February 2016 Woman At Work Digital

SIMPLY SUCCESSFUL
Anil Thakraney, P.Sainath, Sonal
Shah and many other individuals and
organizations where she has worked
over the years.
A dreamer and an observer,
Shilpi thrives on drama. She enjoys
categorizing her thoughts, which later
act as a fuel to her creativity and in
certain cases breathe life into a great
piece of writing. An incorrigible eye
for mistakes, and agog to inhale every
bit of literature worth reading, Shilpi
has strode her way to eloquence, with
determination and an uncanny ability
to adhere to deadlines. “As much as
words dissolve perimeters, I always
believe deadlines are sacrosanct,”
says the lady with the golden nib. The
ability to ferret out details while
making insightful observations and
conducting exhaustive interviews
have made Shilpi a stellar performer
in her career.
In the capacity of a journalist, she
has worked with Behram “Busybee”
Contractor at Afternoon D&C and
says, “I consider myself extremely
lucky to have trained in print
reportage under his hawkful eye.”
She has written number-crunching
cover stories for Mid day's ad world
specific, erstwhile publication “The
Brief”, been a columnist with Mumbai
Mirror, tracked the shifts in the ad
world for xchange4media.com and
more.
Before she began establishing
herself as a journalist, a writer, a
philologist and a curator of articles
worth a million emotions, she was
also perfecting her poise in the world
of modelling. Shilpi finished as first
runner up at the Gladrags Supermodel
Contest in 1996, and subsequently
worked on various Indian and
international modelling assignments
for two years. She feels it is her stint
as a model that has gifted her a degree
of finesse and panache, an intrinsic
part of her persona. Her time in the
modelling circuit gave her a natural
inclination towards lifestyle and
fashion. As a part of the industry both
from the pavilion as well as the field,
Shilpi developed a keen eye for detail
and leaning towards the lifestyle beat
was a natural progression. Her work
as a fashion and luxury journalist
involves a great degree of interaction
with celebrities, visiting new places
and telescoping trends.
Having worked with many
publishing houses in the lifestyle
space, including Living Media, Ogaan
Publications and currently, Burda
International, Shilpi brings with her a
wealth of expertise. Her repertoire
spans exclusive one-on-one with
achievers, the latest trends in the field
of luxury, travel, gourmet gospels,
health and fitness and cutting edge
fashion, playing compere at stylish,
celebrity studded literary gatherings,
ghost writing for filmstars on their
endorsed products, and innovative
articles laced with pivotal keywords
targeted at bang-on search engine
rankings for online biggies.
From anchoring the release of
maestro Zubin Mehta's biography for
a handpicked audience, gliding in as
the face of the account at JWT-IPAN
Knowles for the debut season of
Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, to
conversing with motorcycle brand
ambassadors like filmstar John
Abraham and luminaries like actress
Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, authoring
the “Top 100 Restaurants & Cafes in
Mumbai 2007-08” with Living
Media, playing the crusader columnist
for Mumbai Mirror, plugging in solo
with international haute brands as
senior executive producer for luxury
television channel Voice of India
(Triveni Media), fuelling the lifestyle
segment of internet majors including
msn.com and yahoo.com, liaising
with and spotlighting stellar
non-celebrity achievers for the
Accenture powered vaahini.com to
crafting corporate
brochures for Embarq, JnNurm,
Pidilite, Tanaaz, Leela Kempenski
and more, Shilpi has been immersed
in the world of glamour and
journalism, literature and luxury, up
and close.
Shilpi is associated as
Contributing Editor with Travel +
Leisure India & South Asia, Better
Homes & Gardens, Child and
Discover India and also works on
independent projects. A cosmopolitan
traveller, an avid reader and a keen
observer, it is her stimulating sense of
humour that acts as a magical
leveller, especially when work gets
crazy. “It is the quintessential
mommy act, struggling to balance
work and family, working at crazy
hours, fitting in social niceties, and
then some,” she smiles. Does she
encounter what we famously call 'the
writer's block'? “Of course! There
are insane moments when you feel
burnt out, and that's when a beatific
weekend getaway breathes in a balm.
A complete therapy in itself, with no
cell phones and iPads,” says the
radiant powerhouse of knowledge,
words, articulation and experience.
“It is a double-edged sword. Though
when I am off social media for a day
or two, I start getting withdrawal
symptoms,” admits Shilpi.
Having shaped stepping stones
out of stumbling blocks, the
inveterate achiever and dreamer
hopes to go on air with a personal
chat show on the television soon.
What we also await is a riveting book
from the emphatic writer, which she
reveals will be ‘part real, part fiction’.
Shilpi is the perfect example of a
successful life shaped on the
foundation of hardwork,
determination and oodles of talent.
Her's is a dream carved out of a
hobby and the power of perseverance.
A compulsive writer, as she calls
herself, Shilpi Madan is an epitome`
of word and worth in her work.
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| February 2016