My mantra has always been to create value, not noise and that is what I would encourage anyone reading to think about if they want to start a side hustle.

Visha Naul - Co-Founder of FUTURES Network

Talking with our latest girl-boss interviewee, Visha Naul, we got a lesson in creating value at work and maintaining your motivation all the way to your goals. If you haven’t come across her yet, now is the time to get acquainted with this impressive lady in leadership. Visha is the Co-founder of FUTURES network which connects a community of women in marketing and communications, formed by the winners of the WACL Future Leaders Award. She chatted to us about what continues to fuel her impressive ambitions and shared the advice she would impart to women in pursuit of their own passions.

Tell us about your work?

I have been working in marketing for 14 years and it’s a career that keeps on giving. It brings together all the elements that I love, from strategic thinking and creativity to storytelling and people. In these uncertain times, I’m reminded just how central people are to the advertising industry, be they individuals in your team or talent coming into the business.

After winning a WACL Futures Leaders Award [FLA], I was introduced to women who were passionate about their career growth and wanted to rise to the top of their profession. Being around like-minded women from the industry gave me a new kind of buzz but also perspective on who I am and who I could be. With that in mind, and with several other FLA winners, I co-founded a network in 2014 called FUTURES, which exists to support and inspire women that want to lead with purpose. The community is made up of a diverse bunch of people that come from all areas of marketing and communications: media owners, creative agencies, media agency production and brands.

FUTURES aims to bring these women together via intimate breakfast events and socials, and aims to help them thrive and feel supported through mentorship programs and toolkits designed for working mums who anticipate or go through tough experiences on their return to work. 

Connection and engagement is vitally important for FUTURES, so we host WhatApp chat discussions and debates, exchanging insights and facilitating peer-to-peer mentoring. We also work with Campaign to take our mentoring to a wider audience through a series called #PassItOn, in which rising leaders share career advice and insights with the next generation of female leaders.

We now have over 100 members and that number grows significantly every year. 

What fuels your ambition?

Firstly, it’s my colleagues in the FUTURES leadership team. They arrive in a room with no egos, only shared goals and a genuine passion to put the community first and make a real impact in the battle for a more diverse workforce in Adland.

It’s also the incredibly smart women in the network, all striving for equality, and openly sharing their learnings and best practice with each other. It almost removes the competitive nature that Adland gets such a bad rep for. In this space everyone wants each other to shine. The feedback shared in the community on what the network does for them gives the confidence that we’re on the right path.

Interestingly, a  2017 study by Egon Zehnder found women tend to be ambitious in the early stages of their career but found that Women, especially in the mid-management stage of their careers, lose their desire to advance in their careers as they tend to lack role models in their businesses. 

Not only that, the IPA’s 2018 figures showed that when they looked at the gender balance in IPA member agencies by seniority, women occupy over 50% of the most junior roles but just 32.7% of C-Suite roles. 

This is why networks are so vital and I feel that within FUTURES, where we may lack those role models in our respective businesses, we can certainly find them amongst each other to help move further into those c-suite positions. This, in turn, creates more visible role models for the generation coming behind us.

Who’s an up & coming in the industry you have your eye on and why?

Tamara Makonnen who is a marketing manager at Google. I am constantly in awe of Tamara’s smartness, as well as her ability to be empathetic to the people she works with. Empathy is a super strength and a great leadership quality.

What advice would you give to other girls looking to pursue a similar path to you?

My mantra has always been to create value, not noise and that is what I would encourage anyone reading to think about if they want to start a side hustle. With respect to forming a creative collective or network, my advice would be to think about the purpose. Do you feel connected to it? Do you feel like it’s of value to the industry? Does it give you a sense of purpose?

If you find yourself answering yes to all of the above, that’s a perfect start, but it’s even better if you can find others who feel equally passionate about the same things; you can combine your superpowers and build something bigger and better together. It’s also more fun - especially on a side hustle. You keep each other motivated and drive the momentum on a project. 

What does a typical day look like in the life of Eshita?

I usually spend my day at my regular job within Google but given the fast-paced nature of my work I try to take an hour out to concentrate on my wellbeing. This tends to mean hitting the gym in the late afternoon. It makes me feel like my mind has had a reboot and I am far more upbeat and ready to tackle anything after that. I also tend to carve out time in the evening to do some work for FUTURES or spend time with my friends - preferably over wine.