Sherina Kapany
Founder, SunStrategic
Sherina Kapany is a true entrepreneur at heart, a seasoned business development executive, with international experience in establishing market penetration strategies in B2B and consumer marketing environments for Fortune 500 & 1000 & Global 2000 companies and Private Sectors.
In 2014, Sherina started her own firm, sunSTRATEGIC, a Marketing Strategy and Digital Content agency, and has been successfully running it till date. SunSTRATEGIC boasts an all-women management as a start-up, and is passionate about women empowerment.
Sherina has received an award on behalf of sunSTRATEGIC by the World Women Leadership Congress & Awards for the ‘Best Organization for Women’s Talent Development’.
She has also been recognized by the World Women Leadership Congress & Awards as a ‘Woman Super Achiever for Excellence in Social Media’.
Articles by Sherina Kapany
Beyond the Resume: The 5 Core Traits of True Entrepreneurship
In the era of startups, the term 'entrepreneur' is often diluted to mean anyone who starts a business. But true entrepreneurship isn't defined by incorporation papers; it's a mindset. It's found in the free spirits who dare to dream big and execute differently, regardless of what their resume says. If you look closely at titans like Zuckerberg, Jobs, or Bezos, you'll find a common thread of traits that transcend formal education. Here are the five core skills that define the entrepreneurial DNA: 1. Creative Thinking Entrepreneurs view the world through a different lens. It took Jeff Bezos' creative vision to see an online bookstore as the foundation for an 'everything store' powered by drones and streaming. Creative thinking isn't just about art; it's about connecting existing expertise with new learnings to innovate solutions others overlook. 2. Limitless Leadership No leader succeeds in a vacuum. The best leaders credit their teams for success but personally shoulder the blame for failure. True leadership involves making the tough, heavy decisions that protect the team while keeping the vision on track. Ultimately, every action your company takes is a reflection of you. 3. Calculated Risk-Taking Success favors the bold. The thrill of entrepreneurship lies in the payoff of a gamble well-taken. It’s about foresight and the willingness to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. As Warren Buffett implies, risk is only dangerous when you don't know what you're doing. 4. Unwavering Resilience Failure is as much a part of business as it is of life. To err is human, but to repeat the same error is foolish. Giving up is never an option for an entrepreneur. Resilience is the ability to not just learn from mistakes, but to hold your ground and push through the failure when it happens. 5. Ironclad Work Ethic The entrepreneurial lifestyle looks glamorous from the outside, but the reality is late nights, last-minute meetings, and zero procrastination. You must adopt a 'work comes first' mentality. Self-discipline is the bedrock upon which all other skills are built. You can have a decorated resume and decades of experience, but without these core traits, managing a company will be an uphill battle. Entrepreneurship is about building a legacy, and that requires a willingness to sacrifice comfort for the vision you crave.
Reclaiming the Driver's Seat: Managing Difficult Employee Archetypes
You're in your office, phone to your ear, ducking verbal fireballs from an angry client. You turn to your team for backup, only to find the 'weapon' they handed you is loaded with blanks. Frustrating? Absolutely. But this 'soldier' who failed you is just one bug in the system. As a leader, your job is to identify these archetypes and neutralize the threat they pose to your organization's balance. Here are a few common types and how to handle them: The Sub-Par Soldier They interview well but flatline after probation. They give 40% effort but act like it's 100%, making them hard to fire without cause. Don't waste time correcting their mistakes. Assign them repetitive, low-stakes tasks. Eventually, the boredom usually encourages them to leave on their own. The Butterfly Talented but unfocused. They want to do everything at once, calling it 'experimenting.' While you want to keep their talent, you can't force them to settle. Promote their potential, but have a replacement ready. A mind that wants to wander usually will. The God Complex Often found in admin or middle management, they believe the company revolves around them. They are annoying but easy to handle. Simply delegate their 'critical' tasks to someone else once, and watch their ego—and their leverage—crumble. The 'Ghost' and the 'Kleptomaniac' The Ghost disappears day one after payday. Blacklist them and move on. The Kleptomaniac steals supplies or belongings. No warnings here—fire them the moment you have proof. The Conveniently Narcissistic They always have a reason for failure that isn't their fault. Their problems demand sympathy, but they offer none in return. They are there for the paycheck and nothing else. Don't let them take root. Every hire has flaws. The successful entrepreneur learns to overlook the harmless 20% but takes decisive action when the limit is reached. Remember, the buck stops with you.
Scaling Up Without Burning Out: A Guide for Growth
Fellow entrepreneurs, do you know that feeling? You wake up, grab your coffee, drive to work, and realize you're heading to your old office location. A rush of emotions hits you—confusion, then realization. You've moved. You've grown. This is big. Embrace that feeling. It's the hallmark of up-scaling, an adventure filled with twists, turns, and dead-ends. But up-scaling isn't just about revenue; it's about 'leveling up,' gaining a deeper understanding of your business and your own limits. The Challenge of Delegation If your responsibilities haven't changed, you haven't grown. New clients mean a bigger crew and more administration. Trying to handle this alone is a recipe for disaster. Look for the right person to take over just one task you do well—but can do better. Delegation buys you the space to focus on vision rather than operations. Structural Evolution As you delegate, your organization's structure must evolve. The hours once spent ideating with your team might now be consumed by other demands. Don't let chaos creep in. Implement a clear operations chart and empower a managerial team to execute it. Proper communication channels ensure you aren't bogged down by trivial matters. Personal Liabilities & Letting Go Accept that everyone has limits. Sometimes, the team that started with you isn't the team that can take you to the next level. Leveling up often means letting people go who have plateaued. It’s a hard reality, but dragging them along hinders everyone's progress. Balancing Emotion and Logic Scaling up can alienate you from your team as your time gets divided. Yet, separating emotion from logic completely is a mistake. Rational thinking requires both. Trust your instincts, but evaluate them with logic to drive your company forward in line with your vision. Never lose the excitement of leveling up. Be brave enough to accept the changes that follow, and pace yourself to capitalize when opportunity knocks.
The Myth of the Happy Entrepreneur: Fact or Fiction?
Entrepreneurs come in all shades of emotion. If we were to translate their moods into colors, a typical day might fluctuate from a stormy grey—bringing bad news—to a glossy pink when a winning deal is secured. Yet, amidst this spectrum, the goal is to maintain a 'bubbly yellow' baseline: a neutral, optimistic resilience that withstands the daily volatility. Defining the True Entrepreneur Let's be clear: opening a business doesn't automatically make you an entrepreneur. Nor does inheriting a family legacy or launching a side hustle while employed. True entrepreneurship is a game of high stakes and purposeful risk. It is the creation of a venture with scalable potential, not just the trade of goods. It represents employment with a purpose, often risking stability for the chance of multi-fold growth. But this path isn't paved with rainbows. The role is demanding, frustrating, and frequently overwhelming. Surviving the haul is one thing; surviving it happily is another challenge entirely. 5 Steps to Sustainable Happiness For the perfectionists and workaholics obsessed with making a dent in their industry, the line between passion and burnout is thin. Here is how to keep your journey intact and your mindset in a 'happy color': 1. Stop Comparing No two journeys are alike. Every entrepreneur brings a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to the table. Comparison is a fruitless exercise that distracts from your own evolution. Focus on becoming a better version of yourself; you are the defining factor of your business. 2. Grounded Optimism Keep your expectations high but tethered to reality. When your results match your realistic expectations, you find contentment. When they exceed them, you find delight. Fantasy expectations only lead to inevitable disappointment. 3. The Power of 'No' Over-commitment is a muddy brown color—unappealing and exhausting. In a fast-paced world, the urge to say 'yes' to everything is strong, but quality always trumps quantity. Overburdening yourself and your team compromises output and morale. Grow gracefully by delivering excellence on fewer, focused projects. 4. Empathize and Trust Supportive staff don't appear out of the blue; they are cultivated. Empathize with your team, understand their needs, and hire those who share your values. Train your key people and empower them to make decisions. This delegation is the key to your own peace of mind—a soothing, fluorescent blue. 5. Disconnect to Reconnect Finally, step into the work-free world occasionally. Spend time with loved ones who bring 'pastel shades' of comfort to your life. Balancing your personal and professional worlds is essential not just for stress relief, but for maintaining the healthy relationships that ground you. Is a happy entrepreneur a myth? I think not. It requires a willingness to change, to adapt, and to prioritize balance as much as the bottom line.