Pushkaraj Shenai, CEO of Lakmé Lever, shares details of his plans ahead, in an exclusive conversation with Kanishka Ramchandani, as he gears up for a seismic shift.
Pushkaraj Shenai’s latest LinkedIn post garnered hundreds of comments and reactions. It further showcases just how much the industry loves and respects him. In the post, Shenai announced his decision to move on from Lakmé Lever. He thanked his team for their support over his 11-year-old journey. I reached out to him to find out more about his plans. And, he told me he was aspiring for a career in politics. That was signature Shenai sense of humour!
The Way Forward For Pushkaraj Shenai
He has led the team that transformed brands like Lakmé Salon and also Dermalogica. Now, Pushkaraj Shenai is ready for new challenges. Further, he is looking at building a consumer healthcare business in partnership with a leading private equity firm. His new profile will be entrepreneurial in nature. Moreover, it brings together his experience across design, consumer products, retail, real estate and beauty services. It will help him in building compelling consumer experiences in healthcare.
The Farewell Post
In his farewell post, Shenai writes, “As I prepare for my next adventure without leaving the friendships, the memories, the hustle, the disappointments and the victories over the last decade I’m convinced the Eagles were being prophetic about eleven-year journey in the Lakme Lever family. Needless to add, it has been a steep learning curve for someone who knew nothing about the beauty business and little about leading large teams. Today we serve a million clients with a 90 per cent+ NPS in nearly 500 Lakme Salons and propelled Dermalogica as the leading professional prestige skincare brand in India.” Moreover, he states that a strong P&L and prestigious awards like the Best Salon Chain and also Best Franchisor validate his team’s performance.
He further adds, “While this makes us happy, our leadership team is truly proud of bringing our purpose of Beautifying the Future to life. We train 25,000 students every year in Lakme Academy powered by Aptech, partner 200+ fantastic professionals to run their own Lakme Salons, and 4000 professionals learning and growing One Step Higher every day. Our partners are rewarded for their performance via the Partner Glitterati programme and the best ones from the Lakme Advisory Council which steers the strategy of the organisation.”
He also tells us that, “Lakme Backstage Heroes collaborate with leading-edge designers to sharpen their creativity. They launch Showstopping collections in hair and bridal make-up at Lakme Fashion Week. A quarter of our frontline managers have grown from salon roles. 90 per cent of our Zonal Business Managers are homegrown and our latest Leadership team member has grown from an entry-level ops role. With our LEAP programme, several salon team members are now running their own Lakme Salon.”
With this Pushkaraj Shenai concludes his stint in the professional beauty sphere. We appreciate his contribution to the industry and also wish him success in his future endeavours.