Today, it is rare to find women at the helm of large-scale fashion brands: Veena Ashiya

We, at Adgully, have always saluted and honoured women managers and leaders across diverse fields. W-SUITE is a special initiative from Adgully that has been turning the spotlight on some of the most remarkable women achievers in the M&E, Advertising, Marketing, PR and Communications industry. In the refurbished series, we seek to find out how women leaders have been managing their teams and work as well as how they have been navigating through the toughest and most challenging times brought about by the global pandemic.

In conversation with Adgully, Veena Ashiya, CEO, Founder, Monrow Shoes, speaks about women’s potential to lead the fashion industry, how women are much more assertive in the workplace now due to the success of the ‘Me-too’ movement, and much more.

How do you think the role and scope of women leaders has widened in the current market ecosystem?

Hailing from a Marwari background, where women do not own businesses, it is an extremely proud feeling to be the first woman in 7 generations to start working and also to start a business of my own. I am a woman who dared to dream. I am an ex-Versace and ex-Tommy Hilfiger with 15 years of industry experience. At the company’s helm, I am responsible for ensuring holistic wellbeing of all the members of the company along with ensuring consistent growth.

Women have a lot of potential to lead the fashion industry, as they have an intuitive design understanding and their contribution is nearly 50%. If women make up 50% of the fashion market, then the leaders must also be on par with the figures. Anita Dongre and Ritu Kumar were among the most famous fashion names in the 1990s, but today, it is rare to find women at the helm of large-scale fashion brands. It is, however, my hope that this will change in the near future.

As women have taken on more challenging roles and have shown their mettle on a growing basis, they have become more confident and independent. Millennials have a greater percentage of women who have graduated than previous generations. In addition, workplaces are now more secure than ever before. It is easy for me to conclude that the ‘Me-Too’ movement has been a major reason why women are now so bold, because predatory behaviour is highly scrutinised now. Women are much more assertive in the workplace now due to the success of the ‘Me-too’ movement.

We believe in the fundamentals of holistic development of every individual in the company along with growth of the company. The fact that we are building a tribe of extremely ambitious women and I take ultimate pride saying that Monrow is like an incubator for the most ambitious women ever.

What has been your major learning from the pandemic period?

The major learning is that uncertainty is the only certainty. They say, timing is everything. We stayed invested in the technology game even before the pandemic came. It is highly critical to work smarter than your competitors and stay connected with the 3 core elements of effective retailing – People, Process and Technology. The technology infrastructure for providing buyers with purchasing options, such as online purchase, in-store pickup, or curbside pickup, requires extensive back-of-house support to run consistently, therefore Monrow’s presence online helped us be at the top. We also ensured safe and contactless deliveries for our customers.

The pandemic has changed consumer tastes, health and comfort are now everything. After months of working from home, many of us have adopted new habits. In this new reality, comfort, wellness and health are becoming a bigger priority for consumers and are driving their purchase decisions.

When people are stepping out of their comfort zones, brands are focusing on comfortable wear like kaftan tops and easy-breezy lowers.

Monrow, being in line with its USPs, came up with an Anti-sneaker collection (fashionable shoes with comfort of sneakers), newest Y2K and many other super comfortable collections.

What is your mantra for maintaining a successful work-life balance in the new normal? According to you, what makes women the best in crisis management?

My wellness philosophy revolves around the holistic approach inspired by ancient beliefs. We attain wellness when the 3 realism of physical, emotional & spiritual are in proper sync. Apart from this, the wellness practices range from distant Reiki healing done by my spiritual coach to cleanse my aura to doing 108 Surya Namaskar once a week. This helps me to be mentally and physically fit and also helps me to look at my goals and how I plan to achieve them.

I also aim to make the workplace as comfortable and productive as possible. Monrow is a progressively driven brand that focuses on building a workplace environment with the right mix of people. We are here to provide a women-friendly platform with 50%+ women employment and bold female leadership. The office on a day-to-day basis likes to follow the GenZ approach of keeping the ‘vibe’ chill. One who walks into the office will encounter a fresh headspace fuelled by lighting beautiful candles and incense sticks. With a bunch of plants at every corner of our infrastructure, the concept of ‘biohacks’ is very in with us. We believe that someone surrounded by greenery and freshness works at their 100% capacity. Our progressive mindset promotes a casual and comfortable sense of dressing. We like to look at our workplace as an office garden built for the right people and their potential in a healthily blended professional environment.

Monrow provides our tribe with professional one on one mentorship to prepare them for their respective departments. However, we do not believe in restricting an individual to their educational backgrounds or degrees. We leave it to one’s potential and capacity to prove themselves by giving them immense room for creative freedom. While our employees are experienced professionals in their respective domains, their professional workplace network allows them to receive interdisciplinary and inter-departmental knowledge. We aim to provide our workforce with vast opportunities and pour trust into their professional expertise.

We strongly believe that women are born nurturers and have immense potential to work and help a team grow and are highly capable of managing crisis situations when given proper guidance and support.

What are the five most effective leadership lessons that you have learned?

One of the biggest challenges facing women entrepreneurs is that of a solo founder. People think that if you have a solo/ female founder, you can’t do as much as a male founder. Women have to face these differences. There is also a stereotype in society that women are not good at finance, and if women do business, women can only do design or marketing. I too faced these social challenges, but overcame them. I believe mistakes are the best teachers one can have, but are a bit expensive. One mistake that we women make is to look out for success outwards, which gets limiting at times. The day I started to look for success within me and how I wanted my success to look, the whole outlook changed and gave me a new perception of everything.

Being a solo founder in my entrepreneurial journey, I learned with experience that one should own their ambition, ask for support when needed, one should not be afraid to make mistakes, never shy away from asking for your share of recognition if you believe in yourself and, last but not the least, share your success and achievements, it will give the society a new lens to look at you and it might inspire many more women out there to do good and something for themselves.

Gender sensitivity and inclusion in the new normal – how can organisations effectively encourage and groom women leaders in challenging times?

Organisations should not judge women as per the social norms, they should be encouraged to play to their strengths. No one should be judged as per their gender.

Very early on in my career, I recognised my strengths in creativity and finance, which is a very uncommon combination. Recognising these skills and strengths has been very helpful for me. I believe that in an organisation everyone’s skills and strengths should be recognised, analysed and played to. I believe that everyone is raw and can be polished to the best of their capabilities. Women should be given professional guidance and mentorship to groom their talents and help them to play to their strengths and utmost potential.

There is also a stereotype in society that women are not good at finance, and if women do business, women can only do design or marketing. I also faced these social challenges, but overcame them. Not only is it my mission to grow Monrow, but I firmly believe that the brand only grows when every team member in the company grows.

I also think Monrow’s growth is aligned with everyone in the company, so we are all going hand-in-hand. Everyone is eligible to grow and advance, and Monrow’s goal is to become India’s most talked about D2C fashion brand!