While building the largest digital community for women in India, the goal has always been to inspire our readers. When you consume our content you should feel more ‘in the know’, happier and motivated. We constantly innovate with newer ideas, concepts, and formats to that end. In fact, I’d go as far as to call it the most exciting part of the job for me. One such format is POPxo Speakeasy where we get people who inspire us to talk about their journey. It’s an idea that came to my mind when I realized just how much our young team could benefit from hearing some cool people who have achieved so much come and address us directly. We encourage our guests to tell us the ‘behind the scenes’ of their story, their highs and their lows, the way they approached their goals, etc. This is proving to be greatly motivational for the team. It’s one of the best activities to help them achieve their goals, targets, and view the world with a fresh pair of eyes.

So, this time for the POPxo Speakeasy, we had Mona Gandhi, an alumna of the Indiana University, who was the first female engineer at Airbnb. She was also the founding member of their growth team and went on to lead strategic initiatives and growth for the Asia-Pacific region for the company before she decided to part ways and follow her dreams. She came and had a friendly session with the team and here are our top 10 takeaways we have from the session.

1. Numbers, what?

According to Mona, numbers are very important but not as much as loyalty is. If you can make the customer loyal to your brand, the numbers will come on their own.

2. Psst. Something new?

She said she is working on something of her own but asked us to wait for the deets! *Being patient*

3. Wise advice? YES!

Surround yourself with people who are smart as they help you grow. Not just people in your field but people outside of it too since you get to learn so much from them.

4. And if the former does not work?

And since you are the average of the people you surround yourself with and if you don’t find smart people around you, surround yourself with books because it’s so much better than being around stupid people!

5. Just do your thing!

If it makes you feel excited, just do what it takes to make it a success. That’s how Mona Gandhi made her choices in life and it’s wise advice, ladies!

6. Never leave any place on a sour note!

People should see the best of you when you leave!

7. Add relationships in your life that contribute to your well being

Well, why do you want to have baseless relationships?

8. Leave a bit of you everywhere you go!

Because no matter where you go, you will always come back to where you started.

9. It’s all about the drive.

If you’re driven, there is nothing that can stop you from doing the things you want to do.

10. Finally, wise advice for all the POPxo employees?

Just have fun, guys! This is the best time to be in India. Make the most of it!