RocketCEO is an interesting collection of startup stories, where we interview inspiring CEOs and Founders who have taken a leap from Zero to One and tell their stories to the entire world.
Recently we got an opportunity to interview Tracy Dsouza - Creator, Show Runner, Producer & Entrepreneur and below is the essence of the same, an incredible journey towards success.
Amit Unboxed: What service(s) or product(s) does your business offer/manufacture?
CONTENT! CONNECTIONS! COMMUNITY - But Female Centric :-)
“OMG” which stands for Oh My Girls is a female-focused community that aims to create a safe space for girls via content and experiences!
I want to encourage girls to take up space in everything they do. OMG's motto is to change the narrative around girls like being the weaker gender, not good enough to take certain roles up, etc
How?
1) Content Creation - Our Youth, in fact since the pandemic even our parents have increased consumption of content especially mobile. Content has the ability to influence its audiences be it Money Heist or TVF Pitchers, etc. Our content focuses on entertainment, education, and inspiration through entertainment, etc. Our Dramedy web series and funny/ satirical videos, memes, and reels will aim at creating engaging content with female leads exploring girls in various new roles as opposed to how they are generally portrayed through traditional media, etc. We will also cover female game changers through innovative storytelling to inspire other girls to take up similar or new mantles. We also want to experiment with various storytelling devices and formats is it interactive, VR, Metaverse, etc.
2) Experiences - I believe real change takes place when there is not just a mindset change for an individual but when multiple individuals with similar or evolving beliefs come together. Our experiences include events, meet-ups, overnight trips, etc to encourage individual and community growth. We have had mental health awareness, female solo travelers meet up, female Leadership offsite trips, etc in the past.
Amit Unboxed: In which cities/countries you are providing services or operating your business?
Pan India.
Amit Unboxed: What is your background? What you were doing before you got into the entrepreneurship?
The media business has kept teaching me for 12 + years. Worked with India's premium content platform TVF ( The Viral Fever), founded and built 'Girliyapa' a female-centric content platform in India. Won Awards, changed narratives, explored taboo subjects like menstruation when no one touched these topics, marital rape through Satire, female hygiene, Did international partnerships, etc Previous to that started in advertising as a flunkie/slave to becoming a producer and running companies.
Worked with Big names in India like Ad guru Prahlad Kakar, Uzer Khan, Vishal Punjabi, etc. Also had the good fortune of working with International DP/Director Emmanuel Lubezki aka Chivo and did a Hollywood feature film titled Eden featuring stars from LA to Spain like Ethan Peck, Nate Parker, Sung Kang, Diego Boneta, Mario Casas, etc.
Amit Unboxed: How did you get your idea or concept for the business? What made you work on that idea or concept?
It comes naturally having been oppressed for years through family, and society at large. I wanted to lead and bring change to my life first and when I realized that it’s not just me half of the population goes through similar situations and this can be changed. I had to do something for others too. I had to set a bar, I had to set an example and I had to create space for others to follow and take their own lead be it content or through the community. I also had to do without thought constraints, That’s how OMG was born! If OMG succeeds, half the population succeeds!
Amit Unboxed: What is the unique selling/buying point about your business? How do you manage to deal with your competitors?
There is a handful of serious content creators in the business that create long-format content. A lot of the time it used to be men telling female stories. That changes with us.
We stay updated with the evolving audience. Trends, current affairs, age, etc play a large factor in influencing content consumption. We also offer expertise first-hand because some of these stories come from our own experience. I also aim to build the community to an extent where the power will lie with the community itself.
Amit Unboxed: How do you advertise your business?
We don’t advertise yet. It’s been word of mouth and Industry friends, with Influencer Network.
Amit Unboxed: What do you look for in an employee?
Creativity, Drive, Integrity.
Depending on the role to be filled, I’m always looking for people who are creative, who can write, who are witty, etc. But two essential qualities that can’t be overlooked are our drive, to succeed, to tell a story, to have fun while doing it, and Integrity.
Amit Unboxed: Have you ever turned down a client? Why?
I have recently on multiple occasions. Mostly it’s due to budgets. I believe that creating magic on a budget is possible but you cant does it at a loss.
Another reason was principles, said no to the fairness cream video. I cant encourage that. Call me picky :-)
Amit Unboxed: Who is your inspiration idol in life? Why?
Mom always inspired me to become better in life and become a caregiver. I never wanted to be in the same situation again. I had to change my life for me ! for her! Oprah was my first Idol in the true sense, Used to watch her shows and think I’ll have my own show one day. She came from nothing, fought racism, and gender inequality, and built a huge media conglomerate whilst changing lives for the better.
Then on some days, it used to be Warren Buffet for obvious reasons. Closer to home, It 'was' Ekta Kapoor and Guneet Monga, because one built a media business amongst TV that was so male-dominated at that point and the other because of the international reach.
I want to be a global name :-) Anjula Acharia (Priyanka Chopra's manager) seems to be at the back of my head on certain days. But Oprah has and will always take the cake.
Amit Unboxed: How do you maintain balance with your family and business? Do you think if you were not in business, you would have been able to give more time to your family?
2 years of the pandemic have taught me mental health comes first and Family follows immediately. Spending so many years in the business has taught me that there has to be a balance between work and life. So I try my best to maintain it but yes there are days when the human takes a back seat and the entrepreneur wakes up at midnight to work or goes through a phase of long nights. But the key thing is to learn to collaborate with the best, delegate, delegate, and work SMART! Hire talented/efficient teams.
Amit Unboxed: What do you call “Success”? What are those things which you think made you successful today?
I think the definition of success keeps evolving for me in phases. Some days it’s like I did a successful pitch so that is a success. Some days I overcame my fear of driving. Most days it is to live a comfortable life with my loved ones, lift others up, eat healthy most days, do junk on some days, travel countries, skydive, build healthy relationships, etc.
Perseverance, smart work, hard work when needed, and most importantly an evolving mindset or rather a belief system are key to success. Great thinkers + Smart Doers become successful humans.
Amit Unboxed: If you had one piece of advice or an important lesson to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Be open to adapting, get a mentor or a friend, and KEEP AT IT !! Also, would advise doing some mental health exercises.
Amit Unboxed: Anything else you would like to convey us about yourself or your business?
Let’s build it together :-)
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That’s it for today :-)
Hope each of you has a great start to your day. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.
— Amit
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