Keeping the spirit of youth alive, Ushoshi Sengupta, former I Am She–Miss Universe India and the founder of USP Productions and Playfest, shared her journey to success.

Her Journey to Miss Universe

Ushoshi Sengupta belongs to a defence family and did her schooling from Vadodara in Gujarat and then from Kolkata. She earned her graduation in humanities from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata. She then worked as a model before being crowned as I Am She–Miss Universe India in 2010. She has also worked in films like ‘Eagoler Chokh’ (2016).

Confidence Is Beauty

The stunning Ushoshi highlighted the point of using confidence as her key skill to win the pageant as well as people’s hearts. Calling herself an unconventional beauty, she said, “We are our own biggest criticizer and the way we can beat all the insecurity is by believing in ourselves. Confidence is what gives us what we want in life and we should always be confident in whatever task we are doing.”

Preparing for her Miss Universe pageantry, she mentioned as to how she got close to her own culture as a Bengali and as an Indian. She is also very proud of how she is able to upkeep with the legacy of being the most intelligent women in the competition in 2010. Her most prized possession also remains the fact that she now has friends in every part of the country.

The Urge to Create Her Own Brand

After working as a model, she finally decided that her call was behind the screen in productions. Following the urge, she started USP Productions. She hosted numerous seminars and grooming sessions for modelling and pageantry. She further organized grooming sessions for girls and boys to groom their personality as well as to make them confident in their own skin. She also founded Playfest, an amalgamation of music, art, and fashion. The event was hosted by JW Marriott and the sponsors involved names like BMW, T2 etc. Now, Playfest had successfully hosted two seasons and is gearing up for its third season.

The Creation of Self-Brand and Using It for Brand Management

The creation of self-brand was the key subject of the talk. Ushoshi said that it is a key element to create self-brand by mastering the area one has an interest in and focus on that. Ushoshi used her own image and brand in establishing her brand. That was how she was able to get USP at this place where it is now.

Ushoshi said, “Brand Management is a vital point. Trust and honesty of a brand is entrusted in how people perceive the brand. It is very important to find what kind of brand to associate with.” Other important points were how to use influencer marketing and content marketing to create buzz and awareness about brands. She also mentioned that the exclusivity of her event to a restricted number of invitees played the trick of birthing the curiosity in people’s mind. Playfest has been associated with charitable organisations and that shows how it is helping the needy and supporting social causes along with combining art, fashion and music.

A Good Brand Is a Brand that Adapts to Every Situation

Ushoshi also focused on the adaptability of the brands. With continuously changing scenarios, it has been crucial that brands ideated inventive ideas to get accumulated with the situation and used it for their own benefits. Her final message to the audience was, “Look out for your call and master your own brand. For brands, her advice is to be inventive enough to adapt to all situations and come-up handy with solutions.”

The Final Take

Ushoshi mentioned how during this lockdown, her photoshoot went through digital platform through Google Duo. When asked why she halted her film career, she quipped, “I didn’t receive any project in which I can add value. Presently, I have only one focus that is to serve the people of Bengal. After the Amphan crisis, I travelled to the interiors of Sundarbans and Basirhat and soaked in the power of giving. I gained my strength from Tagore’s words, “Jodi tor daak shune keu na ashe tobey ekla cholo re.”

The author, Shayeree Sil is associated with Adamas University Media School.