From IT to luxury: Amit Relan's journey with WOOT Luxe

The luxury market in India is flourishing with an expected valuation of around $200 billion by the year 2030 with a significant increase in awareness and acceptability of luxury event experiences.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Amit Relan, Co-Founder, of WOOT Luxe, a bespoke vertical of WOOT Factor Brand Architects, crafting unique luxury event experiences, delves into his journey of founding WOOT Luxe, what differentiates it from other players in the market, strategies for staying ingenious in a competitive market. Further, he discusses the steps taken to adapt WOOT Luxe services for catering to a global audience, the challenges faced during this expansion, a project which was a turning point for WOOT Luxe, and how transparency and communication contribute to the growth and success of WOOT Luxe. He emphasised: “Creative inspiration can come from anywhere – from lying down on your bed to eating a meal in a restaurant, watching a movie, to taking a stroll in nature.” Excerpts:

Your journey from the IT industry to founding WOOT Luxe has been quite remarkable. How did your background shape your approach to entrepreneurship in the events industry?

My IT industry background has contributed to the understanding of how technology is inevitable in any industry, keeping an eye on details where every software and service is different for every customer. Just like every event, experience is different.

Our journey from WOOT Factor to WOOT Luxe was propelled by the growth in the luxury market in India and how luxury brands were looking to create a strong foothold in India

Entrepreneurship to me simply means taking my team along to achieve a common goal and a vision, collectively. Owning a designation might be easy, but being a leader is what separates an entrepreneur and a mentor from everyone else.

The events industry is highly competitive. How do you differentiate WOOT Luxe from others, and what strategies do you employ to stay innovative in an ever-evolving market?

WOOT Luxe was created out of the pressing need to cater to the luxury industry. The way an event works for a corporate organisation is different from what a luxury experience is. WOOT Luxe understands the market and its demands; hence it creates customized brand experiences as per the category in which the brand operates in. For example, a luxury automobile brand's ideation process will be unlike a luxury beauty and personal care brand. In an ever-evolving market it's inevitable to keep upgrading and changing with the times. Our primary strategy is to do our homework about the brands that we work with. With WOOT Factor we have evolved into brand architects, a similar approach we employ for WOOT Luxe for our esteemed clients and weave a story for them and their brands. The idea is to create 'luxperiential' moments that will elevate the entire brand universe and experience for the attendees. An event or an experience is just the medium and not the end goal. We at WOOT focus on the end, that's where the relationship with our clients begins.

With your vision to expand internationally, what steps are you taking to adapt WOOT Luxe services to cater to a global audience, and what challenges do you anticipate in this expansion?

Taking WOOT Luxe internationally is the ultimate goal considering the main markets for these brands as well as their global headquarters. WOOT Luxe services focus on delivering the best brand experience, exceptional quality, and unmatched hospitality. These touchpoints remain consistent even for our global audience. We will now focus on cultural adaptations of our services, local vendor scouting to encourage resident businesses, and creating personalized brand experiences out of these. Challenges aren't too daunting if you look at it from our philosophy, being brand architects for more than a decade gives us the leverage to strategize under any circumstance till we are open to learning and adapting the culture of the target audience.

The task at hand now is to take our operations to international shores and liaise with the local services. Sometimes the language could be a barrier, but the language of excellence is understood by all. WOOT has been fortunate to work with like-minded individuals and that's our underlying strength.

Your commitment to delivering high-quality products and services is evident. Could you share a challenging situation you faced in maintaining these standards and how you navigated through it?

In the event sector, there's a dearth of foresight, unlike other sectors. An event or an experience can foresee a brand engagement for about 3 – 4 months. We try to work with brands beyond short-term engagements to create consistent properties and calendars that give us a consistent list of churning out the best work. Our recent challenge for WOOT Luxe was when we curated brand experiences at Godrej L'Affaire at March end of this year. It was a nearly 96% sustainable event and our biggest challenge was to ensure that all event properties were recyclable and sustainable. We got down to it and sourced vendors who could give us completely sustainable solutions to bring our creative designs to life, and the rest as they say is history! Similarly, we recently orchestrated a luxurious musical evening experience for esteemed clients from Delhi. There was a heavy downpour but the team aligned itself together to make sure we make strategic decisions and leave no stone unturned to give our clients a memorable experience. WOOT Luxe is designed to take on any challenge, and with our super-efficient team we are trained to think on our feet should a situation ask for it

Can you share a specific project or event that you consider a turning point for WOOT Luxe and why?

In 2015-2016 we entered the lesser-explored world of banking, a sector that wasn't known too much for events. With the ICICI Champions League, it helped us create a breakthrough and create a niche for ourselves in the BFSI sector.

In 2018, we ventured into the world of Real Estate to gain a better understanding of the sector. We partnered with Godrej Properties for multiple events for their RKS property which helped us in a big way to enter the realm of Real Estate companies.

Godrej L'affaire and projects for leading private banks will definitely be milestones for us that paved the way for our debut in the luxury brand experiences segment.

As a leader, you emphasize transparency and communication within your team. How do these values contribute to the success and growth of your company, and what challenges did you overcome in instilling this culture?

We emphasize our 'ubuntu culture', that is, one for all and all for one. Our work environment reflects it. Leadership is taking a team along towards victory or via various challenges. Hence, the most important arsenal for any leader is their human resource. In this case, my team is my strength, it's not possible to take on any task without dedicated and hardworking individuals who believe in you.

When we work with people, we work with humans with different levels of emotional intelligence. It is quite a challenge to understand each individual's strengths and weaknesses to harness their best.

The challenges are plenty when dealing with people hailing from diverse backgrounds and cultures, but this is never a deterrent for us. It gives us an opportunity to learn from everyone.

Come down to our office and witness how there is camaraderie on the floor, we believe in demolishing hierarchies by not compromising on respect and professionalism

Beyond the professional realm, you have an interest in sports. How does your adventurous spirit influence your leadership style and decision-making in the business?

Cricket is my passion, if not an entrepreneur the 22 yards is where you will find me! Any sport instills a 'never give up' attitude. My passion for sports has taught me to be resilient even in the face of adversaries. Sport teaches how to lose gracefully, knowing that there will always be another opportunity to perform better.

I'm both a leader and a team player. It's important to be equally comfortable and accepting by being on both ends of the spectrum. That also makes me a learner by default!

When you're on the field you need to adapt according to the situation, even if you had not foreseen something happening the way you had accounted for it.

In events, these situations keep happening when something doesn't go as planned and I've had to take a call even seconds before the show is about to commence!

I feel that sports have helped me become a better leader and I'll never give up playing cricket for that reason.

As a multifaceted individual, how do you manage to balance your various roles, and what advice would you give to others aspiring to thrive in the events management career?

It's not easy being an entrepreneur, business leader, son, husband, and cricket enthusiast all at once! I try my best to prioritize according to the situation. For aspiring event professionals I'd like to tell them to be very clear on the fact that it's not all glam and glitz, the hard work is equivalent (if not more at times) just like other professions. You will have to be prepared for anything and always keep a student mindset, you will learn something every day. I do too. That's what keeps me going. Always know why you wanted to get into this in the first place, that will always help you to remain focused and grounded.

How do you integrate your unique interests & experiences into the creative process at WOOT Luxe, and how does it contribute to the uniqueness of the events you curate?

We all learn from our experiences, that's what shapes us as individuals and makes us unique.

Creative inspiration can come from anywhere – from lying down on your bed to eating a meal in a restaurant, watching a movie, to taking a stroll in nature. It's not a faucet that switches on, it requires some sort of a stimulant. Let that stimulant be the work that you do and the results you wish to achieve.

Develop your knowledge bank. Be a voracious reader, audience, and consumer of things that add layers to your learning and create depth to your personality.

Interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, helps you learn about cultures, languages, food, practices, quirks, myths, and idiosyncrasies about human beings. Observe the world around you and always keep an open mind, be ready to be proven wrong and to say 'I don't know'!