We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Akshata Prabhu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Akshata, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I have been a professional model since 2002. I have had the opportunity to model for multinational brands like Loreal, Smirn Off, be featured in about 14 prestigious National Magazines & Newspapers in India like Times of India, Bombay Times, Indian Express, New Woman and many more. Apart from being a popular & published model, I have had the opportunity to be a host & interviewer on Indian National Television for 3 Shows and feature in Top Charbusting Music Albums as the lead. After having an amazing stint with my professional career in the field of fashion, media and glamour, I decided to quit my modelling career in 2008 for academic enrichment. This was the first time I took a major risk in life. Some said I was throwing a flourishing career but I had decided to pursue my Masters in Pediatric Dental Surgery and serve the oral health care needs of children from different socio-economic strata. With love in my heart I began my service to the society, during which I found the love of my life whom I am now married to for 10 years. I also gave birth to a beautiful daughter who is now 7 years old.
It is in the year 2018 that I decided to make a comeback as the camera had always been my first love and calling. My daughter was 3 years old then and an innocent look into her eyes conveyed to me my purpose. I had been a Model and it was time to be a Role Model now, it said. This is the second time I took a major risk in life.
I entered the National Pageant competition and was crowned Mrs India World 2019 Runner Up and thereby chosen to represent India on the International Platform. On 9th August, 2021, I won Ms. International World in Florida, USA. I was signed by prestigious brands like Prakruti Resorts, Aishwarya Design Studio, Colgate to model for them. I was featured in International magazines like World Class Beauty Queens, Art & Beauty Magazine, Luxlife and was chosen to be on the cover of the prestigious Platform Magazine which has had personalities like Lindsay Lohann in their earlier features.
I walked the ramp for 3 international Designers at New York Fashion Week and was featured on a massive Billboard on 34th Street, 7th Avenue in New York. This was an amazingly thrilling moment for me.
After winning the International Crown & title of Ms. International World, I signed my first International Film titled ‘The Italians’ to play the character of UN Ambassador Indira Hadiya Gupta. I was also featured on another huge Billboard in Hollywood Boulevard in California. I couldn’t have asked my comeback in the media and glamour industry to be any better. Throughout this entire period, a lot of people doubted me and my abilities. I was told that you are in your 30s, a mother, a wife so I should just focus on being that and shouldn’t even consider making a comeback. But my grit and determination kept me going.
I have had a very supportive inner circle that comprises of my family and friends especially my husband who always encouraged me to forge ahead and block out the noise from the outside. He told me that haters, detractors, naysayers will always be there but consistent efforts will someday convert them into well-wishers, fans and followers. And that is exactly what happened.
I established The International Glamour Project along with my husband. It is India’s biggest international pageant and fashion platform for Teens, Miss & Mrs that provides opportunities to models and pageant aspirants to represent their country on the International Platform in USA, walk Fashion Shows like New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Show etc. It is a platform that scouts models and role models, trains them so that they can establish careers in the media and glamour industry. Through this platfrom, I get the opportunity to mentor all pageant contestants & models and share my know-how with them.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am Dr. Akshata Prabhu – the reigning Ms. International World 2021, an International Film Actor, a Professional Model, a Pediatric Dental Surgeon by educational qualification, a wife, a mother to a 7 year old girl and Mentor, CEO & Brand Ambassador of The International Glamour Project – India’s biggest international pageant and fashion platform for Teens, Miss & Mrs. This platform provides opportunities to pageant aspirants & models to represent their country on the international platform in USA and walk fashion weeks like New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Show etc. This platform is owned by Dr. Swaroop Puranik, my husband who is an International Athlete and 5 times Ironman Title Holder. By educational qualification, he is a periodontal surgeon and a post graduate from any Ivy league institution, IIM-Calcutta. His vision to empower women by providing them a platform to groom themselves and be confident in all the various opportunities provided was something that I instantly connected to. Today, we together run this entity and it is currently in its 2nd successful season.
The International Glamour Project believes in creating role models and building an ecosystem of ‘Women Empowerment’. It selects contestants on the basis of personality and confidence not considering stereotypical physical characteristics like age, height, weight, body type or complexion.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I think honesty is what I have believed in and my social media is a sincere review of that. Consistency, hard work and determination is why people follow me on social media. Also my story has been very inspiring and my achievements motivate others to break out of the comfort zone and explore the hidden potential that lies within.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I have followed stories and lives of strong, empowering women like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama who have always sent out a strong message that one needs to believe in one’s self. My entrepreneurial inspiration is Ex-CEO of Pepsico, Indra Nooyi. An extremely dynamic, level-headed individual who showed that personal and professional life balance can be maintained.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theinternationalglamourproject.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akshataprabhu_official/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akshataprabhuofficial/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-akshata-prabhu-364748194/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drakshataprabhu?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p9hj6vOx80