Rashmi Sharma: Growth happens only when you learn from each other
Recognised as Educator of the Year, Rashmi Sharma, community success manager, South Asia at DScoop, has led and contributed to educational initiatives. Sharma has developed content for publications, conducted site visits, and curated programs for the graphics and art industry
30 Sep 2025 | 258 Views | By Jiya Somaiya
Q: What do you believe is the most critical skill or mindset that aspiring young professionals?
Rashmi Sharma (RS): Young professionals must cultivate intentional adaptability—the ability to evolve with purpose. To succeed in today’s fast-changing industry, young professionals need to stay open to ideas, people, and change. Adaptability, grounded in the ability to listen, observe, and collaborate, helps you and your team respond to your audience’s evolving needs.
Q: How can the Indian industry leverage your role as an educator within Dscoop to facilitate knowledge-sharing and collaboration among its members?
RS: Within Dscoop, my role is to turn connection into transformation. The Indian print and packaging industry can leverage this by creating spaces where members learn about new technologies from each other. By bringing global innovators to India, Dscoop sparks thinking and encourages collaboration across borders, keeping the community inspired and future-focused. In our recent conference in Bangkok, one of the members from Jakarta illustrated the use of AI in printing and how it helps with efficiency and quicker service and delivery.
Q: What are the most common misconceptions or challenges that students or new entrants to the industry face when learning about print technology, and how do you address them in your teaching approach?
RS: I interact with many next-generation business owners in India and globally—some excited about printing, others unsure. Many assume that print is a dying field or simply about operating machines. I challenge this view by showing them how print is evolving—driven by design thinking, automation, and sustainability.
Q: Beyond technical knowledge, you interact with print entrepreneurs in their factory or at trade shows. What is their secret sauce?
RS: Their vision to build something that lasts. Whether I meet them, I see a deep-rooted desire to create value that outlives trends. They are chasing better revenues but exploring innovative products, finding smarter ways to attract better business, and most importantly, inspiring the next generation to carry the torch forward.
Q: What trends do you foresee having an impact on print and packaging education?
RS: Print and packaging education in India is changing fast, thanks to AI-powered automation, sustainability, and print-on-demand. These ideas are shaping how students and professionals learn and grow.
Rashmi Sharma: At a glance
One tech trick you wish to share?
The use of Deeto.ai. At Dscoop, we use many apps to make work easy for the team and community, and Deeto.ai is the newbie we are experimenting with.
If you could time-travel inside a book?
If I could time-travel inside Beyond Possible by Nimsdai Purja, I would choose to land in the heart of “Project Possible”—specifically during the winter ascent of K2 in January 2021. That moment was electric.
One factory you visit that has wowed you?
Bridge Publications in Los Angeles, USA. — It is a 2,74,000-square-foot factory that prints and distributes all of L Ron Hubbard’s Scientology books and lectures, and what amazed me most was their ability to manage everything under one roof: design, printing, binding, packaging, and global shipping. They operate 10 HP Indigo 7K digital presses.
One product you wish was designed better?
Milk or juice Tetra Paks with the tiny straws attached — where the straw is glued to the pack with a thin plastic film, and it either falls off, gets crushed, or is impossible to detach cleanly. And even when you do manage to peel it off, poking it through the designated spot is a mini battle. A simple redesign, like a built-in spout or a resealable cap, could make it user-friendly, reduce waste, and improve hygiene.
How did you celebrate your win?
When the Women to Watch Awards went live on YouTube, I was immersed in the Dscoop Thailand Summit. I had lost track of the announcement—until digital print evangelist, Vimal Parmar sent me the first congratulatory message along with the YouTube link. That moment was surreal. I felt humbled, excited, and slightly overwhelmed, all at once. I shared it with my director, Peter Van Teeseling, who true to his generous spirit played the announcement video in front of 180 delegates from 20 countries. What happened next: Kelvin Gage, Dscoop Global Chair, made an announcement in the hall, and the room erupted into a standing ovation. The appreciation was magnified a hundredfold in that instant.