As the COVID-19 outbreak hit the globe, no industry was exempted from the thump. Especially, hospitality was certainly not immune to the adverse effects of the pandemic. Yet, there are a few inspiring leaders who have been maneuvering to innovate, explore, and grow. Speaking of such leaders who have been making a great stride and moving forward, Arunima Kundu is a name worth mentioning.

The founder of ATHRS (Avatar Travel & Hospitality Representative Services) has now launched an exclusive deliverable as a sign of celebrating women; in fact, letting women celebrate their lives. Bearing a positive attitude, she followed her heart and built Meraki Diaries as a unique women-only travel platform where women inspire and influence other women. Carrying the experience of working with big names such as The Leela Palaces & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, Fairmont Hotels, and establishing ATHRS, the venerable personality Arunima is in the perfect position to exhibit her ideas to others. Get to know about the Mompreneur and her company in an exclusive conversation with Women Entrepreneur India.

Give us a brief overview of your brainchild and its expertise. 

The company was initially formed to strengthen the sales, marketing, and public relations of our hospitality partners. The idea was to work with the hotels by understanding their uniqueness and formulating a distinctive go-to-market strategies to achieve the best results. Based in Bangalore, we are also handling the inbound travel in Karnataka. However, post-pandemic, I had enough time to work on my long-time dream of launching a project focused on women-only travel. Under the umbrella of ATHRS, we have now launched a new product called Meraki Diaries. It's a new-age novel concept of giving women experiences with philanthropy.

How is Meraki Diaries differentiating itself from other women-only travel platforms?

The most important segment of Meraki Diaries is Meraki Moods that gives tailor-made experiences from beginning to end, paying close attention to the personality and interests of the traveler. Every vacation is meticulously planned to suit a reader, writer, adventurer, photographer, etc. Meraki has something for everyone and our biggest target is to give learning.

We're not about proving what is right. Or the methods that have been tried and tested- with outcomes that go beyond emotions and commerce.

We're a sweet little team who attempt to understand what your journey is like. And our constant pursuit is to make sure you're prepared for the next leg of your life.

Meraki makes it happen, right? Meraki makes sure you're as shaken by the beauty of the places we take you to and as composed as the ideal-self you've always dreamt about.

I personally believe the power of difference lies in making a tough choice. If I recall it right, sitting on the fence is what got humpty-dumpty killed. So there comes the question. Why set the standards when you can be the standard.

Take us through your educational and initial professional journey. Speaking of my education, I don't come from any fancy schools.

I believe that to be something in our lives, we don't have to go to a fancy school. After my schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya, I pursued my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Hospitality. One of the strong reasons for choosing the industry is my family. My father and uncles are in the travel trade for decades now. So my family background has led me to experience travel, tourism, and hospitality since childhood. Moreover, I studied MSc in hospitality management, which is a first-of-its-kind course from IHM Pusa.

“Meraki's soul is formed by a desire to give back to other women, in turn to the environment and to oneself”

I was campus hired by The Leela Palaces & Resorts as the sales executive. In a span of a year or so, I became the sales manager. From there on, my career began scaling and joined Hyatt Hotels and Fairmont.

What factors led you to pursue entrepreneurship?

Fairmont Hotels was my last company as an employee. Fortunately, I was exposed to a lot of new things in my journey but my learning became stagnate after a point. I knew the scopes and opportunities in the space and felt that there's a lot to reach. What I also noticed was that not all receive encouragement and support for career growth in the industry. There's no space for freshness and no support for upskilling and educating either in terms of qualification, reading, short courses, or anything for that matter. This kind of growth exposure is not easily available, especially for women. However, I feel that companies should invest in women and give them opportunities to think differently, and encourage them to use their potential.

Owing to this, for the next five years I handled my dad's business ­ Avatar India Holidays. Eventually, I started working for my own brand.

Highlight some crucial business lessons that one needs to know before starting a business.

Entrepreneurs should be able to combine passion with the 'big picture'.  Finance is a key area of learning and focus, as per my experience. I can talk about the hospitality & tourism industry and in my opinion, most entrepreneurs tend to focus more on sales and ignore other aspects like finance, operation, process, etc. Personally, I keep this at the core of my leadership and produce customized experiences for women travelers who speak the language of your goals and aspirations. That brings me to the second major factor, people management. Remember that the moment one gets at the forefront, it's a huge responsibility to take care of the brand, deliver good client experiences and collaborate well with vendor-partners, This has to be done collectively as a team A leader should be meticulous to be able to put everything together and steer growth. Lastly, my advice to entrepreneurs would be to bring in fresh ideas, take a holistic view and then attempt to build a process-driven and client-centric service business. 

Arunima Kundu, Founder

Arunima Kundi a.k.a AK comes with long years of experience in the travel and hotel sector. She believes in making traveling a socially responsible and transformational journey. She says that travel should go beyond the usual notion of vacation and become an instrument for social change. Her leadership mantra is `Rise While Lifting Others'. As an entrepreneur, she welcomes new ways of tourism coupled with a mindset of mutual growth.