Veena Gandhi’s office is likely quieter now than it was in 2017. Back then, the silence was deafening—the sound of a seasoned marketing professional hitting a wall. Despite a great resume that included global giants like Coca-Cola, HP, and the Indian Premier League across India and Dubai, her search for a job in Australia yielded nothing.
“I couldn’t find a job. I had all these years of experience,” she recalls, the memory still sharp.
Cut to 2025: Gandhi’s company, Digital Street, which she founded in 2019, is a story shaped by her strength (more on that later).
Looking back, Gandhi says the unspoken reason for not finding a job was clearer to her than any job description. “White skin matters. And if you’re a white male… bingo, you’ve achieved it in life.” For a skilled migrant woman without blonde hair or an Australian accent, the door remained firmly shut, she believes.
That’s when her husband said, “Enough is enough. You don’t need to look for a job; you can do this yourself.” And so she built her own business.
In less than a decade, Digital Street has grown into a company with a team of over 20, servicing leading Australian, American, and UK e-commerce and retail brands. An early adopter of AI in its marketing strategies, the company now offers end-to-end digital services—from social media and paid advertising to complete brand strategy.
“Focusing on one vertical gave us clarity and recognition,” she says.
The initial challenges were what she had anticipated. Clients haggled over prices, operating under the mistaken assumption that she outsourced work to India to cut costs. “Just because I am of Indian origin doesn’t mean I’m paying lower bills in Australia,” she states.
“Marketing, especially in Australia, has always been a white man’s domain. And I’m doing it in a very niche market… it’s flooded with men.”
Yet Gandhi had a firm belief in her own expertise. “I never lacked the confidence to deliver,” she says. Having managed global campaigns for some of the world’s hottest brands, she knew her work could speak for itself. She decided to let it.
The recognition she once sought in job interviews now comes in a different form. Last year, she was a keynote speaker at Digital Marketers Australia, the country’s largest marketing event. This November, she’s preparing to address thousands at the Global Sourcing Expo in Melbourne and is hosting her own event for Australia’s biggest e-commerce brands in Sydney this September.
For Gandhi, the challenge of carving a place in a field long dominated by white men, and a handful of white women, has been especially acute. “There are hardly any brown women like me in this space,” she says. “Acceptance is much less. That’s why I launched my own podcast, to start conversations that weren’t happening.”
For other multicultural women feeling stuck between a conventional career and an entrepreneurial dream, her advice is: “Don’t wait for permission. That’s the worst thing you can do.” She urges them not to let skin colour, gender, or perceived language barriers hold them back.
At the same time, Gandhi is candid about the cultural balancing act that comes with being an Indian woman in business. “You do have to fit in while still retaining your identity. That’s not easy. You don’t want to blend in just for the sake of it, but you also don’t want to stand out as a sore thumb.
“For me, authenticity is everything. I’ve never faked an accent, even though someone once suggested I colour my hair blonde to fit in. That’s not me. Fitting in doesn’t mean losing your authenticity.”
In a market that once tried to make her whisper, Gandhi has found a way to speak in her own voice. And the industry is now leaning in to listen.
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