Shaun D'sa
Co-founder and Creative Head
Shaun’s career as a designer and visual artist started twenty years ago, as a graphic designer for the print medium. He had a short stint working in different agencies before co-founding Whoa Mama. Over the years, Shaun has created brand names and visual identities for over 250 local and global brands.
His passion has always been to create graphic design that questions the norm locally and he leads the creative team to set a new standard in the South in the fields of design and communication. Apart from brand building he dabbles in mixed media art, installations, photography, film, voice overs, and more.
His other passion as a Terrarium Designer led him to create miniature works of living art within glass bowls. Under the label Savage Terrariums – the worlds within, he has exhibited and sold over a 100 terrariums.
Anek Ahuja
Co-founder and Business Head
Anek’s journey as a designer started as far back as the 9th grade. After working as a Digital Designer in several agencies, he founded Whoa Mama with Shaun D’sa in ——. Over the years at Whoa Mama, he wore many hats, going from leading the digital design department to dealing with clients. Eventually he expanded his role to become the Business Head, turning his focus towards the new clients that come into the agency.
Anek’s background in design gives him a unique advantage as a Business Head, enabling him to give clients a clear vision of how Whoa Mama can help their business succeed and grow.
Apart from design, another key aspect of Anek’s life has been music. He formed his band – Blues Conscience with Neil Smith, 17 years ago where he’s the front man and bass guitarist.
Neil Smith
Account Director
Neil came into Whoa Mama fresh, with no prior experience in design or advertising. He worked his way up from the bottom, learning from his mistakes, creating and improving systems and processes for the benefit of others in his team. Today Neil has his proverbial finger in every pie at Whoa Mama, and is the go-to guy for everything from client relations and HR to new business acquisitions . A self-taught, eternal learner, he’s experienced enough to have strong opinions on all aspects of design, marketing, social media and website development and design. An opinion that is valued and respected throughout the agency because of his ability to think through arguments and present a valid point of view. Currently his passions include tapping into the potential of AI to improve productivity and processes and understanding the strategy behind UX design. Neil is also a drummer in the band Blues Conscience with Anek, and they’ve been playing the blues for over 17 years now.
Ashwin Mohan
Creative Director
Ashwin Mohan began his journey as a graphic designer almost 14 years ago. He started off as an in-house visual designer for Hidesign, after which he had a short stint in an advertising agency. He joined Whoa Mama and over the course of his 13 years here he’s risen up the ranks from junior designer to Creative Director. Passionate about his craft and driven to create work he and the team can be proud of, he leads the UI/UX team and mentors a team of designers as well. To stay creatively satisfied, he has different artistic outlets outside of work – he collaborates with DJs to create audio-visual sets, shoots, paints and even bakes from time to time. Apart from his full-time job he runs a production house, Room 101 and has successfully produced short films, ad films and music videos.
Mridula Joseph
Creative Director Copy
Mridula comes with over 13 years of experience in some of the biggest advertising agencies in the country. She was the Creative Head for both Ogilvy&Mather and JWT, leading the creative team for a number of years. A shift to the digital side six years ago saw her working with digital agencies before she finally found her place as the Creative Director of Copy at Whoa Mama.
At Whoa Mama, apart from leading the copy and content team she also works on brand strategy. With research driven strategy and creative ideation, she works with the copy and design team to create powerful positioning and sharp communication.
Apart from advertising and writing, Mridula loves movement of any kind. She’s into strength training, pole artistry, running, yoga and dance – basically anything other than sports.
