It's heartening to see a significant number of young adults exploring social entrepreneurship, or taking up impactful roles in organizations committed to inclusion and sustainability. But what does it really take to succeed in such a role? My guest today is one of India's foremost social entrepreneurs.

She runs a foundation and a company that enables over 10,000 rural women entrepreneurs across India deliver high-quality products, decent livelihoods and add economic value. She's proven alternative approaches to enabling rural employment and is a sought-after expert on rural workforce skills and economic development.

Neelam Chhiber, Co-founder and Managing Trustee of Industree Foundation and Managing Director of Mother Earth. Neelam has worked for over two decades with rural artisans to help them with skills and tools that can cater to India and global demand. She's the winner of the Charles Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the L'Oreal Paris Femina Women Award.

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Few people understand the dreams, aspirations, and frustrations of the Indian consumer better than my guest today. He's a columnist media critic and bestselling author.

His popular weekly column, "City City Bang Bang" published in the Times of India, is an amazing mirror into the thinking of the middle-class Indian consumer. If you have not read it, I would highly recommend you check it out.

He was previously president of McCann Erickson, one of India's premier advertising agencies. He is now the managing director and CEO of Future Brands, a brand, and consumer consultancy company. I am absolutely delighted to welcome Santosh Desai to the Inner Reel podcast.

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Many of us believe strongly in what's right. Yet we struggle to speak up when needed. It can be standing up to a nasty coworker, having a difficult conversation with a loved one, or a broader spectrum of issues involving discrimination or injustice.

While our inner voices rise up in protest, we often remain mute spectators as we succumb to lack of self-confidence or fears of an external opinion. Today's conversation is with a unique woman who has relentlessly spoken up for what she believes in. Her story is one of grit, conviction, and inner strength. Here with me is Samina Bano. She's in an Ashoka Fellow, an Acumen Fellow and a TEDx speaker.

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What does it take to start a business and succeed as an entrepreneur? Building a successful company is a lot about the idea, the market, timing. But also about being able to sell, attract a great team, and most importantly, have the grit to handle inevitable adversity that comes along the way.

The typical imagery that comes to mind these days is a startup founder from a top school who has the networks, attracts institutional funding, and is spending the capital raised to build a business for massive scale. But what if you don't fit that bill? What if you went to a no name school, don't have the networks, but still have the skills and desire? Does this mean you can succeed as an entrepreneur?

Today's guest is someone who's broken almost every stereotype there is for startup success. He's built one of India's largest and most valuable brokerage firms with 6 million customers within just a decade. He's done this without any external capital. His success is an amazing story of first principles thinking, self-belief, and the courage to build an organization based on what feels right. And in his case, that meant putting customers and employees first. I'm delighted to welcome Nithin Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha to the Inner Real Podcast

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We all make many career moves. We change jobs because we don't like our bosses. We change to new roles, hoping for a better career path. We even switch to startups, as we read about unicorn riches. We do all of this because we believe these changes are part of the progress we envisioned for ourselves.

But how much of this change is actually because of what we really believe in, versus a reaction to external triggers. Maybe how well your peers are doing. Or the need to be seen by others as having attained a level of success. Today's guest has some amazing perspectives on this. From a career that spans three totally different organizations.

He's been a captain in the Indian army a four time CEO with enterprises, like Reliance, Mahindra and also worked in civilian government service.

He's a frequent speaker and writer for platforms like TEDx, Hindustan Media, Wired and his talks have been viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube.  Listen to this interview with  Captain Raghu Raman.

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How does a woman from small town India break through and become one of the most recognised faces in the Indian start-up ecosystem?  Listen to Shradha talk about her personal story - dealing with insecurities, learning to trust herself, and finding her own formula for success

About Shradha Sharma
She is the founder and CEO of YourStory, a digital-media platform for startups and entrepreneurs. Before starting YourStory in 2008, Shradha served as an assistant vice president at CNBC TV18 and also a brand adviser at The Times of India.

Her company has been described as "India's biggest and definitive platform for start-ups and entrepreneurs-related stories, news, resources and research reports" by Femina. 

The Hindu wrote about her as one who has shattered the glass ceiling.

Shradha's Interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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Everyone knows Harsha Bhogle as the voice of Indian cricket. It’s hard to imagine someone like him with his megawatt smile and confidence, to have challenges with low self esteem.  How did he overcome that?  Listen to the episode as Harsha reflects on his life, his journey in finding his calling, dealing with adversity, and making it in broadcasting.

About Harsha Bhogle
Harsha Bhogle is widely acknowledged to be not just the voice, but the face of Indian cricket. He started at a time when few Indian broadcasters were considered good enough to be on overseas networks. But he changed those perceptions, especially in Australia where in 1992 he was rated as the possessor of the “sexiest voice on radio” and in 1999 when a poll on an independent web site rated him the number one commentator for the season.
Click here to read more about Harsha.

Links
Harsha O'Keefe Naga Chilli
Harsha's speech at IIM Ahmedabad

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In this highlight from The Inner Reel podcast Shradha Sharma, the founder of YourStory talks about her challenges as a small town girl who had big dreams. She also talks about how it was to be laughed at and judged while she continued to build a company that she believed in.

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