Smruti Sriram:   Mondays are full and energising. I wake up at 5:20am, put on my gym gear, and head to a strength training session at my local semi-private PT gym. After that, I come home, shower, and prepare snacks and lunch for my five-year-old son before dropping him off at school. Then I head to work. My day usually starts with my team, reviewing sales figures and going through current opportunities. I’m in constant communication with our factory team in Pondicherry, where all our manufacturing takes place, and we collaborate on product development. I also have meetings with clients, connecting our factory, atelier, pattern makers, and design studio with global brands. These brands bring intricate and inspiring design briefs that we bring to life on the production floor. Our HQ team in London is highly global, so we’re often planning travel for shows, events, and trade shows across the industries we supply, whether that’s beauty, interiors, architecture, fashion, art, or food and beverage. If I have external meetings, I attend those as well. And if I’m on school pickup duty, I’ll do that while continuing to work on my phone. My phone is essentially my office when I’m not at my desk. Because of the time zones, my mornings are with India, my evenings are with Europe, and occasionally I connect with the US.

SS:   My goal is to keep optimism and entrepreneurial spirit alive and cherished. Entrepreneurs are the backbone, the beating heart, of every country. They take risks, bet on themselves, create jobs, work with a variety of suppliers, cater to unique and new audiences, innovate, and build communities. I strongly believe in social entrepreneurship, combining business with purpose. Social entrepreneurs really are the heart and soul of communities. Future generations should feel empowered to be bold leaders, strong communicators, and collaborative thinkers. I hope they don’t get stymied in any way and are constantly being pushed to be entrepreneurial, to push their skills in communication, teamwork, and collaboration, and, most importantly, in bold leadership.

TW:   You’ve been nominated for a Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award this year. What is the best advice you’ve received around leadership, and from whom?

SS:   I’ve been fortunate to learn from many leaders through work experience and mentorship, from agencies to government to global businesses. When I was very young, I applied for a variety of work experience opportunities, so I was able to be amongst brilliant business leaders and lots of women leaders. I did work experience at Saatchi & Saatchi, in the Houses of Parliament, and with a State Senator in California. Two key traits stand out for me.

The first is humility. I think one has to be humble to know what skills you do have and, more importantly, the strong and special skills that your team has. Great leaders know when to step back and let others shine. They know when to tap into those skills, which can be highly specialised and connected to people’s particular passions. Someone who is great on Excel will be perfect when you have a financial question, and someone who is beautifully artistic, perhaps a dancer or a musician within your organisation, may bring a completely different specialist skill or knowledge. Having the humility to recognise that you do not have all of the skills, and that you need to tap into the skills of your team, your friends, your network, and your community, is really important.

The second is collaboration and community. I’m very much a believer in supporting other people on their journeys wherever I can. If I know someone who could be helpful to another person, I’m going to introduce them to each other. This is the power of collaboration. I’ve worked on so many collaborations because I’ve been open-minded about partnerships and about creating win-win situations, whether they’re with designers, artists, retail activations, or for our charity, Wings of Hope, when I’m bringing together speed mentors across my network. How can we bring a melting pot of people together where there is a total win-win-win situation? Whether in business or charity, collaboration leads to meaningful impact.

I’m also deeply inspired by my parents, who embody generosity, leadership, and community spirit. They give generously to different causes, with their time, their effort, and their hearts, and they feed people. So I think community spirit and humility are very much traits within the family.

SS:   I find inspiration in many incredible women rather than just one. My Monday Muse is a collective, women who are creative, bold, and purpose-driven across industries.