“Creativity, for me, is giving meaning to an imagination. It is about creating something out of nothing.”
Lipika Sud (Director & Principal Designer, Lipika Sud Interiors)
Design is a sense of style, a zest for life, an awareness of balance, a sense of aesthetic delight, and an exquisite fusion of colors and aesthetics. As far back as ancient India, architects used to double as interior designers. Back then, interior designing was seen as an unregulated profession, but this long-held myth had to change. There emerged the goddess of creativity and design, Lipika Sud with her eclectic design ideas. As the dark period had to be over, Lipika Sud, with the weapon of creativity and innovation in her arms, started her strenuous journey of becoming an interior designer.
In 1989, when she founded her dream company, Lipika Sud Interiors, she knew there would be obstacles, there would be doubters, there would be mistakes but all she had in mind was the unwavering determination to revolutionize the interior design industry.
Lipika Sud is a leading entrepreneur with an expertise of more than 3 decades in the fields of interior design, project management, and sustainability. Apart from designing several residential, corporate, institutions, and hospitality projects in India and abroad, she is also profoundly involved in activities related to women empowerment and the revival of arts & crafts of India.
Today, heralded as one of India’s leading Interior Designers, Lipika Sud is credited with breaking the myths associated with interior designing.
Let’s hear what she has to say about her entrepreneurial journey.
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Give us a glimpse of yourself and walk us through your journey on becoming an entrepreneur.
Since my childhood, I have always been very creative. During my school days, I used to paint and draw and be a part of many elocutions, theatre, drama, and dancing events and competitions. Life was on the roll. I was very happy as I could do so many creative things. After completing my schooling, I got into Shri Ram College of Commerce as I was a Commerce student. But life automatically guides you towards what you love; I ended up being a part of the college festival. After I finished my bachelor’s, I joined The Indian Institute of Mass Communications to pursue advertising and public relations. I also hold a degree in Law from Law Faculty Delhi University.
To start my career, I took a job in the corporate sector with the Taj group of hotels. I was enjoying my work but life took a major turn. When the club at the hotel was being designed, I was exposed to the world of interior design. At that instant, I decided this was something I would love to do for the rest of my life.
One fine day, I packed up my bag and walked out of that corporate job to finally pursue a career in interior design. To gain in-depth knowledge, I started studying this particular subject.
Finally, I founded Lipika Sud Interiors in 1989 with an aim to create breathtaking and out-of-the-box designs. I also partnered with corporates who were excelling in the same business.
The transformation was not easy at all. I was bashed by many people around me. 30 years ago, interior designing was looked down upon as a hobby and not a profession. To break that deep-rooted myth, I took my business to another level. The passion, desire, and a sense of purpose pushed me towards my goals and helped me in reaching where I am today.
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What hurdles did you face while building your career? How did you overcome them in order to succeed?
I started Lipika Sud Interiors in a male-dominated industry where only a few women could establish themselves as entrepreneurs. When I used to visit sites, I was often questioned regarding the ownership of my company but I used to always say with pride, This is my business. It did take a while to establish my identity in the corporate world but once I established myself and was able to deliver, the respect towards me as an entrepreneur grew steadily and consistently.
Furthermore, the true yardstick is not when the client likes your first service, but when he becomes a repeat customer or recommends you to other corporates and individuals. The sense of trust, loyalty, and the expectations that we met, helped me and my business to grow over the years.
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What is your leadership philosophy? What factors do you keep in mind while taking business decisions?
My leadership philosophy always puts my team and my clients first. Furthermore, anything that one does, there has to be a sense of purpose behind it. Whenever one does something, be it small or big, one should always ask- What is the purpose behind this? Does it serve somebody’s life in any positive manner? Will it touch anybody’s lives?
For me, as an interior designer, making a beautiful home or office is definitely a big purpose. The journey from creating an empty space to a ravishing place serves a purpose i.e. happiness on the client’s face. Furthermore, I attain the purpose of touching their lives if I am able to enhance their lifestyle and gift a comfortable space to them.
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Briefly describe your company and the services you are offering.
Lipika Sud Interiors is one of the renowned interior design companies that helps me manifest my design sensibilities both at the national and international levels. We at Lipika Sud Interiors understand the client’s needs and translate them into reality. We provide an array of services ranging from residence design solutions, hospitality design solutions to corporate design services. We also design institutions, hospitals and provide furniture and Art & Craft Services. Our trademarked Campaign “Proud to be Indian by Lipika Sud”® celebrates the rich cultural heritage of India. Through Design Intervention with the crafts, we are able to combine traditional aesthetics with modern design. This also helps create Market Linkages for the craftsmen, economically empowering them and keeping our Indian Crafts alive.
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What does creativity mean to you? Is there any unique & creative process that you follow in your profession?
Creativity is everywhere. Creativity is life. It is not about one particular beautiful thing, rather something that happens when you find joy by making something out of nothing. Creativity is about giving meaning to an imagination. In the field of interior design, we are provided with just bare walls; we add color, materials, all kinds of art and put it all together in the right perspective and right dimensions to give it a new life.
The process of creativity starts from understanding the client’s requirements, which then we translate into several ideas which we brainstorm within the team. This process of creative thinking evolves into beautiful concepts which we share with our clients and together we come up with final creative solutions that are then implemented. This helps us to achieve the desired results of projects which are highly creative and also lends a sense of satisfaction to the client.
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Mention any one project that helped Lipika Sud Interiors to flourish in the Interior Design industry?
For us, every project is important. The size of the project doesn’t matter. It could be a small residential project, a large corporate building, a hospital, or a hotel. It is about how well and successfully we have been able to understand the client’s requirements and translated it aesthetically into the project.
There have been several challenges along the way, but every project has been a learning experience. With every project, I have grown a little more and so has the organization.
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As a source of inspiration for many, what would your advice be for females, who also want to become an entrepreneur?
As women, we tend to be very unsure about whether doing a business is really the right thing because right from childhood, we are brought up to think about marriage, children, and home responsibilities. Fortunately, things have started to change tremendously in society today.
Nonetheless, I feel women are still not very vocal and assertive about what they want while running their business. They have huge insecurities with regards to the society accepting them as entrepreneurs. It is important for them to kill the demon of “insecurity” in their minds, ignore other people’s judgements and move forwards towards their ambitions and goals.
Secondly, it is very important to make smart decisions. Sometimes being an entrepreneur at an early age is a smarter decision than doing a job. If one can get over the fear of failure, and have the passion to drive change, one must jump into the entrepreneurial world. Those women who are already in the business world must work towards taking their business to the next level.
Women tend to get dejected very quickly, especially when they fail. They must remember that it is not how many times you fail and fall, but how many times you get up and brush up and move ahead, that really determines your success.
That’s the mantra that I think can work for many budding women entrepreneurs.
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Share your favourite quote that keeps you inspired.
Live in the moment, it’s all about being able to enjoy everything that you’re doing now. The “now” factor is most important. What has gone past can’t be changed. All we can do is learn our lessons from there. We really don’t know what will happen in the future, but we can work on it “now” to ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes again. Living in the moment is like breathing. Every breath, every action, every moment matters. If you’re smiling, happy, and focused, there is no way that you can face failure in the future.
