‘I can’t stagnate… if you aren’t growing, you re dying! POONAM SONI

She was thrilled when politician Renuka Chowdhary felicitated her at a Travel and Tourism Ministry forum, revealing that she was following Poonam Soni’s global trajectories as a jeweller, honouring her courage as a pioneer in a segment notorious for ‘borrowing’ designs from Western brands. Poonam Soni is a child and a wonder-filled poet when it comes to design, but at the same time, a cutting-edge businesswoman. Last Diwali, she had a stall at the fundraising exhibition, Araish – where she presented a new affordable line, born in an era “where a woman is not napping in the afternoon, then getting ready for her husband to come home, pulling out her most unique jewels to flaunt when they go out at night, solely to make other women jealous. Today’s woman is clued in, working, she would rather flaunt her awards than her jewels, and most of the time, she would be shopping online after work hours, seeking variety.”

Clearly ahead of her time, when she launched an eponymous label when few women were encouraged to mastermind businesses, Poonam has enjoyed patronage from the Spanish collections in New York. Still energised by both the creative and profit-related aspects of being a jeweller, Poonam is not afraid to take her game from luxe to click-and-buy. Deeply engaged with Nichiren Buddhism’s many practices and responsibilities as a leader, when demonetisation crashed over the jewellery community and new limits were placed on cash payments for jewels, Poonam decided to walk a new path. “I tell people not to cry over disruption; change your game instead.”