There were so many gems in this conversation that I thought I concise it in an article as many may not have the patience for the intensive 45-minute interview. While I cannot do justice to his phenomenal storytelling and voice, here are some of the learnings that I picked up from him:
Consistency
Hrishi leaves for the studio from his Andheri home at 6:10 am. He has his dose of caffeine and then begins his marathon 5-hour breakfast show which has multiple elements. After performing till noon, he gets down to prepare for the next day’s show and continues till 5:00 pm. The evenings are reserved for his gigs outside of radio like voice overs etc.
He has this same gruelling schedule for five days a week since the last 20+ years. Even after achieving top awards in the industry, he consistently continues to strive for excellence.
Agility
If you’re at the top of your industry since decades, why do you need to do something different, right?
Well, even though Hrishi has a state-of-the-art studio system and dedicated team members at the radio station, he had been assembling a fully-functional home studio and teaching himself aspects of editing and video – which were outside his area of expertise. When the COVID-19 lockdown happened and many radio professionals felt paralysed working from home, Hrishi was self-sufficient and launched his morning show immediately from home!
Humility
Despite having interviewed and worked with top Indian and international celebrities, Hrishi still has no air around him, still prepares intensely for his shows and himself does a lot of production work he can easily outsource.
Pitch
Most people are not mindful of the pitch of their communication. You wish “good morning” but your pitch makes it sound like anything but a good morning. By being conscious of your pitch, you can convey the complete meaning of your intended communication.
Character
“Mudit, people may fall in love with the voice, but they stay in love with the character” As a listener, I have always enjoyed Hrishi’s show because he focusses on delivering immense value to this audience. His show ranges from investment advice to technology and from music and movies to books.
Even if Hrishi is having a “bad-voice” day, his listeners don’t mind because they are in love with his character.