500+ women, new friendships and countless memories at our biggest flagship experience (yet)!
after just over two months of planning, the day was finally here. on sunday, the 11th of december, we hosted our first 500+ women event; the biggest and brightest leap (af)fair yet!
this edition, held at dlf promenade in new delhi, was unlike anything we had done before. here’s a quick flashback: the first (af)fair started as a post-pandemic experiment with 200 women in gurgaon last year and was a raging success for our first. we went on to host (af)fairs across mumbai and bengaluru throughout the year and always sold out quickly.
as a professional network that thrives on the creation of lasting connections, we understand the importance of in-person interactions deeply and experientially. so we knew we had to make our next edition in delhi ncr (also our home ground) a lot bigger, better and grander.
and needless to say, it was! in case you missed it, here it is in all its glory: catch up on everything that went down and the highlights that we have etched in our hearts forever.
👭 speed networking sessions, in signature leap.club style
160 women, 3 rounds, 8 minutes each with prompted conversations — a recipe for instant connections where members enter as strangers and leave as friends! “i love her already; i’m so glad i met her!” said priya chhabra as she left with her new friend after a speed-networking round.
this much-loved format continues to be a hit, prompting discussions around exciting projects worked on, skill sets to be proud of, and more.
🎪 a curated flea market featuring member-owned brands
after receiving hundreds of enquiries, narrowing down to just 6 brands was difficult! with much deliberation, we were proud to host zariin by vidhi gupta, qua by rupanshi agarwal, d’you by shamika haldipukar, tann trim by mansi kindra, fix my curls by anshita mehrotra and artkritique by krittika mittal. trust us when we say that retail therapy feels 10x better when you’re buying (with and) from your fellow community members!
these founders came away ecstatic at how the day went: attendees were perfect matches to their business’s target groups, and some even sold out & needed replenishment. one member mentioned that she had more sales on the day than her daily orders on nykaa! 👀
we also had an experiential corner by aruna chawla, co-founder at salad. members came together and celebrated the female form through painting boards set up by her, and she offered boxes of her product — salad condoms — free of charge to everyone who visited. talk about women taking charge 💪
📣 the dialogue
we had shefta nanda, sr director at adidas and megha chawla, partner at bain & company come together and host a dialogue on ‘bridging the confidence gap’. from how to operate from a place of self-assurance, to understanding where confidence comes from and how to build it, to addressing emotions at work and when to operate objectively; shefta and megha shared relevant and insightful pieces of advice. ‘stand your ground and believe that what you’re doing is right, once you’ve put in the hours and done the work!’
members came away not just feeling heard and understood, but also with tactical tools and processes to deal with the challenges that come with being a woman at the workplace.
we then had radhika vaz take over and host an engaging discussion, where we thought through topics like what work-life balance really looks like for women, navigating teams when you’re one of the few women in the room, and about how women tend to give too much importance to imposter syndrome and the triggers that cause it. needless to say, radhika owned the room and left everyone in splits, with lots to think about.
🍲 all of this alongside cult-favourite food stalls and free-flowing spirits
from quintessential vietnamese summer rolls at the vietnam-ease caphe to delicious gourmet sandwiches at pete’s deli, the famous scrumptious prawn udon noodles called “send noods” by the grammar room, to a variety of soft-shelled tacos by birria and a signature thin-crust pizza by baking bad — ngl, we’re still thinking about all that food.
did we mention free-flowing brewhouse iced tea, atmosphere kombucha (women-led, woohoo!), and an abundance of other spirits courtesy roku gin, toki whiskey and jim beam bourbon? cocktails on the house, of course!
🎙️ with a backdrop of live music
drawing all of this to a joyous close, we ended with a performance by singer-songwriter kamakshi khanna; safe to say our members were left swooning and swaying at her voice; the perfect end to a perfect sunday :)
through all of this, however, what made us the happiest is all the love we received. seeing meaningful friendships being built in real-time, watching 500+ women come and celebrate, let loose and have fun, alongside thinking about who we are and the impact we can create together; this is the stuff that makes our world go round.
whether it’s sunakshi and shatabdi walking in as strangers and leaving as friends through sharing a gift hamper they won, or adhishree whose bad day turned around with the infectious energy during speed networking, or mitull who came as a plus one and realised the power of spaces like these; it’s our members who really make the experience what it is.
we’re forever grateful to you folks who make it all worth it.
we couldn’t have said it better than anushka in her post:
and here’s a glimpse of what other members are saying:
with warm hearts and big smiles on our faces, we’re closing the year on a high. but it’s not long before we do it all again: we have two exciting leap (af)fairs lined up in bengaluru and mumbai next: feb 26th, 2023, and april 2023 respectively.
see you there?
– ragini, anand and your friends at leap.club
