In this episode of the Spinning Values podcast by Beekaylon Synthetics, hosted by Kartik, marketing expert, educator, and author Rushin Vadhani discusses crucial life lessons of resilience and self-belief that have shaped his career. The conversation explores his journey in the corporate sector, especially in marketing with companies like Aditya Birla Group and Reliance. Rushin also covers branding in the textile industry and the evolution of his career towards academia. His book 'Awesome I' emphasizes personal growth and overcoming challenges, offering valuable advice for young professionals. The podcast underscores themes of continuous learning, adapting to change, and connecting emotionally with one's audience.

Rushin Vadhani

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Rushin Vadhani: I learned, two important lessons of my life. One was resilient. Every time you fall, you need to stand up again more stronger. And second was the self-belief because somebody believed in you that you could do it. It was only yourself. Need to believe that, come on, you can do it. And that two lessons I have always. Started with me in my corporate journey and I would be happy to say that it's required today. We need to be more self resilient and have self-belief to accomplish whatever we think in our life.

Intro: Welcome to Spinning Values, an original podcast by Beekaylon Synthetics. And your host is Kartik, and today we are thrilled to welcome Rushin Vadhani, a distinguished marketing expert, educator, and author of the inspiring new book 'Awesome I'. In our conversation, we'll explore powerful themes of resilience and self-belief that have [00:01:00] shaped Rushin's remarkable journey, while diving into his unique perspectives on personal branding and professional growth. Join us for what promises to be an enlightening discussion about discovering your authentic potential.

Kartik: so hello everyone. Welcome back to Spinning Values podcast. a podcast by Beekaylon. So here we are. Back again. And today we have someone very special, someone who have, whom I have been working with for a very long time, and who was a part of my journey at a very pivotal time of my career.

so welcome Rushin, to, spinning Values Podcast. so everyone who's listening, or hearing, why don't you and who don't know you, why don't you give a brief introduction about you and tell us about your work?

Rushin Vadhani: thanks Karthik, for inviting me to the podcast. and it's a privilege. To be your guest, Karthik. I have always been looking forward to be your guest because I always adore the podcast that you have been doing. I also thank [00:02:00] Beekaylon Team, especially so for this invitation to be on the podcast, which is very popular. talking about myself, Karthik, uh, I'm a passionate marketer. I'm academician and, with experience of 20 plus years into the corporate work with renowned companies like Germany, 80 Marketing Group, WellSpan. And, recently I worked with, reliance to add to the Feather. Now I'm an author of a book called Awesome.

I inspire the Real You, I keep on changing my hat as I mature with my age. And, father of two loving daughters, which bring a lot of sunshine and delight to my life. my wife, my father, my family, who have always been supportive of my journey, standing by me when I am always low or high of my life, reminding me there is a sky to reach.

And when I'm at high, they always tell me there is an earth below. So stay humble. So thanks [00:03:00] to my family to be always be there.

Kartik: Okay. So, before we dive more into your, life journey and your career and experiences as such, let's straight up, speak about why we are doing this. You already mentioned it. You have written a book and that book is called Awesome. I, it's available on all the platforms. So how did that happen and what this book is about?

tell us a little bit about that.

Rushin Vadhani: so as, you can see awesome. I, inspired the real you book. it's a journey of, self discovery and success. This book, is for GenZ young professionals, corporates, academicians. It's for all of them who want to explore themselves to be successful, have a path of self journey. book is written straight from my heart, based on my experiences of, Few, life-changing experiences in my life. so this book, teaches you many lessons which I have learned, and I would say these have helped me to excel in my corporate life. qualities [00:04:00] like resilience, self-belief, gratitude, mindfulness. These are the few lessons which, uh, I strongly profess the listeners to practice in life.

Kartik: Because no matter what we come into an era of AI or digital world, these are some profound things which will never change. And, the moment of instant gratification, which GenZ are into certainly needs to read this book. that's about the book. And, I'm very happy that today I'm an author and, reaching out to your platform, to close to 1 million students or professionals or the audience. So help me to reach and spread a word about it. Yes, absolutely Rushin, and we'd love everyone to, go, uh, and search for this book. As I said, the book is available on Amazon and on few other websites.

So what I, kind of. Fathom from reading about the book and from your answer is that this book emphasizes self-belief, resilience, and never give up attitude. so can you share a [00:05:00] personal experience where these values, shaped your path?

Rushin Vadhani: Yeah, sure. lemme take you back to my corporate journey where I started my journey as a young professional after completing my textile engineering and

in marketing. the company was a German company called ula, associated with IT marketing, and it was one of the leading textile company in the country. And, I was, fortunate enough to start my career with this company. So there, there were the brightest minds of textiles in this company and, I was the youngest amongst all of them. And, in the room with such experts, when you are there. A situation where you feel are you capable to, really make yourself proven to whatever task come in. management always encourage young talents like us. So I was lucky to work on a new technology called us Non Woven, which was fairly new in, during that time the period. So I was given the task to handle this [00:06:00] project and learn this technology. I failed. there were many embarrassing situations as well where I did some things really in spite of being an MBA, but then I realized, failing is fine. It's okay as long as you stand back again with a lot of confidence. you put in a lot of efforts to learn things in the right perspective and deliver what is expected. That was the period when I learned, two important lessons of my life. One was resilient. Every time you fall, you need to stand up again more stronger. And second was the self-belief because somebody believed in you that you could do it. It was only yourself. Need to believe that, come on, you can do it. And that two lessons I have always. Started with me in my corporate journey and I would be happy to say that it's required today. We need to be more self resilient and have self-belief to accomplish whatever we think in our life.

Kartik: Okay. [00:07:00] Oh, so I was just actually, that's actually a pretty good insight, and I think it'll help anyone who's listening, especially the Gen Z that you, as you said, that you're targeting this book to. so, I was just going through your LinkedIn and you have. Describe there yourself as a self-made and independent professional.

So what, what, what were some of the early challenges, like you did Tell us about how you, failed in the beginning and then you sort of rose up again. and can you tell us some of more early, challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? And from that, how can a young professional learn some lessons?

Rushin Vadhani: I was. I come from a very humble background of,a typical middle class where the parents always believed that, higher the education better would be your life. And I was one of them. humble, beginning, humble background. My parents always supported me in my education. having a lot of resources. Not having a safety net [00:08:00] as today's GenZ have, parents caring and providing the best of everything. I was not the privileged one, but that was definitely a blessing in disguise to me, where I knew you had to earn credits. You have to earn respect working hard, working smart, and putting not a hundred percent, but 200% of yours. And, your work will speak for yourself. And that's how I started climbing my success Ladder, people trusting me, offering me opportunities, which helped me to excel in my corporate life. And that's how I shaped my career. And, I'm proud to say that I'm a self-made man.

Kartik: Okay. That's really good to hear. And yes, like things have changed quite, quite drastically for the younger generation, I completely get it. And we are probably the only generation has, who has seen so much progress and so much. Change, you know, now the next generation, okay. There will be progression in their lives.

Like, okay, technology will evolve and it'll, [00:09:00] but I don't think they'll, they'll ever be a point where. because I know when we were growing up, there were times when there used to be no power. You know, there used to be power cuts and there were no mobile phones to forget it. There were no internet.

There was no, so we've seen things evolve, you know? So, yes. So I mean, this is, I mean, so that does, by the virtue of us go going through that, we have learned so many things like resilience. You said that it's one of the, you know, most important. that developed naturally, I think because of the way things were developing.

But now, right now it'll be, but right now it's even more important because the way that things are changing so fast with AI and thing and automation and robotics and things like that coming in. So resilience is something that the generation really needs to work on and learn even more than us. It came naturally to us because we saw the, whole thing changing and we had to adapt and evolve.

But for the new generation, it'll be even more important. So that's a really, [00:10:00] insightful, lesson that you just, told us. So next question, Rushin, is, you started your career in marketing. I, I guess it's almost been two decades since you've been working.

Rushin Vadhani: Yes.

Kartik: so how did your, personal philosophy, changed?

Like did it evolve alongside your professional growth? And if it did, how, and like if you can tell us a little bit about that.

Rushin Vadhani: Yes, definitely, as a person and as a professional, I changed because, during that time I saw more towards sales and visibility. And over time as the digital transformation started happening, social media started happening. It was, more to be in heart, and mind of the consumers.

you need to be more clear about your communications. You need to be connecting to your consumers. Because consumers started becoming vocal. They started having, more choice. Today, you just put anything on the Google, you will have a hundred of choice to make it [00:11:00] out. And then the Amazons and the flipkarts of the world started coming in, as a marketer, I evolved and,the lesson that I learned is change is eternal. You can't stick around having old philosophies of your marketing, true to your personality as well. You need to keep on changing. If you don't change, you will not evolve. And if you'll not evolve, you'll not progress in life. So I started learning ai, I started learning social media. but one thing always remain true with the marketing and the consumers is. You need to be emotionally connected with your consumer, that is something that cannot forget.

Kartik: So that's very important to be connected to the, to your consumers and be emotionally involved with them. I think it's the right, no matter what technology or medium you use, but these are few core principles that you have to follow. I mean, you have been working with.

I mean, I was just reading the list. These companies are, the top of their game. So you've worked with the [00:12:00] Reliance Industries, you've worked with Aditya Birla Group, also, this German company that you worked with. can you remember some of the most transformative projects that you were a part of, and that really helped shape, who you are?

Rushin Vadhani: yeah, certainly. I would like to quote your two experiences, one while working with Aditya Birla group where, we were part of the Kara Skincare vibe, which was again, a revolutionary for the first time in India. Where we had developed, skincare wipes and, they were named as Kara. And, I was so passionate with this project and the brand name Kara, that I proposed to my wife saying that, let's name our first daughter as Kara. And she fr fr me and said that she is not a product of yours. She's not a brand. Okay, so we'll name as per what I, like I said fine, but you know that's the kind of, love passion that you have with the brands that you start working. And,it was first of its kind [00:13:00] product in India, grew and, was, lucky and honored by. Kumaramangalam Birla, he awarded us his autograph cross pen, rewarding all the team for the successful project. And that project took off really well. that was the time when I actually learned how care products branding happens, how marketing happens, and it's not easy. You need to really deep dive into consumer's mindset. You need to understand what they really want and not something that you need to push them. And, had an opportunity to work with Sharma and Joshi and Anushka Sharma as our brand ambassadors and that was a wonderful experience. The second experience I would like to quote would be a recent one, working with Reliance, global, uh, Conglomerate. Where we, I was a part of the team of, graphene. Now graphene is a new technology in India, and,we were working on a project called H rl, which was a functional [00:14:00] product. And, this was again, a revolutionary product. the challenge here was, it was,well ahead of its time, so the leading brands like Adidas Nike, Puma. Our own homegrown brand Performax were the early adopters. But, the scalability was a challenge because the consumers, I feel, not ready and it became a niche product. in a way, these are few lessons that I learned while working in corporate. never give up, keep on pushing, and one day, one door would open, which will bring you immense opportunity and your product would be successful.

Kartik: Okay. So, okay, so talking about on one side we have Aditya and reliance of the world, and on the other side we have companies like Beekaylon what, which brings me to my next question, and I'm always curious about this, and I'm trying to understand it from as many, textile professionals, that I, speak to and we should mention because this is a podcast by Beekaylon.

So,who are in, as you [00:15:00] know, you all know, and who are into polyester and BCF, yarn manufacturing business. so, I'm trying to find an answer to this. And as we work with many, many other, textile manufacturers, it is still considered as a commodity business. you know, it has even the sellers, the agents, the consumers, they all have a commodity mindset, at least in India.

Now except for one or two, maybe the top, brands that are there. so I want to know, like, do branding in, such kind of businesses matter? And how do you think storytelling and strategy can elevate such businesses like Beekaylon?

Rushin Vadhani: I would say Beekaylon, is one of the leading companies in textile, but always prefers to be humble. it doesn't believe in shouting loud, but it is one of the legacy company, and I congratulate Shohin sir, for his leadership. And, the Beekaylon management, because it's a futuristic company where it has a modern thought, but always prefers to stay [00:16:00] humble.

I don't see any other textile company having a textile podcast. The one which we are doing today. Beekaylon is the first one to take this, so it always, believes in experimenting with new ideas. going ahead and, I would also be happy to share that Beekaylon is the company which, uh, encourages young generations to you know, work, bring their ideas on the table, and, believe in what they are. Having said that, it's also a company which, got into sustainability projects, where it has a solar plant and, it believes in conserving water. Secondly, it has amazing products by the brand, names what I understand. poly go round one of the products, which is a sustainable product. it is one of the products that started storytelling to its consumers. where the core idea is about sustainability. if you look at the brand name, poly go round, if you, see its logo, if you see its, visibility and marketing [00:17:00] collateral, everything signifies about sustainability. And it talks about a story, and today's consumers need stories where it makes them feel that they are part of that brand. And it's a fantastic thing, which Bilon is doing today.

Kartik: Yes, I agree. So, okay, so that's about Beekaylon and you know,also been working with them for many, many years,and I mean, they are one of our favorite clients, and I completely agree, like their, the zone that they are in, it's so secure. You know, it's not like,like, I'm a big shark. I'm going to eat a small fish.

Or, you know, let's be, aggressive about anything. As you rightly said, they are one of the top companies. They have the best, I would say, and the biggest, yarn manufacturing, BCF manufacturing facility, but I've never seen them sort of going out of their way in, you know, blowing their own trumpet.

Even the strategies that we make for them are so, so that's a great thing to have, for a company like that, to have that kind of personality. And when we also do branding projects with them, that is something we [00:18:00] always keep in mind, the personality of the, of the company. Like our, branding can't be something else, and the company's core strategy can't be something else.

So that personality, matters. But again, coming back to my question, do you think the branding, in, in such industries matter, if we, okay, so Beekaylon is a bigger company. you know, if we set Beekaylon aside for this, particular argument, brands matter? Like when these guys, are placing orders for yarn or.

you know, fabrics or gray fabrics, does it matter what brand it is or is it still like old school human relationships and, network and things like that.

Rushin Vadhani: that's a very good question. Karthik, and this is my, experience and, what I have learned through the years textile is a fantastic industry, but it's always been, branded as commodity market, which is not true. Today Louis Vuitton's, Versace of the world, Dolce Gabbana or any brand new pick up for that [00:19:00] matter, I can say Nike and Adidas of the world. They all have textile background. pick up the conglomerates of this country, Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis all had a humble beginning with textile. Textile is the pioneer were all. Leading organizations of this country have started their journey from said that? yes. There are two industries or two markets for textile.

One is a commodity market, which is more towards the consumption oriented, and one is a market which is solely driven by brand. And when we say brands, this market is very much required today because GenZs know the brand. Now, for example, Nike, Nike has introduced a dry fit range of, runner's t-shirt, which,absorb the sweat and keeps the wearer dry.

You know,who developed this? This was a textile technology which came in and it evolved. but today when you go and ask for a dry [00:20:00] fit t-shirt, which is a brand of Nike, it is a brand. And when you see a tick on someone's attire, you associate it. is wearing a Nike t-shirt, so textile gets associated with brands in a long way, we always tend to compare this with FMCG of the world, which is not true. And I strongly believe and profess on this platform that the young generations, the young textile technologists, whoever are entering now into this business, need to be brand focused because that is what their consumers are requiring. there is a range of cotton, which is called swing cotton, which is one of the best cotton have.

Khadi government has taken an initiative to brand Khadi today. So you see slowly and steadily all the products of the textile, no matter, whichever category they are in, will get branded to bring it lot of equity to the company and to the consumers who are buying it, because that [00:21:00] evolves with a trust. That is very much required today.

Kartik: Okay. so that gave us a nice insight into the, way that textile companies think. And it's good that they should be branding. I firmly believe that they should be branding and branding does matter. so, that, that was a bit about marketing that we discussed, but we had discussed something in the beginning.

And, because you are into academic. If I'm not wrong, you are, now at, a business school. And, so, so how did that jump happened? And, you know, what is this, how is that different from what you were doing earlier to what you are doing now? And,why would you tell us that? And then there are a few more things that I want to ask about this new journey of yours.

Rushin Vadhani: so this was a pivotal shift in my life where I was working with Reliance and, I was doing extremely well, thanks to the management of Reliance. A lot of learnings in Reliance, being a corporate giant and a global leader. one fine day, I decided, uh, I need to take few things off my bucket list, and one of [00:22:00] them was my doctorate, so I'm pursuing my PhD. Apart from that, I felt, I need to interact with young minds and my passion for teaching was always there. whenever I got an opportunity, I used to visit several B schools, in Mumbai. And also outside Mumbai as a visiting faculty or a guest lecturer. So somewhere that passion was always there.

And, then I said, me give a shot, getting into academics with a lot of corporate experience, pursue my PhD, interact with young minds, and, teach marketing, which is always close to my heart. this pivotal shift happened today I have been in academics for close to two years. but I would say today's academics or the B schools have also evolved, where, experienced people like us are required to mold the future managers because we bring in a lot of experience. And this experience blended with, theory classrooms. it becomes a fantastic pedagogy for the future managers to [00:23:00] learn from. And, this also gave me opportunity to spend, good quality time with my daughters that they're growing, write a book. now this book is also being transformed into a workshop, I invite academicians and corporate, uh,community to have this workshop.

Awesome. And, everything just got evolved. And, I would just say be happy what you want to do in life. Everything that you do in life has a message, has a teaching, and it's a part of a bigger plan, which is, been planned for you. And just go with the flow.

Kartik: Okay, so that's a great insight actually. I was just, so now that we are, winding up the, podcast I was about to ask you. to give the listeners, the young listeners, one piece of advice for their personal growth as well as their professional journey. You already, said a very nice thing just before I asked you this question that go with the flow, and do whatever you do with happiness, but if there is anything you can add into it, which will help, [00:24:00] the younger audience with their personal growth and their professional journey.

Rushin Vadhani: Yeah. so Karthik, I've shared my experience with, through the podcast, how my journey has been through different pieces of life. And I'm someone who comes from the similar background that the listeners would be coming from. So everything is doable. It's only the attitude that is required, self-belief qualities like gratitude, mindfulness, which are part of my, also my book. certainly they make a lot of difference. I think if you may permit me, I would like to read a quote to, the listeners from my book, which goes like this.

Kartik: Yes, please.

Rushin Vadhani: So hope that would be helpful to the listeners as well. the quote goes like this, buried beneath self-doubt and fear is your awesome eye awaiting to be seen, heard, and believed in. set it free. You need to carve your own script to become awesome because the inspire real you is [00:25:00] always within you. So that's from me, Karthik. And, I invite, all the listeners of the podcast to please, read this book because I will not claim that this would be a life changer, but certainly this will make a difference in your life because this book comes straight from my heart.

Kartik: Okay. That, that was so profound. Rushin, thanks for reading to us this, beautiful quote. And thanks for your time. It was a great, conversation and we should do more of these and more regularly, I'm sure listeners will learn a lot.

Rushin Vadhani: Surely Karthik, I look forward. Thank you once again to you, and Beekaylon team for giving me this opportunity to be on your podcast and look for many more. Thank you. Thank you, Karthik.

Closing: We'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Rushin Vadhani for sharing his inspiring journey and valuable insights with us today. His story of resilience, self-belief, and continuous growth truly embodies the spirit of personal and [00:26:00] professional development that we celebrate on this show. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to subscribe to Spinning Values and share it with others who might benefit from these conversations. Remember, Spinning Values is an original podcast by Beekaylon Synthetics, where we bring you meaningful discussions with industry leaders who are shaping the future of business and personal growth. Until next time, keep believing in your awesome self.