I’m a fairly simple, straightforward person. The people who know me and are close to me believe I’m extremely loving and giving. My life is my work and my family and I like to believe I am equally devoted to both. While work is certainly a major part of my life, I ensure I’m there for my family and don’t miss out on my kids’ growing up years.
Growing up as an army child, with dad moving around the country a lot, instilled a sense of discipline in both my sister and I. Being an army child has also imbibed in me the spirit to strive, change and rise above all obstacles. This is a quality I believe I have brought successfully into my work, which is why we are where we are today.
My education background is in Computer Engineering, but deep inside I knew that writing was my calling. I started off by writing for various publications in college and doing a spot of writing for Rashmi Bansal’s JAM (Just Another Magazine). I soon realised I needed formal training and so I did a diploma in creative writing from London and then pursued a post graduation in Marketing and Communications. I then worked with Ernst & Young as an Internal Communications Specialist, before moving to CBeyond and Murray Culshaw Consulting.
Currently, I run Pink Lemonade Communications Ltd. I like to say we are an agency with heart. We are not your typical agency where you find aggressive creative people. Our culture has been carefully crafted as one that’s inclusive, accommodating, with people being sensitive to each other’s needs. Having said that, Pink Lemonade is a place where people live up to the highest work ethic.
We work with all kinds of organisations, right from large corporates to SMEs and startups. We cover the entire spectrum of communications, right from branding a new company’s offerings, to helping them go to market. We provide content and design solutions such as websites, brochures, technical documents, flyers, posters and mailers. Our web and video offerings include creation of viral videos, corporate films, product demo films etc. In addition, we also do traditional ATL advertising such as print ads, outdoor campaigns, radio jingles etc.
Tell us about any current projects you are involved in
I am happy to say that Pink Lemonade has grown to be an almost 50-member agency today. We started off small in 2009 and have since continued to add more services to our portfolio. An extremely exciting field we are working in today is UI/UX, which is so hot right now; we get so many queries for responsive, UI/UX centric websites and apps on a daily basis! We are simultaneously working on at least 4-5 UI/UX projects, which says a lot for our expertise in this upcoming domain. We also have a few more such projects in the pipeline. In addition, we have recently closed massive accounts such as Jockey (we are handling their pan-India social media presence), Black and Decker, and Grant Thornton, among others.
We constantly strive to push the envelope in terms of the work we do. That’s why we have internal training programs every week – right from communications training sessions to area-specific training with industry experts from organisations such as EY, Smartplay, Interweave, Redbus, as well as Image Consultants. We do Friday morning ‘brekkie training sessions’, where we order in breakfast for the whole team and brainstorm together on the latest trends in the industry, or watch informative webinars to keep abreast of what’s happening out there.
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving your success?
When we started out, building the right team was a challenge. Luckily, I was already working with a bunch of talented people while freelancing, so we took them on right away and they have stayed with us and grown to lead the teams today. Another challenge was creating the right culture. I always wanted PL to be a place where people enjoy coming to work and give it their absolute best. Of course there was the funding problem also initially. I am proud to say the organisation is completely self-funded and is growing from strength to strength. This has been possible because of carefully tailored strategies such as BYOD (bring your own device), which helps us give back to our people. For instance, instead of investing in devices, we are able to give more frequent bonuses and incentives to high-performers, which obviously helps us retain talent and also attract the best minds in the industry!
I learnt this from my parents that no challenge is insurmountable if you put your mind to it. All you have to do is look hard enough and there will always be a way out!
What has been your greatest achievement personally?
Honestly, my biggest personal achievement is my family – my two children, Kabier and Rhea, and my darling husband Tapan. I feel extremely blessed that they have given wings to my dreams and supported me every step of the way. My husband is my pillar of strength and I certainly would never have been able to achieve what I have if it wasn’t for his encouragement and help. He hails from a business family too, and they have worked with some of the best companies in the country, so it was natural for him to support me when I decided to start out on my own. Tapan is my guide and takes time out from running his own companies to mentor us at Pink Lemonade. We have structured weekly review sessions with him and he suggests effective methods of closing new leads as well as tracking the metrics on our existing business. Likewise the support from my own parents has been phenomenal – they’re always there for me when the going gets tough.
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing?
That’s a tough one! I honestly can’t imagine myself doing anything else because I really love what I do. You know what they say, Love what you do and you’ll never work a day. Pink Lemonade isn’t work to me; it’s my family. I eat, sleep, and breathe Pink Lemonade!
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration would have to be my husband. Tapan is such an amazing person, and such a calming presence in my life. He is a spiritual guru and I love the way thousands of people around the world look up to him. My parents too play an extremely important role in my life. It goes without saying that it’s their values and teachings that I uphold today in every sphere of my life. When it comes to work, I believe I am extremely fortunate to be working with such a hardworking and talented team. They are my strength and I love each and every one of them.
What does the future hold for you?
The future looks extremely bright for Pink Lemonade. There’s so many exciting things in the pipeline. We are hiring aggressively at the moment because the work is honestly just pouring in! People are talking about the work we do and the level of excellence and professionalism we stand for, and that’s a great feeling.
About Ting Garg
Before establishing Pink Lemonade, Tina was an Internal Communications Specialist at Ernst & Young, then a content writer at CBEYOND, and also a Communications Coordinator at Murray Culshaw Consulting, in addition to writing for various news journals. Tina was chosen from among 10,000 women in the world to be coached by Goldman Sachs and ISB, as part of the ‘10,000 Women’ program which provides women entrepreneurs business and management education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital. She is also a mentee at the Cherie Blair Foundation, which supports women entrepreneurs across the globe. In addition to her professional roles, Tina plays the perfect wife and mother at home.
