As part of our ongoing quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, we invited yet another passionate Business Leader Vaibhav Sharma for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. He is a proven leader with a wealth of knowledge and expertise. He has held various leadership roles in his journey where he built and scaled many business verticals. Vaibhav is currently the Senior Vice President at Bhartiya International. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Vaibhav:
We are aware of your contributions to the ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey, please;
My professional journey so far has helped me cross-pollinate ideas across in a wide variety of industry sectors, including Production, Sales, Merchandising, Marketing, production and consumer research
After my B. Tech from “The technological Insititute of Textiles & Sciences “, I joined as a shift Officer with Auro Weaving – Vardhman Group, Baddi.
Within a Year I got to know that this is not where I belong and at the same time I got a call from “Triburg” one of the leading buying offices of India at that time.
After 4 years with Triburg, I spent close to 11 years in China, exploring the far east garment production base including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka.”
Was equally involved in production and marketing for these countries, Our company started Ethiopian arm and I was an integral part of marketing for Ethiopian venture as well.
Currently, I am heading the Virtual Manufacturing Division as Senior Vice President of a Public Listed Company out of Delhi NCR – Bhartiya Corporate. Bhartiya is known worldwide for its Leathers and we have now started to build the same reputation for the apparel side of the trade as well.
Please share with us a unique challenge you faced in your early career?
My first job post-B.Tech with Vardhman Group put me on a challenging learning curve of the professional world. The most challenging part was the difference between college learning and the actual process flow.
What we were taught at college and what we see at the actual facilities was quite different, but thanks to the curriculum that our college followed, they focused more on practical learning and hence our brain was set to adapt to the practical knowledge way better than any other professional institute.”
The second biggest challenge I faced that really helped me in my personal and professional growth was working in China, I had to learn the Chinese language as well as become well-versed with the Chinese way of life, which is very different from what we see in India and the west.
While it was tough to grab the cultural aspect, I quickly realized that people get comfortable if you come across as a familiar person.
Juggling between office work and cultural learning, I spent countless after-office hours learning to communicate in Mandarin, understanding cultural nuances through the knowledge of their art, entertainment, and sports.”
This level of cultural immersion not only helped me connect with people in office and social environments easily but also build a successful career in China. This experience also built a good range of cultural sensitivity in me.
How did you discover your passion?
Through iterative planning intertwined with continuous shifts in execution. Over the last 18 years, I have taken up numerous projects in my areas of interest. Among those, I would simply give up on the activities I didn’t feel like pursuing the long-term.
In due course of time, these initiatives helped me identify the areas of my core passion – marketing, Sales and execution. It was essentially about arriving at a just to explore what really resonated with my personality and life choices.”
With so much going on, how do you start the day to keep your passion alive?
My internal energy drives me to do something new, every day. To build that kind of energy early in the day, I have a practice of visualizing my work outcomes and connecting them with my long-term choices.
Also, I make sure that my professional activities and behaviour are a true expression of my self. That eliminates any dissonance between who I am and what I am doing on daily basis. With that, passion just develops on its own.”
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Self-awareness, constant pursuit, and integrity are the three keys to success.”
On the time scale, it may take some individuals much longer to achieve their goals, but the satisfaction of making progress in the right direction is success in itself.
We know that you are continuously engaged in helping others achieve their goals. Why do you do that?
I am a big believer in sharing knowledge and experiences, so the next generation of individuals can make wiser choices and we continue to evolve into a better society.”
Secondly, adding value to someone’s life is immensely gratifying for me. For this reason, I keep interacting with students at business schools and junior to mid-level employees in organizations, who can benefit from the marketing knowledge I have absorbed over the years.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Look at marketing not just as a job function, but a collective domain comprising several job roles. You should be able to identify the key skills and personality traits required to succeed in brand, media, digital, influencer, product, or any other area of marketing.
Most early starters get lost among marketing verticals within first 5-7 years and find it hard to switch roles after that. Career decisions require a long view of what comes after and a good understanding of personal skills and ambitions. Make informed choices and build a professional life that empowers your lifestyle.
There is so much to be shared, but this conversation limits how much I can communicate on this platform. Students and young professionals regularly reach out to me on LinkedIn with their specific queries.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
