The Job
SolarSquare has become India’s Number 1 residential solar brand in the last 5 years. Our mission is to help homes make the switch to rooftop solar transparently and seamlessly. My biggest joy while building has been having a front seat to India’s historic energy transition and knowing our work is so crucial to India’s growth and energy security. The opportunity is massive and we have a world class team of leaders building it alongside me. Honestly speaking, it’s been both daunting and exciting for me!
The Weekdays
We are a high growth start-up and as the CEO I have to manage going wide vs going deep on functions very carefully. Remaining on top of many things requires organised check-ins with various leaders in the company and I try to be fully present and prepared for these meetings. At the same time I’m always going deep on some aspects like branding, growth, customer experience, etc. which requires me to keep space for deep work, which I find immensely fulfilling.
I’ve made the mistake of running extremely back to back meetings on my calendar for a few years but now I realise the importance of keeping structure “open thinking time” to reflect on strategic moves and big picture. The best epiphanies happen in my quiet thinking time and not during periods of high activity. I’m learning to be very intentional about managing my time in doing things I’m best suited to do and leaving the rest to the capable leadership at SolarSquare.
The Weekends
I love quiet weekends vs socialising. My weekends usually mean spending quality time with my daughter and husband. I also love painting on weekends, it gets me in a flow state which I find very meditative. Since me and my husband are Cofounders of SolarSquare, work is all consuming for us on weekdays. So on weekends we have a date night ritual where we go to our favourite Asian restaurant and try to not discuss work.
The logos
As an entrepreneur building a service business myself, I have immense respect for Airbnb as a brand. Despite being an aggregator platform, they are able to evoke an emotional connect and brand loyalty that rivals the best hotel chains. I believe a service brand lives through its customer experience and the Airbnb brand shines through in everything – from their user interface, to their customer experiences and in their ads or hoardings.
The Toys
In today’s world of endless distraction and notifications, my favourite is a Remarkable tablet. It’s a beautifully simple note taking tablet with no other features. It’s helped me organise notes, thoughts and even increase my focus a lot.