Aditi Balbir
Founder & CEO
V Resorts
Quick chat with Aditi Balbir, Member of Dwenindia
A female entrepreneur you admire and why?
Jane Wurwand of Dermalogica. Her’s is a fairy-tale success story, not because it didn’t have any heartbreaks or roadblocks, but because of the happy ending. She came to America with nothing, and today is a multimillionaire with Dermalogica being the leading professional skincare brand, which is bought by Unilever. What attracts me about her is her belief in her unique idea. She never advertised and is known to never take a loan. She pursued what she believed in despite all odds and personal tragedy. And today, she is working to empower women across the world to be financially independent. Something I identify and feel strongly about too.
Mantra for success?
A rock-solid, unshakable belief in what you are passionate about, despite what your detractors say. Build on your passion, because that way it is never about work or company or money but about you and your dreams, and then you put in the hard work, and take all the risks, and persevere till you reach the finish line and succeed.
Being your own boss for you means?
Taking responsibility. It is a cliché’ but it is true. It is taking complete accountability of the company, its people and yourself. Learning to fail, and then learning to bounce back. Forgiving oneself for wrong decisions, and imbibing the good advice from trusted people around you.
Profile:
An ISB alumnus, Aditi Balbir is the founder and CEO of www.vresorts.in, a travel solutions company. Aditi started the company with two resorts (because of her passion for travelleing) and within a span of less than three years led the company’s expansion to 60 resorts across 14 states in India. Armed with finance and law degrees, she quit a well-settled job with McKinsey & Company to initiate V Resorts. She is breaking the glass ceiling for women by being the only woman in India to lead a travel company, usually seen as a man’s domain. For her ground breaking work, V Resorts got featured on Young Turks CNBC for being a disruptive player in travel that is headed and run by a woman entrepreneur. Aditi is also a powerful voice in the advocacy of fostering entrepreneurship in women, she has held sessions with the women’s SIG and has been part of jury at TiE (The Indus Entreprenuers), Your Story, Assocham, Afaqs and Outlook Traveller Boutique Hotel Awards and speaker at India Today Woman Conclave. She believes, travel can contribute in the development of the rural India and empowement of women, and works towards that by creating destinations in the hinterland, providing employment to women, and creating a market for indigenous arts and crafts. Balbir has also been chosen from among women entrepreneurs worldwide to mentor and guide women in business programmes by the Cherie Blair Foundation, in an initiative to empower women to be entrepreneurs across the world. A hectic work schedule doesn’t stop her from spending time with her son and husband, with whom she takes short recuperating breaks. Great at multitasking, she even pursues her passion of writing and has extensively written for – Economic Times, Times Internet, Entrepreneur Magazine, YourStory and Askmen. She also has a blog she writes regularly on, //foundersdiary.vresorts.in .
