Today we’d like to introduce you to Jashima Wadehra.

Hi Jashima, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I loved writing as a child, my diaries were my safe haven from a chaotic upbringing. From mandala mehendi inspired doodles to poems in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, I loved to write things that were specific to me, yet relatable to the world. I spent most of my childhood and teen years writing and public speaking. Competitive student business organizations like DECA, Speech and Debate and Student Government became a place for the topics I wanted to cover to co-exist. I was able to oscillate between the intersections of entrepreneurship, activism, marketing, philosophy, psychology, and global inequity. I loved school despite often performing poorly, I was fortunate to have educators that admired my ability to finesse and supported my “creative pursuits,” a.k.a they signed off on me leaving their classrooms to run field trips, business internships and fundraising projects in high school. I lived between A+ in the classes I loved, and D- in the classes i didn’t, I didn’t know it then but that would be how much of my young adult years would play out, i’d thrive where I felt nurtured and suffer where i’d be expected to perform like others. I believed in questioning systems that suggested we should all think, dress and behave the same.

Fast forward several trials, tribulations, triumphs and moves between cities and states, I found my way back to the great country of New York City. I became an events producer and freelance writer after doing a stint at a law firm and luxury auto group. Through producing events, I met people I wanted to write about from film producers to tech founders, musicians and everyone in between. i didn’t understand how such brilliant, enigmatic people hadn’t already been covered through editorial, until I realized that people that look like me are seldom humanized enough to be recognized for their talents. As I started to write for varying outlets, I found that small businesses and artists alike had no business infrastructure or thought process behind their style of pitching themselves, they simply replicated what the person before them did. They robbed themselves of individuality in the name of survival and recognition.

I knew I had the skills to help. I journaled, and doodled, and journaled and doodled, and side hustled my way through university until I decided to build Ode, a marketing and talent management agency servicing multicultural communities. I understood that their lived experiences and mine were similar, that as someone whose skin and gender spoke before her words did, I knew what it meant to be misunderstood or overlooked. Ode has gone on to work with over 200 businesses and artists from under represented communities on their business development, brand strategy, music distribution and events.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Ha, if rides were smooth we wouldn’t go on them. The joy comes after the adrenaline of a drop on a rollercoaster, entrepreneurship and life in general are that way. Most things worth doing require a steep incline, bumps, heart-sinking, stomach churning drops, and then joy settles in. The joy of knowing it didn’t kill us so it was worth trying to do.

When you work in certain fields, there is a set of skills you acquire, refresh and apply for a range of seemingly guaranteed outcomes. Entrepreneurship is sort of like sitting in quicksand, it’s about how long you stick around before uncertainty envelopes you, there is no one path, no one skill, no guaranteed outcomes.

At the agency and in my life, that looks like many failures because of the decision to try new things. From accepting that people will continue to judge me, to learning that I cannot avoid spreadsheets, the struggles are the infinite learning curves with no safety net.

The biggest struggle that has transformed Into a skill is my ability to know when something has run it’s course and the courage to detach myself from it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

Ode is a full-service creative strategy and talent management agency servicing underrepresented populations with a specialty in the South Asian diaspora and subcontinent regions. Ode provides immigrant owned brands, businesses and artists with white-glove consulting, events, content and talent management services that they are historically and metrically deprived of. In order to create equity, Ode prioritizes a “lived experience meets data,” approach for its clients, we operate on the premise that art is better serviced when marketed and protected by those who understand its origins. By using language that is accessible and centering qualitative data, Ode is able to help communities of color tabulate their impact on pop culture and charge accordingly.

I’m known for changing the way creatives think about the business of creation.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?

I break into different accents, ALL the time.

Pricing:

• if you’re a business, artist, creative or human that feels like they’re onto something but lost in the process, we can help! Email us for our consulting rates [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: https://odeto.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jashimaw/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jashima-w/