Empowered WOMEN speak up
- bey0ndM@gz!ne
- April 12, 2021
- Cover Story
- 0 Comments
HERE’S TO STRONG WOMEN:
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are featuring three amazing, strong, and successful women in business. These women share their personal stories, experiences, and how they were drawn towards the entrepreneurship route.
The world is changing, and women are actively fortifying this dynamic and positive change by supporting each other, looking out for each other, and lifting each other as a community. Today’s women are celebrating themselves; their strengths, challenges, individuality and have put forth their ambitions with conviction.
SONAL
Sonal, Founder and Director at SARA Interior Design, is an established designer. Starting her entrepreneurial journey in India at a young age, she implemented projects for several marquee corporates.
Her move to Hong Kong a decade ago did not deter her creativity or ambition. She ventured out on her own, connecting with the city and its people, thus setting up what is now a successful Interior Designing business. Making the most of the challenges but also opportunities that a new city brings, Sonal exemplifies that women in business today are not limited by geography, ethnicity, or cultural or language differences.
“Our business is known for high quality furniture and delivery, in addition to functional, unique designs. Connecting with like-minded people with similar
business ethics of uncompromised quality helped us grow. We have curated and partnered with several factories in China, which has enabled us to foster a business that delivers good quality products and finishes.
Sonal adds, “Despite some language barriers, when my contractor and vendors see my ability to communicate with them effectively and see the work I have done over time, they are very forthcoming to work with me on new projects.”
She adds, “After working for two decades with global clients in India, Dubai and Hong Kong, I’d say my multi-cultural background, experience and exposure
has actually worked in my favour, to better understand a variety of design preferences and functional requirements that different clients may have.”
Her business venture, SARA Interior Design, aims to make its aesthetic mark in Hong Kong and globally, transforming these differences to their advantage.
HEENA
Heena, Lead Designer with SARA Interior Design, did her MBA and has worked with large organisations like Infosys and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in India
and the U.S., before moving to Hong Kong, where she worked with Bank of New York Mellon.
“Corporate life offered great opportunities to grow, work with people from diverse backgrounds. While I thoroughly enjoyed my roles there, as my family grew, I
wanted a career that can offer flexibility whilst being equally engaging and exciting”, says Heena.
Heena sounds like a lot of women whom we know, and often, who we are. She acknowledged that she needed balance and flexibility in her career and took charge of the situation. “I have always been fascinated with architecture and design and while it seemed like a completely unrelated field to my professional experience at the time, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue my passion.” she added.
Heena formally studied at Insight School of Interior Design in Hong Kong and soon after, joined hands with Sonal as partner in SARA Interior Design. “My idea is to bring happiness to people by making each space tell a unique story. Even with limited scope or moderate budgets, I like to cleverly play with colours, finishes and materials to bring wellness to city living.”
Heena made a passion-driven career change – a risky yet brave move, but she has worked towards having a fulfilling career pursuing her keen desire, that of
interior design and entrepreneurship. An encouraging cue for many of us who hesitate to make that change. The designer duo is paving their way towards greater success, project by project.
KIRAN
Kiran is the proprietor of CALFIT, a healthy prep meal company, that delivers convenience and the impetus for people to lead a healthy lifestyle. Her recent passion project, TAGLINE is a fine dining restaurant in collaboration with the designer duo Sonal and Heena. Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, Kiran dons many hats with equal panache – she is a nutritionist, stylist, and a model.
Kiran is a yoga enthusiast and follows a well-planned fitness regime and healthy lifestyle. Playing to her strengths in fitness, nutrition, and health, she qualified
in ‘Human Nutrition’ and ‘Nutrition & Dietetics’ from Harvard University and Oxford College of London and is also a certified Nutritionist in Hong Kong. She certainly owns her game!
After a brief successful stint with the fashion world early in her career in Hong Kong, Kiran got actively involved in philanthropy. However, Kiran found her true calling with food and nutrition and focussed all her efforts towards establishing her passion projects in a fine dining restaurant that offers Indian food with all-natural ingredients, served in a modern, contemporary setting.
TAGLINE and CALFIT emerged as a perfect combination that caters to people who want to eat clean, wholesome Indian fare, brimming with authentic taste, nutrients, and flavours of India. Is age a barrier? Not really, if you are determined”, says Kiran. Indeed, truer words were never spoken.
THREE WOMEN COME TOGETHER
Kiran conceptualised the business idea of setting up a fine-dining restaurant, collaborating with Sonal and Heena on the design front. She was well-equipped about nutrition and food from a nutritionist’s perspective and brought in Sonal and Heena for their design-ideas and execute this classy, contemporary, and swanky place that is Tagline today. The restaurant is a modern take on the Indian fine-dining scene, in the heart of TST in Hong Kong.
Kiran worked hard on various aspects to realize her dream of setting up a restaurant business. The three women ideated, discussed, and developed their collective ideas. The designer duo finalized the interiors in a plush setting for all to experience and savour.
Kiran adds “I signed up to work with SARA designs for my restaurant with the utmost confidence because we share the same vision of following our passion, not shying away from taking risks and accepting the challenges that come with them. They had done my office interiors before and seeing how well they can fulfil my requirements and my preferences; I knew they would be my go-to duo for my restaurant’s interiors”.
Strong women from different domains can work together to make incredible things happen. Each one of them strived to follow their dreams and build successful careers of their own. Women are embracing entrepreneurship with open arms, taking a step ahead – one bold step at a time.
