This Lady Was Once an Actress and Now Is a Successful Businesswoman; Shares Her Secrets

Q You started off as an actress, but soon after your marriage with businessman Raj Kundra, we saw you venturing out in a lot of businesses. What caused the sudden shift of interest as today more than movies we see you delving into commerce?

Woh kehte hai na ‘sangat ka asar Hai’ (laughs). Well frankly it was Raj who opened my eyes and so I have to give him full credit for what I am today. He saw me endorse a lot of other brands and made me understand that instead of promoting other brands, why not come up with my own brands! This is when I thought about coming up with something of my own. So, for my first project I took to exploring my ‘love’, which for fitness and that is how I launched the yoga DVD (in 2008). After getting some confidence I delved into wellness and launched IOS is Spa from here on there was no looking back and I enjoyed the journey as a businesswoman.

If we talk about something more recent, I launched my own channel online (The Shilpa Shetty.com). In this day and age, I feel people have no time to buy DVDs or watch TV. The audience needs everything at a click of a button and on the phones, which is why I took to exploring the digital medium. Here, I have gone beyond yoga and I am concentrating on health as a whole.

Q How are women when it comes to numbers and finance?

Terrible! (Laughs) I don’t know about others, but I am really bad at it. My dad (Surendra Shetty) used to handle all the finances for me. After his death, it’s all suddenly thrust upon me. I am taking time to learn as I realized that I have to become a little more street smart and have to learn to do things on my own.

Q You have been an inspiration to many, name the women entrepreneurs who inspire you?

Vandana Luthra (founder of VLCC Health Club), I feel she’s a torch bearer. Kiran Shaw (chairman and managing director of Biocon Limited) she is brilliant. Even Shahnaz Husain (CEO of Shahnaz Herbals Inc.) I feel Shahnaz has really made an empire for herself and that too way before ‘women’ could even think of doing something as big as what she ventured into. Basically, I like women who are trend setters and do things before time.

Q Do you think actresses of the current generation are sharper and bolder as compared to the earlier generations? From exploring various ventures, to turning producers and even making a mark in Hollywood, they are going all out!

I think it’s a welcome change. Heroines today are no longer relegated to doing just song and dance in movies. Cinema is really coming of age. And it’s wonderful to see women now commanding as much as their male counterparts if not more than them at times (in terms of fees).

Q Times have changed in Bollywood for women, yet actresses are facing issues like the ‘gender pay gap’. You have been a film producer; how can the problem be curbed?

I made some mistakes in my life and film production was one of them (laughs). Frankly speaking, you can’t only look at one side and forget all the good stuff that is happening. It’s not about being man or a woman, but about making the right choices. Look at me, I must say, today I am making more money than what I made in my entire life. Look at Anushka (Sharma) or Deepika (Padukone), they are making much more money than all of us (actresses of her generation) put together in our times and it is because of the choices that they are making. Even Priyanka (Chopra) for that matter, I am sure she’s making much more than her male counterparts. But in the end, I feel that money and success is just subjective, it is all about the ‘happiness’ that you get from what you do.

Beauty & Beyond

Beauty for Vandana Luthra, founder and vice chairperson VLCC is not about glowing skin and shiny hair, beauty to her comes from the confidence and the integrity with which a woman carries herself. In Chandigarh to talk about the growth plans of the company, and the anti-obesity drive that the company is running, Vandana doesn't like to call the company all about Beauty and Wellness, she sees something far more in this- 

Beauty, it's education and skilling domain.

I firmly believe that VLCC's Vocational Education business vertical is critical in ensuring that the growth of not just VLCC but also the wellness services industry as a whole in India is not stymied by the lack of trained and skilled manpower. Over 10,000 students passed out of the VLCC Institutes' campuses across 49 cities, in 2015. In fact, as of July 31, 2015, we operated 65 VLCC Institutes, comprising 64 institutes across India and one in Nepal.

We are actively involved with providing training in the beauty and wellness domain as part of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) initiative which was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 15, 2015.

The obesity battle

The idea of an anti-obesity originated way back in 2001 as it became an increasing cause of numerous health hazards, in India.  We have been raising the alarm against obesity through public service campaigns. We finally launched our first such initiative, called the Anti-Obesity Day, which we have been observing on November 26 every year.

Globally, Indian men rank fifth and women rank third in the overall obesity index. The reasons of Obesity globally remain the same which is lack of physical activity and lesser intake of nutritious food. The same holds true for residents of Punjab as it is making them more prone to non-communicable diseases (NCD) like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, etc., revealed a survey conducted by the PGIMER. 41.4 per cent of Punjab's people are overweight.

Up next

I believe that the increasing awareness about health and well-being, the rising cost of curative healthcare which is prompting people to increasingly look at preventive healthcare as an option, and a growing middle class population nationwide with both the conviction and the resources to spend on beauty and wellness treatments are factors that are contributing to the development of a vibrant beauty and wellness sector in India.