Sushmita Nanivadekar: A Journey of Resilience and Innovation in Digital Branding
“When everything is lost, the future remains. Believe in God and yourself always and keep doing the good work”, these words keep motivating Sushmita Nanivadekar. She is the founder and CEO of Gyany Customer Solutions. With 25 years of expertise, she has been able to conceptualize and design tailor-made solutions for brands and companies in varied sectors namely; architecture, Engineering, Medical, Healthcare, and Real Estate, and also received notable accolades and awards. The company has since designed branding collaterals for over 200 logos and worked with prominent clients like Forbes Technosys, Mahindra Solar, and Vista Foods. She said “I only believe in the supreme power and every human being has its karma and a path to lead. Believe in yourself and never give up!!!”This article delves into her life, her achievements, and the challenges she faced.
Introduction:
Sushmita Nanivadekar, hailing from an educational background in electronics engineering, and acquiring more than two decades of professional experience in Brand design, began her entrepreneurial journey in 2010 as the Founder and CEO of Gyany Customer Solutions. A Branding Agency that stands apart and specializes in designing brands and marketing collaterals for MSMEs, startups, and corporates.
Sushmita’s fascination with advertisements began in childhood, unknowingly paving the way for her career and her curiosity about creative concepts, she says by recalling her childhood "Since childhood, I was always fascinated by TV and newspaper advertisements. I keenly observed the concepts behind them, memorizing jingles and admiring the creativity involved. When I look back, I never knew that one day, I would create meaningful designs that blended thoughts and technology and would run a creative agency."
Before launching Gyany, she gained valuable experience in various roles across the advertising, media, fashion, and architecture industries. She said, "I worked in everything from designing to business development and marketing,". This rich and varied background laid the foundation for my entrepreneurial journey. However, Sushmita desired to run her own company and help others through design services, she ultimately took the entrepreneurial leap in 2010.
Sushmita’s father was in the armed forces, as he was diagnosed with brain cancer and was hospitalized for five years before his demise. During this time Sushmita lived away from her parents and developed a sense of independence and resilience that later proved crucial in her entrepreneurial journey. Those years were tough for her and she thinks that these years played a significant role in her journey.
She started her career as a Documentation Engineer with a leading firm Dynalog India Ltd. and later worked with Datamatics and an Architectural Firm “Kalyaojan” before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in 2010. Working with rich and varied backgrounds and different sectors and industries, she gained immense experience and knowledge which helped her in her Startup journey.
The first two years of Gyany Customer Solutions were filled with challenges and learning experiences. She says “As a first-generation entrepreneur, I started with a small amount of money loaned from my husband”. Eventually, Sushmita joined the BNI networking organization, and that was a turning point in her entrepreneurial life, she added: "Getting clients was tough initially, but joining the BNI networking organization was a turning point in my life. It helped me get clients and shaped me as a business person in multiple ways."
2020 was another turning point as COVID-19 brought a huge setback not only to the business but on the health front too. Gyany Customer Solutions suffered huge losses and had to shut down its design services business. The urgent imperative to not only survive COVID-19 but also to rebuild became increasingly evident with each passing day. Recognizing the dire struggles of enterprises striving to regain their footing, Sushmita felt compelled to take action. Thus, she embarked on a mission to create a solution that would empower businesses to thrive in the digital age, leveraging technology to expand their reach and connect with global markets. Out of this vision, emerged Bizicard.in, born from the innovative minds at Gyany Customer Solutions and officially launched in 2021. Bizicard.in is a New Age Marketing Tool for the New World post-COVID with a mission of Connecting Busy People globally and digitally.
Challenges and Achievements:
Sushmita’s biggest achievement is that Bizicard.in is Currently has more than 850 + paid members from not only India but also UAE, Malta, and the UK. They are currently serving professionals such as CAs, Doctors, Lawyers, Health and wellness professionals, etc.
In 2022, she was Awarded “Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All” by the Women Economic Forum. Sushmita was also Awarded the “IWC 100 Iconic Women’s Award 2021” from IWC. For her entrepreneurship, she was awarded with “Entrepreneurs of Excellence 2017 Award” from the Indo Global Chamber of Commerce. She was also awarded the “Award for Excellence 2017” from ALL Women Economic Forum and Awarded Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Women’s Day 2016 by a business club.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought unexpected challenges for her, she recalls that "Whatever I had built from 2010 to 2020 was just taken away when COVID struck, We had moved to a new office, developed two innovative software solutions for the travel and medical industries, and were all set to launch in April 2020. But the first lockdown destroyed everything. It wasn't just the loss of money but the loss of dreams." Despite these setbacks, Sushmita and her team refused to give up. "Before leaving the office premises, I vowed to myself that I would rebuild, no matter how long it took."
Gyany Customer Solutions continues to evolve. In 2021, amidst the challenges of the post-pandemic world, she and her husband launched Bizicard, a new-age marketing tool that has since gained traction globally. "My vision is to build this platform with cutting-edge technologies and take it global, reaching more than a million users by 2028,". The introduction of photo QR-based NFC cards is what acts as a game-changer in the industry, aiming to help enterprises become digitally strong and grow globally.
Personal Insights:
Being a woman, it's not easy at times. The responsibilities a woman handles and then striking a balance between home and career can be quite challenging at times. Sushmita said “If we can understand the priorities and work in time schedules, plan the day, and delegate tasks to team members, the balance can be maintained. Another thing is taking time to take care of your well-being, and your health and devoting time to the things you love can help”. She also believes that balanced nutrition, exercise in any form, and destressing in any form can surely help. For her, Spirituality has helped her to create a balance in her hectic work schedule. She added "It has helped me to connect to my inner self, being in the present and being self-aware has brought a 180-degree change in self. Whether it's prayer, meditation, or a self-journal, spirituality can help in many ways to connect better with the world".
Impact and Vision:
Talking about her leadership style she said “Build a supportive community and lead as an example. Do what you preach and support everyone around you in the best possible ways”. She also added "Surround yourself with people who uplift you—whether it's family, friends, or fellow entrepreneurs. This support system can be invaluable, especially when navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship”.
She is currently working to expand their platform globally using advanced technologies, aiming to serve over a million users across enterprises by 2028. They believe that PhotoQR-based NFC cards will be a game-changer in the market. Sushmita and her team's goal is to help businesses strengthen their digital presence, enabling entrepreneurs worldwide to effectively brand themselves and grow globally using PhotoQR technology.
Her goal is to expand her enterprises, she said "My vision is to build bizicard.in platform with cutting-edge technologies and take it global, reaching more than a million users by 2028,". The introduction of photo QR-based NFC cards is what she sees as a game-changer in the industry, aiming to help enterprises become digitally strong and grow globally.
Conclusion:
Her journey has always been a rollercoaster ride since childhood and she has overcome many setbacks and challenges during her journey to date. These setbacks have also taken a hard toll on her mental health and she had been diagnosed with Severe clinical depression in the last 30 years with 4 bouts of it happening every few years. The last she faced was in 2020 and it was a very severe relapse with no medicines working. She was almost bedridden for a year in a bad state of losing mental well-being and she has overcome each and every aspect by healing herself without medicines only through self introspection, self-work, and spirituality.
Today, as she looks back, she has healed majorly the traumas of childhood, and scars of unspoken fears, and risen over the odds. Sushmita’s aspect in life apart from bizicard.in is to help others overcome their challenges and unhealed traumas in their lives and enrich them to lead a happier and healthier life.
She advises young women to follow their dreams. “Challenges will always be there. But believe in yourself and rise against the odds. It does not matter at what age you start your business, what matters most is your ideas need wings and plan and execute with the right direction, right target audience, and market your business the right way. Strategic planning, financial planning, teamwork, market research, and branding with execution plan is extremely important and crucial for success”. Adding advice for business she said “Business largely depends on customer acquisition, customer interaction and relationship building in the long run. Hence, small steps taken in the right direction will help you navigate business challenges and drive your business in the growth path envisioned by you”.
