Spirit W | I am the way I am: Lodestar UM's Vaishali Verma

Today in Spirit W we get you Vaishali Verma, General Manager- Bangalore, Lodestar Universal Media. Verma started her career in advertising in 1995 with Mudra Delhi, which was immediately after pursuing a course in media planning from MICA. She worked at Mudra for 2 years and later moved to Universal McCann, Delhi.

She has continued her career's upward stride with UM and now LodestarUM since the last 14 years. "I have enjoyed every bit of my stint in this organization in both Delhi and Bangalore," she adds (In Bangalore since 2002 July).

Reminiscing Verma points out some of the work that she is really proud of and says, "This is a very difficult task to pick my favourite work. I have worked across clients like Reckitts, Samsung, Nestle, TVS Motor, Intel, Madura Garments, ING, Wipro consumer care etc and each and every piece of work has always been a joint effort of the team . Off course I have driven businesses and conceptualized many such ideas and strategies Apart from this , I am truly proud of lot of young talent today in the industry who have worked with me in the past."

When asked who are the women leaders who have inspired her in life, Verma says, "There is no single leader to name here but yes I do get inspired by women whose work has touched the life of others. Women who have done work beyond their regular profession . Ela Bhatt, Shabana Aazmi, Medha Patkar to name some of the few."

So does she feel that women have an edge over men in media space?

She says she would disagree with that and with the treasures womanly gesture of staying humble, Verma says, "I don't think so. Its an equal status for both women and men in this industry. This is true for any industry today . People are recognized and rewarded for their talent and merit rather than gender."

Verma feels that the media industry is a people driven business and very different from a typical corporate organization. "People working in this industry are passionate people who enjoy their work tremendously," she adds.

While signing off we ask her would she want to suggest a change in the way she is perceived in the organisation, she strikes back with a No and says, "Not at all. I am the way I am . I am a very transparent person and there is no hidden facet . The way I interact and converse with people is the real me."

So as we get you more women across media who have made a big difference to their organisations and the industry in general, the Spirit W lesson till next Thursday is -Do not be afraid to be the real you!. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]