Along the journey of life, we encounter many characters, some are more dynamic than others, but a select few make a truly lasting impact. They’re the dreamers, the doers, the outside-the-box thinkers, the one of a kind. By nature, they’re unapologetically themselves, and possess an innate curiosity and even greater zeal for life—they not only light up every room (virtual included) they enter, but ignite something within those they come in contact with that hits down to the bones. They move people, ideas…and if they wanted to, probably the world. We recently had the pleasure of parlaying with such a soul via Zoom. Sourabh Sharma is an entrepreneurial polyglot, avid adventurer, literary creative, and marketing maven who has a knack for finding and creating magic everywhere he goes, and in every venture he joins. We talked passions, proclivities, professional projects, and so much more.
How do people typically describe you when they first meet you?
Intriguing. People can’t seem to quite slot me, and I like it that way. Labels are for tee-shirts, not for people.
And how would you describe yourself…like an elevator pitch of yourself?
A Renaissance man with an incurable case of FOMO. Read this as one who has his hands in a variety of things due to the refusal to accept that this was not possible.
Where do you find inspiration?
In keenly observing life and its many forms. Be it human behavior and people’s daily interactions, the raindrops on a windowpane, the way the sun sets differently each day, the scent of a person and how it jolts me into a memory of its own. My days are filled with sensory overwhelm from simply observing and experiencing daily life. I’ve been doing this as a child, via my parents, and then in my own travels and experiences.
You do A LOT; how do you manage so many different ventures and projects and keep it all straight?
If you do what you love, it never feels like a burden. You can be more discerning when you are not desperate. I am extremely thorough, detail oriented, and very organized. One element of life is a break from another, and the variety keeps me stimulated.
How did you come up with the idea for FIG or out, and what sets the company apart from others in the industry?
I was often acknowledged for my ability to derive insights and trends from my work in marketing, as well as forecast trends in the marketplace across verticals. This ability to ‘figure it out’ gave birth to FIG or out, which is a hybrid of digital, social, brand and creative marketing. The customization and anti-cookie-cutter approach gives it a branding nuance that is often lacking in more automated growth marketing.
Tell us about Print All Over Me and what you love about it.
Conformism is not my forte, so when I was swaying between monetizable, ecommerce fashion and editorial style custom clothing,PAOM was a fine segway that allowed customization with all of its creativity, alongside the commerce side of scalability. I also love that over time it has grown into a community of artists who literally like to wear their art.
And how about Dot & Pin?
I would always have a knack to find the coolest spots in any city I would go to, and over time had lists aplenty that friends would consistently text me for. Similar to other businesses, I found this to be an opportunity to dot the adventures and pin them on a map.
What is a motto you live by?
If you’ve never lost your mind, you’ve never followed your heart… and if you follow your heart, please take your brain with you.
How do you personally define happiness?
A solid sense of self. If you know what you can do well, you can laugh at what you can’t do well, but if you don’t know what you can do well, then your daily life becomes a tragic joke.
What do you wish people would do more often?
Strip themselves, but start with their inhibitions. It’s tragic how common the former is with the absence of the latter.
What is a life goal of yours in terms of your career?
To forecast for a successful future, but never quite know what’s in it. The uncertainty may hurt me, but the monotony will kill me.
Any new ventures on the horizon, or any exciting news with your existing businesses?
A plethora of news across all, however I’m most excited about my upcoming fiction work. I’ve always been an avid reader and writer, and finally having a long-in-the-making fiction novel as well as more immediate fictional short stories will enable me to channel my creativity.
