Growing with the AB Group | Swati Panjwani, IIFT

Adolescence is the best phase of life, yet it is full of apprehensions. Everyone wants to convey a statement and most people do it through their clothing. But it’s very difficult to find a brand that speaks about you.When I was a teenager, I couldn’t associate well with clothing options available in the market. I wanted to associate myself with chill and sporty vibe. But there weren’t any options available in the pink city.  

On one of my trips to Mumbai, I came across a Pantaloon store. When I first entered the store, I was amazed at the collection. The store had everything a school goer girl would love. Casual tees, graphic tops and denims.

I distinctly remember convincing my mom to let me shop stuff from there, which I could show off to my friends back in Jaipur. She let me and a top that I bought from the store was my favourite piece of clothing for an entire year! Since then, I was eagerly waiting for a store to open in Jaipur. And when it finally did, it became my go-to place for shopping.

With fun and frolic, the school life got over and I enrolled myself for Chartered Accountancy course. I cleared CPT and IPCC and got an opportunity to do articleship in Delhi. When I shifted to Delhi, I heard a buzz about this store called ‘Forever 21’. The girls LOVED it! It was a dream store for all girls my age. When I first visited the store, in DLF Place, Saket, I was awestruck! For the longest time, my friends’ and my wardrobe consisted only of items from Forever21. It has been four years since I first visited the store and after that no visit to the mall is complete without going in the Forever 21 store. 

After completing my articleship and giving my final exams, I got an opportunity to work with Cairn India. When I was first stepping into the corporate world, I remember buying my first business suit from Van Heusen, the iconic store for formals. Seeing myself in the mirror wearing that well-fitted piece of clothing, I felt like I had crossed a milestone. I loved the feel that suit gave me. I also bought a loyalty card called Van Heusen Diva card, which is a classy Golden coloured card and still finds a place in my wallet.

ABG has been with me throughout my journey, from when I was a teenager who wanted to express through clothing, to when I was a 20s person who wanted to experiment with styles and now as a professional who requires impeccable clothing. 

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.”

-Abraham Maslow

I am a firm believer in the statement that your growth starts where your comfort zone ends. Since childhood, I have been an active kid, who involves herself in a lot of activities. In school, I was a basketball team player, and I attended my first state level tournament when I was not even 13 years old. We had our tournaments in Chittorgarh which is a sub-urban city in Rajasthan. This was the first time, I was about to travel without my parents. It took a lot of effort to convince my parents that I can do everything on my own. That was the first time I took charge of everything and was able to manage everything by myself. Living alone for seven days boosted my confidence and built my character.

After the school ended when I was enrolling myself for the Chartered Accountancy course, a lot of people discouraged me, saying it requires tremendous efforts and a very few are actually able to clear it. But through the lessons in self-belief that I had garnered in school, I was able to defy their doubts and move forward with my enrollment. 

The first level, CPT, required a comprehensive understanding of a lot of subjects, some of which were completely new to me like Law and Ethics. I reached out to a lot of people, took their help in developing concepts, gave in extra hours and at the end, I was not only able to clear it, I scored an All India Rank 6!

The second level IPCC, was only ten months after CPT result and it required in depth understanding of a variety of subjects, majority of which were new such as financial accounting, costing, information technology etc. It was again a tough challenge.  I reduced my social circle and doubled my efforts, studying 10-12 hours at a stretch and was able to clear it with an All India Rank 45!

The last level, the Finals, was the toughest of all. The people who had given it in the last attempt were dissuaded and in this level, the major challenge was to keep my spirits up. I tried to keep myself motivated and fought with negative thoughts that came flowing in from all directions. This was a test of not only course material but of perseverance. After a grueling time, I was able to clear all the exams in first attempt itself.

It was my happiest day when the result came out and I became a Chartered Accountant. 

After working for almost two years, I realized that this was the time to improve my skills and get a comprehensive understanding of all other subjects of business management. Therefore, I made a decision to enroll for MBA entrance exams. This time again I got a lot of raised eye-brows from people who didn’t have faith on my decision and my caliber. But I proved them wrong again when I cracked the IIFT exam which is one of the toughest exam for MBA entrance. I cleared the interviews and here I am, in IIFT, up for all new challenges that are waiting to come my way.