Women With Impact #24 - Reetu Gupta
Welcome to Women With Impact, a newsletter all about the journeys of ambitious women and how they have a positive impact in our world.
I’m Clara Richter and this is the 24th edition of Women With Impact. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with a friend and like it above.
For this edition, I interviewed Reetu Gupta, Chairwoman and Ambassadress of The Gupta Group, a Canadian group of businesses active in the real estate and hospitality sector including Easton’s Group of Hotels and Gupta Group Developments. She is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Rogue Insight Capital Ltd - the private venture capital arm for The Gupta Group - focusing on investing in start-ups with minority leadership. Reetu re-launched The Gupta Family Foundation in 2020, where she serves as President and Co-Chair and is able to provide longterm solutions to global issues.
Wishing you a pleasant read!
Best,
Clara
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The Journey
Who are you and how do you spend your time?
I'm Reetu Gupta, I spend my time with my staff, with my family, and with the community where I work to make an impact in everyday lives. I am consistently immersed in real estate, hospitality, investment, mentorship, and philanthropy. Courtesy of the hotel business, my days are not ever typical and no day is the same. This is something that I love about this business! The one element that does remain static is my morning meditation. I awake each day and meditate which provides me with the energy and foundation that I need to continue my work.
What do you think is most important in creating positive change?
Essential for change are discipline, patience, and perseverance. Success begins with a disciplined approach, navigating challenges with patience, and overcoming obstacles with unyielding perseverance. Creating a positive change requires an extra level. You will not be able to make a positive impact in the world if you have, or are fuelled by, negativity within yourself! We must each take steps to cultivate our own health and happiness and in doing so, our work will have a greater impact in a positive way. One way to do this is by embracing the transformative power of meditation. It's a valuable resource for maintaining mental clarity and emotional balance, leading into happiness, in today's fast-paced world.
What is a recent success you are proud of?
Something I am very proud of is that I penned a public letter to The Gupta Group database and larger community where I shared my personal experience with racism and invoked a passionate call to action to combat discrimination and bias. This led to the formation of a working committee comprised of industry leaders focused on combating racism in the hospitality and tourism industry. They published a framework to be implemented across hotel and restaurant businesses with tools and tactics aimed specifically at combating racism in the workplace. Additionally, during my leadership, I overhauled the company’s hiring practices to ensure talent and expertise, which led to women currently serving in 60% of management roles. This is an impact that I am proud to have made.
The Lessons
What has been the most rewarding experience on your journey?
I define success in terms of the happiness of those around me, especially those of our staff and our teams. When they are happy, I am happy. Recently, we had a former team member reach out and ask to be considered for a position, and his words were, “I want to come back home.” For me, this is what I want, a team that feels like home!
What’s a challenge you have encountered most often and how did you tackle it?
Like many other women in the world, I have been in meetings, boardrooms, and dinners where I’m the only woman present. I have been ignored, overlooked, pushed to the side. I have had men essentially yell over me so I am not heard. I have had men look right through me in meetings. My modus operandi is that I do not work to prove myself to anyone, I work only for myself and I know that my work speaks for itself. I do not let these individuals pierce me in any way, and instead I understand that their inadequacy comes from fear and shame. It has nothing to do with me and thus, I will not let it affect my performance. I continue to be a strong leader and worker, and play the long game to ensure that I remain at the table, while they may not.
What resource do you think more people should take use of?
An incredibly important resources that people oftentimes forget about is old school human communication. I think many times our generation thinks we know everything and we shy away from asking the generation before us and stopping to not only hear the answer, but understand it. The more open you are to receiving advice, the better you will be. You can learn from what previous leaders and generations have gone through and take their experience and their advice into account when you are facing your own struggles and making decisions. Resources are not always about technology or updated tools, it can (and should) be as simple as reaching out to people and being vulnerable and open to their advice.
The Inspiration
What is the best advice you have been given recently?
My dad has shared this advice with me many times over the years, but it continues to stand true as he still advises me of it to this day. He talks about the importance of reputation and of your image, and the value in taking away the shallow part of it. You need to be a kind, loving and good person, and you need to keep the image that you are a kind, loving, and good person. No matter what business choices my father made, he made sure that it would not impact his reputation which would impact his path.
Who inspires you?
My inspiration stems from female leaders like Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, and Kamala Harris. Their commitment to combating racism and elevating women fuels my drive to make a positive impact in my own sphere. Beyond that, my family inspires me. They each work extremely hard in their sectors to ensure that not only does the business find success, but that their employees and all those around them are happy. Seeing this, the most rewarding aspect of my work is witnessing the genuine happiness and fulfilment of my team. When they feel at home, it's a genuine accomplishment and I feel inspired.
Enjoyed this or have any feedback? Let me know in the comments!
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