The journey from Mumbai to London: this corporate emcee is breaking international barriers. “I wanted to carry myself with a lot of pride in being a well-spoken Indian woman”; says Malitha Fernandes redefining her career from Mumbai to London; this corporate emcee is making the industry proud.
Malitha Fernandes; an Indian born and raised, international corporate emcee who has explored all avenues of presenting from live stage events, television shows, digital platforms and a former radio presenter at one of UK’s top Brit-Asian radio stations.
What people see; is the strong, confident and a girl who does not deter from her dreams. But not too many people know the story behind the hustle. Growing up; Malitha was immensely petrified of speaking to a crowd. So much so that she would even write her presentation on the palm of her hands; and read it out loud to the class.
To get over her fear of public speaking she took up a course in radio presenting only to find out that she had a lisping issue and might need to have regular sessions with a speech therapist if she ever wanted to pursue a career in speaking. She practiced her presentation for hours in front of the mirror to perfect them. Little did she know that fate had bigger plans for her.
A few years later; she randomly bumped into a friend who happened to ask if she’d be ok filing in for an emcee who was away that weekend. And something in her heart; just didn’t want to let go off that opportunity. With no prior experience; she got on stage that weekend and since then it was no turning back.
She started hosting regular shows over the weekends; which in no time became a full-time profession as she travelled from one city to another talking about brands and entertaining the Indian audience. It wasn’t long enough; that she was offered corporate events which involved speaking for some of the biggest international brands such as Mercedes Benz, Tata Motors, Vodafone, Dell, Samsung, Volkswagen at product launches, conferences and various gala evenings.
She had a career-defining moment after being chosen as the face of “The Winning Post” to host the “Pheonix Maiden Cup” for the Mauritius Promotion Tourism Association that aired on Neo Sports. Her other stints on television included hosting for the “True Premier League” on True sports and a cameo in the movie ‘Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi’ featuring the Late Rishi Kapoor Ji, Paresh Rawal and Vir Das.
“I am incredible blessed to have found my passion in my work and there’s no bigger high for me than the love and appreciation I receive after a kick-ass show”
After being hugely successful as a corporate presenter and having lent her voice to over 1000+ shows in India and internationally; in 2018 Malitha decided to take a break and go back to university. She studied at the prestigious Brunel University London and lived her dreams of studying abroad.
‘Being in London and studying there; still feels like a dream. I had started working when I was 18; and was hosting shows for over 10years. To be fair, I was a bit exhausted and really needed to take some time out to sharpen my mind and test out other horizons. I could not have been more thrilled about going back to university and learning with some of the most intelligent minds.’
Away from the country; that didn’t stop her from continuing to do what she was most passionate about. During her time in the UK; she worked as a radio presenter for an award-winning radio station Asian star 101.6FM and this redefined her presenting career.
From radio presenting; she went on to host several shows for the South Asian and English community. Some of the prominent gigs included the Birmingham Fashion Week, London Maha Mela, E-commerce Expo, Gala dinners for the care workers in the UK by the Skills for Care Network Group to mention a few. Although she might have moved away from stage; the stage didn’t seem to quite leave her behind.
“It is very normal for an Indian girl to host Bollywood shows and cultural programs in the UK because that’s expected out of her; however, breaking through the English community was rather tough. I wanted to carry myself with a lot of pride in being a well-spoken Indian woman. I am incredibly grateful to have met the right kind of people that gave me this opportunity.”
Having returned to India during these challenging times; Malitha has been extremely active as virtual show host and taken a leap into presenting training programs and taking up roles of a video spokesperson for various international brands and companies. Currently, she also spearheads an international wedding company as a marketing manager.
No matter where she goes and what she does; speaking and handling brands does seem to be crux of it.
“The future of the event industry will be; exactly how it was before the pandemic: fun, crazy and absolutely dynamic,” says Malitha Fernandes
In 2021, the Indian event industry generated more than 100 billion Indian rupees and went up by 66.1 billion rupees roughly since 2018. Regardless to say; there’s a lot of money within this sector. However; just like most sectors; with Covid-19 the industry was badly shaken.
The outside world sees the event industry as a part of the entertainment industry. What people do not realize is how other sectors are interdependent through this industry. Right from the event managers, artists, singers, hospitality industry, caterers, sound and light professional including the production staff ran out of work.
It took a few weeks for everyone in the industry to realize that we were in this pandemic for the long haul. And soon; enough; we jumped onto virtual events and green screen. It’s truly commendable how the event industry has once again stood the test of time and created magic with some of the biggest virtual events which has seen some of the biggest celebrities to sports people on a unified digital platform.
The entire industry has gone above and beyond and pivoted during these testing times. I can’t even begin to comprehend the number of shows that been conducted within various corporate sectors to ensure that employees were motivated and entertained whilst working from home. After being a part of the industry for over a decade now; I can confidently say that virtual events are only filling the void of physical events. But this would in no way; replace live shows.
We are Indians after all; we love to meet people, and come together as a community and rejoice in our celebrations. Right from corporates to social events; the industry is working on the guidelines and slowly resuming to events with limited capacity. While it might take a tad bit longer to resume in full capacity; with more people getting vaccinated there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Having said that, the future of the event industry will be; exactly how it was right before the pandemic: fun, crazy and absolutely dynamic.
