Deepa started out in life with an academic bent of mind. All through her formative years of schooling (DPS, R K Puram) and college (Economics Honours from Lady Shriram College), she was a topper with a clear focus on the career she wished to pursue.

After graduating, Deepa did her Masters in Fashion Management (then known as the Apparel Marketing & Merchandising Programme) from NIFT, New Delhi in 1993, and worked in the fashion and apparels industry for a while before deciding to establish a specialised recruitment consultancy for the industry. Her innate understanding of the industry enabled her to foresee the fact that, as the industry matured and developed, the need for specially-skilled personnel would grow rapidly. Having spotted this opportunity, she set up Human Capital.