It’s a mellow winter morning as Neha Suri, Managing Partner, 1010 Creative and Artfoto Studios arrives at the office on the outskirts of her home in Delhi. Dressed sharply with her hair blowing about her face in elegant curls and a beaming smile hidden behind her mask, she is ready to take the world head on.

The office is richly furnished with abundant photo frames hanging on the walls - all chosen to be there for a reason - as they jostle for space with high-tech systems. Books are everywhere, overwhelming the bookshelves, peeking out of tables, growing out of sofas, pouring onto the floor as if they own the place - a source of inspiration for the couple. Neha, 40, a doting mother of two children, a boy & a girl, runs this creative firm with her husband Ishaan Suri. A statistics graduate from LSR and an MBA in marketing, Neha has a natural flair for brand management, her mantra being: “What is life without challenges?” She has been pushing fear out of the window, taking risks, and facing life head-on. With the manifestation of a workplace where people are brimming with creativity and go back home with a smile on their face, 1010 Creative was started in 2018 after 5 successful years of Artfoto Studios the parent Company. In an exclusive conversation with Women Entrepreneur India, Neha shares interesting aspects of her journey.

What Prompted The Inception Of 1010 Creative? Take Us Through Your Professional Journey.

The establishment of 1010 Creative was a gradual progression. Right after completing my MBA in marketing, I joined the telecom industry. My role included coming up with ideas and concepts as I was part of Reliance’s first mobile launch. Post my tenure at Reliance, I moved to Times of India in internet marketing services. I understood the pulse of how content is consumed, and I have seen the growth and evolution as well. This is like second nature to me now. Later, I joined Airtel where I was involved in new product innovation for internet services. This is when digital media and content started to take a plunge and multimedia phones had begun penetrating the market.

Subsequently, I stepped out of the mainstream corporate world with 7 years of experience in marketing to begin my entrepreneurial journey. I wanted to put myself out there and take that risk. With no experience or background in business, I decided to start a preschool. I set up a large special needs and early year’s pre-school centre - Ole Kids in Gurgaon. Ole kids was Gurgaon's first preschool with a section for Special Education designed for children with Special Needs. with special needs students- it was inclusive- it was never at a preschool level so I wanted that for the school. It was a challenging and life-changing experience, I learned so much - managing people, finding the right people because they represent the values of the job. It was a life-altering experience but what's life without challenges, right? Whatever one wants to do must do it rather than second-guessing it. Fear was shoved out of the system and that's how it should be.

After growing the brand and running the centre for 5 years, I started Artfoto in 2013 with my husband, Ishaan Suri. Artfoto, which started as a luxury wedding visual production company, soon grew to be one of the most sought-after creative content production companies in the space of luxury and lifestyle. Artfoto is also the parent company to 1010 Creative - a brand management and strategic marketing agency, started in 2018.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of 1010 Creative. What Are Some Important Features Of The Company?

1010 Creative is a full-service marketing agency that is ever-evolving to provide the best marketing-led creative solutions to our customers, from understanding and creating a unique brand positioning for each brand, developing the creative, visual, and communication strategy for a brand, and finally withholding this strategy is all done under one roof. As the pandemic struck, the much-needed digital dive became mandatory for Indian brands, hence, the creative company aims to offer the clients a fresher iteration as they are now jumping on the digital bandwagon. We like to future-proof traditional brands with their foray into the digital space.

In Your Opinion What Challenges Does The Brand Communication And Marketing Sector Face Presently? What Tools And Strategies Do You Employ To Create Tangible Impact On Clients?

Challenges the brand communication and marketing sector face presently are myriad and the tools and strategies we create are unique and brand dependent.

A few major challenges our clients face are breaking the digital clutter and being heard by the customers, marketing to genZ while still being able to be relevant to baby boomers, millennials and creating brand loyalty on digital platforms given the plethora of information one is served with on a daily basis.

Why Does 1010 Work?

While no one strategy fits all, we endeavor to create a disruptive/relatable tone of voice that defines the brand, keep the conversation fresh and relatable and bring in a new perspective on the table every time supported by clutter breaking visual strategies.

With brands such as DLF luxury malls, Alila Fort Bishangarh, Accor Hotels, FabIndia, BMW Mini India, Couture brands such as Gaurav Gupta, Suneet Varma, Amit Aggarwal to name a few, Legacy brands such as SRHR, Manohar Lal Jewellers, Meena Bazaar and interesting startups as well, is a testament to the fact that the cohesive strategy that their team provides has been crucial to the success and growth of these brands on the digital platforms.

“We build brands, and we do so via brand stories, brand visuals and a brand world that is future proof and conceptualized to create excitement in the digital world. We firmly believe that innovation in thought and ideas is as important as the product we are selling.”

How Do You Keep Yourself Well Aligned With The Periodic Evolutions Occurring In Your Respective Industry And The Technology Domain?

In a world that is constantly changing, it is important to be well aligned with the periodic evolutions in the industry and the technology domain, for which, in the last 2 years I have managed to shift my routine to being an early riser. For me, mornings are the time for learning - audible, youtube, webinars and reading are my go to apps. At work building a culture to grow our collective knowledge base is very crucial to me as is spending time with the diverse age groups at our workplace and beyond.

What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women Aspiring To Become Business Leaders? What Are Your Guiding Leadership Philosophies?

Never be scared, it's not that you won't fail, but the one thing I’ve learnt over the years is that you earn a lot more from failures than your successes. Many will question your choices, but if you believe in yourself, you need to go with the flow and the path opens up. The most important step is to overcome fear, and take the leap of faith. We’ve all lived through turbulent times during Covid, and as an entrepreneur/woman leader, you too will face many challenges, and I have realized how important it was for me to be centered on my core values and beliefs, work through failure, disappointment and even a crisis. When you look back you will see these challenges as opportunities that helped you tap into your full potential.

“Never be scared, it's not that you won't fail, but the one thing i’ve learnt over the years is that you learn a lot more from failures than your successes”

It's the mindset that matters. Being consistent in your efforts is key. Create systems in your life rather than just small habits. Have a childlike curiosity - read, learn, draw from people's experiences. Nothing comes without hard work.

Also, I want to set the right example for my children as they grow up watching us. My guiding leadership philosophies at work are also aligned with the same thought. This is a joint value system that Ishaan and I share. We foster a culture where every member of our team is encouraged to be a leader in their field and also helps us stay ahead of the curve.

It's a constant learning to be a good leader. I have had to spend time on myself, growing my own abilities, skill sets, becoming more self-aware, and having a student mindset about everything. Not giving into public opinion or fear, we absolutely believe that the possibilities of what we do are endless, we need to keep exploring and not worrying about delving into something we may not have done or have experience in, as that's the best way to learn. We tell our teams to push the limits every time, in almost every meeting.

What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Success?

While careers are built on drive and determination and self-belief, they are also underpinned by a supportive life partner and that's what we have in each other and that’s been our driving force. We both collectively encourage and support each other and learn from each other. It's a puzzle that fits and then we add to the mix.