We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful RIa Shah. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with RIa below.

RIa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Coming from a family business, I was always taught to approach every job as if I had a significant role to play. This mindset helps me take ownership and put in a lot of effort. Growing up, I watched my grandparents and parents tackle life with a remarkable level of discipline, and I realized how crucial soft skills are. Family businesses are deeply ingrained in my culture and community, and they’ve taught me so much that I now bring into my professional life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Ria Shah, an Indian brand strategist and designer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Working at Interbrand, I’m part of the new business team where I thrive on developing compelling pitches every day. What energizes me most about my role is the diversity—I engage with a wide array of industries, ranging from socks to cement to planes, often within just a few hours. Each project presents fresh challenges and opportunities for growth, ensuring there’s never a dull moment.

Interestingly, my career journey didn’t start with this ambition. Initially trained as a designer, I was drawn to creating visually captivating work. However, early on in my career, I discovered a deeper passion for storytelling and strategy. I found myself not only crafting visuals but also envisioning the narratives behind them—the reasons for color choices or design decisions. Over time, I realized this knack for storytelling and strategy was my true calling. Today, I derive immense satisfaction from crafting compelling narratives that resonate with people in their true sense.

I am most proud of the network I have built for myself, the people who saw something in me and have continued to support me. I love that now I am not just a strategist or just a designer, I bring together every part of my life to work.

Beyond my professional life, my love for food is a major source of inspiration. When I’m not crafting brand stories, you’ll find me in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes or binge-watching food shows like it’s a sport. This culinary passion fuels my creativity and adds a unique flavor to my work.

The most exciting, unheard thing I can introduce you to is a selfish promotion of Forgotten Foodnotes, my Instagram where for 100 consecutive days I asked 100 people across the globe what their favorite dish was and the memory associated to it. The results created a journal filled with nostalgia and unheard, unseen recipes.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Growing up in an Indian business family, I’ve learned that resilience is part of who I am, both from my upbringing and the challenges I’ve faced. Imagine moving six times in the last eight years, crossing continents, and leaving behind a tight-knit family—all for the sake of my career. It’s been tough, but that’s where resilience kicks in for me. Sure, sometimes it might look like stubbornness, but I’ve found that when I channel it positively, it becomes my safety net.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I’m a huge fan of frameworks that help me think. They’re not hard resources, but they’re lifesavers, especially when creative self-doubt, constant pressure to innovate, and just being “on” all the time gets overwhelming. A mentor once taught me this fantastic approach: whenever you face a challenge, break it down and create a tool to help you process it. Think about the building blocks of the challenge and see if there’s a way to add some logic to the subjectivity.

For example, there’s this tool I love, also from the same mentor, called the 5,4,3,2,1 method for qualitative interviews. It’s super simple and helps organize your thoughts:

5 things t hat were interesting
4 quotes
3 observations
2 things that were confirmed
1 thing that surprised you

It’s a straightforward way to take a million thoughts and turn them into something logical and easy to process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.riashah.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgottenfoodnotes/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riashahh/

Image Credits

Ria Shah