House of Experts Ep 40: Vibha Kagzi in conversation with Mallika Parekh, Owner of Physique 57 India

House of Experts is a show that ReachIvy kick-started to help those who are unclear about their career choices. We hope through these sessions with some very successful people, we can shed light on a new career path every week. House of Experts plans to make a collection of interactive and informative sessions with experts from various domains.

Vibha Kagzi, the host, is the Founder and CEO of ReachIvy.com, a premium study abroad and career consultancy organization. Vibha, a Harvard alumna, is a successful entrepreneur and believes in helping others chalk out their future careers.

In episode 40 of House of Experts, we were fortunate to host, Mallika Tarkas Parekh, M.S., M.P.H. – Owner of Physique 57 India

Mallika Parekh has been a devotee of Physique 57, the signature barre-based workout that blends the most effective elements of cardio, strength training and stretching to redefine the body from the very first class.

When planning her move to India from New York City, Mallika, a health care professional with a double Masters in Medical Science and Public Health, was determined to launch Physique 57 in India, as she strongly believed in the health benefits of this method, specifically relevant to Indian bodies and bone structure.

Some excerpts from the interview:

1)Tell us about your childhood and early years.
My childhood was a busy one. I was the only child, and so my Mom and Dad kept me very busy with extracurriculars and other activities. I come from a family of healthcare professionals, mostly doctors. From a very young age, I was in a healthcare environment. I used to volunteer with hospitals, and connected with a lot of physicians and surgeons who I worked very closely with. It felt like a very natural environment to me. I was also involved with music. During the holidays, we would go around with our choir and sing and play. I also had a very keen interest with how things work in the body, so my childhood was very much influenced by healthcare.

2)What are some of the challenges you have faced in your journey?
It all starts with real estate when you’re setting up a physical business. It works very differently in different cities. It wasn’t something I was familiar with. We struggled with finding the right space for our brand, and something that’s accessible. This is something that will always keep us up. It’s a give and take. There is never a perfect space. We have very specific requirements because of the way the workout is designed. This will always push us to find the best options.
As we move towards virtual, we face the challenges that online businesses face. Throughout last year,when everyone was hitting an all-time low, it took everything we had to motivate our team to have the energy to motivate the clients. It took a lot of self-reflection, conversation and adaptability in terms of people’s personal situations. These are the challenges that push us to grow.

3)How do you find and train your trainers?
We really cared to bring this method correctly to the Indian setup. It’s important that when clients come to us, they believe that we really know what we’re talking about. This method is great for the Indian body. There are ongoing training sessions and evaluations. The biggest thing for us is client feedback, so looking into how the delivery comes across is very important. We also have quality checks, national and international reviews and check ins very frequently. It’s a specific method and is science-based. It’s important that we stay precise and accurate.

4)How are the Indian customers different from the customers in the US?
This whole space is new, so anytime you’re trying to shift the paradigm in the industry, it’s a huge task because people don’t necessarily understand the difference. We started with a higher price point than what people were accustomed to, and it was really difficult to explain to the customers what this was. Also, it’s about making a commitment to yourself and investing in yourself through yourself. This is a very novel concept here, whereas in the US, people are familiar with it. We’re still educating people on why this method is so important for our health and why it’s relevant to us as a population.

We are really thankful to Mallika for sharing her detailed insights about this novel concept, and we hope that it helped to raise awareness about this new method of fitness.

Missed out on the previous house of expert episodes? You can watch them here

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