We spoke to the Happiness expert, Radhika Mukherji, CEO and Co-Founder, Happydemic, India’s first live entertainment specialists, founded with a vision to bring back Live Music in our everyday life. Did we mention that the Ace singer Shaan is married to her? Does it matter?
| Radhika Mukherji, CEO & Co-Founder, Happydemic |
The company has over 400+ artists listed till date with Corporate Clients like Kotak AMC, La Farge, IDFC AMC, Malls like Phoenix Market City Kurla, Restaurants like Mirabella etc.
Read on for the excerpts from the interview:
The light bulb to start Happydemic went off when…
Happydemic’s essence is spreading happiness within the artist community by connecting them to the right audience. Shaan has been a part of reality music shows and there was so much talent out there. Once the season got over their talent didn’t get any direction. Happydemic strives to do that. Connecting exceptional talent with honourable audiences and spreading happiness to our artist and customers has been our aim… An epidemic of happiness, thus Happydemic.
I am looking forward to step into Pune.
On juggling between being a successful entrepreneur, a musician, and of course a wife.
Initially it would be very difficult, I was always torn between the house and work it got actually quite difficult for me to manage because I have always been a hands-on mom and have been sitting at home for the past 13 years till one day I realised how well Shaan balances his personal and professional life and I mirrored that. There are 24 hours in a day and I decided to plan everything well in advance. From kitchen menu to meetings of the day, everything is planned well and I make sure that I stick to a schedule of the day. I actually imagine my entire day and I see whether it is practical for me to fit in the kind of things I want to do that day. It’s not so, then I give the things that need to be done priority. From kitchen menu to meeting schedule, charts of the kids’ extracurricular activities, car pool, even a date with Shaan, everything is well planned! I have things to do, notes all over my cabin in office and on the fridge in my kitchen.The only thing I have stopped doing is to go the ‘show your face’ kind of parties. I really don’t have time to socialise that much and the time that I have, I would rather spend it with close family and friends.
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| Radhika Mukherji with husband, singer Shaan |
Keeping the team motivated is important
There’s a lot said about how you should continuously challenge your team, let them stretch beyond their boundaries. But there is a very big difference between challenging them between something that they don’t like and motivating them with something that they love. There is a huge difference between having a satisfied team member and a motivated team member. As the CEO of the company, I motivate the team by pushing boundaries in what they love to do. So I would never take someone from my team who doesn’t like to deal with sales, push and motivate them to deal with sales. If that team member is interested in digital, I will motivate him to give me a great digital strategy. So it’s very important that you find out each skill set of your team member, learn how to automate their skill set and then push them beyond their boundaries at that point. To be motivation is to make my team do more of what they love to do.
Thank God for the support from my spouse!
Just like they say charity begins at home, the key for any entrepreneur to survive in today’s challenging atmosphere and sustain in it, is to make sure you have a happy home. Your home should always be a happy place to go to, and that can only happen if your spouse supports what you do. Shaan and I have complimentary skills and because of this we complete and support each other. Just the very fact that you have your husband open the door for you to a big warm hug and chilled glass of wine says volumes about how much they do for you and they want you to relax after a long day. I think it’s a must to have your spouse support you.
Reluctance thy name…
You know women usually have something call the nesting hormone. We like to have homes, nature and nourish that home. The biggest battle for any woman and even me, was to remove time from the house and give it to an external place. Most women feel guilty when it comes to stepping out of the house. They are more than capable but it’s the guilt that holds them back. They feel that the house will collapse if they aren’t home. And every proud homemaker feels that. But you have to learn to solely manage yourself. As a women sometimes it’s okay to say NO. Because you can be unwell but if your child is unwell, you forget about you being unwell and you support your child. You’re out there taking care of your family. But to me it’s okay for women to say I’m tired, I need to sleep. So the biggest challenge or that women don’t step out is cause of guilt.
On Women entrepreneurs and the industry
Honestly, with the entire wind that’s happening for feminism, nobody really differentiates between a start-up that has been founded by a woman or a man. I think 5 years down the line the atmosphere for any kind of start-ups, be it women or men oriented, are going to be very conducive. With the government supporting and the policies coming up supporting start-ups I think it just doesn’t matter if its women or men oriented. Even today when I walk a corporate floor or when a man walks a corporate floor, we’re both are taken seriously.
Game changers, industry movers, where do women fit…
I think one industry that women should go out and step into is creating music. History has it that there are very few women music directors as compared to men. Today we get so many drummers on the platform but they are all men and we really have to scout out for the women drummers. Music industry really needs to open up to women too. If you go to the recording studio there are all men there, very few women on that floor. I think this industry is something women can take forward. They feel drumming is a very macho thing to do, but I think a woman can drum equally hard and passionately like a man would. Also there are very few women guitarist. That is one thing that even we as a platform want to promote. Women coming up in the forefront in the musical field.
On being a good leader
According to me one should have qualities like determination and confidence to be a good leader.
One great example is ; Indra Nooyi, she is my role model. She is, as everyone knows the Chairperson and the Chief Executive Officer Pepsi co. I love the way her career growth and career path has been while taking fantastic care of her family. She has beautifully balanced her time with her family and also taking care of her career.
With Happydemic, you get to reach out to people and bring a change in their lives, especially with music in the family.
Getting into someone’s life and changing it for the better is anyway a good feeling. Shaan and me have taken so much out of music. We have built our life around music and it was important to give it back to that community. This is what differentiates us from major platforms. We don’t use Happydemic as a pure business model we have a lot of soul attached to it, a lot of responsibilities attached to our art and that makes a difference. When a business man starts his school and when a visionary or educationalist starts a school the difference is visible. Although the business model is the same the approach and action to it is very different and coming from the music industry having my life dependent on it makes me all the more passionate for this cause.
In 2017, does she still feel the need for an International Women’s day?
Yes, I strongly believe that Real Women fix each other’s crown. I was born and brought up in a joint family with my other four sisters and I say it with pride, one women’s success is another one’s inspiration. My sisters & I have always understood each other’s problems & helped in lifting each other’s spirits.
Even though, we are 4 daughters in our family our parents have never been stressed about how their lives would unfold. They always knew that they have 4 strong pillars to lean back on. Right from health to finance, we ensure that our families today live in all the comfort, happiness.
And hence I state that when women support each other, truly incredible things happen. I understand that there has always been immense pressure on women to be perfect, but we have proven ourselves by coming together, supporting each other and fought our way to achieve what we desire.
So, I raise a toast to all the women out there because we have together made the world happier, healthier & cleaner.
Tips & tricks to be a successful Entrepreneur?
“FOCUS” is the most important element to success in any business. Later things fall under it. Every business goes from a difficult phase but in order to sustain there or bring it back to the same level one needs focus. No matter how difficult the job is, keep working hard rest of it will follow.
So yes, every woman has the potential, they just need to push their self in achieving their objectives.
