Umaila Akhter | Fempower of The Month | January 2021

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am Umaila. Being an only child, I grew up utterly loved and pampered (not spoiled) by my parents, grandparents, cousins and huge extended family. My favorite memory of my childhood is pretty much every single day. I hold every moment spent with my family very close to my heart.

I went to school in Sunnydale and then moved to England in 2005 to finish my college and undergrad. I moved back to Dhaka in 2010 with no certainty of the future but here I am today, trying to find my place here.

I used to be that one kid in school who used to regularly get detention for talking too much, I can never stick to any word count, I am that ‘one’ person in the room who would always break the ice. I self-introduce myself to a new crowd. So, I guess it’s my natural instinct to do what I’m inheritably good at – ‘talking/communicating’.

I attended University of Worcester to pursue my undergraduate degree in Public Relations and Applied Communications. This is where I landed my first job as a student ambassador. I used to give tours to prospective students around our campus. While all other ambassadors thought talking for hours was taxing, I had the most fun taking students around, convincing them to enroll in our university. On the downside, my tours would always finish last. Soon enough, I started working at the Student Careers and Employability Service, supporting students and graduates with the planning and management of their careers and development of employability skills.

I proudly wear my heart on my sleeve. I have finally realized that my innate penchant for being too emotional is not a weakness…. in fact, it is my strength. I love making people laugh (sometimes at my own expense). Concurrently, I have the best time laughing at my own jokes.

2. Give us a glimpse of your career journey and what inspires you to keep aiming higher?

This year marks my 10th year working in Bangladesh. My 10 years of experience working in different industries has helped me to cultivate my relationships with clients, media personnel and professionals. These years have also helped me to gain a great understanding of Bangladesh’s local zeitgeist.

I started my career in the financial sector 10 years back as the youngest RM at Standard Chartered Bank followed by working in Airtel Bangladesh Limited. Soon enough, I started craving for a sense of belonging and wanted to do what I truly loved, so I started working at Grey Bangladesh. My career path took a complete turnaround when I took up the role of Head of Public Relations and Communication in a startup e-commerce venture called Kaymu Bangladesh. Working in a start-up gave me the real adrenaline that I was looking for. I loved to finally be able to work at a pace which I always wanted to, make contributions and see how my own results could make an impact. Often in my job interviews the most common phrase that I would be told was: ‘You have moved around in a lot of places’ to which my standard response would be: yes, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have any clue where exactly I can work at my highest potential. It is not always just about the employer who’s hiring, it’s equally important to give yourself some self- credit for what you bring to the table.

My everyday inspiration comes from my job itself. The most favorite part about my job is to be a small part of some else’s dream. Through my work I am able to connect with so many people, learn about their fears and doubts, celebrate their wins and experience vicarious ‘joy’– joy on behalf of other people.

In this journey, I have learned how to genuinely take sympathetic or unselfish joy in the good fortune of others. My job itself also makes me realize how if I only find joy in my own success, I am actually limiting my joy. But if I can take pleasure in the success of my friends and family, whether that be ten, twenty, or fifty people, – I get to experience fifty times the happiness and joy! Who wouldn’t want that right?

3. How did you get into the PR Industry?

My creative outlet is to lead with intention and use my natural instinct to connect with what people need, which gives me purpose in return. I spend my days in service, which also helps to expand my growth. I have realized that on this course of service, we aren’t supposed to gravitate towards our ‘favourable’ ways to serve, but rather help out wherever and however it is needed.

And so, when I spend my time and energy serving my clients every day, I have a sense of satisfaction by using my best abilities and doing something that matters to them (in whatever capacity). The truth is you can’t be everything you want, but you can be everything you are.

Throughout these years, no matter where I worked, I naturally ended up building a network within my community; by being a part of people’s personal growth and journey. Collectively from my experiences, I realized that in every interaction I have the chance for that person to become an advocate, a friend, a supporter and also have a chance for all of us to learn something.

I wanted to feel more empowered and empower others by finding a way to contribute in changing individuals’ lives by honoring the general needs of people– their voice, belonging, status, participation and impact.

This yearning to feel something real has led me to where I belong– Turn Up PR.

4. Tell us about your newly launched firm Turn Up PR?

2020 was a year of many realizations for me – both at a personal and professional level. Last year, I started thinking about all the ways in which the pandemic has affected my life, my family’s life, and the lives of people around me. I felt lost and for the first time ever felt like I didn’t know which way to navigate.

During these trying times, I admired how as a community, we have been able to re-build businesses, and in exchange, form meaningful relationships. With courage and resilience, businesses have been able to contribute and help ease the economic crisis.

I remember one night I just couldn’t sleep thinking how I can contribute to my community using my skills and by doing something I truly loved. And just at the crack of dawn – I told myself ‘It’s time to turn the tap on’.

One of the best things that happened to me last year was that my friend (Co-Founder and Creative Director) Naina moved back to Dhaka from Atlanta. When I shared my thoughts with her she was equally psyched to contribute to the PR scene. We are very different from each other but – we both wanted to launch Turn up PR to meet a need we wanted to see in the world. Together we want to be a contributor to the realization of someone else’s dream. We want to show our support to all the businesses and emerging entrepreneurs who collectively form the identity of our community– each in their unique ways.

5. What major support does Turn Up provide to its partners?

Turn Up PR is an unapologetic spin on publicity curation: a PR firm with a focus on collaboration, coverage of untold stories & creative voices. We are smack at the center of the transformation, but socially conscious at our core. We are here to create content with positive purpose and build a connection, authentically!

Everything at Turn Up PR has a reason to exist. We are here to open opportunities and find new ways to build relationships with the right people for the right reasons: to help you tell your story. We believe that the thought and foresight that goes into how you present yourself is important to get the recognition you deserve.

One of our core purposes is to curate content by promoting talents, mobilizing partnerships and galvanizing efforts of unique collaborations. As content creators and art lovers, we love to learn about people’s journeys, untold stories and bring out their creative voices through our curated ‘Turn Up Network’.

6. How has been the response so far? With intense competition in the market, how is Turn Up standing out from its competitors?

We are overwhelmed to have received the level of love and support from our community, and it all feels surreal sometimes.

We are not here to directly compete with anyone already in the industry. Rather, we want to integrate traditional PR with our own innovative strategies and unique approach. The Turn Up PR Network extends to both linear and digital platforms, creating and delivering news, information and other resources to creators and curators, while helping businesses to grow within our social community in the most organic way.

We represent and connect curators, artists and businesses with a purpose. We are here to create visibility and credibility for lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Our PR strategies will help brands curate and participate in that conversation, in whatever form and wherever it exists.

7. Tell us about the ongoing projects of Turn Up and the team behind it?

We have been lucky to have signed to represent both brands and individual talents. For individual representation, we position and shape our client’s story in ways that promote their brand and its values as trailblazers in our industry. We are also running a PR program designed to create and maintain a favorable public image in order to meet the needs, objectives, and policies of thought leaders, emerging entrepreneurs, special interest groups, business concerns, and nonprofit organizations. Besides traditional media which is quite prevalent in the Bangladesh PR landscape, we also utilize social media to create direct connections, and build more opportunities with the customer and raise brand awareness.

Turn Up PR was launched with the vision of making a global footprint. Using that ambition, we are also working with prospective clients who live outside Bangladesh – we are helping them connect with local talents and artisans of Bangladesh.

8. What were the major challenges (family/ organizational/ social) for you to achieve today’s position? How did you overcome the obstacles to your career path?

Just as any other person working in different industries, to learn and grow, the road to success is never easy for anyone. My family and friends always supported me with my career choices, however, the real battle for me was to discover what I want and what will motivate me to do better and aim higher.

It shouldn’t come as a shock that if you work here as a young talent and if you are doing great in your field (especially being a woman) – there will be least one person out of 10 people, who will try to put you down. You will be either ‘too much’ or ‘too little’, and never enough. And when you do manage to excel, there will be way too many backhanded compliments and many a times, there will be collective prying of how did she get so far, so fast?.

The question has never been whether women can be as capable leaders as men. Women have always led, and women will always lead, especially when the times are hard, and their communities are in need. The question that we need to ask is, why is women’s leadership so hard to accept or hard to believe? Why is our potential and power stifled?

There is always someone who is biased about gender but I tried to never see myself as a female talent rather just a progressive individual. When I started my career, I didn’t see a lot of young successful women in management positions. So, I kept taking bold decisions to move from corporate to tech and startup ventures. With every role assigned to me, I have only tried and worked to improve my skills in the area of presence.

9. Who are the 3 people you always look up to?

My parents. While both my parents had two different personality traits, the one common thing between both of them was they didn’t raise me based on my gender. They gave me the freedom to spread my wings while growing up and learn from my own mistakes. I always felt liberated and somehow learnt how to be super responsible. I respect them for treating me like an adult even when I wasn’t. I remember this one time; I fell off a bicycle and bruised myself badly. I came back crying and my father’s response was ‘Stop crying and be strong, if you don’t fall off the bike, how else would you learn to ride it’.

Although I have lost both my superheroes – my dad and my dada, I know they’re both watching over me, and during every hurdle in my life they are always my biggest source of strength.

On the other hand, my mom is a fighter– literally nothing can break her. I have never seen anyone else carry the weight of the world on their shoulders as gracefully and as patiently. She is the ‘new day’ that reminds me to be the best version of myself.

One more person who I can’t even go a day without is my best friend, Lulu. Let’s just say she gives me reality checks exactly when I need it the most. She is my number one hype girl. I am forever grateful to her for being in my corner no matter what.

10. What message would you like to share for the young woman who is about to start a professional career?

There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish. In my 10 years of working in different sectors, I have taken calculated risks and exposed myself to various roles, each teaching me something new. I am grateful mostly to people I’ve worked with- my colleagues, supervisors and mentors who guided me in my career path and helped me tremendously. Today it has given me a platform to be a leader and to give back to the community- by reaching out to so many people, and help them navigate towards their growth. Through my work, I want to contribute to social change, reshape the conversation, change the narrative and extend a hand to those who follow.

I like to take ownership of something I am expected to deliver. My work ethics always tell me that when you are accountable, your contribution in any place you work will go beyond just the job description. So, my accountability is something I always exhibit – it is not assigned to me. My only advice for young women who are about to start a professional career is that there are simply no shortcuts, you have to crawl before you walk. Never hesitate from taking that ‘extra mile’. That extra mile is what will take you to places!