Tara Singh Vachani, Executive chairperson of Antara Senior Care
Image: Amit Verma
It would have been easy for her to join the family business after studies, but Tara Singh Vachani chose a difficult path. The executive chairperson of Antara Senior Care saw the untapped potential in the senior living space and went on to nurture it into a thriving business. The second-generation entrepreneur (she is the daughter of Analjit Singh, founder of the Max Group) believes that embracing the feminine energy within can shape both women and men into more transformational leaders. Understandably, women are at the core of her venture, which she aptly calls the “business of empathy”. Edited excerpts:
Q. In what way have your experiences in the senior living and care industry shaped you as a leader?
Initially, the challenges were simply about me not having enough experience of building a business and stepping into an ecosystem where ‘senior living’ did not exist as an industry category. I faced additional challenges of being a ‘young’ entrepreneur, of being a ‘woman entrepreneur’, and having a family business background.
The challenges specific to Antara were different. The first was about creating awareness about the need for a category like senior living. Second was recognising the importance of financial health and capital management for the business. Third was proving why I deserved to be given the opportunity and funding to build a business from scratch.
Today, we are in a high-growth environment. I am also a mother of two young girls, and passionate about philanthropy and working in the early education space. The challenge now is figuring out where to focus my energy and motivation and how to balance it all, so that each thing I nurture can grow to its full potential.
Q. You were too young to float a business idea, that too around an unexplored space. Was there any pushback from the Board?
Board members were candid about the challenges, especially since it was not an established industry. But somewhere deep down, I think all of them recognised the huge potential and opportunity the idea held. In addition, everyone was ready to take on the challenge.
They likely saw me as transparent and sincere. It took nearly two years to do the groundwork and put together a solid business plan before presenting it to the Board. So, they could see the effort I had put in. I believe that, along with my strong conviction, helped overcome any concerns about my lack of experience or potential bias due to age or gender.
Q. How do you view the responsibility of carrying forward the family business legacy?
I think it is less about responsibility and more about intent. The fact is that everything my husband, I, and all of us have been able to achieve is because we have been given a platform created by my father – one that carries a lot of goodwill as a brand. The deep-rooted respect, appreciation, and gratitude we have for that platform and that brand create an authentic intention to continue it, not just for the sake of legacy.
The pressure of meeting expectations may have been there at a subconscious level, but there was absolutely no external pressure. My parents never told me or my siblings, “This is the plan we have for you, this is the route you have to take, this is the outcome we expect”. All of us were encouraged to be who we were and to keep growing. I think the pressure came more from within to be accountable and to grow something that impacts the lives of the people we touch.
Also read: ‘Women must be assertive and advocate more for themselves: Lenovo India’s Meenakshi Dagar
Q. How has your father’s leadership journey influenced you?
I have grown through the influence of many people but I am extremely grateful to have someone like my father. Things did not come easy to him. He had to work very hard for whatever he has been able to create. The power of hard work, discipline, diligence, staying the course, and not giving up—it may sound clichéd but seeing the value it creates has been a huge learning. Another lesson I learnt is that mediocrity won’t take you far. You can unlock immense power if you surround yourself with smart and experienced people.
Q. What does inclusion mean to you?
You can have a long list of tasks and activities that have proven to build an inclusive culture. But at the end of the day, it’s the body language and intention of the leaders that matter. Do they genuinely care about people? Do they truly believe in making the world a better place?
In 2019, around the time my first baby was born, I decided to step down as CEO and take on the role of executive chairperson at Antara. I wanted someone with more experience to help in scaling the business and I chose Rajit Mehta who had been with the Max Group for a long time—first as CEO of our life insurance business and later of our health care business. The Board wanted me to step out of my comfort zone and hire someone who was different from me. But I was certain that I would entrust this ‘business of empathy’ only to someone who shared the same values and passion for people as me.
Q. How crucial has team diversity been?
When we started about 12 years ago, diversity was not a separate conversation. Cutting across age and gender was was a natural part of how I worked. That’s what women leaders bring to an organisation—they don’t consider these aspects as separate from their intuitive way of building an organisation.
Antara has now grown as an organisation. We have a big leadership team and nearly 1,000 employees. And we have had to make a conscious effort to monitor diversity in a more structural manner because we are not trying to just tick a box. We see the larger opportunity and positivity around it. There are many women caregivers working with us – we see the way they function and also the style of women leadership. Women are naturally more empathetic and this aligns perfectly with our business, which is built entirely around empathy. We now have over 35 percent women across all grades and layers of the organisation. There are women in quite a few leadership positions as well. Our mentorship programmes are for all emerging leaders, not gender-specific. Of course, there are other forms of diversity we can bring in—the differently abled, those of different ethnicities and genders, and so on. We are not quite there yet as an organisation, but we are starting to move in that direction.
Q. Do you believe that women bring unique strengths to the table?
I believe that women who are aware and conscious of their unique strengths and power undoubtedly bring a more positive leadership energy. Those who are quieting their feminine energy often do not. Men who embrace the feminine energy within also make for better leaders.
There is definitely a difference between masculine and feminine energy, no matter how much we try to prove we are equal and the same. I think both men and women who are fully aware of their feminine energy can become more transformational leaders. At its core, leadership is all about people, and people fundamentally need the same set of things – they want to be seen and respected, and need compassion and empathy. And a lot of these things are deeply rooted in feminine energy. If that is unlocked – whether in men or women—people feel validated and will perform to their best. That’s when true transformation comes about.
Q. Are they generally held to a higher standard than men?
It’s hard to generalise but I think that our wiring, genetic makeup, societal norms, ecosystems, and subliminal and overt messaging make us hold ourselves to a higher standard compared to men. We ourselves create these ideologies and images of what we need to be, think, do, and achieve. Maybe, there’s not even any space for anyone else to hold you to a higher standard because all of it happens internally. I am not so sure if it happens externally anymore. Things are really changing now.
Q. How can organisations best support women as they navigate the ups and downs of their personal and professional journeys?
Women need to be given the space, guidance, and hand-holding to choose their path. Once they enter the workplace, they often become obsessed with their identity. And if that identity starts to change after they have children, they find it difficult to cope with it. They may then constantly push themselves without fully enjoying motherhood.
There are two different storylines there. If you are in a situation where you have to definitely earn, then there is no room to have this conversation with yourself. That’s when we need to focus on policies like the typical maternity leave, flexible working hours, and an organisational culture wherein one can unapologetically leave office early if needed. On the other hand, those who don’t need to work for financial reasons should have the freedom to choose their path. But sadly, conversations about women in the workplace, their careers, and why they should not drop off have taken away the freedom to consider focusing on motherhood for a while. I feel this theory has been thrust on women for too long – it’s like a ticking time bomb.
I am not saying you should just be a mother your whole life, but there is a time for everything. It’s a fallacy to believe that anyone—women or men—can have everything in life, all at once.
Also read: Women can lead effectively while being their true selves: Swati Piramal
Q. Can involving men in gender conversations shape more equitable workplaces?
Absolutely. Stereotypes around caregiving are deeply entrenched in our society. So, the first step is to have conversations about the need for men to consider themselves as equal to women in the caregiving space. Without this shift, nothing you do in the workplace can bring about a real difference. Longer maternity leave, work-from-home options, and flexible working hours will just make it easier for others to dump more work on women.
The second piece is about creating flexibility and freedom for men as well—for instance, paternity leave, allowing them to work from home, or giving them the space to leave early say, for instance, to pick up children from school or take parents to the doctor. If you don’t create that kind of flexibility for men in the workplace, how are they going to contribute to caregiving and ease the pressure on women?
Organisations need to change their policies too and start conversations about caregiving, but the real shift has to begin within families – starting when children are young. They will not learn unless we become role models.
Q. How can we broaden the pool of women leaders across industries?
The change has to begin at home. When women are young, they should be encouraged to dream and develop the competencies needed so that by the time they step into the workplace, they have equal opportunities as men. Organisations should embrace the understanding that having women in the workplace is crucial for achieving positive outcomes.
Q. What are the competencies crucial for young entrepreneurs?
First is to have humility if you truly want to build a robust team around you. There should be a reason people should like you enough and want to be a part of your journey. Second is to have strong financial logic and a compelling argument. Third is to have smart people in the room—find mentors, board members, coaches, and advisors.