MEET SHRADDHA VARMA, COFOUNDER OF FUZIA.COM
Apart from being a management professional, an experienced marketer and an ambitious entrepreneur, Shraddha Varma is a passionate learner and a creative thinker with strong communication and leadership skills. As a Cofounder, she not only leads the global marketing and operations in Fuzia but also drives and mentors her team in cross-culture environments.
Shraddha strongly believes in gender equality and that women are the largest reservoir of untapped talent. Through Fuzia, she works out her passion to create a positive impact and see a world where women can come together globally and help each other grow, live their passions, pursue their dreams and build their own identity- thereby driving forward Gender equality, Feminism & Empowerment. Fuzia (www.fuzia.com) is a one of its kind online social media platform for women and girls to encourage and empower them through the power of creative expressions. It utilises the power of the internet and gives them a stage to showcase their voice in an environment filled with creativity, inspiration, collaboration, compassion and empathy. In a span of two years, Fuzia has garnered the support of thousands of creative women and influenced more than 3.5million followers globally.
Shraddha believes that being a woman is a superpower in itself and encourages women to become their own inspiration. She is a thrill-seeker, an avid traveller and an admirer of impactful quotes, with a vision to translate ideas into tangible results and creative initiatives I am absolutely delighted to be able to share her passion and her work with you. Over to you Shraddha…
SO,SHRADDHA, WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
I am the Co-Founder of Fuzia, an online global platform that empowers women through fusion of cultures and ideas. Apart from being a management professional, an experienced marketer and an ambitious entrepreneur, I believe I am a passionate learner and a creative thinker with strong communication and leadership skills.
I think, right from my childhood, I had always been a feminist unknowingly. I used to get annoyed seeing people give gifts like dolls and kitchen sets toys to me on birthdays and my brother would get the awesome remote-control cars and roller skates. It always made me question myself that what makes people feel that girls don't love cars?
Unintentionally, I feel I was destined to create a change in the way society perceives women as I had always been that girl who questioned and rebelled for all those things and actions, which portrayed gender bias and stereotypes. Now, I realise how things started falling in place and Fuzia became the medium.
As a marketing professional, in my corporate experience, I did observe quite a few instances wherein women were totally under-estimated for their potential. I strongly believe that being a woman is a superpower in itself and I encourage every woman to become their own inspiration in today’s time and empower each other to stand up for themselves.
FUZIA IS AN AWESOME MIX OF EMPOWERMENT, LIFE AND SKILLSET TRAINING AND, OF COURSE, WORK OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS MEMBERS. IS IT DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN AND BALANCE A 360-DEGREE COMPANY? HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE MEMBERS NEEDS AND WANTS WITH EQUAL JOB AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES?
With the support of Fuzia’s team members who work remotely from different parts of the world, we are able to maintain and balance a 360-degree company. Each team member is driven by one core value, which is passion. This surely plays a lot of role in our working as they all know the impact and are self-driven. With all the contributions leading to a common goal, we have been able to build Fuzia from a start-up to an organisation today.
Being a creative talent pool, with a network of millions of creative people our forte is creative services such as digital marketing, content creation, graphic designing, software development and many more. Moreover, our expertise includes Social Media Marketing, Executive Branding and Campaign Management. Our member relations team tries to understand each member’s wants and needs by staying in direct contact with them. Thereby, acknowledging the talent of each member and providing equal job and employment opportunities to all. Moreover, listening to our members has always been important to us. Whatever we have accomplished till now and whatever we have built is all because we listened to their needs.
I MENTIONED THAT FUZIA IS A 360-DEGREE COMPANY, CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO OUR READERS WHO MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FUZIA AND FUZIA TALENT AND HOW THEY COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER?
Fuzia (www.fuzia.com)/ Fuzia App is like a talent hub that is home to millions of creative minds, where you can experience the ultimate amalgamation of creativity, learning, networking and inspiration driven by mutual support and appreciation. It is an exclusive Talent Showcase & skill development Platform for individuals globally. Fuzia offers a lot of Skill Development opportunities to let you hone your talents and become a better version of yourself each day. For example, we have;
Live Sessions: we bring to you experts and famous industry figures through our regular live sessions wherein they share their knowledge, tips and thought leadership.
Campaigns/Contests: we engage our members by hosting a diverse range of campaigns and contents to uplift their confidence and perform better tasks. It is a way to let them explore their creative niche.
Fuzia Fests: is an offline global confluence of diverse artists celebrating creativity, inspiration and learning. It is a unique way of getting individuals coming together who aspire to experience and learn the latest trends on storytelling, branding, design and beyond.
Fuzia Talent is our initiative to allow our talented members get opportunities to earn through suitable work assignments, internships and projects, thereby making them economically empowered too.
The two are able to complement each other as by being a member of Fuzia, a person can showcase their talent and engage with people on a global level. Similarly, with Fuzia Talent one can get opportunities to earn through suitable work assignments by showing their talents on Fuzia.
Fuzia doesn’t end here! It is an ever-growing platform with millions of dreams all uniting to one sole goal, of women empowerment. Happy be she, who wants to be!
HOW DO YOU HANDLE CRITICISM?
My main mantra is to take criticism as positive feedback for future growth and improvement. With Fuzia, we have constantly improved and improvised our efforts in terms of our product and activities through every feedback. Moreover, our member relations helped us garner love and support of millions as listening to our users helped us a lot.
FUZIA, WHILE AN IMPORTANT PLATFORM FOR EMPOWERING WOMEN IS FULLY INCLUSIVE AND OPEN TO ANYONE. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO GENERATE AWARENESS OF WOMEN’S ISSUES THROUGH YOUR WORK WHILE REMAINING GENDER BALANCED AND HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IT?
Fuzia is a platform open to every individual, both men and women who support the cause of women empowerment, feminism, equality and mutual support. Fuzia believes in “she for she” and “he for she” and also consider the fact that true ‘Empowerment’ is incomplete without men supporting it.
With a vision to express yourself and inspire millions, Fuzia is here to help you boost your confidence and showcase your talent to the entire world. Moreover, providing you with online projects, free social media contests and opportunities matching your skills to grow economically.
Fuzia’s mission is to provide women with empowerment programs, which acknowledges them to present their ideas and talent to the world. Mostly the one’s, whose talents and expressions often remain suppressed and undermined, by giving them the due visibility, support, and appreciation.
We are never behind in terms of being aware and raising awareness among our members or standing up for social issues such as the LGBTQ community, gender inequality, black lives matter, domestic violence and many more. We have taken various initiatives to educate our global community to be well aware of these matters through blogs and campaigns.
Moreover, we also work towards creating awareness through Fuzia Talents, by providing them with work and also help them in showcasing their talents. Through live sessions with industry experts and Fuzia’s section, called ‘Humans of Fuzia’, where we share inspiring stories of every woman globally, helps us in spreading awareness about women empowerment with our members.
WHO DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY?
I most admire Mira Nair. She is an incredible independent filmmaker who tells real and raw stories in a moving way. She truly believes in diversity and representation in storytelling. She also gives back by teaching people who may not have the resources the basics of filmmaking.
FUZIA TALENT BRINGS TOGETHER SKILLSET AND OPPORTUNITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. HOW WOULD SOMEONE GO ABOUT WORKING WITH YOU IF THEY HAD A PARTICULAR JOB WHICH NEEDED DOING AND WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? ALSO, OUTSOURCING ABROAD CAN BE SCARY FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, WHAT MEASURES ARE IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE JOB IS COMPLETED TO ABSOLUTE SATISFACTION?
Fuzia Talent is our initiative to allow our talented members to get opportunities to earn through suitable work assignments, internships and projects, thereby making them economically empowered too. With the ultimate aim to aiding a smooth collaboration and delivering high-quality service, we have collaborated with various global brands and companies catering to various fields. Furthermore, being a creative talent pool, with a network of millions of creative people our forte is creative services such as digital marketing, content creation, graphic designing, software development and many more. Moreover, our expertise includes Social Media Marketing, Executive Branding and Campaign Management.
We work in a simple three-way process of providing a cost effective and fast service to our clients. The first step is in association with in-house Customer Success Managers, who help the clients in understanding their needs and suggest the best fit for them. The second step is when you sit back and relax and all the work is done by the allotted Project Manager, who screen our talent hub to get the perfect person suitable for the work needs. And, lastly, a Creative Associated is appointed for the work, managed by the respective PMs. Through this, we are able to make sure that the job of each client is completed with absolute satisfaction.
Furthermore, through our services, the client also intends to do well for society as we donate 5% of our revenue from projects towards the cause of upliftment and empowerment of women.
WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU CHECK IN YOUR BUSINESS ON A DAILY BASIS?
The first thing I check on a daily basis is Fuzia’s daily website engagement. As Fuzia is an online networking community and a global platform to showcase your talent and skills, it is important to keep a check on the engagement and in-order to keep our members happy.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND DIFFICULT ON YOUR JOURNEY?
During my journey with Fuzia, we faced various difficulties over the years as being into a social media industry, it is an ocean of various challenges and increasing competitiveness. So, it has always been a challenge for us to sustain. We just never gave up.
We have constantly improved and improvised our efforts in terms of our product and activities. Also, member relations helped us garner the love and support of millions. Listening to our users helped us a lot. Be it positive feedback or criticism, they all were important, and we heard them for future growth and improvement.
WHAT’S YOUR TOP TIP FOR OUR AWESOME FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS READING THIS ARTICLE?
My top tip would be words inspired by Maya Angelou, “Each time a woman stands for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women".
I urge all the young female entrepreneurs to stand up for themselves and help one another to educate, encourage and empower.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
I am most proud of my team members, which include 30 passionate people who work remotely from different parts of the world. Each team member is driven by one core value, which is passion. This surely plays a lot of role in our working as they all know the impact and are self-driven. With their support, Fuzia is able to grow through each milestone ever passing year.
WHAT’S THE NUMBER ONE PLAYED SONG ON YOUR IPOD?
Paradise – Cold Play
WHAT DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE?
Believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Have faith in your own abilities, work hard, and there is nothing you cannot accomplish. If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner.
DO YOU HAVE A BOOK OR FAVOURITE PODCAST RECOMMENDATION FOR OUR FEMALE CEO MEMBERS?
My current favourite book is ‘Becoming’ by Michelle Obama. The book inspires me to find a voice to my inner self while being associated with the various roles in play in my life. I would like to recommend Fuzia’s latest Podcasts, the Podcast of Zia’s world, which is all about every woman in today’s time. Zia shares stories of every girl, to which each one of us can connect to.
Zia’s Podcast is can be accessed through Spotify.
IF YOU WERE TO GIVE YOURSELF ADVICE AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT 2020. WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Stay focused and strong! 2020 has been a tough year for all of us, staying focused on our goal has been the key for my team and me in working towards our mission.
WHAT MAKES YOU TRULY HAPPY AND HOW DO YOU HANDLE DOWNTIME?
Spending time with my family makes me truly happy. I believe my family is my number one blessing in life! Our downtime is usually cooking meals together or meeting everyone for weekend get-togethers. However, there are ups and downs, but that’s all part of life’s journey!
If you want to know more about Shraddha you can visit Fuzia’s website or catch up on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn
