- Hyki Fitness Studio CEO
Manisha Interview
In recent years, women have done quite well and have taken the world by storm! Many “shepreneurs” have successfully founded their own startups in India and changed the lives of thousands of people around them. They have succeeded in creating their own businesses from scratch, despite all odds and failures, through sheer determination and an unwavering work ethic. Today, we have with us a 25-year-old young entrepreneur, Manisha, who is changing the face of the fitness industry in the city of Hyderabad with her start-up, Hyki Fitness Studio. She is the daughter of Hallmark Infracon MD Gopala Krishna. The youngster did her MA in luxury and brand management before she started expanding her own wings in business.
“I was here for a vacation, and lockdown hit us. I became stuck there. It is also the time when we moved from Jubilee Hills to Manikonda and couldn’t find a proper gym in the area, and it was getting difficult for us to travel to Jubilee Hills during lockdown. So we decided to set up a home gym. However, a home gym cannot have all the equipment that an actual gym has. That’s when my dad and I decided to start a luxury fitness studio here, and that’s how it all started,” said Manisha, who calls herself a hands-on boss now.
She is implementing all the techniques she learned during her course abroad, and thanks to it, her fitness studio’s name has reached cricket legend Virat Kohli. The actor visited Hyki recently, and he was all praise for the youngster’s efforts and management of the luxury gym. We can say Hyki is a byproduct born out of a true passion for fitness. Manisha was once 120 kg, and her determination to stay fit and healthy made her lose more than 45 kg. She was body shamed and called names;
however, her willpower never let her down. This alone proves there’s no one better than her to start a luxury fitness studio in the city. Speaking about what Hyki has to offer its clients, Manisha said, “I always wanted my gym to be different from the rest. Be it the aesthetics, the ambience, or my fitness programmes, they give you a different vibe altogether. We have curated a mixed fitness programme for the Hyderabad audience. People of all shapes and sizes are welcome, and not even once will they feel self-conscious about their size or shape at our fitness studio. “We ensure there’s no body shaming.”
Coming back to Manisha, she dons the role of a CEO, but she has completely immersed herself in building a brand of her own. She involves herself in daily operations, brand management, fitness plans, mentoring clients, curating workshops, and everything and anything. She is also planning to venture into the F&B industry because, why not? Being the daughter of an established businessman, you might think this entrepreneurial journey might be a cakewalk for Manisha, but she begs to differ. “Initially, it was very challenging. because it was written down.
Moreover, people were not ready to accept the concept we were trying to introduce. They didn’t understand that it was a lifestyle change. So it was really challenging for us to initially get this into their minds and make them understand. We had to be very patient. Then we had to change the way we sold ourselves. We had to create a presentation. And then we had to do a lot of marketing and different activities that traditional businesses do. Thanks to my capabilities and intelligence, we’ve come up with solutions that we are able to sustain, and we are definitely seeing growth,” said Manisha.
Manisha is involved in many of her dad’s business activities. She is very practical in that way, although passionate about entrepreneurship. She said, “I would love to make money because it is very important in terms of the business industry. I would love to be a serial entrepreneur, but I also want to make money. So I’ll take it up again when my father is ready to retire.” With her intelligence, background, and entrepreneurial skills, we are hoping to see Manisha empower more women in the country and nurture young minds.
