Today we’d like to introduce you to Devika Rao.
Hi Devika, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
This is always an interesting question. If we are to say when it started, I was 12. I have known what I wanted to do since then — and it was to tell stories. I dreamed of a publication that would share real stories and create the whole teenager – covering arts, culture, music, sports, science…everything. I even “created” a magazine that may reflect that one day – a vision board almost. I still remember I researched how much it takes to start your own magazine and how much seed money it takes to bring that to life — it was at least $200,000. This is also before the Internet became the Internet.
My mom, dad, and I moved here from India when I was seven (going on eight), so the story to adjust and assimiliate is real — even when you are seven. I have had a fierce tunnel vision of what I wanted to do since I was a kid, and I was not too specific on what it meant, so I had to let it go in whatever direction it needed to. As everyone, I made and make mistakes or didn’t take advantage of opportunities like I should have. When I graduated from Penn State University, I moved back to Atlanta and started working at a law firm and then worked as a freelancer for a local South Asian magazine, Khabar. My editor, Parthiv, gave me a big break to help me craft my writing, interviewing and storytelling skills. I wrote business stories, features, and some profiles. I started volunteering or working for any and every marketing or writing opportunity that could find me – paid or not. I was chasing a vision that was not quite clear or defined, but I knew it was where I wanted to be. I can share that that the vision is still blurry and I am not sure what the end goal is or if there is one — I keep moving the finish line.
I networked and wanted to be everywhere all the time. I got a big break when I was hired by the Atlanta Journal – Constitution as a freelance columnist when I was referred to an editor from a photojournalist who had seen me networking around Atlanta in similar journalism groups. I was given the opportunity to start a weekly column called Doing Good that highlighted community work and nonprofits across Metro Atlanta. I wrote that column for eight years and met some of the most amazing people in this city who were and perhaps still are doing some really good things to make their communities better. At the same time, I got a job at then O’Neill Communications as an Account Manager to help oversee a magazine publication that highlights stories and impact for people with disabilities in Georgia. I was responsible for editorial planning to writing to editing to distribution. A 12 year old’s dream come true. With that, we added video production and podcasting to our portfolio because stories need to be told in various formats and ways.
Fast forward a few years, the previous owners wanted to exit and retire and provided me an opportunity to buy the firm from them. It took me less than 30 seconds to say yes. I am not sure what I said yes to, but I knew the opportunity was better than the What If? I would ask myself if I said “let me think about it.” In June 2022, I completed the full buyout of the firm, and rebranded it to 23 East Group and formally launched in January 2023, and we have been continuing our work and improving and innovating along the way.
At the same time, some of the things that were a part of my initial professional path are still very important to me. I love to give back and volunteer in organizations and am actively involved in Access Georgia Foundation and Create Dunwoody. Board service or volunteering is incredibly rewarding and such a great learning experience. So much of what I know and learned was through my volunteering and it’s incredible how much you can learn in these spaces and apply to your current career or even personal endeavors.
It’s a little odd to write this whole trajectory, my career is far from over. What excites me is the iterations, and I am really excited about all the versions of myself and life that have yet to be revealed. What I think is important is that I learned who I want around me as these phases take shape and who I want to be and what I want to stand for as I grow. Ambition is wild and can sometimes steer you off, but values are grounding. When you know or understand what your values are, a lot of things become clear and many things fall off the wayside.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing worth it is ever smooth or without its struggles. From early on in my career, the struggles were internal and of worth – just like anybody. At the same time, I knew I was meant to do something in this field – it’s the only thing I wanted to do and truthfully, was good at.
You are seeing your friends succeed, get good jobs, travel, and you are trying to figure out where you actually belong. The struggle came from patience – when you know you really want something and you know it’s your calling, the waiting is a struggle. However, the waiting is a lesson and seeing how long something takes to come to fruition is a true lesson in discipline. I was 25 when I got the column at the AJC. I graduated college when I was 22. Three years is about 90 million years in your 20s. Today, three years is not a lot of time.
In the last few years, the struggles and smoothness go hand in hand. I have learned how much you are responsible for smoothing out your struggles. I also have great family and friends that are supportive and always cheering me on from the sidelines, which I think is also important in understanding those rough patches and how to solve them.
In running a business, there is a not a lot of time to overthink so you inherently have to get comfortable with the unknown and the waiting. You also get unapologetically comfortable with mistakes or missteps. It’s quite freeing when you give yourself room for human error or misjudging a situation — and then you get up and do it again with a little more intel than you had yesterday. It becomes bit embedded into your DNA and maybe a good approach to life as a whole, I think. But again, it goes back to discipline. In communications, the most effective formula is consistency and frequency. I think that’s a winning formula for anything you want to achieve in your life, as long as you pair it with kindness and honesty.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
23 East Group is a marketing and communications firm based in Atlanta, and serves clients nationwide. We found our niche in serving organizations and agencies that work for and advocate on behalf of the disability community and nonprofit organizations, and also support growth-stage companies focused on B2B markets.
We focus on government-to-community communications (G2C) and supporting nonprofits, associations, and state agencies to effectively educate and inform the public on matters that impact the disability community through storytelling, social media, public relations, and more. Nonprofits are doing some great things in the world, and how they approach the community and show impact is really important.
How we do it and with how much care we do it with is what sets 23 East Group apart.
In my mind, marketing is a relationship game — we are helping our clients build relationships with their communities and audiences — and building relationships takes time, kindness and care. That I believe is the true differentiator of the way we approach our team, clients, vendors, and partners. I take a lot of pride in the way we build relationships with our clients and the approach to their business or organization. We are a service firm by definition, and the key value we do bring is “service”. I am very proud of the relationships we have with our clients, and how we make their business or organization goals our goals. Many organizations consider marketing as an expense, but it really should be considered an investment and your marketers should be considered as your business partners.
I am incredibly proud of the work we do. Our team is so talented, driven, motivated, and thoughtful – those qualities drive how they approach the work we do for our clients. It’s rewarding to be able to apply our respective talents to move the needle forward on community-focused issues and see it all come together when it can help people understand better, learn more, and take action as its needed.
Brandwise, I am proud of what 23 East Group stands for and what we are accomplishing across the board. We are focusing so much more on marketing’s impact rather than just reach. What did our work accomplish? How was it tied to business or organization goals? How can we do things better to help leadership and the organization move forward? This is not a strategic approach, it’s a values-based approach.
Most recently, what excites me is our focus on storytelling to be led by the storytellers. In the last few years, we have found ways to let the people with their lived experiences tell their own story whether it’s through writing, podcasting, video, or so much more. We are launching initiatives to hire people with lived experiences to be our reporters on the ground. We can’t tell stories of experiences we have not had, so we are creating avenues to have people be leaders of their own story. It has been a rewarding approach and a total joy to watch what happens when people are in control of ways to introduce the world to themselves.
I never thought I’d be running a company or finding ways to build new spaces for storytelling for communities whose stories need to be amplified. There is that saying, “find a seat at the table.” I like to believe that 23 East Group is building a new table.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Atlanta is my second home and I have grown up here since I was eight. I am a DeKalb County kid all the way and love the essence of where I grew up and Metro Atlanta as a whole. My favorite view of Atlanta is always the skyline from the 75/85 pivot around Atlantic Station.
I grew up in Dunwoody, my business is established in Dunwoody and I live there too. It’s been amazing to watch Metro Atlanta change, grow and be such a game changer for business and culture. Atlanta is a changemaker, but it is different to watch it happen as you grow professionally and meet, see, and hear from people who are transforming this city to be more liveable and lovable. I am also loving how cities are focusing on making their places more interesting with intention – more programming, trails, and finding ways to let the residents of the place be more present in where they live.
Traffic is no one’s favorite thing, and I do wish Atlanta or even outside of the metro was more accessible. At the same time, Atlanta has become familiar. I think I explored a lot thanks to my writing work and really visited a lot of places around the city. There are hidden gems around our state so I need to be more intentional of exploring outside 285 more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.23east.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devikarao/
Image Credits
Credit: Jonathan Buiel
