Growing up around an age where the concept of shopping malls had just started around the small town I grew up in, Pantaloons was the one go to store that offered a joy of an experience. If there was one thing we always thought of whether it was a weekend, festival or just mere monotony was to go and check the new and upcoming styles at Pantaloons. To me it was more than just shopping. It was a way to bond with my mom and aunts, a way to celebrate love. Being from a Defence background, we have lived in government houses around India. But when it came to constructing our own house, the house we built derived its strength from UltraTech cement just like the strength of our bonds. The friends I made living as a defence kid around India, are still the same thanks to my Idea Cellular network. Now no matter what the distance between us, all it's takes is an Idea to keep us closer.
I worked with the government of India under 'Operation Nirbheek' which was launched after Nirbhaya rape case wherein we went around 20 schools and institutions for the underprivileged girls and spread information about Woman Molestation and Bad Touch. In addition to this, we launched the new light weight revolver called 'Nirbheek' for women who were receiving death threats for various reasons and got articles published in local and national newspapers regarding it. Through our awareness campaigns and marketing efforts for the revolver we were surprised to see almost 200 offender complaints. The major challenge I faced there was not being able to meet out stringent punishment to the offenders because most of the offenders were family members about whom the victims were not willing to launch a complaint against. I overcame this challenge by approaching counselling NGOs and appealing to the Pune Municipal Corporation who later undertook the proceedings. Although there are a lot of such cases happening around India every passing second, I feel a sense of satisfaction in helping the countable few I could.
Some challenges I faced growing up being a daughter of a defence personnel was that I had to change cities and schools from time to time. I was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra but was brought up around India in cities like Nagpur, Calcutta, Katni and Pune. I learnt how to gel well with people fast and became comfortable to handling change. I also learned to be receptive of a new and unknown working environment which I am not afraid to say that it’s my strength today. This quality reflected in my bachelors’ when I was one of the twenty five people selected from Maharashtra and Goa to represent India for a semester in foreign exchange programme called Ontario Maharashtra Goa Student Exchange Programme during my Industrial Engineering. Earning a scholarship of $2000, I was able to learn various subjects in the prestigious Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Despite the difference in student culture, I worked in team projects in esteemed companies like Fiat-Chrysler and made friends with people from around the world in process learning about their journeys, struggles and values. It was an experience unlike any other and taught me the real meaning of being independent and working hard as I had to manage everything including preparing my meals, doing laundry, studying and socializing every day.
In order to gain some experience in the Marketing and Sales field, I interned with a start up called Le Edunomics Pvt Ltd for four months and learned a few nitty gritties related to a sales and project management job. The challenge I faced there was handling an event called 'The Business Roadshow' which was to be organized in 4 cities- Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Appointed as a team leader, I had to motivate my team members when required and set targets for the various regions. After a two-month long timeline full which involved getting sponsors, organic advertising, word of mouth traction and lead generation, we were successfully able to gather a total strength of around 400 startups and 600+ people. It taught me the importance of working well together supporting every team member and exploiting their unique talents to reach their highest potential.
The challenges I faced helped shape me into a person who is high on integrity, empathy and diligence. I have always taken challenges head on being deeply satisfied with the results and ready for many more.