With over two decades of experience building brands and driving powerful narratives across various sectors, Meha Lahiri is instrumental in leading Recity on the ground, and is building a culture of inclusion, equality, and respect at the heart of the organization. Before this, Meha was in charge of marketing at Jasubhai Media, where she oversaw large brands such as AEC World Expo, 361 Degree Conference, Notions of Nation, and India 2047. Meha began her career at Bennett, Coleman & Co. (Times Group), India’s largest media organization, after earning her MBA from the University of Pune.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Meha Lahiri:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
I am a very creative, curious and practical person who wants to discover new opportunities each day. Even when I started my career and introduced my own branding agency, I wanted to contribute to the environment. In 2017, I translated my dream by co-founding Recity. I am usually the same person even outside of the workplace. My day starts with problem-solving on various fronts, and it mostly ends at 7 in the evening, but my mind is endlessly churning with purpose-driven ideas to make a meaningful impact!
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the Company?
I started my career in brand communications after completing my MBA in finance and later embarked on my entrepreneurial journey to build creative communication. But if I go further down the memory lane, I remember that growing up, I have witnessed how urbanization changes the face of any city or town and the picture wasn’t too pleasant. I always thought and read about building sustainable cities, but it wasn’t until 2017 when I met Suraj, the co-founder of Recity, that I could visualize the possibility of translating our thoughts into reality. And then began the journey of Recity, after which there was no looking back.
Today, 6 years later, Recity is one of the few organizations recognized by various government bodies like NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Environment (MOEFCC) as well as international organizations such as DBS and Viva Technology for creating a tech-enabled circular economy of plastics across more than 22 cities in India.
What are the company’s primary services and solutions?
Recity focuses on maximizing the value of plastics with purposeful brands and entrepreneurs to fix the global waste systems. We do this by digitizing the journey of plastics and fueling purposeful cross-value chain collaborations and profitable supply chain partnerships in the ecosystem, globally. Our solutions include –
- Circular Cities – where we focus on catalyzing city-wide collaborations to streamline waste management and enable quality sourcing of plastics,
- Circular Packaging – where we are accelerating a brand’s journey to a circular economy with our ethically sourced, traceable, high-quality plastic recyclates,
- Waste Intelligence – where we digitize the journey of plastic from a city’s waste ecosystem to a brand’s packaging, enabling end-to-end traceability.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
When we started our first project in Ambala City, it was a leap of faith. With no related experience or expertise regarding the waste management domain, it was a huge personal and professional risk to step into the impact sector, especially in a subject matter as vast and complex as waste management and as niche as the circular economy. On a personal front, managing family expectations, raising a daughter, and venturing into completely new and unknown professional territory was quite a change to adopt initially. With the support of my husband, family, and co-founder, Suraj Nandakumar, I have successfully aced this role, and I am very proud of being a part of the transformational journey of Recity and the waste management ecosystem in India.
What has been the most significant barrier in your career?
While historically men have been building their careers and working as providers of the family, women have often had various other motivations to work beyond family responsibilities. For me, climbing the ranks to a leadership position in the last 20 years has been a boon because my daughter sees me as more than just her mom. She looks at me as a competent professional, is inspired to choose financial growth and independence for herself, and is also building her world view accordingly. But on the flip side, being always available for my colleagues has been consistently challenging in managing my personal and professional lives, much like for many other women leaders in the country. Deciding when, where, and how to be accessible for work is an ongoing challenge that is strikingly hard to manage for not only me but also many others who are on their own entrepreneurial journeys.
What is the happiest part of your daily routine? How do you balance work and professional life?
My mornings begin with my happiest moment of the day as my daughter shares anecdotes from her school at the breakfast table before I head for my first meeting at 9 a.m. On some mornings, I am pitching new ideas to the clients, and on others, I am problem-solving across projects. Every single day is a unique example of how my champions across the organization are passionately building it bit by bit. I am fortunate to be in a position in my life and career where I can mindfully nurture a gender-neutral culture every day and build a resilient team of dreamers.
What are the most important attributes of successful leaders?
According to me, a successful leader is one who builds a relationship with colleagues rooted in trust and empathy. When a leader is also a good listener, it helps to navigate challenges together. To develop long term relationships, leaders must embrace proactive listening. Along with it, they must also empower their team by communicating with them and responding strategically. Leaders who back their teams and stand with them at all times tend to expand their growth rapidly.
What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders?
My advice to the next generation of leaders is to ‘focus on your people, invest in their growth, and listen mindfully’. Investing in people helps them grow and improve. When leaders try to empower and guide those working with them, the teams in turn work harder to ensure the company succeeds. This close contact we develop with colleagues in the workplace often builds relationships and connections that are invaluable. In the last 10 years working across leadership positions, whether in Recity or before, I have learned that investing in and building trust with team members is something that only the very best leaders do, and it’s something that’s unique to each leader and impossible to replicate.
