“I believe in getting the best out of people as they carry the baggage of experience & expertise and you just need to empower them & entrust with ownership & credibility.”
Dr Anubha Walia
(Director, Prism Philosophy)
Turning passion into success sounds fascinating but it takes the blood and soil of an entrepreneur to achieve it. Anubha Walia is one such Entrepreneur who is embracing her entrepreneurial journey by demonstrating her strong willpower and commitment to making a difference in the world. Being an embodiment of power, passion and creativity, Dr Anubha Walia began her journey as an Entrepreneur by incepting Prism Philosophy in 2012.
In an exclusive interview, Anubha shared her insight about her journey as an entrepreneur, her brand, the challenges she faced and many other inspiring things.
Give us a glimpse of yourself and your entrepreneurial journey.
Every woman has a Story, to be heard and to be recognised. Born Piscean, I had all the traits of the water sign. Linda Goodman’s zodiac represented me as the “Captain of Charms” – a powerful personality coupled with high energy & outgoing nature and a drive to make things happen and I resonate with the same. Having been the firstborn to a doting family with strong values and educational backing, my father served in the coveted Indian Allied Services (IDAS) and my mother is a homemaker with my 2 beautiful & graceful sisters.
From a very young age, my parents wanted me to have a wider view of the world. My father’s transferable nature of the job made me see a roller coaster ride of changing cities, schools, social circles, and residences which resulted in taking up education from Kendriya Vidyalaya schools from numerous places, learning different cultures and this enabled me to acquire a broad outlook on life and people I interacted with since an early age. Being an adept social navigator and articulator, I can proudly claim to engage with new people & can make my connections feel comfortable and motivated.
My early corporate career journey & post my marriage saw me serving some of the blue-chip organisations demanding me to work with teams & groups which exposed me to a multicultural and diverse work environment. With the values engraved in me thanks to my dad, I am Self-directed and Self-motivated, naturally gravitating towards seeking out the possibilities in life.
Well after working for a good 12 years in corporate, I was still striving to find my purpose and the lyrics of Bob Marley- ‘Love the life you live, and live the life you love’ became a mantra. One thing I observed about myself was that I loved giving/sharing knowledge. From 2005 to 2010, I witnessed newcomers joining the corporate world lacking basic soft skills & that’s how in 2012, the transition of my life happened. I became an Entrepreneur and started the journey in the field of L&D with the simple mission of empowering generations by making them realise the importance of soft skills with hard skills and hand-holding in the learning journey.
How did you overcome the obstacles that come your way?
Hurdles are part of life and I say struggle means life …. zindagi hai to sangharsh hai. The transition from an employee with a lucrative job, position and role to an employer was not easy. Friends and family doubted my career move to becoming an entrepreneur, well who wants anyone to leave a position and lucrative job? And after wearing an entrepreneur hat, I had to tone down my expenses. So, the first challenge was money for running the daily expenses for both my home and my business.
Secondly, we all know that all talented and qualified individuals need their own space to bloom to their fullest potential. So, when I started I witnessed thousands of corporate training firms and management consultants mushrooming in the city of Delhi. Indian companies were cagey about investing in leadership training, dominated by patriarchal, owner-driven leaders.
Above all, not only Anubha’s but Female entrepreneurs’ ride to the top is not free from threat, coercion & compromise. There’s nothing like being a role model – both at home and work. I changed every day; as a woman, as an entrepreneur, a daughter, a mother and a wife. A woman has to wear many hats throughout her life. Being an entrepreneur is perhaps the toughest of all. Once your goals are clear then you can overcome all the challenges.
How do your leadership philosophies help you in taking business decisions?
My leadership philosophy is to Grow with a strong Sense of Purpose. Most importantly, we need to adapt to the changing landscape with GROW i.e Gaining knowledge regularly, Reaching out to others for support or celebration, Opening the world with our services and Walking toward wisdom.
For business decisions, I ensure I do full research before taking any decision but any initiative when I find will benefit our customer which involves no cost – we just go ahead with it.
Tell us about your brand – Prism and the services it offers.
Prism dials into innovative ways to increase learning opportunities at every level after identifying the needs of our customers. At Prism®, we believe in leading through learning we scripted in L&D Vision focusing on human process intervention (includes coaching, facilitation & training) and offer a wide gamut of end-to-end Customised Training solutions on People Development and Total Quality management.
In People Development, we cater to all levels of professionals in corporate with Soft skills, Behavioural Sessions, Yoga & TQM umbrella program, Prism® Flagship Program (speciality designed program for – first-time executive/manager/ leader, Prism® for Gen Y&Z, Prism® Trainer’s toolkit). Our Coaching focuses on developing professionals by integrating NLP & EI helping executives & leadership at all levels.
Shed the light on the superficial mission statement of Prism.
Our learners are yardsticks for continuous improvement and continue to capitalise on our inherent warm and compassionate demeanour, to foster L&D services for the needs of our clients with a singular motive of “We Care” through our innovation & affordable training & coaching with a simple belief “Excellence to Eminence” i.e to be a robust and dynamic people-centric organisation for individuals and organisations that inspires excellence by igniting human potential achieving eminence.
Mention the awards and recognitions received by you and your company so far.
Over the years we have shaped Prism Philosophy and our belief in commitment, passion, and determination with inclusion and empowering womanhood that has resulted in Case studies published on me & Prism® Philosophy on various global platforms. Our other milestones include:
- Best Executive Coach Award (Silver winner) by CoachAwards Singapore 2022
- BML Munjal Awards towards our commitment for attaining Business Excellence in Learning and Development 2022
- Global Femina Entrepreneur Award by Dr Kalam’s International Foundation 2022 for our mission “LEAP” for serving the community through our academy by bringing positive change to achieve societal goals by making responsible learned GenZ with our blended learning initiatives
- Female Entrepreneur Achievers Award by Delhi Management Association 2021
What would be your advice for all budding women entrepreneurs?
My advice to women aiming to become entrepreneurs would be- Have a purpose, the right model and adapt to change. Before that, you need to be confident, fearless, and most importantly, believe in yourself. You can thrive only if you are dedicated and challenge the ordinary to be extraordinary. My advice to all women is – to be bold as you are already beautiful, just compete with yourself, set your own goals, appraise and not pay much heat to gender diversity. Just focus on chasing your dreams. So have passion and love for what you want to do as the sky is the limit.
We at Prism® create an experience by empowering women. Empowering women and contributing back to society by encouraging and recognising them, inspiring them, nurturing them and using potential in creating eminence by ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, and opinions are considered, creating a very close-knit group of team who treats one another like family. My mantra is WHEN NO ONE THINKS U CAN… THEN U HAVE TO. And I am still marching.
