The Brand Called You

Our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You is a DEI Advocate. She preaches and works for improving the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace. We are pleased to welcome Gavriella Schuster to our podcast today. Gavriella Schuster is the executive board member, a former Microsoft Executive for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the high-tech industry. She is a founding sponsor of Women in Cloud and Women in Technology network. She is a board advisor to Workshare Partners, Artificial Solutions and Content Technology. She has been recognized, awarded and felicitated globally. She has also written a book titled, 'BeCOME ALLIES'

Nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence. All parts are interconnected. We often talk about the intake of nutrition for our body, but we forget to understand the needs of our brain. It is important to create a balanced nutritional intake for both body and brain for the overall functioning of a human being. Today, we have with Will Nitze, the founder & CEO of IQBAR, a brain, and body nutrition company. Will talks about the combination of the nutritional needs of the two parts from his personal experience and how his nutrition bar caters to these needs. Will talks about the venture which focuses on combining body and brain nutrition needs and how they are also evolving to cater to varied product lines, with the common umbrella of combining the two essential functioning units.

Our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Vasuki Shastry, is an expert on the subjects of Asian countries and economy. He is a strategic consultant and an Asia watcher at Chatham House. He has been an economic and political journalist in India, Singapore and Jakarta. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund. He is an author and has written several books.  One of his books, 'Has Asia Lost It?' was a finalist at the American Book Fest Awards 2021. He also is the commissioner of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

America’s former President Barack Obama has said, “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” While it is true, there is a slight modification to it. The challenge of Climate Change is not just for the future generation, but also for the present generation. Today, we have with Shweta Dalmia, founder of Climapreneur, an organization that shares stories of these incredible Climate Action torch-bearers who are coming up with unique ways to solve the challenge. Let’s listen to the need for Climate Action and some of these amazing examples. Shweta shows a deep sense of belief in the power of human beings who can drive Climate Action. Calling it a transdisciplinary field, she believes everyone can contribute to Climate Action in their unique ways.

Waste management in India is a big issue. There are many projects indulged in making a circular economy and managing the waste produced in India the right way. One thing that contributes to the waste of the country is the non-biodegradable used sanitary pads. Women on average use 6 pads a month that go straight to the dustbin and they have no use after that. This is a huge problem that was unattended until now, but now we have social entrepreneurs like Ajinkya Dhariya, who have made the development of a sustainable society, the mission of their life. Ajinkya Dhariya is the founder and CEO of PadCare Labs. He is a mechanical engineer and sanitation and social entrepreneur. By sanitation and social entrepreneur, we mean that Ajinkya is developing a circular economy with the used sanitation products.

A famous neuroscientist has said, “The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells-called neurons – lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built so far.” Our brain has the power to tap the hidden potential that lies within all of us. Here, comes the role of neuro coaches who help us understand the mechanism of brain functioning enabling us to follow certain rules and processes that will eventually greet us with results beyond our imagination. Today, we have Saloni Suri, a self-taught neuro-coach who takes us through the potential of neuroscience and the beauty of brain functioning. She uses the neuroscience model of change, which merges with spiritual wisdom to help rewrite minds.

Charles Groenhuijsen rightly said, "Good news is no news". Whenever you switch to the News channels, what kind of news do you see in general? How many times do you get news through the News channels? Very less, right? This news pattern is not area or country specific. This is human psychology which is rightly understood by TV and News professionals like Charles Groenhuijsen, who is also our guest for this episode.

Infosys is the first Indian company to open the NASDAQ stock market. Several reports have shown the admirable working of the organisation which has forced western outsourcing firms to change their business models as well. Indians today prefer joining Infosys over many other global giants. What goes behind handling a global business and the mentorship for people and leaders is essential. Today, we have Mr. Tan Moorthy a seasonal business leader who heads Infosys delivery operations in the US, Canada, and Latin America to discuss some valuable leadership lessons.

In 1997, in the UN event, Carbon Credits were created in order to incentivize projects all around the world to decarbonize the planet. Basically, if a company is polluting in a developed country, they need to pay for the pollution to the companies which do the opposite in the emerging markets. This is measured on the basis of carbon emission. Every ton of Co2 emitted is one Carbon Credit which a company has to buy. In 2017, our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Francisco Benedito detected some inefficiencies in the existing climate market. It was found out that one can apply technology to make these markets more transparent and traceable. This is why ClimateTrade was created as a platform which uses blockchain technology to provide transparency and traceability in climate trade transactions. Francisco Benedito is the CEO of ClimateTrade and the co-founder of ClimateCoin. He has been awarded as the best organization for decarbonizing the travel industry. He has also been voted amongst the top 100 SDG influencers.

Jeff Bezos has said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A strong brand is formed and is sustainable only when it connects to people on emotional and rational levels. It needs to offer something unique to customers and not just focus on the product on a superficial level. A brand manager’s role is extremely critical to build and maintain the reputation. Today, we have Mr. Soumya Solanki, the Managing Director of Kantar Insights of West, East, Central Africa, who discusses it at great length with us. Soumya discusses the importance of having a clear brand purpose. He talks further about a brand providing a meaningful benefit to the consumer.