A Day In The Life of PR Guru and CEO of Sahdev Media
Meet Nisha Sahdev. Self-proclaimed selfie queen. Straight-up Punjabi. PR guru. CEO of the 2008-established Sahdev Media, Nisha Sahdev has an unprecedented passion for media, business and public relations. With six years of experience as a BBC and Aljazeera News journalist in London she decided to set up her own company, celebrating all things entertainment. Speaking to The Asian Today, she talks fitness regimes, public relations and how Sahdev Media is helping Asian women into media.
0700 – Pretty much every morning starts with checking emails, social networks, media coverage of our artists and replying to as many emails or messages I can. Mainly I get my India calls and emails done super early with the time difference they are usually waiting for my responses! Some days start off with breakfast meetings some with skype calls. It all depends on clients you are in current PR with and where they are in the world. I usually grab some breakfast post workout.
1000 – Luckily for me our music industry doesn’t rise till midday onwards but my India clients are all usually waiting for phone calls, media schedules and interviews. When we have press tours going on everyone’s press schedules are complete which means speaking to media from across the globe booking up air time. It can vary a lot from going to a morning meeting or doing office work in the morning and heading out at night.
1200 – By midday I am usually out of the house usually travelling to a different city! My job has a lot of travelling local and international. I mainly split my time between London and Dubai.
1300 – Usually photoshoots and overlooking client shoots for press shots, music artwork. The day can vary from overlooking shoots to going for press interviews, office work from film, music and fashion.
1600 – Live radio interviews can last from 10 minutes to one hour and photoshoots can last up to all day! There are times when 2/3 artists will have interviews on the same day but in different parts of the world so coordinating and having a good memory (and a note in my phone) helps me manage several press schedules at once!
1700 – If there are any evening events to attend sometimes (Mainly Dubai) events, Launches, networking events we usually wrap to begin the dress up! Sometimes it can get chaotic trying to manage your own life alongside about other people and making sure they are all doing well. I have a team of freelance staff who work on projects when needed to help!
1900 – Home! Hometime varies a lot! Actually every day. There is no set time in PR. As years have gone on I have cut down on the late shoots. If I am cooking I am usually at the same time booking airtime and coverage with my Canadian media. Working to different time zones we have to have some flexibility and accommodating! There is time like recently we were working on Satinder Sartaaj’s HAMZA album he was in Punjab then LA so covering all aspect of time and press can get manic.
2000 – Me time! I like to watch some TV if and when I am home and yes I have a few Indian TV, which, I like to catch up on every time I am home. Or I record all the shows and fast forward watch them in super quick mode!
2200 – Logged on back to work, by now I usually have a tonne of emails sent to me current client questions, new music sent to me, business enquiries. I like to sit down and do the emails at night once my day is over and I can focus. I try and reply to each email within the 24 hour time frame! I do believe if someone’s taken the time out to write to you, you should always reply!
2300 – I love to write press releases at night, I’m a night owl and I think this industry has made me like this! At night when there is no distractions, no phones going off, family, TV I enjoy writing and planning! I usually write for an hour or so.
3 words to describe your day?
Mad, Hectic and Busy
Tell me about Sahdev Media
Sahdev Media is a Public Relations Media agency; we work with mainly launching and promoting music around the world. Over the years we have worked with Satinder Sartaaj, Lakhwinder Wadali, Jassi Sidhu, PBN, RDB, Superwoman – the list is endless. We coordinate media interaction for the celebrity and promote their latest projects. We are now mainly focused on Films, Music and Fashion. As a publicist we are brought on board to obtain press coverage and brand understanding for our client. We are most often the middleman between the high-profile personality and members of the media.
Where did the passion of public relations come from?
I am an ex BBC Journalist and went in to the media line at a very young age. My father is a business man and I guess I have his genes of wanting to get into business eventually. I left the BBC and set up my own PR firm and my first project was RDB and Snoop Dogg’s Singh is Kingg. I have always been good at networking and talking to people. Everyone used to say “you’ll be good at PR” so I thought I’d give it a try! 7 years on we are blessed to have represented clients around the world from Film, TV and Music.
What does the future hold for you?
Right now Sahdev Media is growing at a very fast pace, We are currently shifting to the film market working with Punjabi Cinema handling all overseas promotions covering UK, US, Canada. We are developing new outlets in the overseas markets. We will be putting on some exceptional concerts in 2016 and European tours with some phenomenal artists. We will be launching another strand of the company which will be announced next year, hopefully. We will continue to represent good artists and projects.
How do you intend to utilise your platform to make sure we encourage more south-Asian women into the media industry?
I get a lot of girls messaging me on my social networks asking how to get in to business and I guess the only advice I can give is media is a very broad platform. Figure out what you want to do go do some work experience. I would love for more girls to get in to Journalism and PR. I have trained girls that have now gone off and set up their own businesses and I hope I can continue to help others. Media is a different field from the generic ‘Dr’, ‘Lawyer’ line of work but it’s very rewarding if you are willing to work the hard slog and show your talents! You need to definitely keep your families in the loop of your work/clients/ projects so they can understand your line of work.
Quick-fire
• One drink that gets you through the day? Water
• Person that gets you through the day? Me!
• Gadget that gets you through the day? My iPhone!
• Song that gets you through the day? Right now…. Hamdard from Ek Villain!
• Food that gets you through the day? Protein!
• What is your favourite time of the day? I think my morning workouts
