She is the ‘rain’ing queen in the crazy world of Pr and marketing. Meet the dynamic Shouger Merchant Doshi who founded Rainmaker Consults in 2018, working out of home with just two team members. So why call it ‘Rainmaker’? Supposedly, Shouger decided to call her marketing consultancy “Rainmaker” not just because it is her favorite legal thriller by John Grisham, but also because she felt that the marketing consultancy would quite literally, make it rain for all those who they collaborated with. And rain it did! With determination and hard work, her endeavour took off. And, how! Today, Rainmaker Consults has completed three years in business, working with over 200 brands, restaurants, hotels, properties etc. And now Shouger has a team strength of 40. Quite a huge feat!
Ask Shouger about ‘Rainmaker Consults Pr Agency, and she says, “I think I found my calling later in life and decided that I had to make up for the lost time. I always knew that mediocrity is not for me – so if I take on a client or a brand, that is our baby too and we will treat it as such and go all out in terms of strategy, execution, and communication.
What we do is all about storytelling. Today, it is a competitive world, and one needs to develop and deliver stories that build audiences—and make them stay connected with the brand we aspire to work towards always achieving success for the brands we work with as they become our extended family. Read on to know why “she is mad but she’s magic” Shouger deserves to be TheGlitz Super Woman!
Your journey has had many momentous milestones. Could you tell TheGlitzMedia about your life-changing journey that has moulded you to be what you are today?
I think everyone has an ‘Aha’ moment where they finally realized that everything in their life has led them to their career path and they have finally found their jam where they can thrive. I have a journalism degree, and a law degree and this led to me being a serial entrepreneur – none of which are related but my lifestyle pushed me into PR & marketing in the most amazing way and it has become second nature to me now to promote brands and as soon as I hear of a start-up or a new brand in any space I start thinking of how they should promote it.
Could you list 3 of your major achievements?
I wrote a book that was published by Penguin India during the lockdown and that was a big achievement for me because it was always my dream to write a book. I also think sustaining the agency during the pandemic and thriving thereafter, is a feat in itself. We have worked with over 150 brands in 3 short years and that is my greatest achievement.
What are the setbacks you have faced? How did you tackle these setbacks or challenges? And what lesson have you learned from it?
I think as an entrepreneur, you face a setback daily and what I realized later is that it is your response to it that can change and make your life easier. To be a business owner, you have to be able to live with risks and the day you accept the many challenges that you face daily with brands, with clients, with employees, and with the system, in general, will be less stressful. I decided after a lot of deliberation that I would start Rainmaker with 2 employees in an extra room in my home in 2018 and right when we started to hire and get an office space, COVID hit. But I didn’t take that as an end to my just-about-starting business, we realized social media was blowing up and we used our networks to plug in our online campaigns and a lot of clients came our way due to that, and luckily the momentum we built up pre-covid, we managed to sustain.
When you look back, what are the three qualities in you that have helped you become what you are today?
I am extremely motivated, I don’t accept mediocrity and I love my work
Who are the people who have been the wind behind your wings?
My husband, my son who is my whole heart and my team who is like my family.
Lastly, if there was a quote to define you, what would it be?
She’s mad but she’s magic, there is no lie in her fire.
