Don't hold back from sharing your opinions

Hello! 👋

Welcome to the 11th conversation on She Got You!, a newsletter where I share my conversations with women professionals. I also cover themes about women; Women in Public is one such piece.

Today's conversation is with Junisha Dama, an independent multimedia content strategist, writer, and journalist. Junisha and I worked together at LBB, where she led LBB, Pune, and multiple social media and brand strategy campaigns. After LBB, Junisha was paramount in setting up 0-1 journeys at diverse digital publications while writing for predominant publications.

She also hosts food walks in Mumbai. I discovered much more about her in this conversation, especially how she’s got you! 👇

Sunaina: Tell me about yourself and what you do.

Junisha: I'm a freelance content strategist and part-time journalist who also conducts food walks. Food walks are something I've always wanted to host since childhood, and 2023 is when I finally started. That's what I professionally do, and personally, I'm figuring out how all of this makes sense and where it goes. Looking at the marketing and media industry, you know it's constantly evolving and confusing where to dip your feet. 

Sunaina: Right! So, you moved from journalism into marketing and brand strategy. How does that feel?

Junisha: I've recently read somewhere that journalists enter the marketing field because they don't know where else to go. I mean, where’s the lie? I've had to do that, and for all the time, I didn't want to do brand strategy at one of my former employees — I do it right now.

It's also tricky because it goes against your journalism ethics, where you learn not to sell, and now, you're suddenly selling. It's like rewiring your brain to adjust and make that sale. But it's what the world wants!

Sunaina: How did the breakfast walks happen?

Junisha: The breakfast walks happened by chance. I've tried getting into food walks at different phases of my life. After studying abroad, I returned to India in 2018 and signed up for No Footprints to become a walk leader. I've undergone training and went on walks with them, but soon, I moved to Pune for a new job. After Pune, I was in Ahmedabad and returned to Mumbai in 2021. 

I waited for COVID restrictions and cases to dip; in the meantime, before I started, a friend and I attended walks because you need reasons to fall back in love with Mumbai. I got to know the people who conduct these walks, and because I talk about food on Instagram, one of the organisers asked, "You look like you know your food; would you be interested in hosting a food walk?" 

Now, this was an opportunity knocking at my door. She gave me a month for research; we figured we'd do Bandra first as it's a popular neighbourhood and a crowd-puller. She helped me design the tour, and I worked backwards, doing all the research. My journalism training kicked in and I've done all the required interviews, like speaking to locals, bakery owners, etc. That's how the Bandra Breakfast Walks started. 

Eventually, I designed two more, but the recurring one has been the Bandra one. She isn't doing the walks this year, so I'll do them alone. It's a little nerve-racking because she usually handles logistics, but I'll figure it out.

Sunaina: What part of your job excites you the most?

Junisha: It's still the writing and interviewing parts because they involve learning something new. The more you speak to people or explore a story, the more you discover something you don't know, which excites me. 

Now, I enjoy copywriting as I've been a long-form writer for so long and haven't done much short-form. Putting your thoughts into a tagline or a sentence is not easy. For instance, I freelanced with a pharmacy that catered to different audiences and income groups because of their price points. The content and copy had to be a mix of Hindi and English; playing around with that copy was fun and challenging as I am an English writer with no experience writing Hindi copy before.

Sunaina: Companies now prefer hiring those with a large social following (instead of traditional marketers) because they think it helps with branding. What do you think about this?

Junisha: A mix is always healthy because we're still in a country where traditional and non-traditional employees work. This changes from brand to brand; if a brand thinks only a particular platform or form of marketing works for them, they should stick to that. It's a changing industry, and I've seen brands that didn't want to work with influencers because they saw no ROI. But that's changing now, and I see brands asking for influencers with 2-3K followers because they prefer having multiple ambassadors to one big influencer. The strategy for every brand will be different. 

Sunaina: Have you ever faced gender discrimination at work?

Junisha: I've been lucky enough to have female managers and to have worked in women-driven organisations. That's also because of the industry I'm in; in journalism, I was in feature writing and around the time I entered the field, it was largely women-led. At my former job, I had a male manager and realised how you speak to a female manager is quite different — along with the response and validation you receive for your work. One thing I'll say is during brainstorming sessions, men usually don't say things like "piggybacking on your idea" when adding to your ideas, but women typically do. So, that’s a recent observation.

Sunaina: Can you elaborate more on that?

Junisha: For example, men in the room will always repeat what you say — which is common across the board. But they will never respond to you, saying, "As you said, we can also do this," giving you credit for your ideas. But with women, you tend always to get your due credit, even when it's a small internal discussion. I've noticed these things a lot lately, which sometimes boils my blood. 

Again, this is my journalism training kicking in. All you have is your byline or credit; it's annoying when someone takes that away from you.

Sunaina: I've only had one female manager in all these years of working. 

Junisha: Oh, wow! I've only had female managers except at my former job and first internship, which didn't require working from the office daily. But I distinctly remember the editor's assistant asking me to keep the door open whenever I had to talk to the editor. When I asked her why, she said you're young, and it's your first time in an office, so keep the door open.

Even if the door would get shut, she'd come in to talk something random and keep the door open. I don't know if it was her instinct to keep the culture conducive for women or if there were any incidents I wasn't privy to, but I always kept the door open.

Sunaina: Got it! Many men whose names were revealed during the #Metoo movement still work the same jobs.

Junisha: Exactly! Someone I interned with was named during #MeToo, and I don't think any action was taken against him. Various editors have still kept their jobs; they weren't even asked to leave. 

Sunaina: Absolutely! Do you ever think you should've done something else with your life? Maybe not take the journalism route?

Junisha: Oh, never! I have always been keen on journalism, but my family owns a business, so I wish there were courses on family business when I was studying. Of course, there are quite a few now.

Although my father was keen on having me at the company, my grandfather wasn't because it's a male-dominated industry. It's a traditional wholesale dry fruit and masala business at the APMC market, so you only see men there. During the pandemic, I worked with my dad for 3-4 months and would go to the store. It's a very different world; people ignore you although you sit at the cash counter and hand them money. They still take orders from a man.

On days my dad wasn’t around, the team would take orders from another guy instead of me. It's a very different world, right? You learn to navigate situations or talk to the transport guy. So, it did not make me feel like, okay, let's do this! 

But in terms of education, I wouldn't wish for anything else.

Sunaina: Are you considering getting a family business or entrepreneurship degree? 

Junisha: I don't know yet, but I've been feeling more inclined towards business because I've already tasted the freedom that freelancing brings. And that's great for my personality because I like doing different things and prefer a dynamic day. Working at full-time jobs and maintaining a routine hasn't always been challenging for me. So, I am still thinking about a formal degree. 

Sunaina: How do you stay updated with all that's happening in the content space?

Junisha: I don't think I always am, but I do my best! There's a lot to be updated on, but reading helps. Various news sites report on conventional marketing and upcoming content trends, and I scroll a lot on social media. Interestingly, 2023 is when I went back to old marketing textbooks, such as those written by Philip Kotler. Reading them has been helpful as I was nervous about getting into brand strategy and haven't worked in an agency before. So, I felt I wouldn't know a lot of jargon or things people talk about.

That's when a friend who teaches in many colleges said going back to theory can help. Even if I have to explain something, I have enough examples on my mind; now that I think of it, in college, I avoided reading textbooks on marketing.

Sunaina: What's your advice for women entering the workforce this year?

Junisha: Have a voice because that becomes so important. I've had to build it because I never imagined it would bother me as much; also, I don't come from a space where my voice doesn't matter. I'm a quiet person at work, not fiery, don’t put up a fight, and let go of things easily. But, I realised as your career progresses, senior positions come by, and the practice of being assertive should have been there from the first job. So don't hold yourself back from speaking your mind or sharing your opinions at work. 

My second advice: always ask for the money you deserve. We hold back a lot, so I always take salary advice from my male friends to see how they negotiate. They have a different mindset and unabashedly say I have to take care of my family when a company lowballs them, so why should I not say that? It's not like we don't take care of our families, too. We don't live in that world anymore. Society doesn't perceive women as breadwinners, so companies think they can get away with paying us less than our worth. 

So, that was my conversation with Junisha. You can follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram to check out her work.