A veil of ignorance is a blessing in disguise until chaos erupts. The crisis strikes you unexpectedly, leaving you with only two choices – do something or lose everything. Both are difficult choices without any certainty of outcomes.
That is when you look for an anchor who would at least will not laugh at you and your situation, telling you that I told you so. And will empower you to not only face your situation but also to overcome it and be the inspiration for others.
Thus, it will create a network of empowered spirits, a tribe, which will further its reach, making the dream of women’s rights and empowerment a reality.
Aditi Verma, the Founder of The-HER-Tribe, is that anchor who has empowered hundreds of women to be independent in all spheres of their lives. Be it financial literacy, professional and personal ambitions, or simply living their life on their terms. Aditi will support you in all, in return just taking a promise from you that once empowered, you will empower others like you.
Aditi is an accomplished business leader and senior marketing professional with over 21 years of corporate experience in the new-age media, healthcare, and telecom sectors. She has been a part of the growth journey of brands like Dabur, Zee, and The Times of India in leadership positions. Her last corporate role was as a Chief Marketing Officer with a Global MNC headquartered in the US.
In an interview with Insights Success for its edition, ‘The Women Owning the Business Arena’, she spoke about her awe-inspiring journey on the path of women empowerment.
Here are the highlights of that interview:
Give us a brief overview of your professional journey at The-HER-Tribe.
The pandemic changed millions of lives in different ways. TheHerTribe.org happened quite incidentally and situationally, with the second wave of COVID in April 2021. When two of my friends lost their spouses to this mayhem, while helping them sort out, I realized that they did not know their insurances or investments. With that, I initially just started motivating women around me for basic financial knowledge so that they are independent irrespective of being a working professional or homemaker.
With time, looking at the vast need, I decided to take the leap of faith and quit my corporate job to start this platform for women. Having lived my life on my terms, I have always been vocal about women’s rights and empowerment.
Tell us more about The-HER-Tribe, its vision, and the key aspects of its stronghold in the industry it is catering.
Vision:
Impacting lives of one million women in the next two years, helping them take control of their lives through financial literacy and financial freedom.
Objective:
The-Her-Tribe is a social initiative By the Women, For the Women, with a vision to support women with financial literacy, emotional wellbeing, skill development, and overall wellness leading to ‘Dignity’ and ‘Women Empowerment’ in real terms.
From a business leadership perspective, what is your opinion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your industry?
The customer base or target audience for The-HER-Tribe is in every household. Professionally working women have different challenges while homemakers have different issues. But the core issues remain the same. The pandemic just highlighted the need in a big way when few women got unsettled due to the loss of a family member/spouse. Otherwise taken for granted, the need for financial literacy is now at least a known necessity, and more and more people realise it.
It is a community where women have someone to lean on. Already more than two hundred women have been supported in some or other way. The idea is to inspire them so that they take control of their lives instead of depending on someone. The platform already has over twenty mentors and more joining it to help and support other women.
What efforts did you take during the pandemic to sustain operations and ensure the safety of your team at the same time?
Since The-Her-Tribe was launched during the second wave of COVID as an online community and service, the safety of employees was never a concern. Rather, the acceptance of digital services during this time boosted the launch and growth.
What is your opinion on the necessity for your company to align its offerings with technologies like AI and ML?
Though it is too early for us to comment, today AI and ML are like a basic necessity, and any and every business can increase the yield and productivity by making the best use of it. Currently, we are focusing on reaching out to new users and members. Once the growth is exponential, definitely, AI/ML would play a major role in re-marketing efforts and engagement on the platform.
As an established industry leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts aspiring to venture into the industry you are catering?
Believe in yourself and your idea. As long as there is a genuine need and you know your target audience, keep moving with full zeal and confidence. Results would come. Perseverance is the key.
How do you envision further strengthening the The-HER-Tribe stronghold in 2022 and beyond?
For 2022 and beyond, the clear focus is on reaching out to more audiences, practically every household, and inspiring women to be financially aware and free, have their source of income, active or passive, to have control of their life.
Aiming at acquiring one million users from India is the goal for this year. And expanding to the global audience as well as is an additional aim.
