Redefining Business Success: Branding, Harmony, and Building Your Own Table with Puja Malhotra
This week on The Chaotic Middle, Puja Malhotra joined me to talk about founding Roop Creative Agency, redefining business success on her own terms, and why she'd rather build her own table than fight for a seat at someone else's.
Before we even got into business talk, I had to ask Puja the question I'd been dying to ask since I saw it on her website: how did she end up holding Beyoncé's hand at a concert with the singer's weave literally in her mouth?
Short answer: a bold friend, sexy eyes directed at a tour manager, and pure luck. It remains one of the best days of her life, right up there with her wedding and the birth of her son … which I totally get!
Now, let’s get into how Puja is designing a business that supports her life while helping business owners develop brands and websites that they can be proud of for years to come.
From Corporate Dropout to Creative Founder
Puja spent eight years in corporate before walking away, and her honest self-assessment is simple: she wasn't good at the smoozing. She wanted her work to speak for itself, but corporate ladders aren't climbed on results alone.
"I realized very quickly that's not how you grow in corporate."
Running her own business gave her something corporate never did — a direct connection between effort and outcome, and the freedom to network for her own dream instead of someone else's.
Work as an Anchor Through IVF and Loss
Puja's fertility journey started with an ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery. That experience then launched a six-year path through IVF. During that uncertainty, work became something she could control when nothing else felt controllable.
"Everything in my personal life... was something that I felt like I did not have control over. And so even though there were ups and downs, I felt this connection to work that helped me meditate my way back into a former reality."
As someone who also has experienced an ectopic pregnancy years after having my tubes tied, I find a strange comfort in talking with another woman who experienced a similar event. While our conversation around this topic was hard, it’s also a good reminder that these losses happen more often than we talk about, and finding someone who simply understands makes a real difference.
Living Between Two Cultures
As the daughter of Indian immigrants raised in Canada, Puja grew up split between two versions of herself: one at home, one outside of it. The mindset she inherited was clear. If she said yes to everything and worked hard, positive results would follow.
Unlearning that took years. Saying no to clients who didn't understand her value as a brand designer, rather than just someone who "makes things look pretty," was a hard conversation with parents who had sacrificed enormously to give her opportunities they never had. But once Puja started staying true to herself, her business exploded… in a good way.
"The minute I started saying no is when more of those great opportunities started showing up."
Pivoting the Business (More Than Once)
Ten years in, Puja's business looks nothing like it did on day one. She started as a one-stop agency offering everything, then realized that model wasn't sustainable.
She eventually dropped social media services entirely to focus on what actually moved the needle: branding and websites. She switched up her packages so they now worked for entrepreneurs at different growth stages. She had website minis and brand kits for beginners all the way to full scaling packages for established founders.
Building a Table, Not Fighting for a Seat
While Puja is certainly an incredible designer and powerhouse businesswoman, this next part of our conversation is what I loved most about her.
Without a mentor who understood her full experience as a woman, a mom, and a creative, Puja started mentoring emerging designers herself. What began as volunteer advice for college students turned into a structured program.
"I want to build a table. I'm not looking for a seat at anybody's table."
She's also built a collective of trusted collaborators in ads, copywriting, and photography. Even if her clients are looking for services she doesn’t personally offer, she knows that they will always land in good hands. Competition, she says, was never the answer. Collaboration is.
Redefining What Success Actually Looks Like
Here's where the conversation got really good. Puja doesn't chase seven-figure headlines, because she's learned to ask the question most people skip: what are you actually bringing home? Revenue isn't profit, and profit isn't take-home pay.
"When I shifted that mindset, I stopped spiraling as much."
She prefers to use "harmony" over "balance.” She hasn’t built a business that is designed to impress strangers on Instagram (although I’d argue … we’re impressed out here!), but instead she focuses on creating one that lets her sign off at 3:30 and pick up her son from school without asking permission.
That same philosophy fueled her new podcast, co-hosted with a fellow founder, aimed squarely at business owners stuck in the ignored "messy middle.” They speak to entrepreneurs who are past the startup stage, not yet at seven figures, and doing just fine anyway.
Answering the Chaotic Questions
If you could go back and talk to your 2005 self, what would you tell her?
Fear is the only thing standing in your way. Just do it.
A new mom comes to you for advice. What's the first thing you tell her?
Time heals all. Allow yourself to be in the chaos. It's okay to ask for help. That was something that I had a really hard time with… asking for help and then setting those boundaries. But once I set those boundaries, once I asked for the help, once I had things in place, it was almost like I could start managing my schedule again. I could start taking control over my life again. But you have to allow yourself to lose that control sometimes too because it goes by so fast.
What do you hope your kids remember about this time?
I want him to remember the time that I spend with him. I want to repeat [traditions my parents had for our family] for my son because none of us realized how valuable that quality time was for us until we all moved out and we lost it. And so I want my son to remember the time that I spend with him, the quality time. So if there's dishes in the sink or if there's whatever after school, I just want like a half an hour where the two of us sit down and we just chat.
Where to Find Puja
Connect with Puja on Instagram, explore her agency’s website, and check out her podcast for founders navigating the in-between stages of business: We’ll Circle Back.
Want to Hear More Stories Like This?
If this episode resonated with you, you'll love The Chaotic Middle Podcast! These are my honest conversations with real people navigating work, life, and everything messy in between. We laugh a little and learn a lot.
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Because success looks different for everyone. Maybe it's time to redefine yours too.
