Meet the SHEROES- Priyanka Gill

Priyanka Gill, the founder and editor-in-chief of POPxo.com speaks to us today about her venture and her thoughts on business. An accomplished lifestyle journalist, Priyanka decided to set out on her own because entrepreneurship had its own high!

POPxo.com is one of the leading lifestyle websites for young women. Let’s hear her story.

Tell us a little about yourself…

I graduated from Lady Shri Ram college in English. I moved to London soon after. I've always wanted to write - so I did so for fashion and lifestyle publications from there. I also began investing in modern Indian art and early stage startups. POPxo happened around the same time. We ran it from London for a year and it ultimately led to our moving to India! 

What inspired you to start Popxo.com?

Given my experience with Fashion & Lifestyle magazines, I always knew I would ultimately do something in the media industry. The gap in the market was something I began observing acutely in 2013 - there was very little for women to read online.

Also, as an investor I have spent a lot of time around other founders, and that helped me understand better the challenges new start-ups face, their highs and lows. Once the idea of a content portal crystallised, I spent quite a while actively looking for a co-founder. It was by a lucky happenstance that I got introduced to Namrata at the end of 2013 and after that everything just seemed to align.

As an accomplished lifestyle journalist, why switch to starting off on your own?

Entrepreneurship is its own high. The fact that an idea can transform into a platform being used by millions of women, into a company that hires dozen of bright, talented people and is backed by serious capital is motivating and totally worth the stress that shadows it!

What are the long-term goals and plans for Popxo.com?

Our goal is for it to become the default digital destination for every young woman in India - as her confidante, sounding board, fashion and beauty advisor and relationship guru. We want to help her shop, discover trends and engage with other women through our platform. We want to reach her through both text and video; in a language she's comfortable with, we currently publish in both Hindi and English and finally through custom channels that reflect her interests be it wedding or work.

How is your endeavour different from other women oriented sites?

The first thing that sets us apart is our scale of ambition.  Also we are intensely data driven - we analyse an immense amount of data to inform decisions - like what stories to post to the catchiest headlines or the perfect video. We have a strong start up culture that reflects in our performance driven team. 

What / Who is your current Target Audience? 

We get 2.5 million monthly unique visitors. 93% are from India and over 90%are women between the ages of 18-34.

What are the top 3 things to keep in mind when running an e-venture focused at young women?

They are addicted to their mobile phones - do think mobile first.

Listen to what they say and learn from it - they are very vocal.

Reach them where they are - on social media primarily!

What is your average work-day like? 

I start very early. On a good day I'm in the gym or yoga class at 6am. I rush home to get ready, breakfast with my kids and drop them to school by 8.30am. Then I head to office to begin my day. Often I start by interviewing potential hires. The team gets in by 10.30 - then it's non/stop calls and meetings with a quick out stop for lunch. I head back home for 7pm for dinner and kids bedtime. By now I'm exhausted - I catch up on reading and try to sleep by 10pm!

Do you hope to start any other ventures / projects in the future?

At the moment it's all about POPxo!!

Where do you draw your daily dose of inspiration from?

From successful entrepreneurs, from ventures that managed to scale - such stories are inspiring, they give you strength and reassurance that others went through the same growing pains and succeeded.