Nicole Rodrigues | Founder & CEO | Diva Group of Companies
Generosity is a word that constitutes the very essence of being human. It keeps us sane and brings us together as one. Our morals and ethics drive us to not just do the right thing, but it also motivates us to be better. Helping each other to grow in harmony should be the way to life and there are few people who are driven with this ideology, who make things happen and make a difference in the society positively. There is one such entrepreneur, who with her zeal and passion for enhancing the life of people around her has not only transformed her life, but countless many others.
Her journey as an entrepreneur started very early (when she was eight or nine years old). She was not sure what she wanted to do. “I tried to be as innovative as possible. I took old newspapers and magazines and tried to resell them,” describes Nicole Rodrigues. Like most of the young start-ups, Nicole’s venture did not scale much. Although, what she gained in return was insights for tomorrow and a blazing entrepreneurial spirit that kept her excited throughout that whole experience. She is a go-getter and believes in hard work. According to her, one must start doing what needs to be done and make things happen. “If you want to manifest your dreams, stop talking and start doing,” says Nicole.
“Keep adding value to other people’s existence. That’s how you serve and make a difference”
The bellow are the highlights of the Interview with Nicole Rodrigues and Insights Success a Business Magazine.
A Relentless Soul
As far as Nicole’s professional journey is concerned, it started in 2003 where she ventured in the Media and Entertainment space. The journey began in Dubai and now she has a multifaceted talent agency helping talents across the globe realize their dreams through Diva Dubai. “Today, most of the talent agencies that are running in the region are all ex-employees or Diva models,” states Nicole.
That essentially makes Diva Dubai the mother of all the agencies across the middle east. It operates across four verticals namely, talent management, film production, fashion, and events and promotions. In 2004, Nicole started with Diva Holdings which is a Real Estate agency which dabbles into renting, buying, or selling of the properties in the region. “Also, we have got Diva Salon as well in my portfolio,” informs Nicole. She spearheads Diva Group of Companies as the Founder and CEO.
When you hear the voice within and tread on the path it is leading you to while ignoring all the noise around you, success is guaranteed. With such success, comes a rare gift – respect.
For some people belief in the self is all it takes to make it to the top, many times without the much-needed support during the teething days. They are a class apart and are the architects of their future. They bring about innovations in their business models or careers despite the bouquets and brickbats they may receive initially for their out-of-the-box ideas. Once their success surfaces, it is all accolades for them. Such elite innovators leave a legacy for others to dare in a similar manner.
These innovators are also instrumental in uplifting the people around them in various ways. Helping each other grow brings about positive changes in the society and establishes a strong sense of character, a personality that is larger than life.
Refusing to be blinkered by the current that everyone follows, these entrepreneurs chose to swim against the tide to prove their mettle.
Success may not come in the first instance or as quickly as one may expect but when it comes, it is with the intention to stay albeit on the condition that the entrepreneur remains consistent in pursuing goals. Such people are undeterred by failures, if any. In fact, they learn from their failures and bounce back with new strategies and goals, once again pursuing them with a refreshed zeal and confidence. Afterall, Rome was not built in a day!
Creative business models lead to scalable profits and the innovator sets a benchmark for others to follow. Innovation and entrepreneurship, unlike popular perception, go hand-in-hand.
Our latest edition of Insights Success, AnElite League of Innovators in 2021, focuses on those who have dared to dream different and realised their dreams with passion and consistency. They have set the benchmark for many aspirants to follow. From entertainment and talent industry to art and architecture, to choreography and acting we have a mixed bag for you.
We are sure you will enjoy reading this edition as much as we did while compiling it.
Subhra Bishnu | Director & Co-founder | OrangeTree Globa
Business analytics, with the amount of data created and consumed by the individuals and organizations, has become a game-changer for the industries. Business Analytics has become a go-to support solution for the businesses. But the knowledge gap remained between the fresh talent and what the industries require.
The industry scenario demanded a mediator who could equip aspirants with the essential knowledge, tools, and techniques of business analytics. Subhra Bishnu, Director and Co-founder of OrangeTree Global recognized this serious demand early in his career. And in 2009, he co-founded OrangeTree Global as a prominent training and consultation solution in Data Science and Business Analytics space.
“No one really inspires me to wake up. I just love my job”
In this latest edition of Insights SuccessBusiness Magazine, Subhra Bishnu got candid about leaving his high-paid job to start something new, the challenges the company faced to make analytics education widely available, and the effects of current pandemic. Read the following interview to know more about his inspiring journey.
Describe your professional journey as an inspiring CEO.
I do not belong to a business family. My parents are both doctors who have lived in India and Britain. I completed my Post Graduation in Political Science followed by a Master’s in Business Administration. Post my MBA, I had a pleasure of working with strong brands early in my career, The Telegraph, Exide Industries, ICICI Prudential, and HDFC Life. While working in BFSI I gained interest in MIS Management and Data Insights and Analytics. There was a serious shortage of guidance, awareness, and knowledge about Data Science and Analytics in East India around 2007-2008. It was this knowledge gap in Analytics and Data Science skills that laid the foundation stone of OrangeTree Global.
The organization was founded by my wife Priyadarshini who single-handedly managed the operations for a year. My wife and I invested our savings for procurement of the necessary infrastructure and office. It was only after a year once the organization started to grow rapidly, that I left my job as Regional Head for Channel Development East for HDFC Life and joined OrangeTree Global full time.
Who inspires you to wake up every day and keep making a difference in the respective industry you are catering to?
I love the fact that Analytics, Data Science, and Machine Learning are impactful and relevant areas of study and research today more than ever before. I consider myself fortunate to be in the thick of things right in the center of action.
As the CEO of your company, what challenges have you faced while establishing and running the business?
Challenges at each stage of the Entrepreneurship Life Cycle take up different forms. Initially, it was Emotional and Psychological, “Should I take the plunge?”, “What if I fail?” Leaving a high paying job where you have already attained a level of seniority is never easy. Suddenly, I was not receiving a regular salary. There are good months and there are bad months.
After about a year, we were clocking respectable revenues and a consistent pace. This began to attract people and investors. It is never easy to say ‘No’ to people who want to invest in your organization. Like most Entrepreneurs, I constantly seek and align myself with investors who are on the same ideological plain. It is not about who has the most money, but who has a will to invest along with a plan and vision aligned with the company. These individuals will eventually be instrumental in helping your vision and company to grow.
There will always be bigger players with more money to offer your employees when you are a start-up. Selecting the right individuals to work for you is crucial. Understanding what motivates them is the key. Am I in a position to offer them what they expect? How long can I sustain their interest? Can I help them enjoy their time in the organization? These are constant challenges we face.
Brief us about the operations of your company, its mission, vision, and core values.
Our business operations span across two broad verticals – Training and Consulting. Our training philosophy is clear. We have embarked upon an ambitious journey to make Analytics Education available to professionals who display an aptitude for this field but lack the requisite skill sets and knowledge. Our Data Science and Analytics Training Deployment is executed at three levels.
Retail Training – Individual and Professional
Institutional Training -Educational Institutes (College and Universities)
Corporate Training Engagements (India and Abroad)
Our Consulting Expertise is focussed in two areas.
Predictive Analytics and Real-time Data Visualizations in Healthcare (Malaysia)
Data-driven Policy Making Initiatives for the Government of India (There are only a few Data Science Exponents with Exposure in Public Policy, Political Science, and Sociology)
How has the current pandemic affected your business and what steps have you taken to safeguard your employees while catering to your clients?
We are a lean, nimble, and quick-thinking organization. These aspects clearly helped us reduce a lot of stress which has unfortunately impacted the Industry. We have been involved in online training since 2010. We were in Noida delivering a training when the news of the pandemic started to spread. We closed our physical locations on March 17th before the Government Lockdown protocols were announced and shifted to a work-from-home regime. Online training demand skyrocketed during the pandemic. We are planning to reopen our physical offices and resume travel for corporate training engagements from 1st March 2021.
Satinder Malhotra is the CEO and the Founder of Signature Interior Designs, which is based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Her passion for interiors encouraged her to pursue her dreams to work as an Interior Designer. Upcoming and super talented Interior Designer, Satinder Malhotra has been making a name for herself within interior designing. She believes the best designers are those who design with empathy; the ones who work hard to understand their client and the project.
She is truly passionate about creating unique projects that pertain to the client’s personalities, dreams, and visions. Signature Interior Designs is an interior design and consulting firm best known for producing professional designs for Commercial Interiors, Residential Interiors, Corporate Office Interiors, Health care Interiors, and Hospitality Interiors.
Let’s find out more about what Ms. Satinder Malhotra has to say about Signature Interior Designs and its journey to success in the interview with Insights Successtop business magazines mentioned below. Here are the highlights of the interview:
What inspires you to wake up every day and keep making a difference in the respective industry you are catering to?
As an interior designer, I hear this question often. It’s one I love to answer because I’m continually absorbing new information to guide my aesthetic. Though I can find inspiration almost anywhere, the designers and architects and their distinctive styles have influenced my design aesthetic. I find inspiration from both architecture and nature while walking around the city, browsing through design blogs & magazines, and brainstorming with coworkers.
Travel exposes you to new cultures, people, and experiences. By immersing yourself in an area that’s far from home, you break out of your comfort zone and open your eyes to new possibilities in your creative projects. Another place is outdoors on nature hikes; I do a lot of research to see what’s new on the market and, to be honest. Social media, of course, is the source of much inspiration for designers and others through sites like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and others. Pinterest is a daily source for me especially during the research period of a project where you can find incredibly unique design, illustration, photography, and references. Instagram is also a great source for design inspiration.
As the CEO of your company, what challenges have you faced while establishing and running the business?
Managing costs is one of the most difficult tasks for any company. The most difficult task for most interior design companies is keeping track of material costs. If a project takes longer than expected or if a client changes their mind halfway through, labour costs may quickly escalate out of control. Interior design companies also face cash-flow issues in addition to cost management. For this reason, many interior designers need deposits before beginning work: They need the funds to buy materials and pay staff to complete the project.
The most difficult aspect of the project is locating the necessary materials, furnishings, and accessories. Finding unique goods that suit well in their client’s design project is a difficult task.
Sometimes clients aren’t too sure about what they want the finished product to look like. As interior designers, it’s our job to help guide them through the creative process. Creating a mood board also really helps to communicate your interpretation of what the client is asking for visually. Managing your clients’ standards is an important aspect of interior design, and it’s never simple.
Brief us about the mission, vision, and core values, services, and achievements of your company.
Our vision
Our vision is to build an interior design company that will be known to execute top-notch designs and projects and to become the number one choice of real estate agencies and other stakeholders in the industry. We want to build an interior design company that can favorably compete with other leading brands in the industry.
Our mission
Our mission is to positively influence the lives of all customers with whom we have the pleasure of working and leave a lasting impression on their minds and imagination. Our main focus is:
Creation of unique and innovative design products that are responsive to each client’s vision and budgetary needs.
Providing our clients with design services that reflect the latest developments in the construction and building industry.
Prompt and timely delivery of consistently high-quality products and services.
Work within an environment based on interpersonal relationships between clients, our professionals, colleagues, community, and environment.
Until recently, mental health issues were considered as a taboo in India. Even depression – the most common mental ailment, which in turn leads to other ailments, was not considered as an ailment in the first place.
The Indian psychotherapy sector has travelled a long, arduous path to establish itself as an important component of human health and the medical field. From labelling psychologically disturbed persons as mad and writing off the possibility of any treatment or therapy to voluntarily seeking psychotherapy, the Indian society too has travelled a long way.
Psychotherapy initially was not recognised as a treatment for psychological or psychiatric problems in India.
By and large people are now recognising and accepting psychological issues and are open to therapy. The past two decades saw an increase in awareness among people about mental health and the need to address them through professional help. A country that believed in a pill as the cure to any ailment gradually began embracing counselling to cure mental health issues. Educational institutions and corporate companies have counsellors for students and employees, respectively. Individuals seek professional help for any small to major mental disturbance. Today, the focus is on overall well-being.
Globalisation has changed the perception of people towards mental illness. People are seeking therapeutic help to deal with their emotional issues. Changing lifestyles and modernisation inflated emotional health issues and counselling seemed to be the only solution to such problems. Marital strain, parent-child relationship, emotional trauma due to a chronic or serious illness or a mishap, childhood trauma, substance abuse, stress of students to perform academically and many such issues lead to depression and consequently the need for counselling. The Covid-19 pandemic saw a surge in the emotional trauma among people. Many turned to counselling.
The profession is very challenging and demands lot of patience. Psychotherapists work with the patient to eliminate symptoms or reduce symptoms of mental illness and work towards the overall wellbeing of the patient. A psychotherapist needs in-depth training to use various intervention techniques and therapy includes several sessions with the patient, wherein the counselling is done.
The Indian psychotherapy sector has come a long way. Yet, a lot needs to be accomplished. Few psychotherapy treatment providers have been successful in changing mindsets through their effective therapies and have changed the way Indians looked at mental health and its cure.
Mr. Rupak Barua – Group CEO and Director, AMRI Hospitals
Today, psychotherapy has been identified as a procedure that not only treats behavioral patterns but also eases patients who are suffering from cancer and neurological problems. It is now gradually growing as a distinct sphere in treating patients with a variety of verbal and psychological techniques. Combined with medications, this strategy is utilized by professionals to constitute a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise, required nutrients, and adequate sleep.
It has been found that with psychotherapy, over 75 percent of people have improved their lifestyle and recovered perfectly from their disability, medical, and other behavioural conditions. Several healthcare professionals have linked this approach with their treatment methods to favourably change the working pattern of their patient’s brain and body.
Collaborating with different healthcare experts to design components with functional outcomes, these therapists perform multiple treatment settings to treat patients during every stage of their diagnosis.
AMRI Hospitals – a prominent healthcare facility specialized in treating cardiovascular disease, cancer, congenital disorders, neurological problems, and other gastroenterological issues is among the renowned providers with strong roots in medical practice since 1996.
Mr. Rupak Barua – Group CEO and Director, instituted AMRI Hospitals in the eastern region of India, which currently serves patients aided by more than 1200 doctors. His decades of dedication and determination in the medical sector have shaped CMRI (Calcutta Medical Research Institute) into a reliable and ardent corporate healthcare service. Along with his proficient planning with effective strategies, he catered to various reputed hospitals and skilfully carved a place for himself in the healthcare industry.
Following are the highlights from the interview with Insights Success Business Magazine on how the trusted healthcare provider is equipping their patients with valued and high-quality service.
Kindly brief us about the hospital and its initial journey
AMRI Hospitals is one of the leading private healthcare providers of Eastern India, with four super specialty hospitals at Dhakuria, Mukundapur, and Salt Lake, in Kolkata, and at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, along with a state-of- the-art day-care centre on Southern Avenue, Kolkata. The Group serves around 3.5 lakh patients annually, conducting more than 15,000 successful surgeries, backed by a roster of 1,200+ doctors and a well-trained force of nursing & paramedical staff, across more than 1,000 beds.
2. Brief us about the Founder/CEO
Group CEO, Mr. Rupak Barua, a veteran in Eastern India’s healthcare sector, took up the reins of the Group in 2014. Having a post-graduate degree in marketing, he also successfully pursued MDPs from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM- Calcutta. He is the Co-Chairman, Healthcare Sub Committee of CII (Eastern Regions), and a National Industry Expert in CII’s National Skills Council, besides being an active member of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and several other industries and social bodies.
Brief us about the services that the hospital offers. AMRI Hospitals, through its four multi-specialty tertiary hospitals, provides a range of super speciality services in cardiology, oncology, neurology, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, besides offering several specialized clinics for targeted treatments in ENT, spine, reconstructive surgery, laser surgery, etc.
What are the unique propositions that the centre offers giving it an edge over competitors?
The focus of AMRI Hospitals has always been on providing the best treatment protocols to patients, backed by advanced technology, which ensures quality medical outcomes. The hospital group boasts of some of the best physicians and surgeons, trained at the best medical schools from across the world, who continue to upgrade their skills and technical knowledge in a bid to strive for the stated goal of quality and affordable treatment.
Dr. Padam Kanwar Bhati, the Founder and Managing Director
Mental health has become as much important as physical health. People and institutions are focusing on this issue at an early stage to create more awareness in the community and break the stigma.
Accepting that one has a mental illness and is at increased risk of relapse is an important first step for relapse prevention. Recognition is acknowledged to be an important step in developing effective illness management strategies and working effectively with mental health services and complying with medications and treatments.
There are many organizations which are paying serious attention towards mental health and well-being. These companies are counselling people and educating them about self-knowledge, emotional acceptance, and much more. One such noteworthy organization which offers excellent mental wellness facilities is Wings Within. Situated at Bengaluru, Karnataka, the company provides services that would foster optimal mental health and well-being of individuals.
Wings Within believes that fast economic and technological advancement has transformed the nature of society’s operation and its member’s mental wellbeing.
The organization focuses on addressing the mental health of the members of the society, by effectively utilizing authentic and empirical services, to facilitate the holistic development of individuals and promote their better quality of life.
It is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization and a member of the World Federation of Mental Health (founded in 1948).
Wings Within focuses on identifying the dormant power within the individual and facilitates their development so that they grow wings to fly high.
The company focuses on harnessing the power within the individual, while enabling them to reach their fullest potential to be the best version of themselves. It is driven to equip people to handle their emotions effectively while facing life’s challenges.
Wings Within works towards fostering strong interpersonal relationships and developing resilience to recover from life’s setbacks faster, by unleashing and tapping their fullest potential.
In the given below Interview with Insights Successbusiness magazines india with Dr. Padam Kanwar Bhati.
Future Perspective
Discussing about the future, team Wings Within states that it wants to be the world’s best mental health service provider by offering an excellent user experience through state-of-the-art technology and innovation.
Dr. Naveen Thomas is the current Director CEO of Bangalore Baptist Hospital
Hospitals comes under service-oriented industry with lot of dependency on manpower. Attrition is one of the key challenges faced in the industry. With inflation and rising costs, it is difficult to ensure financial viability. Patient safety is the crux of patient care. Reducing the risk of infection, as well as other potential risks is crucial in ensuring a high quality of care and maintaining the organization’s reputation. Noncompliance with regulatory standards can lead to a disruption in operations, poor quality of care, safety issues, and substantial fines.
Addressing these issues head on and providing dynamic healthcare services is one such institution, Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH). In the given below Interview with top business magazinesInsights Success, let us figure out how it is contributing to the ever-increasing needs of the Indian healthcare system:
Kindly brief us about the hospital and its initial journey.
Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) is a not-for-profit institution with a strong vision to serve all people without discrimination of caste, colour, or creed in the spirit of Jesus Christ. BBH started as an 80-bed hospital in the year 1973 and is currently a 340-bed multispecialty hospital serving all socio-economic strata of the society and is one of the institutions leading the way in healthcare quality in the country. It initially started operations with an outpatient clinic in a makeshift building, for rural Bengaluru in 1973.
We are currently serving around 1400 outpatients on a daily basis and our inpatient numbers have averaged at 75% occupancy over the last six months. We perform 275 deliveries and around 500 surgeries on a monthly basis.
Brief us about the Founder/CEO.
Dr. Naveen Thomas is the current Director/CEO of BBH. It was started by Southern Baptist Convention of US and in 1989 it was handed over to CMC (Christian Medical College), Vellore.
The Tripartite Agreement between Christian Medical College, Vellore, International Mission Board and Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) was made with an objective of retaining the viability of BBH and assisting the hospital towards independence even while maintaining the hospital’s identity and autonomy.
Dr. P T Sunderam, PTS passionately as its Managing Director and the Chief Mentor
Our world will never be the same again after Covid-19. There are many challenges in society like working from home, temporary unemployment, lack of physical contacts of family and friends, and the physical and mental health boundaries redrawn by the WHO board in Jan 2021 to safeguard humanity. Amid all these difficult situations, the mental health care sector needs to be given high priority to help integrate the personal life, family life, and social life in society by carrying out different phases of health care programmes.
There are two types of entrepreneurs in the healthcare industry, one who comes to improve the existing business and whose focus is mainly on the growth of the business. The 2nd type is an entrepreneur who is born out of pain in life and focuses more on the customer first and the business next. The success of mental healthcare requires the 2nd type of entrepreneurs. To successfully achieve the above services, caring and nurturing are the fundamental capabilities required for providing mental healthcare.
One such entrepreneur who is catering to the individual needs of the mental healthcare patients empathetically is Dr P T Sunderam, who is leading his company PTS passionately as its Managing Director and the Chief Mentor. He is one of the prominent relationships psychologists, Mind Programmer and the first married couple’s relationship expert mentor in India. He has been practising in this field as a mentor for the last twenty years. In an area where no one was exclusively catering to the needs of the marriage counseling sector in India, Dr Sunderam dedicated himself in helping couples to strengthen their marital life and enhance their relationship with each other on a core level.
Dr Sunderam has developed a unique system and stabilized the process. He first listens to his couple individually and then analyses his findings based on their first meeting. After analysis, he asks the couple to mail him separately what they expect from the mentoring session, which helps him identify the intensity of commitment of the couple for doing homework at every session to get the desired results. This process has not only helped him to weed out the halfhearted couples but also helped countless couples who were serious about improving their relationship results.
Dr Sunderam leverages his expertise in advanced subjects on mind programming from the psychology schools of Australia, Canada, and the USA. He has been felicitated in 13 psychiatric conferences and he has also taught various doctors and psychologists in India as well. Through consistent struggles and striving, Dr Sunderam has paved his way towards success by integrating Quantum Psychology, Silva Mind, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming with Mars-Venus relationship psychology for resolving the young married couples relationship issues of the society.
Since childhood, he faced a lot of challenges that made him the man he is today. He and his mother came back from the verge of attempting suicide when he was nine years old. Going through a lot of family issues, his mother, who was fed up with her in-laws and could no longer take the mental pressure left with Sunderam to end their lives.
As a child, it was difficult for Sunderam to understand the ups and downs of life. But a holy saint saved Sunderam’s life by enlightening him about life. He asked the young Sunderam to introspect a few questions. “Will anything change once you die? Will your mother’s problems go away? If not, then live! You are born on this earth to help countless other mothers who do not have a son like you.” This statement changed the young Sunderam’s outlook on life, and he made a promise of helping the suffering mothers and their child in the best way he can.
Sunderam became India’s first married couples’ relationship expert and mentor applying the mind reprogramming skills as an alternative to counseling session and saved many young mothers from the trap of negative thoughts that once consumed him and his mother’s life.
Dynamics of PTS
Given below is an excerpt from an Interview by business solutions magazineInsights Success with Dr Sunderam, which reveals the stories and struggles that he faced in his long and hard road to success.
Insights Success 