“Be resilient,” Varsha Kaura from Omnicom

Meet Varsha Kaura, Global Client Lead at Omnicom, where she is responsible for strengthening and evolving Mars Incorporated’s global relationships across multiple geographies and individual agency offices across the Omnicom network. She uses her expertise in brand positioning, creative solutions, digital marketing, data-driven targeting, and more to develop indispensable relationships and solutions in her career. With over 25 years of experience, Varsha focuses relentlessly on driving results. Her expertise spans across capabilities and industries, including brand management, creative solutions, data driven precision marketing, and generating growth for top clients. She sees every day as a new opportunity for making something great happen and works to infuse energy, insight, and a little humor into everything she does. She proudly shares her motto: “When you move people, you move product”.

Jocelyn Hudak, Senior Director, Content and Digital Marketing spoke with Varsha in our Pass the Mic booth at Cannes Lions, where she shared her insights and advice for future generations. Listen to the full interview below and turn that volume up. 

Be resilient.

Highlight: “I'm not perfect, so I have to keep reminding myself of four things which I hold close to my leadership style. One is resilience, that no matter what, be calm. Be resilient. You will get punches, and your team will get punches. But how do you and what do you learn from it?… And the second is problem solving skills. So whatever happens, how do we solve that problem? There is a solution out there lurking somewhere... And the third is courage. Be courageous. Not everything you say is going to be accepted by all, so make the environment a safe space where people can point out your blind spots to you... And then lastly is empathy. Understanding where the team is coming from. Understanding where people are coming from… Understanding exactly people's motivations, having empathy for it, seeing the humanity in all of it” - Varsha Kaura 

Remove the obstacles.

Highlight: “When you point a finger at someone, three point back at you. Remember that any external obstacles that you are blaming for any situation in your life have far lesser impact on you than your own obstacles, your own limitations, your own mindset, your own narratives… Reflect upon your own strengths and remove the obstacles and limitations from your own brain, because that would get you further faster than the external factors. Because if you are so strong and so resilient, like a rock, a good rock, then the external factors cannot do anything to you.” - Varsha Kaura 

Keep breaking the boundaries.

Highlight: “In a way, ignorance is bliss. Because if you don't realize it, you keep charging like a pit bull, and you keep doing what you're doing, and you never realize that the reason why it is so difficult for you to jump through those hoops, as it could be because of the fact that they subconsciously are slotting you into a certain silo. So keep doing that and keep breaking the boundaries.” - Varsha Kaura 

Live your life.

Highlight: “That was the world I was coming from. But for my 16 year old, I'm like, ‘No, go out and live your life. Yes, get your grades, but live your life.' And I do feel the biggest obstacle for me was becoming okay with living my life with no guilt, living my life, pursuing my careers, pursuing whatever I wanted to do with my free time. It was not an obstacle created by people, but it was an obstacle in my own mind because of the society I was born into and the culture I was a part of. So that was the bigger obstacle.” - Varsha Kaura 

Varsha’s advice has us fired up to live our lives to the fullest potential and stay resilient through it all. For even more words of wisdom from powerful women, check out more Pass the Mic content.