator. As a former journalist, she’s always had a knack of putting some pretty powerful stories out there with very few words and now with Paper Planes Doodles.  Listen in...

Project Spark unearths interesting stories where people share a small snippet of their journey with us. In this episode, Anjali talks about her love for food and how she ended up becoming the co-founder of a Home bake Shop, The Breadheads even though she had never really stepped into a kitchen until the pandemic 2 years ago. She can surely inspire you in these 20 minutes. 

This is the second part to our conversation with Kavita Arvind, where she delves deep into how she deals with emotional labour of being a mentor for a variety of cohorts. She also speaks about a specific routine that works well for her and gives her the energy to show up every single day. Most of all, she touches upon how she manages to keep the motivation going day in day out.  Listen in to...

This is the first part of our conversation with Kavita Arvind on her journey towards becoming a children's book illustrator, a design educator, an artist and so much more with that one common thread - her love for what she does and why she decided to share that with other people. Kavita goes on to speaking about how one can tap into that creative energy pool by doing the things you ultimately love...

This #WorldVeganDay, former vegan, Smriti, speaks to Namita Satheesh on her vegan journeys an animal lover and as a chef. Someone who has decided to share her love for plant-based and vegan food, Namita also dons the hat of a nutritionist and breaks down several myths about going vegan.  No the earth will never get overpopulated with animals if we don't eat them and there is not research (as...

This episode is Smriti's conversation with Preet Bhatti, co-founder at Mynd, and her sparkable on how she serves as the gatekeeper for suicide prevention on one hand, while working relentlessly towards creating basic awareness about mental health on the other hand via Mynd. Preet touches upon why organizations need to account for mental healthcare provision as a critical component in their annual...

In this episode of Project Spark, Pratiksha talks about her love for art and how she went beyond odds to keep that spark alive within her and even made a business out of it. Listen in as Project Spark's co-host, Pooja unearths the challenges in Pratiksha's journey and celebrates her learnings that are sure to inspire many others! 

Defining a persona has been at the heart of every marketing and communications strategy. “Target and re-target till you get it right” is every marketer’s mantra but this needs to be backed by data as per Varnika Hathi.  As the co-founder of Mynd, a two-year-old mental health startup, Varnika has shifted her focus towards curating a strategy that addresses every cohort with a subtle difference...