Challenges
Faced In The Early Stages Of Your Career In Order To Achieve Your Goals:
Not
one but many and where I didn’t find any, I created them because that is where
the growth happens, in overcoming the challenges. I started out as a ‘Weather
Anchor’ with NDTV 18 years ago. The lines around work profiles used to be way
more rigid in those times. I remember working double shifts on most days to
just learn more, do more till I got noticed and picked up to report news. Then
I worked even harder to further get handpicked for a News Anchor’s job... and
then moving onto doing my own shows.
I
took a break after my daughter was born. When I chose to go back after 5 years,
the challenge was two-fold. I had to prove that I could do it, first to myself
and then to others. Also, the same format of news had stopped exciting me. I
entered the branded content space, and went on to be become the face of many
corporate campaigns for NDTV and then, Republic TV.
It was along with this that I took on another challenge of establishing
myself as an accomplished live events anchor/ master
of ceremonies, a field, much less organized and a lot more chaotic than
television anchoring. But it all came together when I was awarded the BW Applause Award for Best Female Emcee Of The Year, this
year.
Reason
For Following Your Passion For Anchoring/Entertainment:
Ever since I remember, this is what I always wanted to do. I remember standing in front of the mirror as a kid, with a newspaper in my hand, and practicing reading it like a news anchor! My father ran a very successful event management company and attending his events fueled my passion even more. I opted to study Mass Media and Mass Communication because I knew my calling right from the beginning. My work is my life, my play, my peace. When you love what you do, every weekday is a weekend and every weekend is working. It’s beautiful!
Thriving, not just surviving, during COVID lockdown…
Personally speaking, I managed to flip this crisis upside and find
opportunities within it. The pros of spreading one's work across genres and
mediums became clearer like never before. Though thanks to remote
shooting, television shows continued as before, the
events industry completely dried up. But quick to make the 'digital' switch, I
used the time in hand to build and amplify my digital content verticals
concentrating on adding value to the viewer's life . One such value was helping people overcome the fear of public
speaking, so the Masterclass With Ritika Jhanji was born. Not just that, consuming so much social media
content during the lockdown made me realize how frivolous most of it was. And
from there came an idea to curate and produce
intelligent content for brands across all platforms leading to my own
content production company MAD SQUARE WORX!
In this deluge of digital content, content will
be the differentiator. No matter you are an anchor,
an influencer, a digital content creator or a brand
marketing an idea, the quality and messaging of your idea needs to stand out
like never before. The age of content is here.
Some
Of Your Major Learnings And Words Of Wisdom That You Live By:
The facade, the appearances are important and can help you till a point but at the end of the day, Content Is King.
You are as good as your last project and it better be recent! So keep learning, keep doing.
The secret to moving ahead is to just concentrate on the next right move instead of getting overwhelmed by the bigger picture.
And most importantly, invent yourself and then
keep reinventing.
Things
That Hold You Strong As A Female Leader During The Toughest, Swithered And
Pivotal Times:
I
think it's my constant effort to make sure that every day I learn and
grow a little more than yesterday. I am always trying to get better at what I
am doing, and at the same time, exploring and adding new verticals to take my
work to the next level. Tough times, of course, demand a lot more out of you as
they up the challenge manifold and you have no other way out than to learn and
evolve. And that is where the big shift happens, in the industry as well as in
your career, if you only are able to adapt to it.
Mentors
That Helped You Overcome Difficulties And Pushed You Into Becoming A Successful
Leader/Person:
I think I owe it all to my parents. If as a child, you are made to feel that you are capable of dreaming and achieving anything you want, it conditions you into becoming a go-getter. My parents are my biggest influencers and supporters, and the most honest critics. It is their unflinching belief in me that is at the core of my strength.