ET Women's Forum: Pursue dreams, be thick-skinned about it: Shraddha Kapoor
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It's been a rollercoaster, guys," Shraddha Kapoor said with a laugh, reflecting on her 15-year Bollywood journey at The Economic Times Women's Forum But the ride's far from over. With her eyes now set on entrepreneurship , she's embracing a bold new chapter. "Wearing that hat is very exciting," she said, oozing sparkling ambition.Kapoor credited the women in her life, especially her mother, for giving her that drive and for supporting her during her formative years. "I have the earliest memories, whether I had to go to an annual day programme, or I had an exam in school, or I had some kind of tiff with a bunch of friends-I always had someone who was my safety, and I knew that was my mom," she said. But it's not just the maternal role that plays a role in empowering women. Kapoor strongly believes that "empowered women empower women".With a staggering 93.7 million followers on Instagram-more than those of Alia Bhatt, Sachin Tendulkar and even Priyanka Chopra-Kapoor sits at the top tier of India's social media celebrities Talking about her "secret sauce", she said, "I think it's how welcomed I have felt by the family-my family on Instagram-over the past 15 years," adding that authenticity is key.As to what made her decide to become an entrepreneur, she said being a consumer was the starting point. "It started with me buying from Palmonas, then thinking, okay, this is really good quality. Bought again; then saw they had dropped new designs; bought again," she told the audience.Kapoor said while the financials of the business isn't her expertise, she loves being hands-on when it comes to customer experience . "I would rather put my energy into what we can do better, how to improve things based on feedback and what we can offer the customer to enhance the entire experience. That is a lot of fun too."Kapoor urged women to be "thick-skinned' when it comes to pursuing their dreams. "There are so many people who will tell you, 'Yeh, yeh formula hota hai school build karne ka (this is the formula for building a school). Yeh formula hota hai film banane ka (this is the formula for making a film).' I don't believe there's a specific formula. Only the person building something, the founder, knows their vision," she said.The lively conversation then focused on Kapoor's background. She comes from a film family-her father being the iconic actor Shakti Kapoor-and she has a musically rich lineage on the Mangeshkar side, being the grand-niece of the late playback singer Lata Mangeshkar. She was surrounded by strong, working women from an early age. From her father, she said, she learned how to respect money, and from the women, well, their lessons have been priceless."I've had more of a matriarchal upbringing , if I may say, and a very community-driven one. My mom always made me feel seen, and so did all the women in my life. I feel very, very blessed to have had that."Kapoor fired up the audience with an empowering declaration, dismissing those who claim women can't have it all. "I think we can have it all. The sky's the limit. We just need to know what we want-and go after it," she said.
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