The final event of YFLO Kolkata’s 2023 calendar was all about celebrating young women achievers who excelled in their respective fields in the last year. The award ceremony took place on March 25 at JW Marriott Kolkata, where the members of YFLO Kolkata attended and witnessed 10 young women being honoured with the YFLO Young Achievers Award for their journeys in their respective fields. For the term 2022-23, chairperson Shilpa Sethi’s theme for the organisation was ‘Be You!’, where journeys of women entrepreneurs from fields like fashion, retail, e-commerce, art, design, F&B, hospitality and others were celebrated.The evening started with a gratitude speech by Shilpa. All the past chairpersons of the organisation were given a token of appreciation, followed by a stand-up comedy act by Comicstaan 3 participant Pavitra Shetty. Singer Clinton Cerejo and his band Shor Police also performed their fusion remixes and hit numbers for the YFLO ladies who hit the dance floor. Glimpses from the evening.
Disha Agarwal, founder of Young Minds Collective (right), received the All Things Kids category award from Avanti Muraka (left), past chairperson of 2012-13. Disha said: “I am extremely humbled and thankful to YFLO for this prestigious award. I have always found indomitable strength through my love for children but this award truly belongs to the YMC team who have worked day in and day out to make this world a beautiful place for our young minds. And also the parents and kids who have believed in us from day one and have made us bigger and better.”
Comicstaan 3 participant Pavitra Shetty made everyone go ROFL with her standup comedy on social stigmas, relationship issues and more.
Arpita Agarwal (right), east head of BlinkIt, received the award in Retail and E-commerce category from Puja Goenka (left), past chairperson of 2016-17. “I feel that any woman needs a lot of family support and backing to do well on the professional front. I feel very lucky to have parents who always supported me, whether it was two months after my child was born or now when I’m looking to shift cities. When I received that award I realised that its support and backing which had got me here. It was a very heartwarming moment because it made me realise in that room with 500 other women, that the support which I may have taken for granted is not something that probably everyone had. I felt blessed and had so much gratitude for just having a family that said ‘we’re there’,” said Arpita.
Shraddha Fogla (left), content creator and founder @2monkeysandme, received the Influencer of the Year award from Amrita Kajaria, past chairperson of 2019-20. “It’s been an exhilarating journey of four-anda-half years of doing something I am extremely passionate about. It has been an honour to receive the best content creator award from a prestigious platform like YFLO which makes me truly believe that I have been able to influence parents’ lives most positively,” said Shraddha.
Avanti Phumbra (right), founder & creative director, was the winner in the Art and Design category. She received the award from Richa Mohta (left) past chairperson of 2013-14. “It has been an honour to have received the YFLO Young Achievers Award for Art & Design. How does it feel? Besides being thrilled and humbled we are excited that good design is recognised and appreciated. We look forward to an exciting future for the design community,” said Avanti.
Radhika Lunia (left), co-founder at Let’s Maki, won the award for F&B and Hospitality. She received the award from Isha Patodia (right), chairperson of 2018-19. Radhika said: “Let’s Maki’ started as a passion project during the lockdown. It expanded to 13 cities across India from an idea in a kitchen. All were led by women homemakers who turned entrepreneurs. Thank you to YFLO and our clients for supporting our vision and recognising the power of an idea that can expand beyond boundaries”.
Suchi Agarwal (right), creative head at Suchi U Agarwal design studio, won the special award for Digital Influencer from Shefali Rawat Agarwal (left), past chairperson of 2020-21. “I have always felt that women should be tech savvy which empowers women as tech is the only meansto grow further. The award has motivated me to reach out to more women and encourage women towards digital learning and application in the simplest manner,” said Suchi.
Clinton Cerejo along with his band Shor Police performed his famous Bollywood tracks like Hey Ya!, Sooraj ki baahon mein and other fusion remixes like I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd, Havana by Camila Cabello and more.
Shefali Rawat Agarwal (right), the owner of Rawat Jewels, received the award in the Jewellery and Accessory category from Shilpi Choudhary (left), past chairperson of 2017-18. Shefali said: “I felt honoured and proud to receive recognition for my achievements. The fact that all the past chairs and committee wearing my designed pieces made me feel even happier receiving them! Thank you YFLO and everyone for your love support and encouragement.”
Richa Khemka (right), owner and founder of Richa Khemka Label, received the award for Fashion from Shradha Agarwal (left), past chairperson of 2015-16. “I feel appreciated receiving this award. It’s very encouraging to be a part of a woman’s forum where women are cheering each other onto greater success,” said Richa.
Shilpi Jaiswal Sen (right), received the engage group award from Shilpa Sethi, chairperson of 2022-23. Shilpi said: “I am truly humbled by this recognition at the YFLO Young Achievers Award 2023. YFLO is a great platform to network and engage with young women in varied career paths and cohesively work towards building a community of dynamic women supporting each other. I would like to thank my chairperson Shilpa Sethi and the entire committee for a phenomenal year where we unabashedly echoed the motto ‘Be You’ in mind, body and soul.”