“Creating your own identity is definitely a self booster to be more confident and an inspiration for others”, says Anu Malla, founder of A Nuovo Image and a certified Image Consultant from Image Consulting Business Institute ( ICBI) Mumbai. Born in a family with a background of Teachers, Anu always believed that sharing knowledge is what she was always passionate about and decided to make her passion her profession. Coming from a region of Odisha where Telugu was the most spoken language, her father feared of sending her to a convent because of the expected job transfer to the interior of Odisha, she was admitted to a Telugu medium school. During her high school, she was made to study in a Oriya medium schools, which means, when students had to learn hard core subjects like science and math, she had to learn the alphabets of Odissi language. Her passion for literature grew stronger but she was pushed to choose commerce subjects or rather subjects where she could finish her studies faster since those were days when girls were married soon.

Although she scored well and was a rank holder, she was not allowed to complete her Masters Degree since boys in that community wouldn’t study much and her father felt it would be hard to get her married if she pursued further studies. But Anu’s passion did not let her stop and she secretly continued to complete her M.Com through distance education and days passed. As she got married, she had to move out to Mumbai with her family, where she started pursuing her passion as a Professor in one of the prestigious colleges of Mumbai. After a year and a half, she resigned her job to enjoy her motherhood, but, her mind was completely occupied with her passion towards Literature and Fashion Industry. As her children grew, she continued to work on her dreams and has completed 3 Levels in French Language from alliance Françoise, a leading French language school and Indo-French cultural center along with which she can now converse in English, Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, Bengali and Telugu.

From childhood, Anu’s way of dressing, her way of speech was admired by many. People questioned her about being a home maker although she had talents of Fashion Designing, Oil Painting, Handicrafts, Anchoring and Training. That was when, Anu felt a need for her identity in the society and as she attracted, an opportunity from ICBI approached her which she felt was the perfect timing and a perfect opportunity. Without even having a second thought, Anu registered to be a part of ICBI and then informed her family about the decision and she still recalls, that it was because of the family’s support that she could involve herself in accomplishing what she wanted. A kick start to her Entrepreneurial Journey begun when she was certified as a professional Image Consultant.

She slowly involved herself in training and development along with managing A Novo Image, where she consulted people from across the country to help them achieve a new image of themselves as the tagline says “The Same YOU, Image NEW”. The way one carries himself / herself is important because visuals are more important and last longer. Most of the time, we communicate visually which is why image is more important and  hence, A Nuovo Image can help one achieve is her confident statement, before which she prepends “Dressing right should be a habit and not just because it’s a need”. Along with helping people carry themselves in the best way possible, she has been invited to train students and faculties of B-Schools and Engineering institutions like Vivekananda Engineering College, Somaya Engineering College and has also involved herself in training Financial Advisors. All of this didn’t stop her from involving herself in social activities of NGOs and she is currently the Soft Skills Trainer at Lioness District, Mumbai. Anu has been honoured with several awards as Best President, Best Regional Coordinator in Lions District, Lioness Multiple and Lioness District along with which she has also won the International Goodwill awards from Pakistan for services to under privileged. A strong believer of Social Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment, when asked about how she manages her family and work, she says, “It is important to be disciplined in life. Discipline can teach how to manage and life demands more discipline to be an Entrepreneur. It is equally important to share enough time with family, friends and business”.
“What’s next should be the question after every achievement which will help one stay grounded” she adds. A strong reason for her to start this journey is because she wanted to convey a message to the society and that is, “Having an identity and being financially independent is important in everyone’s life. Being an entrepreneur gives you an opportunity to learn to balance your home and work, along with flexibility of time”. Anu dreams of having an institute of her own where she can transfer her knowledge and to support this, she has decided to share her story through her auto biography which will inspire every person to have their own identity.