Priyanka Murthy On Pairing Your Creativity & Analytical Self

Meet this incredible entrepreneur, brand builder, designer, litigator, investor, and mother.

Presented by Ascend Agency

Priyanka Murthy is a multi-hyphenated Florida native. She is an entrepreneur, brand builder, designer, litigator, investor, and mother. Priyanka is a walking contradiction who excels in her career and life by harnessing paradoxes.

For example, she is a very petite woman of color but is a formidable litigator who can command and win in any courtroom. She learned her litigation skills working for two of the best federal judges in Florida and then practiced in front of conservative white judges in the South.

Similarly, her stature and demeanor make her seem humble, which she uses to advance her position since no one ever sees her coming.

As she describes it, “Another significant is my mastery of both analytical problem solving and creative design. I’m able to analyze hard marketing data as effectively as I’m able to dream up and design fine jewelry concepts and marketing campaigns. Because I’m fluent in both data and design, I’ve been able to launch, lead, and scale a tech-enabled, try-before-you-buy luxury fine jewelry platform and scale it relatively fast
in a nimble lean startup manner.”

The unique and successful brand builder featured in the 2021 Forbes 1000 List is a former Fulbright Scholar. Her designer jewelry has been bought and worn by A-list celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Lawrence, Claire Danes, and Lupita Nyong’o.

However, Priyanka disclosed the many hurdles she had to deal with earlier in her life and career. As the child of immigrant entrepreneurs, she was uncertain of her future in the US. Her family traveled there on a business visa, so they had to establish a business that would sustain themselves and create jobs to secure their stay and avoid deportation.

There were many ups and downs, and this experience put in some risk
aversion. “To become an entrepreneur, and a successful one at that, I had the challenge of needing to overcome risk aversion. I overcame this by literally practicing taking risks; I started taking small, incremental risks, and the sum total taught me how to take large risks,” she adds.

The litigator suggests that you invest in the work, be bold, and persist in the face of adversity and setback to do anything meaningful and exceptional. Priyanka very candidly shares that would-be entrepreneurs or professionals often talk about all the opportunities and things they wish they had, yet they put boundaries and barriers in their way. For example, you cannot have rigid boundaries regarding work-life balance or ideas of what “should” be a certain way or not.

You have to be driven, relentless, and elegant. Even when there are no self-created boundaries, you must be bold and dare to do things others don’t do. The designer concludes, “Again, you should find a way to put fear and doubt aside and push through even and especially in the face of discomfort.”

A few years from now, the multi-hyphenated entrepreneur aims to build the several brands she currently directs into high-growth, profitable, and recognizable entities, i.e., the jewelry, healthcare, and blockchain brand to which she is a principal. Priyanka also strives to be a sought-after mentor for other startup brands to have a hand in shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs and brand builders.