Apurva Purohit

Apurva Purohit can be contacted at:

3rd Floor, RNA Corporate Park, Road No. 13,
Kalanagar-Bandra East, Mumbai – 400051
Phone: 33284800 (Extn 5153)
Email ID: apurvap@myradiocity.com

Apurva Purohit is an Indian Businesswoman with over three decades of experience in the corporate world where she formed significant partnerships with private equity firms and promoters to build and scale up a diverse set of businesses - from early stage fledgling businesses, to setting up new ventures and to supervising turnarounds in mature and declining organisations.

She has worked across a variety of media businesses from radio to print to digital and was responsible for building and scaling up Radio City to become a leader in the FM radio space, and subsequently listing it on the stock exchanges in 2017, one of the more successful IPOs in those years. She was responsible for setting up Lodestar, which is today one of the largest media buying agencies in the country, and envisioning Times of India’s entry strategy into television, and has also worked on famed turnarounds like Zee TV and Midday, pivoting it from a traditional print business to a marquee and respected print and digital brand.

Under her people-oriented leadership and focus on building a great culture, one of her portfolio companies, Radio City was consecutively featured in the Great Place To Work survey for 7 years in India and amongst the Best Places to Work in Asia, and has become a case study on building high impact cultures which have a direct correlation on profitability.

She is an Independent director at Mindtree Ltd, L&T Technology services Ltd, Navin Fluorine International Ltd. and an advisor to private equity fund Amicus Capital.

Apurva has been a leading voice in the Indian business landscape, advocating gender diversity, what ails it, and what organisations and leaders can do to improve this critical imperative. She is also the author of the two national bestselling books “Lady, You’re not a Man” – the Adventures of a Woman at Work and Lady, You’re the Boss! Through her books, Apurva aims to empower women and encourage them to achieve their full potential.

Over the years, Apurva has won multiple business awards and has been repeatedly named as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business as per the India Today Group and Fortune India. She was amongst LinkedIn’s Top Voices and YourStory’s Top 10 digital Influencers of 2020. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIM Bangalore in 2022.

Apurva holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science (Physics) and completed her PGDM from IIM- Bangalore. She was a state-level hockey player and played for Tamil Nadu State and Tamil Nadu University.

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Blog

Work Culture

Clear and present danger indeed

September, 2020

For those of you who are familiar with the woes Facebook is facing today, you’d agree with me when I say the Cambridge Analytica data...

Women @ Work

Here Be Dragons

March, 2020

Dear girls,

On this woman’s day I have been thinking about what message I want to send out to all of you? Do I want to warn you of...

Work Culture

And the meek will inherit the earth.

December, 2019

2019 gave courage to the weak and to the disenfranchised, in 2020 it is up to the strong and powerful to show sagacity and wisdom.

The...

Lecture Series

Culture Gender Diversity Strategic Implementation Emerging Markets Leadership skills

The invisible driver of profit

Traditionally leaders have focused on the hard aspect of managing resources through efficient use of capital, creation of market opportunities, manufacturing capabilities and product innovation which have been the drivers to build successful businesses. Softer aspects like culture building have never been seen as significant creators of value or drivers of profitability. However, in today’s VUCA world, leaders are struggling to deal with the increasing complexity of managing a diverse, cross generational and scarce talent pool. Thus it has become imperative that they evolve strategies to create engaging work environments and manage the most important competitive advantage they have today which is people.This lecture looks at the importance of culture building in an organization and offers suggestions on how business heads can create an engaging and productive culture in order to drive stakeholder value.

What is it holding women back and what they can do to take control of their destiny.

In the last decade most organizations have started focusing on diversity as they realize that they will be able to build successful, sustainable and profitable businesses only when they have access to a larger and more diverse talent pool. However, the proportion of women in middle management and upwards continues to remain in dismal single digits. What is holding women back from achieving their true potential despite a stated intention from all stakeholders to change the gender gap?This lecture looks at some of the subconscious biases that exist, both externally and internally, in the minds of women that is holding them back. It will help participants understand these preconceptions and empower them with some practical suggestions to navigate their way in the context of the contemporary work environment.

How CEO get 90 of the strategy right while getting 90 of the implementation wrong

Most CEOs and business heads get their strategy and vision right however a strategy is only effective if one gets the execution right as well. Contrary to what many think, strategy and implementation are not two separate quadrants but a continuum that flows seamlessly from one to another and then back. And this is where most CEOs fail miserably! While all of them are great in creating a visionary strategy, they falter when it comes to the juxtaposition or the interplay between strategy and implementation. In other words, a great strategy is made at the annual off-site and then locked away in the bottom drawer of the boardroom cupboard and through the year the business is run around a series of activities and discrete initiatives with tenuous links to the strategy. Even if in the initial enthusiasm, a strategy does start getting converted to implementation in Q1, you can be sure that it gets booted out without a moment’s hesitation either at the first sign of competition doing something different or at a tiny swing of the market in an unplanned direction!So why are so many of the CEOs not able to marry strategy to implementation or vice versa?This lecture shows how strategic implementation is a key driver of success in a business and shares some of the tools CEOs and Business heads can use to ensure that their implementation is based on the agreed strategy.

The India growth story, challenges and opportunities.

The world believes that the coming century belongs to the Asian subcontinent, however growth in a complex country like India has been sporadic and limited. Inclusive growth especially is a huge concern given that despite nearly 30 years post liberalization, India has not been able to lift itself to become a middle income economy.
While everyone believes in its long term potential, this lecture looks at the challenges that India faces in its ability to impact more than half its population which remains at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid and what can be done to fast track this change.

Leadership Skills

Leadership is a nuanced skill that is developed over a period of time and is a tightrope walk across various facets of management. All of us have our own versions or formulae to define good leadership. This lecture shares practical leadership lessons which have helped build sustainable organizations and create shareholder value. The lecture will deep dive into unique leadership features like personal accountability, tough love and the consequences of difficult choices.

Author du jour

Lady, You’re The Boss Lady, you’re not a man Testimonials In The News

Lady, You’re The Boss

A new call to action from Ms. Apurva Purohit

‘So, do you intend to work after marriage?’
‘I am the COO of an organization. Obviously, I intend to work after marriage!’

No intended groom has been asked this question. For a working woman, it’s par for the course. There are women breaking new ground at work in every field today. Yet, when it comes to the top game, they are expected to play second fiddle to men. Through personal anecdotes and real-life stories of women professionals, Apurva Purohit chronicles the many ways in which society holds back women, curbing their power and preventing them from achieving their true potential.

At work and home, there is latent institutional discrimination and social prejudice at play. Whether it is the assumption that a career is only a stopgap to marriage or the reluctance to promote married women for fear that they will prioritise family over work, the climb to the top is twice as steep for women. As a result, they second-guess their own abilities and hesitate to claim what is rightfully theirs.

To counter these roadblocks, Purohit compiles an essential action plan for women: believe in yourself, never minimise or question your achievements, resist stereotypes, and constantly and fearlessly call out biases. Deeply poignant and often hilarious, Lady, You’re the Boss! is a woman leader’s guide to breaking socially imposed and self-reinforced glass ceilings, and growing to her full potential.

Lady, You’re The Boss

"An extremely important and relevant piece. Apurva Purohit has so brilliantly captured the experiences of women around the world and-Deepa Mehta- Film Director and Screenwriter

"Apurva is a path-blazing role model. Her exquisite style of clear observation divulges secrets on how a woman can make her way-Faye D’Souza - Executive Editor, Mirror Now

"Apurva dips into her life and learnings openly for this account of what it takes to be a women leader. She talks to the corporate-Shabana Azmi - Celebrated Indian Actor

Lady, You’re Not a Man

“A must-read for every woman who wants to succeed on her own terms. Inspiring and funny.”
- Ekta Kapoor- Indian TV/Film Producer and Director

“It’s a tough life for women today as they forge a new path for themselves within a society that still looks at them largely in a- Amish Tripathi- Indian Author

“This book will give women the confidence to believe in themselves and succeed…A definite read, and not just for women.”
- Nitin Paranjpe- President of Foods & Refreshment at Unilever

It`s easy to be overwhelmed for women who work to earn and try to manage the home front. This book assists you to get your priorities (Read More)- Deepali Phadke- Goodreads

A very funny, witty and practical guide for a working woman. I usually don’t read self-help books but this one isn’t one of the (Read More)- Ritu Kedia- Amazon

I kept looking out for my name and at the same time thinking when did I narrate my experience to Apurva? Little did I realize that all (Read More)- Sangeetha- Flipkart

Business, Books And Lockdown Lessons, Mid-day, May 2020

May, 2020 click here to view

Apurva Purohit Interview, The Telegraph, February 2020

March, 2020 click here to view

Apurva Purohit Interview, Impact, February 2020

February, 2020 click here to view

Apurva Purohit: To Achieve What You Want, Never Look At Your Career As An ‘Option’, Womens Web, January 2020

January, 2020 click here to view

I am because of Me, Daily Pioneer, December 2019

December, 2019 click here to view

How to be the Boss Lady, Hindu Business Line, December 2019

December, 2019 click here to view

In conversation with Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Group, The Hindu Business Line, December 2019

December, 2019 click here to view

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Feedback Best-selling author Apurva Purohit launches Delhi chapter of second book- Lady, you`re the boss!, Mid-day, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

5 women entrepreneurs on what they would like to tell their younger selves, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

Time to shatter ‘the glasses’ ceiling ?, Hindu Business Line, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

What can women DO to stand out and achieve success | Apurva Purohit - President, Jagran Group, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

"Lady, you`re the boss" | Confronting adversity & inequality, Millennium Post, November 2019,

November, 2019 click here to view

What can women DO to stand out and achieve success, She Means Business, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

Boss woman Apurva Purohit’s top advice to combat working mom guilt, Elle, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view

Author Apurva Purohit: Women who read, lead, Sunday mid-day, November 2019

November, 2019 click here to view