Welcome! I’m Simi Shah, and in this newsletter, I dive deep into the journeys of South Asian trailblazers. You can find our podcast on Apple & Spotify + more content/news on our events on Instagram & LinkedIn.
📣 Calling CPG Founders!
Our friends at Asian Founded and Achha CPG are putting together a demo day in LA for high-growth, early-stage CPG brands to pitch investors actively looking to invest in Asian-owned businesses!
If you're a founder, apply here by 3/5.
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Latest Episode 🎧 Anita Chatterjee, Founder & CEO of A-Game Public Relations
Lately, I’ve seen Anita Chatterjee around every corner…amplifying so many of the very trailblazers we've had on our podcast, so I finally decided to talk to the woman behind the curtain.
Anita Chatterjee is the Founder and CEO of A-Game Public Relations, a bicoastal firm representing celebrities, business leaders, venture capital firms, and innovative technology and consumer packaged goods companies. Anita has built the profiles of several high profile individuals, including Rohan Oza, Guest Shark on ABC's Shark Tank and Grammy Award-winning artist Ne-Yo. She has also worked with CAVU Venture Partners; Bai antioxidant drinks, which was acquired by Dr. Pepper for $1.7 billion and our former guest, ClassPass Founder, Payal Kadakia.
Prior to founding A-Game PR, Anita orchestrated PR campaigns for several celebrities, including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Rihanna while serving as an executive at Desi Hits, a multimedia startup founded by famed investor and manager Anjula Acharia. Anita holds a degree in communications from DePaul University and a graduate degree in PR from Georgetown.
Read on for episode excerpts…
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Simi: Early on, you were an executive at Desi Hits, a multimedia company founded by Priyanka Chopra’s manager, Anjula Acharia. You orchestrated PR campaigns for major celebrities, which you said helped you identify PR as your niche of choice. What specific projects inspired this realization?
Anita: Desi Hits is actually the platform that introduced Lady Gaga to India. And you wouldn't believe this, but before I worked on her campaign, the Indian market just wasn't familiar with her. I was pitching hard to the press there because she already had her hit album in the US and was at the peak of her career here. So I was pushing hard to get her into the Hindustan Times and all the media outlets out there.
That campaign happened back in 2010. For those who remember it, they remember how we literally got the whole country excited about her visit. And in sharing her story, the media started referring to her as ‘Mother Monster,’ as this really creative and cool artist. We even got Chaka Khan to have an event with her out there. It was a very successful campaign for Lady Gaga and her team. And I just had so much fun championing her because the more I learned about her, the more I got to like her, what she stood for, and her music. And that's when I realized that this is what I really enjoy doing. I love storytelling. I love championing people and organizations that I believe in. And I realized by doing so, I was inspiring people because I was helping inspirational role models share their messages.
Simi: Today, you're almost a decade into running your own PR firm, A-Game. What have been the biggest learnings?
Anita: The biggest learning is to always remember that, at the end of the day, you are the expert. I'm a very nice person, but I've always had the philosophy of: ‘We make magic happen for our clients.’ So when I go into client meetings, I'm very confident. I will stand up and say, ‘If you want this to work, from experience, I can tell you, this is the strategy that you're going to follow.’ And I make sure that everybody on my team has that same level of confidence, because the truth is, we have the track record to prove that now. When you have that track record, don't let anybody else define you or tell you you can or you can't do something.
Over my career, so many people have told me, ‘Oh, you're great with profiles, but you can't ever do a food and beverage company.’ And I said, ‘Yes, I can. I know I can. I'll show you.’ And I have. I’ve had CAULIPOWER, a massive company that’s in over 25,000 major retailers as a client for many years now. They've been very happy with the work that we're doing with them. So the learning is not to let anybody else define you. If you know you can do it, show them. Confidence and belief is such an important part of leadership. Payal Kadakia, who you mentioned before and have had on Trailblazers, once said, “If someone doesn’t believe in me, that’s their problem, not mine.’ I fully agree with that.
Full episode on Apple, Spotify, or our website!