Tell Me How You Did It
26 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 1 ratingIf we were to create a list of some of India's finest brands - the kind that competes internationally and win the battle hands down - what would it sound like? It would sound like - Tell Me How You Did it?
In this podcast, celebrity journalist, Namrata Zakaria, has curated some very candid journeys of homegrown companies that range from food, fashion and film to home, art and design. Tune in every week to catch the founders of such innovative companies - who not only chased their own rainbows but also made India proud - tell us how they did it!
This is a Mint production, brought to you by HT Smartcast.
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Episodes
Design is a Way Of Living
March 17, 2022 06:30 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBRaw Mango is one of India's most important fashion labels, yet designer and founder Sanjay Garg say he finds the term 'fashion' limiting. In just over a decade since its launch, Garg has taken his textile-first fashion brand to great heights. Rural India is a perennial muse, and yet the label appeals to the young and modern Indian. Not only is Raw Mango about beautiful clothes in beautiful settings, but it has also come to be the cultural chronicler of our times.
The Jewel Of India
March 10, 2022 07:10 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBThe Gem Palace is easily India's oldest and most famous jewellery boutique. When tourists come to Jaipur, they want to see the royal City Palace and the Rambagh Palace, and the gorgeous jewellery store called Gem Palace. It has stood in the same spot since 1852, hosting Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Lady Mountbatten, Jacqueline Kennedy, Prince Charles and Lady Diana, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman and countless boldface names. Siddharth Kasliwal, the ninth generation of this heritage, t...
Where The Ruins Reign
March 03, 2022 05:30 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBWhen we speak of India's finest heritage hotels, we cannot escape the muted glamour of the Neemrana Group. Founder and director Aman Nath was among the first to discover old palaces, forts, havelis and bungalows, restore them lovingly, and turn them into immersive cultural spaces. His hotels have been featured in every major international design magazine and have hosted notaries from across the world. But most importantly, it has made us go back in time to when life was simpler and more glori...
A Strong Point of VU
February 24, 2022 10:26 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBDevita Saraf's is the most interesting tale of a woman in business in India. Raised in a traditional family, Saraf was determined on having the same goalposts her brother did and made the most of them. She joined her family's computer manufacturing business at 16 and was made head of marketing at 21. By 24, she sent her father a formal presentation and asked for a small loan. She launched VU TVs in 2006, and turned it into a Rs 1,000-crore company by 2019, making her the richest Indian woman ...
Trust In Nature
February 17, 2022 05:40 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBJuicy Chemistry is the story of a husband-wife team who started a small beauty business from their kitchen with just Rs 5,000 and their domestic staff as helping hands. In seven years, their e-commerce only ventures received funding of US $6.3 million, making it the largest in the e-commerce beauty space. Co-founder Megha Asher takes great pride in being ECOCERT certified for their sourcing from organic-certified farmers and suppliers and also receiving a Good Manufacturing Certificate for th...
All Good, No Bad
February 10, 2022 05:30 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MB'All Good, No Bad' has been the mantra for Raw Pressery from get-go. Of course it stood for its product, a clean-living inspired cold-pressed health juice using natural ingredients and no preservatives. But the mantra also came to be the founder Anuj Rakyan's life hack since he exited the company in 2020. Raw Pressery still remains a very fine brand, alone in its category, that disrupted our supermarket shelves and changed them forever. Rakyan is here telling us about the things he got right.
How does Rhea Kapoor get cinema, fashion, and gender right all the time?
February 03, 2022 06:25 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBHow can we talk about India's best businesses without talking of Bollywood: the world's largest film factory? One of India's most notable producers throws the spotlight on her craft, on why she thinks it's a privilege to be in cinema, and why making films top-lining women characters is important. Her last film, Veere Di Wedding, starred four women in lead roles and was rated 'A', still pulled in Rs 100 crore at the box office. Rhea Kapoor lets us into her glamorous, strong, and beautiful bubb...
How The Hive Makes The Planet Thrive
January 27, 2022 03:30 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBDid you know consuming natural honey not only has immense health benefits but can also save the planet? When VIjaya Pastala started Under The Mango Tree in 2008, she wanted to help India's small farmers increase productivity, as a pollinating bee colony on an agricultural plot can add to the yield hugely, and allow them to sell the honey and enhance their livelihood. UTMT came to be India's only organic, single-origin, certified honey brand that sources from farmers' cooperatives via fair tra...
Malaika Arora: Decoding Glamour, Entertainment and Business
January 20, 2022 08:41 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBMalaika Arora has traversed from being a model and an actor to a wellness entrepreneur to be taken very seriously. Her ventures include fashion, fitness and food, and she's built an entire ecosystem on being fit and glamorous. This, from a woman who dropped out of college to make a quick buck.
Abraham John Architects: Building Green Cities
January 13, 2022 07:41 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBAlan Abraham is one of the most important names in the world of architecture and design, not only thanks to his exemplary work in multidisciplinary architecture and interior design but also urban planning and public work projects. His philosophy is simple: the urban and co-exist with the natural. His firm's pro bono arm Bombay Greenway project works on public spaces and parks to turn them into well-designed, citizen-friendly green places.
Phantom Hands: Indian Modern Secret
December 09, 2021 10:15 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBWhat started out in 2015 as a curated site selling vintage, antiques, and collectables, now enjoys cult status. Indian companies celebrating authenticity, craft, and a very local-centric design language are really coming into their own. Leading this pack is phantom hands, a Bangalore-based gorgeous but young company. Namrata Zakaria talks to Deepak Srinath, the CEO of Phantom designs about how did he chance upon making furniture in the first place and how he and his company are Indian designs...
Gin is IN: Keeping spirits high with Greater than Gin
December 02, 2021 09:40 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBWhat used to be the tiniest section on the menu card has now become endless with good popularity. All thanks to the increasing demand of the homegrown crafted beverage, gins. And keeping the gin spirit high in India is Anand Virmani. Namrata Zakaria interacts with Anand Virmani who is the CEO and co-founder of Greater than Gin, India's finest homegrown craft of gins. He shares how he turned his life around from a financial background to one of the greatest Gin Businesses of the country and r...
The tale of Jaipur Rugs: From Rugs to riches
November 25, 2021 10:02 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBNand Kishore Chaudhary always had a vision of running his own business someday. His friend suggested he start a carpet business which he instantly bought and since then, there is no looking back. It is none other than Jaipur Rugs, India’s finest handmade Rugs venture. Namrata Zakaria interacts with the nation’s hero, Nand Kishore Chaudhary Ji. He speaks about the discrimination he faced for working with untouchables and why he declined a government job to embark on his weaving business. He f...
Kama Ayurveda: Modern Ayurveda touching Indian root
November 18, 2021 10:58 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBAyurvedic solutions are effective, sans chemicals, and add fragrances. Started in 2002 in Delhi, now Kama Ayurveda is promoting the message of Ayurveda globally! Namrata Zakaria interacts with Vivek Sahni, founder, and CEO of Kama Ayurveda as he shares what brought him into the Ayurveda business, how the khadi exposure helped him with natural products, and what made them wait for almost 10 years to open their first store. Listen in.
Isprava Luxury Stays : Home away from home
November 11, 2021 06:30 - 31 minutes - 29 MBLonging for a beautiful house near a beach and enjoying a luxurious vacay in a peaceful surrounding? Here comes Isprava Luxury Homes to your rescue. Namrata Zakaria speaks with the founder of Isprava, Nibhrant Shah as he talks about the future of real estate, usage of technology in modern ways and shares some golden tips that he learnt while trying to make Isprava a luxury reality. Tune in to find out how he did it.
Theobroma Patisserie : Baking the dream legacy
November 04, 2021 06:30 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBIf you are a foodie and love to keep up with the best foods, then you must have heard of the famous brownies from Theobroma, one of the finest desserts in the country. From a small cafe in Colaba to 80 outlets across the country, Theobroma has come a long way. In this episode, Namrata Zakaria interacts with the founder Kainaz Messman as she shares what made her quit her successful job and start a new venture, the initial struggles they faced as a new venture and nostalgically talks about he...
Varana Design: Where fashion meets craft
October 28, 2021 09:23 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBIn the streets of London which are flooded with the brands like Jimmy Choo or Gucci, what do you think are the chances of finding a boutique selling authentic Indian woven handlooms dresses? Quite high actually and all the credit goes to Sujata Kehsavan, the founder and creative director of Varana. In this episode, our host Namrata Zakaria interacts with Sujata Keshavan for whom the inception of Varana was a serendipitous affair. She shares what made her start a new venture in her 50s and ho...
The House of Angadi: Re-inventing the heritage weaves
October 21, 2021 11:34 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBThe ancestral textile label which got attention during Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding is a legacy as old as 600 years. KH Radharaman is not just the heir of this legacy but is reinventing and modernizing it from time to time. In this episode, host Namrata Zakaria interacts with KH Radharaman, CEO of Angadi Ventures, as he walks us through the house of Angadi and tells us how to live history in a modern context.
Language of Good Earth by Anita Lal
October 14, 2021 09:59 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBBe it a coffee cup, a candle, or a Kurta, Good earth in its 25th year now is the best example of how an Indian company can beautifully turn artisanal activities into expensive coveted luxury items. Today’s episode is a special treat as host Namrata Zakaria speaks to Anita Lal, on how her passion project paved its way towards creating an identity for itself and, changed the game for experiential stores in India. Listen in to find out what’s next for Good Earth.
Darima Farms: The cheese that screams India
October 07, 2021 11:19 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBHow much cheese is too much cheese? And to bless all our cheesy souls, host Namrata Zakaria brings to you the Indian cheese story, the story of Darima Farms. She speaks with one of the founders, Arvind Chawla. Listen in to know how the idea of Darima farms came about, how he balanced a corporate career and running a farm, his experiences, the pitfalls, and the future of artisanal cheese in the years to come.
Bangalore Watch Company: The India Watch Story
September 30, 2021 11:18 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBIn the era of smartwatches and smart technologies, the Bangalore Watch Company has been instrumental in changing the narrative around watchmaking in India. The India-based brand is known for telling stories through its watches with a very modern 21st-century point of view. Host Namrata Zakaria speaks to the founder Nirupesh Joshi, on how he managed to launch—and sustain—an independent, quality-focused watch brand and put India back on the Horological map.
How 100Hands, a Made-In-India brand, redefined luxury
September 23, 2021 09:23 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBIt’s a well-known fact that India has a very strong tradition of fine embroidery, and many families have heirloom pieces that are examples of this remarkable work. In this light, 100Hands is the epitome of ethical made-in-India craftsmanship in the truest sense. Host Namrata Zakaria, speaks to the founders, Akshat Jain and Varvara Maslova as they share their international success story and all the whys and hows of their brand. Listen now!
A Taste of the Tropics: The KRSMA tale
September 16, 2021 04:30 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBSomeone rightly said, “To take wine into our mouths is to savour a droplet of the river of human history." If you’re an avid wine lover, stick around for a walk through India’s first and the finest vineyard, to make the cut onto the World's 50 Best Vineyards list. Namrata Zakaria had the pleasure to speak with the power couple Krishna Kumar and Uma Chigurupati, of KRSMA Estates, who singularly changed the face of Indian wines globally. The Chigurupatis believe in letting the grapes narrate...
How Gautam Sinha handcrafted a success story with Nappa Dori?
September 09, 2021 07:40 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBIf you love leather you've probably heard of Nappa Dori. In today's episode, we have the man behind the business of leathers and threads, who changed the game to its entirety. Namrata Zakaria gets candid with Gautam Sinha, who not only managed to capture the imagination of the world through its carefully curated design aesthetics but also re-defined the essence of luxury in India. Listen in as he shares his story of how he turned a store tucked in the streets of Hauz Khas Village into an ...
How Manoj Kumar cracked the coffee code?
September 02, 2021 07:55 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBCan you start your day without a refreshing cup of coffee? Us neither! It is the truest form of love, indeed! Host Namrata Zakaria had the pleasure of Manoj Kumar’s company, the co-founder of one of the top artisanal coffees, on her podcast this week. So, stick around for a journey to the Araku Valley, a ‘mystical’ place in Andhra, where the actual magic happens, the story of how Araku coffee beans are grown and processed by local Adivasi farmers, and the challenges he faced while working i...
How Sabyasachi, the Bengal Tiger, roars?
August 26, 2021 10:53 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBSabyasachi doesn't have a following. The brand, the man has fans! Tune in for an exclusive conversation between Mr. Mukherjee and Namrata Zakaria as they discuss the latest investment by Aditya Birla Fashion, the H&M controversy, the privileges & pitfalls of sustainable fashion, and most importantly the pillars on which Sabyasachi, the brand, dares to stand for ages to come.