The idea of Blend Community was triggered during the pandemic when Razia saw how badly the F&B industry suffered and she wanted to help food brands revive their business without bleeding for profitability, courtesy the food aggregators. Personally, food, fashion and fiction are her passion areas, and she noticed that there weren’t any platforms that cater to these three themes specifically. She wanted to create a platform that curates and distributes relevant content all in one place rather than users having to go to different pages for different topics. That’s how the whole idea was born of creating an online community that celebrates, shares and curates stories around these three specific categories.

After establishing Blend Community, her co-founder, Hariprasad Shetty and she wanted to find a way to monetize the community they had built. That is when they got the idea for ‘Blend For Food’. With that, they are building India’s first Content to Commerce Food Tech Platform powered by Creator economy & Community Tech. BFF will be a one-stop destination for all things food. Consumers need not have different apps scattered for different needs like, ordering in from restaurants, groceries, recipes, etc. They are the only players in the market that will bring all your various food choices in one place to make it a hassle-free food ordering experience.

What gets Razia excited about her startup is the fact that this idea is still so new in the country and she doesn’t see anyone else doing it as of now. This makes her feel secure in the fact that they’re on the cusp of something extremely special.

This sense of security does not shield her from paranoia. She says that a start-up is the founder’s brain-child or baby. Due to this, the success of the start-up is a lot more personal not just tangibly but emotionally as well. Hence, there’s undeniable paranoia around “What if”. What if the brand tanks, what if no one resonates with the idea, basically what if nothing works out. However, she has found that the way to overcome that is to understand that ideas don’t exist in perfection. You’ve just got to start and keep working on perfecting it.

Being not just a start-up founder but also having a full-time corporate job definitely makes it challenging to have a work-life balance for Razia. But, she has found that finding the right partners, teammates and resources is very important in order to manage it. She believes, as you’re establishing your idea, you need to try to attract talent and team members to not only believe in your vision, but also be able to execute it. Finding the right brands and companies to partner with, is another important aspect in executing your vision the right way.

Razia Ali started her career with banking sales, but she always had a penchant towards communication which made me make an early switch to advertising. She realized she had a passion for shaping brands and consumer perceptions. She loves ideating with people from varied niches and finds great joy in helping translate them into realities. She led the Consumer and Small Business marketing efforts of a large tech company. She currently has her a full-time job while also working on her start-up. She was also an Angel Investor to aspiring Start-ups and entrepreneurs. She has leveraged her passion towards brands, fashion, food and her experience in the advertising and marketing industry and brought to life a brand and community of her own. The ability to do that, in a male-dominated, food-tech industry is what sets her apart.

Inputs- Razia Ali, Founder, Blend Community

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Leela Leadership Development Programme is a tailored Management Training programme that takes into account the necessary skills and competencies specifically nuanced to cater to the needs of the hospitality industry and the expectations of a luxury consumer today. It facilitates functional training including knowledge, skills and behavioural aspects through a combination of classroom and on the job training with blended learning modules on global hospitality competencies.

Speaking on the launch of Leela Leadership Development Programme, Anuraag Bhatnagar, Chief Operating Officer, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts said, “At The Leela we put our guests at the centre of everything we do and it is our people who make us who we are. We believe in providing our associates with world-class training and personal development opportunities through every stage of their career, whether they have been with the company for a number of years or are just starting out their career in the industry. Our Leela Leadership Development Programme is targeted at finding talent that has the potential to become future leaders of luxury hospitality and we are committed towards strengthening and developing these talents to take on leadership roles. We are extremely delighted to partner with a renowned institution such as The Indian School of Hospitality in alliance with Les Roches to help us in this endeavour.”

Available for both internal and external candidates, this programme is available for those who have a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and one year of experience in a luxury hotel. The programme will develop the finest hospitality talent who have a passion for hospitality and transform and fast track their growth into Managers and future General Managers within The Leela.

The programme is inviting applications for three levels, General Management Trainee, Housekeeping Management Trainee and Sales Management Trainee. Leela Leadership Development Programme will be conducted through boot camps and online classes, including capstone projects, assessments and extensive training at the iconic Leela properties. The programme will also include immersive knowledge sessions at ISH’s world class campus in Gurugram and will offer an applied learning format through various expert sessions and workshops delivered by their faculty.

The interested candidates can apply on lldp@theleela.com with the subject line with the below mentioned application details:

Internal Candidates: Application for LLDP/ Full name of your hotel

External Candidates: Applications for LLDP/State of Residence

The candidates are also requested to share their updated CV with 2 pictures (one passport size and one full length picture) along with a 30-seconds video describing what makes them unique by sending that as a link or an attachment of under 25mb size.

About The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts

Headquartered in Mumbai, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts is owned by a Brookfield Asset Management-sponsored private real estate fund and operates eleven award-winning properties in major cities and leisure destinations across India. These include the flagship hotel in the capital city of New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Gurugram, East Delhi, Goa, Mumbai and Gandhinagar. The Leela celebrates each hotel through its unique location, art, culture and cuisine with thoughtful services, celebratory rituals and immersive experiences. The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts was voted the World’s Best Hotel Brand twice in a row by Travel + Leisure, USA, World’s Best Awards Survey, 2020 and 2021. The brand is well poised to embrace the next phase in its growth trajectory with upcoming projects which include a business hotel in Hyderabad. An epitome of true Indian luxury hospitality, The Leela is committed to providing guests with unforgettable stays in settings that capture the essence of India. The brand has a marketing alliance with US-based Preferred Hotels & Resorts and is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance.

For more information, please visit our website www.theleela.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The post THE LEELA PALACES, HOTELS AND RESORTS LAUNCHES LEELA LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME appeared first on The Pink Journey.

A seasoned and accomplished professional, Devika James joins The Westin Goa with 15 years of adept experience in the hospitality industry. Known to be a person who is constantly striving towards delivering excellent quality and enriching customer service, Devika in her new role will focus on developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies for the hotel.

Devika James, joins the hotel from Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort & Spa and has a proven track record in planning and implementing effective business development strategies, forming revenue enhancement tactics along with managing staff and developing skills. In addition to enforcing these responsibilities, Devika will continue delivering profits to the stake holders.

Known to be a charismatic team leader ensuring clarity in communication to her team, Devika showcases proficient expertise and immense knowledge in Sales and Marketing, Hotel Operations, Customer Service and Business Development. She started her journey as an Events Coordinator, at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Centre, Mumbai, post which she joined JW Marriott Hotel, Pune as Assistant Sales Manager and grew to become Director of Catering Sales at the same property.

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