With a passion for organising events from a very young age, Sunny Sara has been blending innovation with fervour to craft remarkable experiences in the Indian hospitality sector for several years now. The Director of Orion Marketing & Communications has always had the philosophy of creating memorable experiences that resonate with people long after the event is over.
In an interview with Deepa Natarajan Lobo, Assistant Editor, Business Frontier, the power-packed leader speaks about his leadership strategies, his vision for future and the trends that will set the industry ablaze in the coming years.
Give us an overview of your early days in the industry. What led you to start Orion Entertainment?
Growing up, I always enjoyed organising parties, from the old school building fun and fairs to just my own birthday party. I always looked forward to occasions and celebrations so that I could organise them. In college, I had the opportunity to organise bigger events and then on, I started planning celebrations outside college as well. As soon as I finished graduation, I decided to work as an intern in the field of event planning which led me to start my own company.
When I had the opportunity to travel to London for a holiday, I witnessed events being promoted at restaurants and nightclubs there. Those days, all that didn’t exist in India and club culture was just getting started. That’s when I got a team together to start promoting events at nightclubs.
Over a period of time, I understood the backend operations of a nightclub and built a network to form my hospitality business of bars and restaurants – Orion Entertainment. I also gained substantial knowledge on the requirements of organising on-ground events for brands which led to the formation of Orion Marketing & Communications.
Tell us about the different roles you play in your organisation.
I don’t like to give designations or roles to myself or my team. I encourage everyone to know and do a little bit of everything with focus. While my main aim is to build my brand’s portfolio and increase the number of services we offer, I also like to get involved in the creative process as that’s what keeps me motivated. The execution process of being on-ground and seeing our creative ideas come to life is the most exciting part of what we do.
As a business leader, what are some of the strategies you follow to keep your team motivated and your company ahead of the curve?
To be honest, I don’t have any strategy to keep my team motivated. The one thing I make sure of is to constantly check in on my team and understand each person’s challenges, celebrate their wins and guide them forward. According to me, it’s all about listening. Whenever anyone speaks, I listen and try to help them to always bring newness to every project. This helps keep them motivated and excited to come to work everyday.
There are two aspects to being ahead of the curve: firstly, knowing what is currently happening and what is it that people are looking for. Secondly, continuously researching to understand what is happening globally and tweaking those trends to suit our requirements.
What are the key trends that the entertainment and hospitality sector will witness this year in India?
There is a massive evolution taking place in the industry. People are no longer going out for just good food anymore – they are also looking for an experience. Creating a concept and providing an experience for people is becoming as important as offering great food. In my opinion, in the next two years, we will see a lot more concept-based restaurants opening up.
Technology and AI are also playing a big role in providing people with an exclusive experience from the reservation systems to managing the guests to the presentation of the food and the in-dining ambience. All of that will now evolve drastically.
Looking forward, what is your vision for Orion Entertainment?
Currently, we are working on a few big things in both my companies. This year, Orion Entertainment will be expanding current brands across India as well as opening up new venues. Orion Marketing & Communications is planning something massive and very close to my heart which we will be announcing in the next couple of months. So, it is going to be a very exciting year for us.
With your wealth of experience, what advice do you offer emerging leaders in the field?
My advice is to get the experience before you dive into it. Identify your skill set and strengths and then, just go for it. Life is too short to have any regrets. One thing that also helps me as an entrepreneur is building good strong trusting partnerships. As they say, ‘Team work makes the dream work’.
