Empowering Women Through Digital Innovation: Insights From Tanya Chaitanya, CEO of Her Circle

In a world where content is king and women's empowerment takes center stage, a digital platform that embodies both of these ideals with remarkable grace is Her Circle. Her Circle is more than just a digital movement. It is a dynamic force that has redefined the way women connect, learn, and thrive in India.

Recently, at StartupTalky, we had the privilege of an insightful interaction with none other than Ms. Tanya Chaitanya, CEO of Her Circle, and Chief Content Officer of Digital and Diversity Initiatives at Reliance Industries Limited.

Ms. Chaitanya shared valuable insights about Her Circle, shedding light on its vision, mission, and the impact it has had on women across the nation. Join us as we delve into this inspiring conversation and explore the journey of Her Circle.

StartupTalky: Ms. Tanya Chaitanya, Can you tell us about what drives Her Circle and its mission for the women of India?

Tanya: Her Circle is an inclusive, collaborative, diverse, interactive, socially-conscious digital movement for the women of India. We are her safe space for growth.

StartupTalky: Can you briefly explain Her Circle's platform, its content, language options, expert support, upskilling opportunities, and the significance of a women-only networking space?

Tanya: Her Circle, founded by Mrs. Nita Mukesh Ambani, is designed as a one-stop destination to provide women-related content that is engaging and upliftment-oriented, even as it connects women to each other through a social platform. She can engage as she watches vibrant videos and reads articles with solution-oriented life strategies covering living, wellness, finance, work, personality development, community service, beauty, fashion, entertainment, creative self-expression, and active participation in public life through women-led NGOs and other organizations.

Users can toggle between their language of choice—English and Hindi currently—by a simple language selection option. The Hindi content is unique and original, customized for the user.

The platform provides women with answers from Reliance’s esteemed panel of experts on health, wellness, education, entrepreneurship, finance, philanthropy, mentorship, and leadership. The section on upskilling and jobs will help her find new professional skills as well as job opportunities suited to her profile. She can grow and learn through masterclasses from the best in the business or avail of complimentary digital courses.

Private, Personalised, Safe: While the content, from videos to articles, is open to all, the social networking part of the platform is only for women. The social connect will provide her with a safe, women-only forum to make new friends with shared interests or ask questions from peers without hesitation. Her Circle also has an exclusive and personal space for women to ask questions to medical and finance experts in a confidential chatroom.

StartupTalky: Can you provide insight into the diverse range of services and features that Her Circle offers to empower women and create a supportive community?

Tanya: Our offerings are divided into 5 pillars

1. Connect: A women-only social networking space with interconnected communities. Women can showcase their talent, speak out, and interact without hesitation.
2. Engage: The "Engage" tab is where our content sits across all genres in the form of text-based stories, visual stories, and the most important element—videos.
3. Grow: Job listings and upskilling opportunities through masterclasses and professional courses are available for her.
4. Goals: Goals can be found to be the better version of yourself through our customized tracking systems that cover your diet and fitness, financial health, period and fertility tracking, and pregnancy guide.
5. Help: Mental well-being sits at the core of this pillar as we listen to her and support her. "Ask the Expert" introduces her to a panel of medical specialists as well as finance/professional leads who take in and resolve her queries.

StartupTalky: Ms. Tanya, what has been the most significant challenge in Her Circle's journey, and how did you overcome it to achieve remarkable growth?

Tanya: The pandemic has been the most challenging event for all of humankind.

Our mindset impacting learning from the pandemic is that nothing is impossible.

We are an unstoppable race, people who will find ways to work from home, from the hills, from the beaches. In fact, Her Circle, the platform was launched slam dunk in the middle of the pandemic on March 8, 2021, and while we thought not being able to do an on-ground launch would lead to smaller growth but within a year we have approximately 2 lakh registered women entrepreneurs. It’s largely due to the spirit of people to keep growing.

And now as hybrid work models appear, we are adapting yet again. Most of us love being back in the office, enjoying the energy only a shared workspace can bring.

StartupTalky: How is Her Circle currently performing, and what are the company's future plans, especially in terms of sustainability, inclusion, and entrepreneurship?

Tanya: Her Circle’s initiatives are across our key pillars – sustainability, inclusion and equity, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Our initiative, Her Circle Bizruptors, is a platform for giving women startup founders and their ideas/ innovations/ products/ services a chance to be showcased. We intend to build a community of inspirational women entrepreneurs and winners.

The sustainability initiatives we run cover the length and breadth of planet-friendly ideas. Our sustainability special meets women warriors who build circularity, promote environmental practices, and believe in being green citizens and parents. Kalki Koechlin, Kirti Poonia, and Rameshwari Seth have been some advocates of sustainability we have associated with.

Our inclusion and equity initiative is the ongoing Her Circle EveryBODY Project, which has featured body-positive influencers such as Virali Modi, Neha Parulkar, Tanvi Geetha Ravishankar, Neelakshi Singh, Apeksha Dusija, Roma Maity, Apeksha Dusija, Pooja & Norah.

StartupTalky: Ms. Tanya, What are some of Her Circle's key achievements and the impact it has had on women, particularly in terms of reach and building a network of women?

Tanya: India’s largest digital platform for women, Her Circle has reached more than 310 million women in 2022-23. In its second year, the platform has focused on building a network of women to create a space for impactful collaborations and connections. Through several social experiments, expert interactions, and stories of women who have battled insecurities and societal expectations to begin again, the platform has addressed the crucial need for women to show up for themselves.

Overall Performance and Growth of Her Circle:

• To celebrate Women’s Day and Her Circle’s first anniversary, we launched our first digital cover with founder Mrs Nita Mukesh Ambani.
• We launched Her Circle Hindi in March 2022
• To celebrate our Her Circle’s 2^nd anniversary we launched the Her Circle EveryBODY Project which is a body-positive and inclusive movement.
• Total Reach 310 million
• Registered Users/Entrepreneurs – 2,25,000

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