A veteran in the retail industry with over 12 years of work experience, Smita Murarka, Head- Marketing and E-commerce at amanté, MAS Brands India has held roles across different functions of Buying, Sales &Operations, and Marketing across various categories in apparel and accessories. She is also a certified Image Consultant she is passionate about helping people understand the art of dressing and create first impressions. A strong believer of the fact that it’s very important for individual’s to think beyond clinical roles, and come to work happier, Smita shares about being a superwoman and her views on the importance of education and a lot more:

Work, career and success story: Smita shares, “Few years back my colleagues used to wonder why am I choosing to work across different departments and learn it from scratch when I can grow in one department easily. I did choose a difficult path then, and today when I look back at my career graph, I feel that that was the best decision I could have made, as today I am part of decision making and am able to understand the business completely and contribute holistically, not restricting my learning  to only marketing.” She adds, “At my current stint with amanté, the brand has doubled its turnover in about 2 years, and has higher consumer awareness than before.  It gives me immense satisfaction to work on a brand and category as part of the leadership team and be part of its growth story.”

Importance of education: “I come from a community which is business oriented, who didn’t allow women to work. My father supported my drive to do my masters and choosing to work than just getting married. Today I would like to believe and do get feedback from relatives that they would be happy to see their daughter follow my steps. This gives me immerse satisfaction that around my little world itself, I have been able to support change, and would urge all parents to support their daughters getting educated first,” shares Smita.

Becoming a superwoman: Sharing more on work life balance, Smita shares, “ I think women juggle many roles quite efficiently, whether in their career, or being a daughter, mother or wife.  I believe that all these roles deserve an equal commitment, to be efficient in each role. Thus, work life balance also is an important commitment towards yourself and family. I have taken up Image Consulting as a hobby and do manage the household responsibilities, and couldn’t have done it if I didn’t believe in work life balance. It’s very important to drive an individual to think beyond clinical roles, and come to work happier.”

Women in the modern digital world: “I feel digital revolution is the best thing that has happened to women. We can share our opinions and reach out for help much more easily than before. Women can support each other, to grow and participate in like minded communities. For a category like ours, talking about lingerie seems like a taboo from the outside, but women love to share their experiences and get educated to make better product choices, improving their overall appearance. Similarly, across fields women are able to improve themselves by connecting with the free digital world,” shares Smita.