No limits, but limitations to be broken
For me, Rosakue Hospitality is a dream come true and a journey that has been a tough professional and emotional roller coaster, from being a successful head of an international hospitality brand to starting my own brand. It took me nearly 6 months to make one of the biggest decisions of my life, that of leaving my fat pay cheque and venturing out on my own but once I took the leap there was no looking back.
BEGINNING ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
While the road to entrepreneurship has so far been one of the most exciting and biggest learnings of my life, it has also been a reality check as a woman in an industry heavily dominated by men. From the existence of the ‘Glass Ceiling’ to investors opting to give funding to businesses ‘led by men’, to simply finding talent ready to work with to losing your closest corporate relationships and friends because you no longer hold the “top” position. It is heart breaking, emotionally exhausting and at times even lonely leading to introspection.
I kept having this nagging and negative thought in the back of my mind when I came across another beautiful quote by American Professional Wrestler, Ronda Rousey - “You have to fight because you can’t count on anyone else fighting for you. And you have to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves. To get anything of real value, you have to fight for it.”
It was this paradigm that propelled me to push forward, take strides and chase my dream! From that moment, my life & approach changed and ROSAKUE was truly born. Today, Rosakue is already taking huge strides and I have two fantastic partners, both “men” who believe in my vision and support me. They have given me my wings to fly.
LEADERSHIP
Our vision is to recreate the aura, hospitality, experience, memories and charm of the era gone by, where experiences are not bound by a cookie-cutter approach or star ratings or a defined menu or even certification by a food critic. Rosakue is the whiff of fresh air, the falling of the raindrop, the memory of your childhood – it is all about making time effervescent and your holiday experience magical.
The above vision says a lot about my manner and leadership style, i.e. Transformational Leadership. I am blue sky thinker kind of leader and I like to believe there are no limits but limitations that we have to break. We have set ourselves for challenging goals and higher expectation from each associate eventually achieving a greater result as ‘the AIM’ and ‘raising the BAR’.
ROLE MODELS
I look at my two partners: Suresh Kumar and Vikram Puri as my role models. Suresh Kumar’s wisdom and mentor-ship makes you grounded and persistent. I admire his patience and down to earth personality. His ability to walk through the toughest situation with ease has been my biggest guiding force. Vikram Puri is like a buddy armed with great knowledge. His views bring a different perspective and I admire his ability and guts to foresee and put a bet on people he believes in. And, he is mostly right. We are a fun team and I idolise both of them.
WORK IN PROGRESS
We, women, are mothers, wives, daughters and sisters who tend to carry our emotions to work. Firstly, I would like to work on my emotions as they need to be where required when you are running your own set-up. My mentor cum partner, Suresh Kumar always says “No need to rush, you will get there when the time is right.” I am usually in a rush to close things and his advice on patience is very grounding that I would want to work on next. And last but not the least; I want to spend more time with my daughter and in her activities before I become the second choice for her.
FUTURE PLANS
Our objective is to expand the definition of ROI, Investment and Profitability, to mean more than just direct financial impact and include return on ‘generational investment’ and the creation of shared values for the family-owned enterprise, thus reliving the legacy and achieving holistic economic success.
We endeavour to achieve this by associating with handpicked, exclusive properties under our brands “Bara Bungalow” and “ROSA” offering curated lifestyle experiences and partnering with prestigious family-owned enterprises through our heritage & bohemian chic brands, thus supporting and strengthening the entrepreneurial legacy and adding value to the asset and community for future generations.
WORDS OF WISDOM
I would just want us women to always believe and feel in control, not because we are perceived as “control freaks” but because we ARE capable and already have it all in us!
