Careers in public relations and communications are often misunderstood. From the outside, they can appear glamorous — events, press coverage, brand visibility. In reality, they demand stamina, clarity of thought, emotional intelligence, and the ability to perform under sustained pressure.
In this episode of Unblur the Path, Anahita shares a deeply grounded account of how a career in communications is actually built — through deliberate choices, skill accumulation, and the ability to adapt without losing direction.
Discovering an Interest in People, Not Just Content
Anahita’s professional journey began during her undergraduate years, when she completed a BA (Honours) in Sociology at Venkateshwara College, Delhi. While working on college newsletters, student interviews, and cultural events, she realised something important: she was less interested in producing content for its own sake, and more drawn to understanding how people think, decide, and respond.
That insight led her to pursue a PGDM in Public Relations and Communications from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. It was not a conventional or well-mapped path at the time — but it aligned with her growing interest in behaviour, perception, and influence.
Entering the PR Industry Without Shortcuts
There were no campus placements waiting at the end of her degree. Like many young professionals, Anahita had to search independently for opportunities. She spent a short period in an administrative role at a CAD centre while continuing to apply for PR roles — a phase that tested patience and confidence.
Her first break came at a small boutique PR firm in Delhi, with a team of just seven people. The scale was modest, but the exposure was significant. She worked directly with senior leaders, built media relationships from scratch, and learned the fundamentals of PR by doing — not observing from the sidelines.
This early phase was demanding, but formative. It gave her confidence, resilience, and a realistic understanding of what the profession requires.
Learning the Craft: PR as a Discipline
As Anahita progressed through roles at agencies such as Practice Communications, MSL India, and Weber Shandwick, her responsibilities expanded across multiple dimensions of PR:
- Writing and shaping narratives
- Media relations and journalist pitching
- Partnerships and collaborations
- Event planning and execution
- Stakeholder and client management
- Crisis communications
She worked across diverse sectors including healthcare, telecom, IT, fintech, education, and hospitality. One particularly meaningful healthcare project involved bringing survivors and fighters together at Fortis, highlighting the role of communication in emotional and mental wellbeing — not just visibility.
Through this exposure, Anahita came to distinguish clearly between PR and communications:
- PR defines what story needs to be told.
- Communications determines how, where, and to whom that story is delivered.
Moving From Execution to Strategy
Over time, Anahita discovered her strengths lay in strategic thinking and collaboration. She developed a structured approach to strategy that involved:
- Defining clear objectives
- Understanding the target audience deeply
- Researching what drives engagement
- Breaking large goals into actionable steps
- Balancing short-term outputs with long-term outcomes
- Testing ideas through case studies and brainstorming
- Reviewing, reflecting, and refining continuously
This shift from execution to strategy marked an important phase in her professional evolution.
Navigating Global Transitions
Anahita’s career also spans geographies. She moved to the United States, living in Boston and New York for six years on a dependent visa. While unable to work formally, she volunteered with a communications company for three years — continuing to learn and stay connected to her field.
The experience exposed her to different cultural approaches to communication:
- The US market values speed and visibility.
- The UK market tends to be more subtle and measured.
After returning to India during COVID following her mother’s passing, Anahita launched an artisan platform promoting handmade products. Soon after, she moved to the UK, leveraging professional relationships built over years. By reconnecting with a former boss who had London clients, she re-entered the industry — initially working Indian hours before transitioning fully into UK-based roles.
Leadership on the Client Side
Today, Anahita is the Group Communication Head at an edtech company in London. Having moved from agency-side work to the client side, her role is now primarily strategic.
She leads agency partners across India and Dubai, contributes to leadership and business development discussions, designs communication frameworks for educational products, and coordinates campaigns across geographies — all while addressing the challenge of engaging students in a short-attention-span digital environment.
Challenges, Resilience, and Perspective
Her journey has not been without strain: intense deadlines, crisis situations stretching from early mornings to late nights, repeated career restarts due to international moves, and periods of self-doubt and burnout during motherhood.
What helped her cope were simple but effective practices:
- Accepting that results in PR take time
- Creating private spaces to process frustration
- Journaling to organise thoughts
- Building support systems for perspective
- Staying practical and moving forward after rejection
Advice for Those Considering PR and Communications
Anahita’s guidance is clear and grounded in experience:
- Begin on the agency side for exposure and learning
- Invest in storytelling, clear thinking, and networking
- Build and maintain strong media and professional relationships
- Use your network — especially during relocations
- Change organisations periodically to accelerate growth
Her underlying philosophy is refreshingly honest: you do not need to have everything figured out at the start. Growth comes from experience, reflection, and the willingness to evolve.
Mummy, Kahani Sunao! 