An Interview with Kiran Soans, Founder, Gold Rush

One of the most inspirational and motivational sessions till date, our conversation with Kiran Soans kept us hooked to our screens and engrossed for the entire 50 minutes.

To mark the 101st session of the 3rd season of the Instagram Live Series on the 13th of August at 6pm we were joined by an incredibly talented and versatile event and hospitality professional, Kiran Soans who gave us an insight into his journey in the industry and his take on the impact of the pandemic on businesses globally.

His Story

As the Founder of ‘World Hunger Warriors’ and the CEO of ‘Gold Rush Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’ as well as ‘Mercureal Sports’ and in the recent years working closely with a global initiative in aid of charity, ‘WOAP – World On A Plate’ Kiran has been a part of several exciting projects and initiatives over the course of his 20 years being in the industry.

Kiran is quick to point out the benefits of using virtual platforms such as Instagram, where we can focus on discussing more important topics in depth which otherwise tends to get overlooked. Talking about his time in the industry, he says that life as an event manager is forever exciting and constantly evolving as the years go by.

As the world comes to a standstill today, it is time for us all to reset, to use this opportunity to take the plunge and be open to changes, reinvent and invest in new and challenging ideas and take on certain risks.

His love for the industry dates back to his days in college, where he was an active member of the annual spring festival at Christ College. He came to realize that in order to make a career in the event industry, all it required was the understanding of a few key concepts and the will to keep going even when faced with challenging times.

Over the years, Mercureal went on to become one of the biggest below the line companies and while being in the industry poses several shortcomings, it is in experiencing them that they are able to keep themselves motivated and continue to maneuver their businesses.

Kiran went on to speak about the lack of appreciation and recognition that the event industry receives in spite of it being one of the largest contributors of the country’s GDP. 

The dedication, commitment, hard-work and passion that is seen across the event fraternity makes him feel extremely proud to be a part of and strongly believes that there is no situation that they are not prepared for.

An interesting fact about our speaker is that he was responsible for introducing the country to Bungee jumping in the year 1999 and is till date one of his proudest achievements. 

His work experience ranges across the hospitality, event and the sporting sector along with fine dining experiences. Kiran shares with us his experience working with Malaysian Tourism, working with some of the best chefs in the world and his role in adventure sport ventures.  

He speaks to us in length about the global culinary venture, ‘World On a Plate’ and his experience and journey interacting with chefs from around the world, dealing with crisis and maintaining satisfactory customer servicing.   

Kiran invites the event community and the general public to come forward to lend a helping hand in these distressing times. His contribution towards feeding the poor and displaced citizens who are facing the brunt of the pandemic goes a long way in showing his humanitarianism and is truly appreciated by those who know him.

We are then given a detailed understanding of a few important concepts that are relevant to the industry today and how his failures led to greater success. Kiran pointed out an important life lesson during which he said that it is better to focus on the things that go right in your life rather than those that do not. This mantra has proven to be effective more than once for him and is what he believes is the key to a successful and exciting career. 

We then discussed the current scenario of the hospitality and tourism industry in the country and how the government needs to make a conscious effort to work towards its revival.

Parting message

“Firstly, learn how to survive – stay put, slog it out to survive the next few months. It is only a temporary phase, humanity knows how to come out of it, they always have a way. In spite of the difficult times, we have all learned something and are learning to cope with the changing times. There is a lot to take back from this experience.

Secondly, upskill in the field that you are passionate about, do not be afraid to ask for help and reach out to your mentors to guide you and the last but most important thing is to stay committed to your vision and be relentless in its pursuit.”