There was a time when corporate was assumed as a male-dominated sector, but in the previous few decades, the scenario is changing gradually with the entry of many women business leaders. Anoushka Adya is also a young and promising woman business leader.
Before starting her venture Anoushka has worked with globally recognized firms Whyte & Mackay, Web Liquid in the UK after completing Marketing & strategy from Warwick Business school there. This has given her the requisite experience to succeed in the domain. When she acquired the desired level of knowledge and skills in the field, she decided to start her venture in her homeland India.
She is also the founder of Lajja Foundation, an NGO and Woman community; that works dedicatedly for girlchild and women empowerment, and Grow Labs, a Mental Health Lab. Lajja Foundation is the extended form of Lajja Diaries, an online platform she founded just after returning to India. The NGO works for the betterment of girls and women from lesser privileged backgrounds. Under its ‘Beti project,’ the organization exclusively works towards providing quality education to underprivileged girls. It also organizes menstrual hygiene awareness camps and nutritional food distribution camps in slums.
Her third venture Grow Labs is a mental health lab that was born in response to mental health issues, the illness she feels deserves equal attention like physical well-being. She says “according to WHO and Mental health Industry data nearly 7.5% of the Indian population suffers from mental illness although the amount spent on mental health comes only about 33 paisa per mental health patient, which is minuscule". "Grow Labs is a small step towards finding solutions and providing a helping hand", she further adds.
Anoushka is a social entrepreneur by choice, she feels that there is still a long way when women will get their well-deserved respect and place in society. Her leadership style is empathic and all-inclusive. She feels that, “There is a genuine gap between opportunities provided to men and women which needs to be filled. Women can be as dynamic leaders and equal achievers as men if similar opportunities and support are provided to them. Also, if we look forward to seeing a better future, everyone has to work for the strata that have been left behind.”
Her hard work and dedication towards her work have brought her many accolades she has been awarded as ‘Digital woman of the year’ by SheThePeople TV, ‘Community Builder of the Year’ award at Entrepreneur Start-Up awards, and ‘Rising start of the Year’ by Exchange4Media. Anoushka is also a popular TEDx speaker and inspirational speaker at various events including Udaan 4.0 Entrepreneur fest by IIM Rohtak.
