When Archana Jain started PR Pundit in 1998, she had just over seven years’ experience in the public relations (PR) and communications industry. From there, she not only built one of the first women-led PR firms in the country, but also created a women-dominated workplace. Today, Jain’s workforce consists of 85 per cent women primarily because her idea of a women-led workplace was one that provided workers with a hybrid and flexible structure—giving them the liberty to balance work and personal life while feeling supported enough to be creative and entrepreneurial. When the pandemic hit in 2020, her venture was therefore all ready to work from home because the hybrid mechanisms were already in place! In conversation with Her Circle, Jain revealed that they used the very structure these usually reserve for women rejoining the workforce after a maternity break.
An industry leader like Jain is also the best person to comment on the transitions India’s workforce has seen over the years. Male-dominated workplaces weren’t the only norm in the 1990s, she notes. “Advise and insights from women consultants were really viewed with a little bit of scepticism. It’s really a social issue that society needs to shrug off,” she says. The good thing is, she adds, that women in the workforce are evolving. “You see a lot more women entrepreneurs, and it’s really welcoming,” she says. Workplace practices have also changed. “Maternity used to be three months, now it’s gone up to six months. Flexibility of work times, because of the hybrid environment in which people now work. These have made a huge difference,” she adds.
But, apart from her achievements in an industry that has an ever-growing impact, Jain is an icon because of her personal style and image too. Before body positivity and self-love became trends everyone was happy to get on board with, Jain went through the personal journey of embracing her grey and curly mane. “I’ve always had a little bit of a baby face,” she explains. “So when I turned entrepreneur, I had to project a slightly mature stance. Obviously I would always wear a saree to impress upon my clients that I certainly am capable and I mean business. But when the greys started showing up, I said this will help. And it did. It certainly made people look at me seriously.”
Yet, there were pitfalls. Jain says that people sometimes still call her “daadi” or grandma because of her hair. There was also a time when concerns from her family led her to start colouring her stunning silvery hair. “I said that I don’t want to spend my weekend at a salon, touching up. I’d rather just be out and about doing things which I really enjoy. Then it became my identity, so now I simply don’t want to move out of it,” she smilingly adds.