• Inaugural calendar by Hashtag Media and Raffealla Fernando features top corporate personalities

Photographer Raffealla Fernando welcomed the year in style with the launch of the 11th Raffealla Fernando Celebrity Calendar (RFCC) and is now presenting top corporate personalities in a new light through the inaugural Dynamic Business Leaders (DBL) calendar, for which she partnered with Hashtag Media.

The calendar was launched last Friday (3) at Mount Lavinia Hotel, and the event was attended by not just the business leaders featured on the calendar but also other corporate personalities, celebrities, and social media influencers.

The Dynamic Business Leaders calendar shines the spotlight on some of the country’s most prominent and influential entrepreneurs and leaders. The calendar not only features Raffealla Fernando’s expert work behind the camera but also words of wisdom and motivation from the business leaders themselves.

While in conversation with The Daily Morning Brunch ahead of the Raffealla Fernando Celebrity Calendar launch last month, the photographer, who is also a fashion designer and stylist, shared that this would be a yearly project and is the start of something new.

“It’s a completely different experience. RFCC is very creative and conceptualised, with storytelling, and then you have DBL, which is more sophisticated. It’s very different but it’s not the usual corporate shots either, because I wanted to bring my element into it,” she said. Fernando went on to say that having two different styles of work released one after the other is good for her portfolio, as she is shooting two different kinds of flavours with the projects.

The calendar starts with Spa Ceylon Ayurveda Wellness Co-Founder Shalin Balasuriya for February, followed by Prime Lands Co-Founder and Co-Chairperson Sandamini Perera. Perera’s words of motivation for March are: “The emerging woman will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, and strong-souled as strength and beauty must go on together.”

JAT Holdings Founder and Managing Director Aelien Gunewardana is featured in the calendar for April, with May’s featured leader Kapruka Founder Dulith Herath sharing: “Learn to love problems. If I don’t have them on my table every day, it depresses me.”

For June, Raffealla Fernando captures Harpo’s Cafés and Restaurants Founder and CEO Harpo Goonaratne, who shares what inspires him, and for July, she captured Christell Skin Clinic Medical Director Dr. Shani Arsecularatne, who says: “Most people think success is because of luck, but luck comes to those who relentlessly pursue their passion, give their 1,000% to make their vision come true when nobody else would believe in them.”

“Everything in life should revolve around the best combinations. If the combination of food is good, the food tastes good. If the right musical elements are combined, the music is good. If the combination of tea leaves is good, the teas are good, and if you surround yourself with the right combination of people, life will always be good,” is the motivational quote Imperial Teas Group Founder and Chairman Jayantha Karunaratne and Director Jalinda Karunaratne share for August.

The next month features AICPA and CIMA Sri Lanka Country Head for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Zahara Ansary, followed by Durdans Hospitals Executive Directors Aminda and Rakshitha Tudawe, who say: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

For November, the calendar features Dreamron Group of Companies Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. Kishu Gomes. It ends with words of wisdom from Hela Clothing Chairman Dian Gomaz: “I couldn’t give any athlete perfect solutions, but I did my best with limited resources. I always told them before a fight that we are a nation of resilient, courageous individuals. And that when they get into the ring, they are fighting for the glory of our country.”