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By:

Divyaa Advaani 

2 November 2024 at 8:58:38 am

Your First Impression Is Delegated

A prospective partner called your office last week. You do not know his name. You were not told he called. The phone rang four times before it was answered, he was asked to repeat himself, and he was promised a callback that arrived two days later as a message with no greeting. He formed an opinion of you in under three minutes. You were not in the room, and you will never know that opinion existed. Most founders believe their personal brand begins when they walk into a meeting. It does not....

Your First Impression Is Delegated

A prospective partner called your office last week. You do not know his name. You were not told he called. The phone rang four times before it was answered, he was asked to repeat himself, and he was promised a callback that arrived two days later as a message with no greeting. He formed an opinion of you in under three minutes. You were not in the room, and you will never know that opinion existed. Most founders believe their personal brand begins when they walk into a meeting. It does not. It begins at the first point of contact, and in any business of real size, that point is almost never the founder. It is the assistant who manages your calendar. The sales executive who sends the first proposal. The person who handles your WhatsApp, the receptionist, the coordinator who confirms the meeting. These people speak for you every day, in your name, using your reputation, and most of them have never been told what that reputation is supposed to feel like. Many are loyal, hardworking and capable. That is not the issue. The issue is that nobody ever showed them what a first impression of this founder should feel like. Here is what a prospective client experiences. They do not separate you from your team. They cannot. To them, the speed of a reply is how seriously you take them. The tone of the first email is the tone of your leadership. A proposal with a spelling error, a late response, a careless "will check and let you know" becomes evidence about the person at the top. If this is how the organisation presents itself while trying to win my business, they reason, this is how it will treat me once I have signed. And they never tell you. They simply go quiet. The deal that stalls after a promising first call. The partner who becomes "busy". The client who chooses a competitor and offers a reason that has nothing to do with the real one. Across a year, that is every enquiry that stalled, every proposal left unanswered, every introduction that never became a meeting. This is a personal brand problem, not a staffing one. A founder can spend years refining how they present in a room and still lose the room before they enter it, because the impression was formed by someone else, in a conversation the founder was never part of and never heard about. The founders who avoid this are not the ones with the most polished staff. They are the ones who have made their brand legible to the people around them. Their team knows how the founder speaks, what the business stands for, what warmth looks like in a reply, how a delay should be explained and how a client should feel in the first thirty seconds. The team is not following a script. They are carrying a standard, because someone took the time to define it. When did you last experience your own business the way a stranger does? Not a test call arranged with your team's knowledge. A real one. Send a first enquiry from a number nobody recognises. Notice how long it takes to be answered, what the tone is, and whether you would want to do business with whoever replied. Then ask yourself honestly whether that person sounds like you, and whether you would be proud to be represented that way. If the answer is uncomfortable, it is worth acting on now. Every week of that experience is a week someone forms a verdict about you without your knowledge. Your personal brand is not only what you say. It is everything said on your behalf. If you have a suspicion about how your business is being experienced before you ever walk in, that suspicion deserves a direct, focused brand consultation, not a casual chat. Book yours here: https://www.calendly.com/divyaaadvaani/founder-brand-audit — Divyaa Advaani, Personal Branding Strategist (The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries. Views personal.)

I refuse to believe he is dead: Sister

Writer: Dr. Abhilash Dawre
Dr. Abhilash Dawre
Jun 12, 2025
2 min read

Badlapur: A tragic Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad airport has claimed the lives of all 242 passengers onboard, including Badlapur resident and senior cabin crew member, Deepak Pathak, plunging the town into deep sorrow. The ill-fated flight was en route from Ahmedabad to London when the devastating accident occurred, shocking the nation and leaving families heartbroken.

 

Deepak Pathak, a dedicated employee of Air India for over 11 years, was known for his professionalism and warmth. On the morning of the crash, Deepak had informed his mother over a phone call that he was leaving from Ahmedabad for London. As usual, he sent his mother a “Good Morning” message and said, “Mom, I’m leaving now.” It was the last communication the family received from him.

 

Initially, when news of the crash broke, the family was gripped by anxiety. Deepak's phone became unreachable, and later, though it began to ring, no one answered—fueling hopes that he may have survived. However, the lack of official confirmation from Air India has left the family in a painful state of limbo.

 

While Speaking to, 'The Perfect Voice', Deepak's younger sister, Srishti Pathak, expressed disbelief. “Unless Air India confirms officially that my brother is no more, I refuse to believe it. I feel like he is still there,” she said, holding back tears. “We’re just watching the news and hoping for a miracle.”

 

Deepak's brother-in-law shared, “He was an executive crew member flying to London. Air India has arranged a special flight for us at 5 AM to the crash site for identification. But so far, we have no clear information.”

 

Family members, friends, and neighbors have gathered at the Pathak household in Badlapur, offering emotional support to the grieving family. His elder sister, Varsha Pathak, recalled how their mother first saw the news and immediately informed the rest of the family, fearing the worst.

 

The community of Badlapur stands united in grief, remembering Deepak not only as a devoted professional but also as a kind-hearted son, brother, and friend. His untimely demise has left a void in the hearts of many who knew and admired him.

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