Her Story
About Isha
Isha Rawat is Head of Product and Category at a consumer goods brand, a role she has held after 5 to 6 years in the industry. She has built her expertise on combining design and business within the same team, overseeing P&L and revenue responsibilities. Rawat earned a bachelor's degree in design from Northwestern University. She credits her progress to chasing moonshot ideas and maintaining conviction in them. Among the career advice she values most is the idea that structures exist only because companies exist, encouraging the reinvention of teams at startups to better fit needs. Rawat stresses intentionality in her work, having implemented a rule that no new product should launch without a clear understanding of its purpose. She advises young women entering the field to focus on problems that do not yet exist rather than existing brands and to avoid letting research bias decision-making. Rawat identifies pricing challenges posed by conglomerates as a key issue in the industry, noting that price wars do not support long-term brand growth.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Isha
01What do you attribute your success to?
I don't actually think I've reached the part of my life to use the word success where I'm at. I think it's a work in progress, but I think all the good things that have happened in my career so far have all started out as a moonshot idea. So I think chasing moonshot ideas, having conviction in them is really what's worked for me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think the best career advice I received was from a founding friend of mine, who said that all structures exist only because the company like only because companies they exist in. So what he meant was that there's no right or wrong to all structures. I don't think the concept of a team that has design and business in one exists. But it only doesn't exist because it probably hasn't worked for anyone before, but that doesn't go to say that it might. I think that's the most fun part of working at startups. Do you have a fits for you when reinvent all structures.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'm going to tell them that spend less time looking at the brands that exist, and more time thinking about the don't exist. Problems to be solved, but in the consumer goods industry, it's very easy to get caught up in research and let bias your problem-solving ability or your decision-making ability.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenge today like determining price for consumers has increasingly become a challenge with conglomerates in the picture. It would say it's hard for a branch to grow when it's easy for somebody else. So I think price is a problem statement that's waiting to be solved because every industry is just when it becomes competitive I think it also tends to get in a price war with the competitors. I don't think price is the value proposition that leads to a brand's long-term growth.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think intentionality I would say is like a core part of just how I approach any problem. I used to have a rule for my team when I led the team. I used to have a rule for anyone who was to launch a new product or trying to design a product is that if we don't know why we're making this we don't make it. So I think especially in the consumer goods space it's so saturated so it's a big ocean of up-and-coming brands. The only way to stand out is by intentional product changes.
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