How many people do you know who work on a National holiday out of an empty office and calls it one of their most productive days in a year? Not many, right? But then again, he is a master in ‘doing things differently’ and is perhaps the most positive person I have met in a long time. Inspiring those around him comes naturally to him and he doesn’t bat an eyelid in praising his family or team as he credits them to be the force behind his stability – maybe this is the secret to his success along with the fact that he knows to optimally use the social media to his advantage. Avi Arya, the Chief Mogul @ Internet Moguls is a Brand today and one who truly makes ‘Fab 40s’ look fabulous indeed.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
His visiting card reads – Avi Arya, father of 2 Girls, 6 Dogs and husband to a Super Woman. I am a Street Car Racer, turned Hotelier, now Digital Marketer + Founder @ Internet Moguls. However, he is a lot more than that.
Born and brought up in Delhi, he did his schooling from Modern School Barakhamba and was pretty sure of going abroad for his further studies, but life had other plans. Held back due to some family issues, he got admission in Delhi University and got into racing etc., digressing from the path of serious studies, but well, that never was his calling anyway. He started helping his father in his hotelier business and this was just the time when internet had entered the India market. “I stumbled upon the Internet and the curious youth in me started exploring the possibilities of using it to my benefit. I started doing ‘internet marketing’ for my father’s hotel and soon enough the business started expanding manifold. I purchased many domain names, as was the trend at that time. Of these, tourism-India.com and cheapairticketsindia.com were two of our websites that started getting huge hits. This was also the time when MMT and Yatra.com entered the India market and approached us to divert traffic from our website to theirs and we started making money for queries that would actualise into a trip. Soon enough Trip Advisor came to India and asked me to join them for talks / lectures etc. as I had good knowledge of this field. This is where my confidence in stage speaking built up. So with confidence and experience by my side, my mother and I, along with a handful of people, started Internet Moghuls on August 15, 2009,” recalls Avi.
We all live by the ‘google’ today. From searching career options to looking for drawing ideas, people of all age groups surf the Internet for increasing their knowledge or for exploring more options and possibilities. But Avi started a company 10 years back and entered a field that was alien even to google. ‘Internet Marketing’ as an industry did not exist. There were no SOPs. There was no one who was an ‘experienced’ hand at doing ‘internet marketing’ for hotels and could come and join their company to help them establish business. Everything had to be done by self and from scratch.
A decade later, in a new office, with idols of Batman and Ironman to keep the vibe in check, a young and enthusiastic team of 225 pax in place, Avi Arya, at 42, is a lot wiser and calmer from the time he started. However, what has also grown with time, along with his business, in his hunger to achieve more. “I want to speak to a crowd of 100,000 people,” he says with a grin and hearing his story, I can safely say he is not far from his milestone. He is a man who has built his business on Social Media. Today, numerous hotel companies across the globe are working with Internet Moghuls and growing their business. His positivity and go-to approach has ensured that he is always ahead in the game, giving him that edge that many of his competitors lack. So is he worried about competition? “Not at all! Do you know how many people in this world are successful? – a mere 2% (!) because to put in that effort, to walk that extra mile, to not let complacency take you over is something not everyone can deal with. I want to be in that 2%,” says a determined Avi and if his success journey is anything to go by, I am sure he will achieve it far sooner than anticipated.
Raised by a woman; respecting women comes naturally to him, which is visible in the way he talks about his wife, a Super Woman, as he calls her, who while living in a different country (Vancouver, Canada), has always acted as a supporting pillar to Avi. An immigration office who also hosts a popular Radio Show in Canada, his wife and two daughters – Raya Arya (13) and Avianna Arya (9) are the positive source of energies that keep him grounded in life. A thorough movie buff, who loves watching movies alone or can binge-watch Netflix for 12 hours straight on an off day, Avi keeps his health quotient in check with limited partying and with the help of a personal trainer and never lets jet-lag settle-in, even as he alternates his life on two continents through the year. So is there no stopping this man from surging forward? We hope not (!) because he is meant to be in that “2% successful people” and looking at his stride, he will land there sooner than expected!
