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Everyone has a story to tell. From the homeless person to an executive to a 12 year old child, everyone’s story shapes our actions and thoughts.
How many people do you know would leave one of the top finance firms to go pursue their own entrepreneurial venture and succeed ? Very few do and Nupur Singh has prevailed against tough times to make her vision a reality.
What is your story Nupur ?
I am an Indian born businesswoman and for a better part of my life lived in Singapore. I come from a family that is pro education and did my undergraduate in Psychology.
One day Goldman Sachs came to my campus to recruit students and I applied at the finance firm for a job. I landed the role as a Treasury Specialist and was there working long 15 hour days for about 3 years.
Being an avid shopper, I decided to start a blog on the side while still working at Goldman Sachs to share my love and interest I have for the fashion industry. During that time, I discovered my passion for creativity and enjoyed blogging about what I loved.
So during that time, my blog gained a lot of traction and had the opportunity to work with many high profile brands like Armani, Daniel Wellington, and Halo Top.
My blog was nominated one of the top fashion blogs in 2015 and averages about 25,000 monthly views along with a growing Instagram following of 20,000 followers-@TheCrispyCorner
Before founding my agency, I worked for 2 startups managing content creation, developing a marketing strategy, creating growth campaigns and more. Before leaving the startup I was working at, my boss insisted that I find a replacement for my position.
I found someone and that person insisted that I meet her friend Lea- The Former Head of Marketing For Lyft who ended up becoming my Co-Founder for the agency due to our alignment in vision and interests for marketing.
I am also the founder of Young Founders Connect, an invite-only group which empowers entrepreneurs and enthusiasts with digital marketing knowledge and connections through high-touch networking events and workshops
I appeared on various panels including Tech Fashion Week, Beauty Expo, SFFW, etc.
How did you get a chance to work with big brands as an Influencer ?
Due to my fashion blogs and innate ability to create captivating content that sells- I have been able to align myself with some high profile brands as an Influencer and work on campaigns with them to promote their products. Also,the ability to create a blog with a great amount of consistent readership and content creation on platforms like YouTube and Instagram has provided me the network and leverage to work with brands.
Blogging has allowed me to develop creativity which I attribute as one of the key things that allowed me to become a marketer.
Do you believe you need to drop out to be an entrepreneur ?
There are no barriers to be an entrepreneur, you could be an entrepreneur at the age of 15 or 50. However, education provides you a network of individuals that you could later use to leverage and build relationships with. A large portion of my success is due to networking- especially in a place like San Francisco, relationships are vital to succeed.
Not everyone will succeed being an entrepreneur but having the degree as a backup will be important if you don’t succeed; especially when organizations still place an importance on a degree as a requirement for jobs.
What was your lowest point in business ?
When I moved to San Francisco, the dilemma was to decide whether I continue to pursue a career in Finance and settle for a high paying salary, great benefits and all the perks that come with working at a firm or pursue marketing.
I didn’t know anyone in the Bay area but every week I would go to networking events in the hopes to land a role. After 6 months, I landed a marketing role at a startup and that’s what launched my marketing career in San Francisco.
What is the 1 quote you lead your life by ?
Richard Branson — ‘If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!’
Tell Us More About Young Founders Connect
After landing 2 contracts for my marketing agency, I decided to start a forum to educate people on different aspects of marketing and provide a more tactical and strategical advice aspect vs just general and vague.
Also we host events 1-2 times a month to educate entrepreneurs, business owners, executives and more groups of individuals with the mission to bridge the gap between marketing as it’s an industry that’s constantly changing and evolving.
What are your top 3 resources to learn marketing ?
- Follow influential people- not just the ones that are in the limelight but the ones that are in the trenches and are micro influencers that can give tactical advice and not just vague simple advice like “create content”
- Networking- when people are online, they structure and articulate their thoughts in a strategic manner. However in person, people are very open and honest about their thoughts so you have an opportunity to learn and build a relationship.
- Blogs and Articles- I subscribe to blogs and articles so every weekend, I dedicate time to read articles to continue educating myself and be updated on the latest marketing trends.
How did you choose Lea- Former of Head of Marketing at Lyft to be your Co-Founder ?
We connected. Our visions aligned and we had similar belief systems as we both value work life balance and having family time. Also the biggest thing to establish is trust which is is done by having the difficult conversations about finance, responsibilities and disagreements that could arise In business. At the end of the day it is important to make decisions that are in the best interest in the business and not personal benefit.
What is your biggest tip to plan events/meetups ?
Plan in advance. We plan our events 2-3 months in advance to ensure things run smoothly. Also the panelists we choose are vetted to ensure they add value to our audience members. We don’t necessarily favour big brand names or high profile executives because some of them can’t provide tactical advice on their area of expertise so it’s important the panelists are able to offer solid advice.
Event sponsorship have helped us in gaining awareness and traction for our events as these publications feature our events.
We connect with panelists by using cold email and cold calling people because we believe the worst thing someone can do is say no. One of the main 2 reasons people will decline to speak at your event will be because of the lack of time and lack of passion for the designated topic.
If you were to die tomorrow, what would be your 3 biggest pieces of advice to the world ?
- Never forget your family- you never know when they will be gone.
- Never stop learning- the moment you stop learning, is the moment you start dying.
- Health is Wealth- all the money in the world is meaningless if you don’t have the health to enjoy it. I make it a priority to plan my work around my gym schedule.
What is your legacy ?
I want to show people that you can have it all in life. You don’t have to sacrifice relationships, health, work, finance or anything for that matter- I want it all in life.
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