Staying ‘Cool’ in Business and Life

While the world is in a ‘social distancing’ mode as a precautionary track to thwart the COVID-19, the onset of the summer months also makes it imperative to be ‘cool’ under such pressing circumstance. Corporate Citizen spoke to Nisha S Kukrejah, CEO and Founder of Luxaire Luxury Fans, on her business goals, the transformation of electrical fans from the commodity bracket to the luxury sector, her wellness and work-life goals

“Fitness to me is something that makes me happy and improves the quality of my life, not what everyone does to look a certain way,” said Nisha S Kukrejah, CEO and Founder of Luxaire Luxury Fans.

With an aim to capture 15% market share in the INR 150 crore, luxury fan market, Nisha optimised her past experiences in the business of electrical trade to create a good space in the luxury lifestyle segment.

With innovativeness under her sleeves, her company specialises in designer fans with smart technology and is known to have been the first to introduce the BLDC (brushless direct current ceiling) motor luxury fans in 2012. “We already have over 600 original luxury fans, one of the largest collections under one roof. We hope to bring out new designer fan models and technologically superior fans the likes of Alexa enabled fans for the modern Indian homes”, she said.

“Luxury fans have undergone a transformation from an era when consumers viewed fans as a pure commodity and based their purchases on the functionality. The newer generation and professionals, however, are looking at a designer fan as a luxury product, especially for their first homes. Unlike most companies who source low quality or mass produced fans from China, we offer exclusive designer fans with global product warranty,” she said.

With such high goals, health and fitness have but, become integral to her work-life balance mode. And, over the years in steering her business, she strongly realised the need to stay physically and mentally fit. “Initially, the gym culture worked well but after the monotony, I have shifted to yoga. It is important to have a healthy body and a sound mind,” she said.

Daily fit bits

While she does like to play badminton once a while, her daily routine starts with a glass of warm water, lemon and honey followed by Yoga for 45 minutes, followed by a wholesome breakfast before leaving for work. She advocates taking the stairs in-stead of the elevator. She also stays away from junk food or takeaways during the week and tends to have an early dinner followed by a quick post dinner walk.

Like many of us, her biggest challenge is in keeping fit while on travel and as she said, “I too have my cheat days!” But her fitness routine gives her a lot of time to think and plan her day better.

While Nisha believes in the ‘a sound mind helps a sound body’ adage and vice-versa, she has also drawn parallels to her challenges to keeping fit akin to that of rigours at the workplace

“We think that being in the gym is a solitary experience. But everyone has the same goal to better themselves and be their best. That gives regular gym goers a sense of camaraderie a knowing nod to the poor guy doing his ‘weights day’. This can be applied to our working life also sometimes it might seem like we’re on our own with an impossible challenge, but we can draw strength from, and give support to the people around us because ultimately, we all have the same goals,” she said.

The ‘Adrenaline’ Boost

For those who shy away from any form of exercise, Nisha wishes that they wring out of this state of inertia and start with baby steps as is well understood. “Meet your demons and beat them head on whether it’s the gym or intensity workouts. Start slow and be motivated to be regular rather than do them in spurts”, she advises.

On myths such as developing poor knees if one chose running long distances, Nisha has her own two cents. “Some people think that long term running in marathons could hurt the knees. But the fact is that wrong postures in weight training or running on the treadmill with a high steepness could also hurt them. You need to have a personal trainer to teach you the right posture before assuming that you are exercising right”, she adds.

Staying young

And for the youth fixated to their gadgets, Nisha advises that youngsters set aside strict time limit for scanning their mobiles and game interfaces and that they need to inculcate and start playing a sport regularly for long term health benefits. Age is just a number indeed!

Quick tips

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Avoid junk food or takeaways on weekdays
• Start slow but be regular with your fitness regime
• Develop a sense of camaraderie at the gym, yoga or the chosen fitness activity
• Be wary of wrong postures during weight training, or at the ‘steep’ mode on the treadmill
• Set aside strict time limit for viewing mobiles and game interfaces.