Asian Wealth Mag Summer 2016

T H E L U X U R Y B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E F O R A S I A N E N T R E P R E N E U R S

£4.9

9 ●

SU

MM

ER 2

016

WELL SUITED

TOP IN TRAVEL

FULL OF VERVE

DEEPA SHAH

VVA S I A N W E A L T H

M A G A Z I N E

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CMYK

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28 A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k

WINNER OF THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT

AWARD FOR BUSINESS, DEEPA SHAH ROSE

FROM OFFICE JUNIOR TO CFO OF A $140M-REVENUE

BUSINESS. NIMA SUCHAK MEETS HER TO

FIND OUT ABOUT HER SUCCESS.

DEEPA IS EXCITED. Having won the prestigious Asian Women of Achievement Award (AWA) for Business, there’s a lot going on for the European and Singapore Chief Financial Officer at brand and communications research consultancy, Hall & Partners.

She has consistently pushed boundaries to achieve a lot for her young age, and the judges were particularly impressed with her philosophy of challenging herself and doing her best to learn new things every day.

Still in her 30s, Deepa is one of the youngest CFOs within the Omnicom Group Inc. A diverse role, she is responsible for M&A and the overall finance function of each of the European and Asian businesses, as well as serving as a strategic partner to the Global CEO and leadership teams. She has led the development of the businesses in Dubai, South Africa, Asia and Australia since 2011.

“When we sold Hall & Partners to our holding company, Omnicom Group Inc, it was a $47m business globally, and now it delivers $140m in revenues. Seeing the business grow and being part of the team that has contributed to this is a massive achievement for me.”

RISING

Photographs: Kam ParmarOn location at The Savoy, London

STAR

›

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CMYK

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| I N T E R V I E W |

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30 A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k

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She is a commercially strategic partner for the business and clients. “My job is to build relationships that matter – with clients, colleagues, and teams that I manage. Being a trusted strategic partner is really important. People respect what I have to say and you have to continually build on that.”

PATH TO SUCCESSDeepa joined Hall & Partners as a Junior Finance Assistant fresh out of university. It was her first job, and she rose through the ranks of the business over the last 17 years.

“I started as an office junior but never in a million years did I think I would become CFO.” It was no easy feat. She put in the hours, sacrificing personal plans, and worked hard. “You have to be ambitious and strong-willed if you want to progress. I always want to do better and challenge myself to get further, both professionally and personally. She admits that it doesn’t get any easier the higher up the ladder you go. “If you want to get to the top, there are always going to be personal sacrifices – to an extent, as long as it’s not damaging to your personal life. It’s really important to have a work-life balance. It’s not about working harder, but working smarter, I’m constantly challenging myself and my team about what we can do more efficiently in the amount of time we have and get the same results.”

But it’s clear she’s not a ‘traditional’ CFO. “People are often surprised when they meet me. This environment can be dominated by older, mostly white males, and a lot them are traditional accountants. I’m seen as a bit of a risk taker, someone who breaks the rules. “I don’t own a tailored suit – it’s not me, and if you put me in one I would feel so uncomfortable. It’s important to be yourself at work, dressing so people can see your personality. In the absence of a sharp suit, and only wearing high street brands, I prefer to accessorise, so I splash out a bit more on quality jewellery, a statement bag and a decent watch.”

RAISING AWARENESSWith the AWA win under her belt, Deepa wants to raise awareness of causes she is passionate about and says it is important to give back. She

SOME THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL

● I love: Cars. I’m a petrol head. I’d rather

have nice cars and no money

● I drive: a Porsche 911 GTS

● The last book I read: The Nightingale, by

Kristin Hannah

● My favourite city: I travel a lot, but always

look forward to coming back to London

● Favourite App: Instagram…because I love

looking at other people’s pictures!

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CMYK

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GLOSS 115GSM - 88.0 * 63.0 cm

31A s i a n We a l t h M a g . c o . u k


CMYK


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TIPS TO BE A WINNER IN BUSINESS

● Excellent communication skills

● The highest level of integrity

● Build relationships that matter

● Always be fair

● Build a winning team because you

can’t do it all on your own!

recently accepted the role of Chair of Trustees of the charity Lives Not Knives which focuses on educating schools on knife crime, as well as working with young people in gaining skills and training so that they can enter employment. She is also an ambassador for Women of the Future, which connects award-winning women to mentor young people in schools.

A major focus is being a ‘voice of representation’ in her industry, raising the issue of the lack of ethnic diversity in the media and communications industry. She describes going to an International Women’s Day event for women in media and communications and out of 300 women, less than 5% were from an ethnic background. This spurred Deepa to promote ethnically diverse cultures through businesses. “I hate the word diversity as it sounds so clinical. It’s a known fact that generally, a well-structured ‘diverse’ workforce will give you a more talented pool of people, with different skill sets and different experiences, and knowledge. It should be a natural part of the recruitment processes because ultimately it’s going to benefit your business full circle…great work, happy clients, healthy bottom line, better rewarded employees. Most importantly, it is imperative to ensure that a ‘diversity programme’ is not a required tool to influence a company’s culture, but that diversity is that culture.”

Deepa has been invited to join the steering committee for Omnicom in the UK, to assist in the area of diversity. And in her capacity as an ambassador for the Women of the Future, was asked to talk to students about careers in marketing, media and advertising at the Foreign Office.

“It’s important for young people to believe they can achieve anything they put their mind to. Developing and challenging others is essential because I want them to grow and it’s good to push them out of their comfort zone. My role models do that for me. It’s about being better today than you were yesterday.”

Her own network of role models and mentors support, challenge and encourage Deepa in her journey. Her family has been a major influence in her life. “My father is a businessman and he has always told me ‘do what

you want, as long as you’re happy, but whatever you do, just do it well’”. She also cites her former boss, former global CFO of Hall & Partners, Colin

“IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

AND YOU TRUST YOUR JOURNEY,

GREAT THINGS CAN HAPPEN.”

Munday as a massive inspiration. “From the start of my career to where I am today, Colin has developed and trained me. I got to know my base knowledge through him – what it is to do good business, to be a good person in business, key values you should consider when you are dealing with people, clients, even when dealing with commercial experience.”

“I will never take on anything that I can’t give 100% to, or that I’m not passionate about, because I know I won’t deliver on it. If you believe in yourself and you trust your journey, great things can happen.”

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CMYK

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AND THE WINNERS ARE…FOLLOWING ON FROM DEEPA’S INTERVIEW, WE SHOWCASE THE OTHER WINNERS

FROM THIS YEAR’S ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS.

FROM A MONGOLIAN yak

wool entrepreneur to

a BBC health reporter,

the recipients of the

annual Asian Women of

Achievement Awards 2016,

held in association with NatWest, were an

incredibly diverse and inspiring group of

women.

The awards, which are held in London

and now in their 17th year, celebrate the

contributions made by Asian women, both

professionally and in their communities,

across the UK. Guests of honour this year

included Princess Badiya bint El Hassan of

Jordan and Baroness Helena Kennedy.

Winner of the Entrepreneur Award was

Nancy Johnston, who won for her social

business Tengri, which brings eco-friendly

Mongolian yak wool to the forefront of the

British fashion industry. Meanwhile, BBC

health correspondent Tulip Mazumdar was

honoured for her brave reporting on the

Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Sara Khan

won the Social & Humanitarian Award for

her work championing women’s rights and

countering Islamist extremism.

This year Julie Hanna was honoured

with the Global Empowerment Award.

Julie is an Egyptian-born entrepreneur

named by President Obama in 2015 as

Presidential Ambassador for Global

Entrepreneurship. She is an investor and

adviser to companies and institutions

globally, and since 2009 has served as

executive chair of the board at Kiva, the

largest crowdlending marketplace for

global entrepreneurs.

Commenting, Pinky Lilani CBE and

founder of the awards said: “We are

thrilled for all the winners, who are

united by their passion and inspirational

achievements. The diversity of this year’s

winners highlights that whether they

are martial arts champions or children’s

book authors, Asian women in Britain

are bucking sterotypes while making an

enormous contribution to British life. I am

immensely proud to stand alongside this

inspiring group of women.”


CMYK


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THE AWARDS● Arts & Culture – Shweta Aggarwal,

creator of Dev and Ollie Books

● Business – Deepa Shah, CFO,

Hall & Partners

● Entrepreneur – Nancy Johnston,

CEO and founder, Tengri

● Professions – Amina Memon,

professor of Psychology, Royal

Holloway University of London

● Public Service – Tulip Mazumdar,

global health reporter, BBC News

● Social & Humanitarian – Sarah Khan,

co-director and co-founder, Inspire

● Sport – Harleen Kaur,

British Champion, World Martial

Kombat Federation

● Young Achiever – Bonnie Chiu,

co-founder Lensational and Shiura

Rasheed, programme manager,

Thomson Reuters Foundation

● AWA Chairman’s Award – Tahira

Widolf, general store manager, Asda

THE ASIAN WOMEN OF

ACHIEVEMENT CELEBRATE

WITH THEIR AWARDS.

| AWA R D S |


CMYK


GLOSS 115GSM - 88.0 * 63.0 cm

Documents

Asian Wealth Mag Summer 2016