sowmya pelluru

In early 2024, I made a career pivot to head back to Boston and join WHOOP as their Senior Manager of Partnerships. For those unfamiliar with the company, WHOOP is a company is measures the only metrics scientifically proven to make a significant impact on physical and mental health. WHOOP outperforms other leading wearables, delivering over 99% heart rate and HRV tracking accuracy and gold-standard sleep tracking, making it one of the most powerful, most accurate, and most wearable human performance tools. WHOOP is a series F start-up with impressive ambassadors, such as Christiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps, and Virgil Van Dijk.

Before joining WHOOP, I served as the Chief Brand and Communications Officer for the Washington Area Community Investment Fund. WACIF is a philanthropic venture fund whose mission is to promote equity and economic opportunity in under-resourced DMV neighborhoods. This mission is fulfilled by providing access to millions of dollars in capital and high-quality services to low and moderate-income entrepreneurs. I also served a short stint on their Board of Directors, which led me to pursue my passion for joining their mission on a more high-touch basis. 

In early 2022, I took on an adjunct professor role at Georgetown as their academic and capstone director in the entrepreneurship realm for summer programs. I developed a new-age curriculum that weaves diversity, equity building, impact, and ethics into creating a company. Teaching the 150+ student class is an honor, and I look forward to speaking and shaping the venues of the next generation of founders again next summer. As a master's alumna of the University, I have to add #HoyaSaxa! 

Prior to teaching entrepreneurship, I actually WAS a full-time entrepreneur! I founded a company called manakii. manakii is a social and sustainably conscious online women's underwear company on a mission to do good. manakii is built off the simple idea that underwear is a product women need, and it should not be treated as a luxury. Knowing that underwear is the #2 most needed and least donated product in shelters around the country, we've pledged to donate a pair of underwear for every pair purchased. 

Before launching manakii, I was the Senior Creative Producer and Strategist for Wayfair North America on their brand-integrated growth marketing team. I oversaw omnichannel campaigns from start to finish, planning and executing needle-moving testing strategies and challenging the way Wayfair thinks about emotion in the brand. I got my first stint at entrepreneurship when l pitched, built, and launched a high-end textile brand under the Wayfair Exclusive Brand umbrella called Eider & Ivory. Although this was a bit of a departure from my global supply chain undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina - it was where I first turned my love for design and fashion into building brands, setting the tone for my future career path. 

As a passion point, I consult on brand strategy projects for socially innovative companies and take on new clients every season. When I'm not reading my book club book or writing in a tiny coffee shop corner, I enjoy traveling, spending time outdoors, and watching the newest movies and shows. I will underline that I absolutely love film and fashion, and any chance I can work towards a project, whether it's designing, creative directing, acting, production, or writing, I am game! 

I pride myself on being a loving friend and an opinionated voice on women's rights. I am an advocate and believer in dignity for all and an artist who enjoys acting, singing, dancing, writing, brand design, and public speaking.

Past Speaking Engagements

  • Watch Link <-- Have you ever felt that speaking up for yourself had unexpected consequences? In my TedTalk, I delve into the complexities of self-advocacy for women, revealing how it can be both empowering and challenging. Discover why self-advocacy is a double-edged sword and how to navigate its impact.

  • Moderating the Harvard Business School Alumna panel on the realities facing female founders; Panelists, Amrita Saigal, founder of Kudos, and Sarina Siddhanti Garg, founder of Riya Collective, cover topics including going through IVF while launching a company, managing investors' expectations, prioritizing mental health, returning VC funding, and more.

  • VCs and alternative methods of funding, female founder and investor panel

  • Georgetown students enter the battle of ideas at this “elevator pitch” competition designed for early-stage ideas. Thousands of dollars are at stake, and any student with a bright idea can apply. Check out the results for 2023’s Rocket Pitch winners!

  • Topic: Building brands with purpose

    In order to create a meaningful business, we must first learn how to honor the stories we are trying to tell through them.

  • Topic: Entrepreneurship

    Building a socially driven business and redefining what “impact” means in the context of numbers and emotions.

  • Topic: Building a during a pandemic

    Redefining timelines and success during unprecedented times.

  • Topic: Professional Growth

    Moderated transparency-driven panel as a jr. level employee to senior-level directors to promote community and approachability within the team.

  • Topic: Building brands as an intrapreneur

    Showcasing the path I took to create this career and (hopefully) inspire others

  • Topic: Concert emcee

    Conducted intimate concerts around the city of Boston with up and coming musicians and spoken word poets

  • Topic: emcee event

    A live dance competition with over 1000 audience members and 16 teams who come to South Carolina to compete in the national show

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