Agile Businesses: Rohan Goswami Of ZOOZ Group On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face Of Disruptive Technologies

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t be afraid to fail at first. We all can not get things right on the first try. It’s not about how you fall but about how you get back up.

As a part of my series about the “How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant in The Face of Disruptive Technologies”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rohan Goswami.

Rohan Goswami, Head of Talent of globally-recognized talent agency, ZOOZ Group, has set out to improve, challenge, and elevate the standard for talent-agent relationships. At the peak of the global pandemic, Rohan was tasked with spearheading the development of and launch of ZOOZ US Talent Division. His personal strengths of connecting with people, forward-thinking, and exceptional drive has already grown the US front of ZOOZ Group at an annualized rate of 990%.

As a businessman who sees relationships in 3 dimensions, Rohan has created a space for brands and individuals to establish personal connections and expand on opportunities through mutually beneficial relationships. Rohan values the importance of interpersonal connections, which is reflected in the collaborations he has brought together. This has resulted in growing the ZOOZ US capital by over $3 Million within the first year.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series Rohan. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Thank you for having me! My name is Rohan Goswami, I am a first-generation Indian-American. My parents immigrated from India because they wanted me and my brother to have a better education. They taught me everything about having a good work ethic since I was little. I have always been somewhat of a person who does their own thing and doesn’t easily follow what everyone else is doing. I remember going to Laguna Beach once and seeing these TV shows and knew right then and there that I wanted a taste of that. I knew that, that’s where I needed to be, doing something in entertainment. I used to work 80–90 hours a week between jobs such as Bloomingdale’s and an overnight technician at treatment centers making minimum wage, while also running an entertainment company. My drive and passion is what led me to where I am today. I did not let any limitations stop me from doing what I wanted to do.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

The only funny mistake I can think of at the moment is, in the beginning I would try to get into contact with brands through Instagram, but then I saw that it didn’t bring any good leads, of course. The lesson I learned is that I needed to do hyper-targeted outreach using the right platforms, like LinkedIn and email to gain connections.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story

I would like to credit my parents for this. I would not be where I am today without their help. They have always been there supporting me from behind the scenes and I always knew even if something did not work out I could count on them to help fix anything or give me new ideas.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?

“Something I started doing from a young age was setting goals for myself. If you have a goal — you have a purpose. Like the article says, goals need to go beyond making profit, and for me, it’s about treating my clients as if they were my only client and making sure I satisfy the client is my main goal and purpose. I want to be able to let my clients see that they are in charge and I am just here to help navigate their ideas into a bigger platform.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you tell our readers a bit about what your business does? How do you help people?

ZOOZ Group is a leading global social media and influencer management agency. We specialize in forming close partnerships with client brands in order to understand and engage powerful influencers that hold extensive global audience reach. By applying our distinctive know-how and expert capabilities we’re able to cultivate and implement innovative marketing strategies that specifically target influencers — thereby ensuring your brand message and its reach is both reinforced and pervasive.

Which technological innovation has encroached or disrupted your industry? Can you explain why this has been disruptive?

I think TikTok is the main technological innovation that has disrupted this industry. TikTok started gaining traction around the beginning of the pandemic in late 2019/early 2020. For starters, people did not know what it was or how to use it or that you could even gain sponsors/ partners to influence the market. When the app first became popular it started out with just people being bored in the house showing off their dance moves, or how they make their iced coffees or their favorite things to buy on Amazon. It eventually became so big that last year it overtook Google as the most used internet site. So it’s interesting to see how fast it has blown up in just a year. As soon as brands saw how much people enjoyed the app everyone wanted to find the next big trend to start so they could go viral.

What did you do to pivot as a result of this disruption?

For my clients, we immediately researched viral trends on the app and brought on a team to stay updated on any new trends from TikTok that we could hop on. I think overall we just made sure to stay updated. We wanted to research to make sure that we actually knew what we were doing. It’s a new app and could be confusing to newcomers. It took awhile for us to get the hang of it and get into the groove of things but once we learned it it became very easy to maneuver.

Was there a specific “Aha moment” that gave you the idea to start this new path? If yes, we’d love to hear the story.

There’s not really a story. It’s just I decided to try the app out for myself to get a feel of how it is. I saw that people would be going viral for the smallest things and I always wondered how they were able to do it. There isn’t really a trick to it except just remaining consistent with posting and using the correct hashtags or trending sounds.

So, how are things going with this new direction?

Great, all of my clients who are influencers on TikTok have well over 60 thousand followers, some even topping 13 million followers.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this pivot?

Since starting this pivot, I have been able to see that most people really just want to have a community, that’s why social media is so powerful today. People want to be able to relate to others and see themselves in someone they look up to. That’s why I make being relatable so important to my clients. Even with people I come across in person, I want to have a sense that this person is someone who can make a really big impact on my life and I can make a big impact on theirs too.

What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during a disruptive period?

Research, research, research. If a new technological innovation arises you should already be two steps ahead of everyone else in knowing how to use it, staying on top of trends, and seeing the effect it will have on people.

When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?

To me, making your team feel comfortable enough to be themselves brings out the best in results. I have noticed that when you are not making someone uncomfortable they are more likely to speak up whether or not they are an introvert or extrovert, they’re more likely to to be involved and so I make sure to tell my team don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re confused about anything.

Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?

Work together to achieve more. Although being able to complete a task by yourself is impressive, I believe through the hard times and even the good times the community within your company will help you to gain more insights on certain things and could help you get answers to problems faster.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make when faced with a disruptive technology? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

• Failing to support different learning styles
• Letting momentum fade away
• Failing to measure results

The best way to keep all of these things from happening is by researching the new technological

innovation.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to pivot and stay relevant in the face of disruptive technologies? Please share a story or an example for each.

• Don’t be afraid to fail at first. We all can not get things right on the first try. It’s not about how you fall but about how you get back up.
• Find your purpose. You should always have a reasoning of why you are doing what you do. Stick with it.
• Be able to change. New technology arises everyday, new trends are happening, you need to know what’s going on at all times. What your audience wants to see is most important.
• Research. I mention this a lot because it’s so important. You can not just dive into a new innovation without at least learning about it.
• Remain humble. Always thank those who have helped you along the way and those who support you. No one would be where they are today without some sort of support from those around them so always just thank your team.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

I have always felt that in succeeding it’s about your drive and passion. Getting into entertainment is hard and you’re going to have doubts but you can’t let that fear overtake your mind. I have always been one to take risks and my drive and passion is what made me be consistent and stay on course with my dreams. I refused to give up and because of that I am where I am today.

How can our readers further follow your work?

• LinkedIn: Zooz Group
• Website: Zooz.com.au
• Instagram: @zoozgroup
• TikTok: @zoozgroup

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

Thank you for such a fun interview!

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Agile Businesses: Rohan Goswami Of ZOOZ Group On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.