Life is one big adventure for communication strategist Ambika Sharma
Being a child of second generation fauji, Ambika Sharma had to pack her bags every two years to new sights, people, and friends. As a child, she traveled the country, climbed every mountain, swam every river and celebrated every water fall.
She had to constantly take up new hobbies and ‘tasks’; one summer it was carpentry while another it was painting. Sports were a must and holidays were bundles of adventure rafting, and trekking. The exposure and the lifestyle made Ambika adaptive, and ready for anything life had to throw at her.
A summer job taken up at communication and strategy firm after her 12th turned into the love of a lifetime. “The very first day I knew this is what I had to make a career in,” says Ambika. Later, Ambika founded Pulp Strategy Communication.
Pulp Strategy Communications is a full service agency in the realm of tech enabled, experiential, digital & interactive marketing. Pulp Strategy’s forte lies in the seamless convergence of consumer engagement offline and online.
It provides a comprehensive range of integrated solutions seamlessly converging strategy, creativity, consumer insight, engagement design and technology to deliver measurable results for brands.
“Like almost every other business, we face competition and our competition is every other medium or agency which competes for a share of wallet from the marketing budgets allocated by brands,” adds Ambika.
Journey as an entrepreneur
It has been an interesting journey so far as an entrepreneur, says Ambika. “I have had amazing learning and fun every minute of it. It brings such a unique mix of creative freedom, strategic planning and technology which is immensely fulfilling as a space to be in,” she adds.
The three-year-old company has bagged over 50 awards, including prestigious MAA Globe in 2014. In the financial year 2013-2014, the company witnessed 168% revenue growth over previous fiscal.
Good work is the best motivation
“I love the space I am in, every day is new and there is so much to look forward to. The creative freedom is in perfect balance with the responsibility of driving real time results. Every time a campaign or a piece of work finds acceptance with the consumer making a difference to the brand, it’s immensely fulfilling. Good work is the best motivation,” points out Ambika.
Entrepreneurial hat is tough one to don
According to Ambika, entrepreneurship is a state of mind. She thinks it has nothing to do with gender, but it’s also true that there are fewer women entrepreneurs not just in India but globally. “The entrepreneur hat is a tough one to don. One must give up a lot of personal time and many other things to drive a business up from scratch. Confidence and self belief have a very large part to play in mentally taking the plunge. I think it’s about social conditioning, too much prudence and caution are relics of many hundreds of years of patriarchy but that is changing now. Studies also state that women owned businesses tend to grow at a steady pace and give back more to society,” says Ambika.
Some of the best business ideas happen while biking
Ambika loves biking, and rides Suzuki GSX–R1000 & Harley Davidson Road King. She rides 100 plus kms every weekend. “I ride out to a weekend getaway at least once in two months covering 800-1000 kms. This January, I rode my Harley from Delhi to Kanyakumari covering the distance of 2800 kms (approx). Biking helps me unwind, my best business growth fuellers happen when I’m riding,” concludes Ambika.
