Meet the SHEROES - Suma EP

Tell us more about yourself and what you do.
I head Knowiz Solutions Private Limited, which was founded as a content-solutions company in 2005. In 2013, the digital marketing company, Niswey merged with Knowiz. Today, Knowiz has a digital marketing brand, Niswey, and is working on developing new knowledge-driven products and services.

What do I do? I mostly have fun. As a company that is rapidly evolving into a flat organization and bringing in new ideas around customer service, I have a whale of a time being part of the show. I write, I work on projects, I handle sales, I work as the CEO, I learn SEO and analytics, I run sessions for the team, I attend sessions by the team, I do the dishes…basically like everyone else in the team, I do a lot of different things at Knowiz.

Before I co-founded Knowiz, I worked as a copyeditor and reporter for technology magazines for seven years, as a ghost writer for an author, and an architect (like the ones who design buildings, not software).

You have mostly been an entrepreneur, has there ever been a time when you wanted to something else in life?

I worked in small and mid-size companies for about nine years before I became an entrepreneur. So yes, I chose to do something else when I quit my job after becoming a mother. But the first glimpse of “I need to do something else” came when I was in my third year of college, pursuing a Bachelor in Architecture. I realized architecture wasn’t my thing, and spent a couple of confused years in college after that. And I desperately looked within me to find what gave me joy. And I realized it was writing.

After I graduated, I stood inside a Nehru Place DTP shop getting my resume typed up (back in 1995, very few people had computers at home!) and a gentleman noticed me and offered me a writing job right there! After I completed that assignment, I had an attack of guilt having let the parents down by not pursuing architecture. So I got a job in an architect’s firm. I hated every moment of my work there. How I would wait for the clock to strike 6 in the evening so I could escape.

That’s when I decided that I had to drop this charade of doing what everyone expects you to do. Just do your thing, even if you are not yet clear what it really is, I figured.

I joined a media company and I found my mojo there. I learnt the ropes of writing, copyediting and running the editorial of a magazine there. And had such fun during my stint there. That’s when I realized that this is what work should be about: joy in working, learning, creating something great along with a great team. Work should not be about staring at the clock, gossiping about colleagues, or complaining about stuff that doesn’t work.

And that is a key thought in having setup Knowiz. More people should get the opportunity to work the way I do, find joy in what they do!

What do you think is the future of content development and marketing?

Big. Really big. It’s just exploding all around us, and we can’t even keep up. As more channels come up, more people get connected, it’s getting tougher to get your message out there to the right customer. New solutions and platforms pop up every day and there’s some disruption happening in some way very frequently. We are here to help our clients figure this landscape out. Not that we have all the answers, but we learn and grow every day so the chances of us having the right answers go up significantly.

The time for copy-paste content is over. It’s time for real writers and journalists to come into marketing and create some fabulous messaging for their client. And it’s not just blogs, articles or case studies, but also infographics, videos, social media content, e-mailers, webinars and podcasts. The ability to interview people and bring out stories will gain more prominence. There’s a need for good copyeditors because quality copy is what will stand out in this age of ‘anyone-can-publish-anything’. 

A message to all SHEROES out there.  

Success is personal, don’t let others define success for you. Choose what success means to you and work towards that. Of course there will be failures and setbacks, but that’s when you discover new strengths and powers in you, which will help you get to bigger dreams. And most of all, enjoy the journey and have fun.