“Give her junk and she will make something out of it”, describes the personality of the very outgoing, jovial and creative person called Tapasya. With a lot of pride, we introduce our alumnus who today is a successful entrepreneur. She partnered with her sister to take her interiors business to new heights. Her inventiveness and imagination can well be experienced when one walks into her store in one of the posh locality of New Delhi. The soft music, interiors, concept and the whole ambience is beauti fully done and the passion with which she talks, gives one a peek into her fine persona. She is a through professional at work but when it comes to her family, she is a complete family person. Her balanced approach to life works out wonders for her in her business, and the returns she gets are splurged on the things she loves to do.
Ms. Tapasya Nayar passed out from IIPM in the year 1996. For her, the college experience was great and filled with sweet memories. Her husband Mr. Mayank is also an IIPM alumni and she giggles that it was the best thing that happened to her at IIPM. Life after college has also been wonderful as she and her husband have the same set of friends from college. College made them learn a lot and she feels lucky to have been taught by “Arindam sir”. Academics was always fun she says, as “Arindam sir’s” lectures were filled with learning through games and practical activities. After completing her MBA from IIPM, she worked for the corporate world for about eleven years. Her corporate journey started with Madison Jones where she worked for about five years in marketing as that was the subject she enjoyed the most in college; she then switched over and joined Satnam Overseas where she worked for one year. Her third organisation was Six Continents, which is the parent company for hotels like Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza and many more. She worked there for two years and then spent three years with the international fashion brand Lacoste. She left her job to start a family and was blessed with twin sons. A couple of years went by in taking care of her kids, and once they were a little grown up, she started helping her husband with his business.
Tulip Furnishings and Interiors was set up by her father in the year 1992 and they were the first ones to introduce washable poly fiber quilts in the market. This helped the brand as these quilts lasted for about ten to fifteen years, and they had customers who went on using them for many years. Ms. Tapasya feels that the biggest drawback in this sector is that it is extremely unorganized and quilts are not branded products as they are available in every other place. Reaching new customers has become very difficult and this has been quite a huge challenge for them to over come.
Now, she and her sister Pooja are working separately from their father’s business. They continue to buy material from him but sell it independently. Tulip does not price its product comparing it with big brands. Their quilts are value for money. They do not over price it as they are not in a mall or a very extravagant place. She vouches for the Speaks about her pass ion & Creativity at work to Archana Sharma & Shreya Bhatia Ms. Tapasya Nayar Director, Tulip Furnishings & Interiors power of women as she feels they are the ones who manage their work better than most men. Women juggle a lot without cribbing, whereas men would crib to no end. Her husband is definitely a big support, but she still says that women manage things better.
Women have to go through diverse situations in life, and yet at each stage, they have to prove themselves again and again. Being a self-made person, she admires all the working mothers as she feels a lot of them work because they are career oriented and some of them are earning to support their family. She salutes all the women who manage their houses while working and finds inspiration from them.
Ms. Tapasya feels lucky to have come from a family which has a strong support system. She attributes her success to her family, especially her husband who has always supported her with the work she wanted to do. Though she is an entrepreneur, she feels that she is a person who needs to be pushed to do something. Ms. Tapasya and her sister Pooja Virmani both work together for Tulip Furnishings and Interiors, and they both are doing the work pretty well. Her best buddy Ms. Shiffali Madan, also an IIPM pass out, has always been a part of her decisions. She says she and her sister create a balanced approach on their leadership style.
When quizzed on globalisation, she says that it has a major impact on every sector in the Indian marketplace. People in India today demand products that are available abroad and this has brought in many opportunities for Tulip as well as the other competitors and sectors. She finds real life experiences to be the real teachers. She feels gaining an experience as an employee is advantageous once you become an employer as you learn professionalism and politics, and also learn to handle various situations and become a better boss.
She loves to spend time with her sons Krish and Kabir, who are six-and-a-half years old. She goes swimming with them and also plays tennis with them regularly.
A piece of advice that she would like to share with the young brigade of professionals is to “work hard… earn money… but most importantly enjoy life”. While it is important to earn money, it is equally important to reap benefits. She wishes all IIPM students good luck for their future and also wishes the institute all her love.
