Nikita Jaggi Founder, Poppy Pundits Entrepreneurial Journey, Challenges and Belief in yourself

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

My previous stint did not go as expected while I was on maternity leave. When I explored other opportunities, I knew it would be very demanding given my job profile – marketing. I wanted to be with my son but also not put a pause to my career goals. Hence, I zeroed down on starting and exploring my entrepreneurial journey. 

How do you achieve work-life balance?

My work is correlated to my audience’s personal lives. As a result, I end up bringing ideas from my personal life to my work. So, there is balance and overlap.  

Apart from that, I take out time to do something creative everyday – from doodling to water colouring. I have to do something creative every single day – it’s like food for my soul. My hubby takes equal responsibility for taking care of kids. This ensures that I get regular me time and come back energised both for work and as a mom and wife. 

Did you have a mentor to guide you through your professional journey?

Yes, I do have mentors. It’s my mentors from the beginning of my career, who have given me advise based on their years of experiences. My younger brother, who is a seasonal strategist, maintains a long term view on things and helps me breakdown things to achieve my business goals. 

Two of my very good friends who are successful corporate executives are always a call away. Depending on their expertise, they guide me and provide me different perspectives on my problems.

How are entrepreneurship and working women important for India?

In my opinion, it takes a lot of guts to become an entrepreneur because you are always at the rim of uncertainty in every aspect with very little to no backup. 

But we are the risk takers and change makers. We definitely add to the economy. 

Define a perfect business leader. What are the qualities you think a great leader possess?

If you hire the most hardworking people and give them the work in which they excel as an individual, they will shine and make you a perfect leader. 

A good leader will look at the bigger picture, make best use of their resources and not micro-manage. I am fortunate enough to have worked with leaders who trusted me to do what I was good at. It made both our jobs easy. 

What advice would you give to other businesswomen who want to thrive in a male-dominated industry?

Honestly, it’s less male dominated now. Our work talks. 

But my advice would be if you are doing good work, please make sure you talk about it. How you talk about yourself matters. Whether you get awarded or recognised or not, it’s important to speak about your work and contribution. It’s important to do self-branding. 

Be on your own side. 

Are you a decision maker & risk taker?

I am definitely a decision maker. I think if I keep looking for options, then someone else will take away the opportunity. If you want something, be alert and take a decision to see results. 

An Entrepreneur is always a risk taker. 

Describe the most memorable incident of your professional life.

I was working with a real estate company when an expat senior executive from the investor company visited to see the event I was working at  a Business Park. We had to showcase the Indian culture and employee engagement as well. We had done months of planning at one location and the night before the event demo venue shifted to another location at the other end of the city. My team and I had to reschedule everything overnight and make a fresh agenda within hours.

We managed to organise a high energy ‘garba’ performance among other things. When he finally visited, he was so overwhelmed and overjoyed that he called his daughter and wife on FaceTime to show them live. He came to congratulate me and appreciated the efforts. It was a very satisfactory moment for me as I felt valued. The cherry on the top was when the CEO called to appreciate my efforts. 

One word that describe you the best…

Committed

If you had one piece of advice to rising entrepreneurs just starting out, what would it be?

Be ready to unlearn and learn. 

Put your soul into your entrepreneurship journey. Ask for guidance and use them .

How would you like people to remember you and your company?

A company with creative ideas and seamless execution of commitments. 

What is your favourite metaphor for describing entrepreneurship? 

 Progress over perfection.

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