Shreya Prakash had always been a ‘Padhaku’ Engineer until she got an admit to IIM Bangalore. In this conversation, Shreya talks about her experiences at IIM B, working at HUL and starting her own venture. Shreya, not unlike the majority of graduates of India, did Engineering first only to realise that her calling was elsewhere, namely Management. So, she went ahead and gave the ultimate management entrance exam CAT, and secured calls from all among, BLACKI, except Ahmedabad. But Shreya had always wanted to be a part of the Bangalore campus, so when that opportunity presented itself, she leapt at it with no hesitation. It gave her the most diverse exposure in terms of the people she met, the courses and subjects she opted for and the domains she explored.
After her summer internship with HUL, Shreya got a PPO, and joined it after graduating from IIM Bangalore.
Within HUL, Shreya went from being an Areas Sales Manager to a Global Brand Manager, from traveling to the remotest corners of the country to managing global brands. Her stint got her the moniker of “Mother of Maharashtra” as she managed over 50 distributors and managers across the state of Maharashtra.
She also spills the beans over one of her misadventures where she handed out stretched sales targets to her salesman, to achieve the quarterly targets. Though what ended up happening was, the supply chain being unprepared for the targets, everyone fell short.
This resulted in delayed reduced take home pay for everyone involved. Her journey has been filled with similar learnings that she shares with us all.
Here are some highlights:
- B-Schools are a lot of fun. It can offer you a lot of different experiences.
- Cultural fit is crucial to performing to the best of your abilities.
- B-School graduates get very rich, meaty roles in both Sales and Marketing.
- A sales stint allows you to understand all the moving pieces of a brand.
- Don’t get carried away by short term goals. Focus on the long game.