MAGAZINE-Marzo-Abril

Interview 40
have someone to look up to. I wish to inspire
them to be the best they can be. They are the
main reason I do everything I do.
I overheard my daughter on FaceTime with
one of her friends, and they said: “Alisha,
what does your mummy do?” and she said
“She travels the world inspiring women to
be the best that they can be”. Moments like
that makes it worth all the hard work.
Rajeev: Having goals and visions bigger
than yourself. Wanting to be a role model.
It is your responsibility to be that role model
for others that you wish you had yourself.
What we can achieve is so much bigger than
ourselves. The more successful you are, the
more you can give back.
Sergey: When you start with nothing, you
have nothing to lose and the only way is up.
Your drive is to improve your life and the life
of people around you.
Branding or bragging?
Vikki: When I started my journey just
using the term entrepreneur was classed as
bragging. From a women’s perspective, it
was very difficult getting out there branding
myself all over the internet and social media.
People would look at you thinking who do
you think you are? The people doing that
were clearly the wrong people in my life.
Those people I chose to leave behind. Putting
yourself out there can be seen as bragging,
but the truth is that the better branded you
are the more people do business with you.
You need to believe in yourself and then
others will believe in you too.
Rajeev: Culturally it is recognized as
bragging, but from the business side it is
considered as branding. It took me a long
time to understand the difference. But I
realized that however you do it you still have
a brand and it is up to you to create the brand
that will take you in the right direction.
Your brand is your perceived value outside
yourself, how other people see you. Take
charge of this and create the brand you want.
Sergey: Neither. Positioning.
What do you think about
relationship Capital?
Vikki: Work with people you like, trust,
people you believe in and that are authentic.
This is important for any business to grow.
Rajeev: It is key. It is how you expand your
networks, knowledge and your experience.
It is the ground work that creates new deals
and partnerships. If you want to sprint you
run alone, if you run a marathon you do it as
a team. You get further as a team. If you have
good relationship capital you always have
somewhere to go for knowledge, experience,
network and inspiration.
Sergey: Success is harder or impossible to
achieve alone. The only way to get the result
is when you join strong partnerships that
can boost your knowledge. This can only be
done with relationship capital.
How do you choose your
business partners?
Vikki: It is understanding what the end goal
is. Understanding people’s personalities. Not
everyone will be like you, some people are
more direct, some people are thinkers, some
are more social and some more analytical.
Understand your partner’s personalities and
build on your differences to get the most out
of the partnership.
BusinessFit Magazine