But not a lot of people know what I’m about to write next. So last summer, I interned with HUL, one of my dream companies, and met some incredible mentors and human beings. I will always cherish my internship as I got work on a very powerful brand and create an impact through my project. However, I did lose out on the PPO and felt demotivated for quite some time. When you are in a B-School, especially during such uncertain times, not getting a PPO seems like a huge loss. It did to me, at least. I’ll admit it was not easy at first, but I decided that I could not let this setback define who I was. I realized that I was never successful in case competitions before and decided to give them a fair try. I worked day and night to manage my studies and the pain of online classes along with trying to participate meaningfully in whatever opportunity that came along.
Well, I don’t want to romanticise it, but Reckitt Global Challenge came along in August when I was knee deep into my semester and hardly had time to devote to any new avenue, haha! To be very honest, I was a part of the then RB Global Challenge in my 1st year and couldn’t even reach the campus round so I wasn’t mad hopeful. However, that didn’t deter my team members or me from sitting for straight three nights and thinking of an idea that could revolutionize the face of Health and Hygiene industry and anything that brought me closer to working for an FMCG company be it for a Case Competition also motivated me. We conceptualized an idea and began laying the groundwork for defining the feasibility and scalability of our proposed product. We were extremely happy with our product ideation bit and were elated to be declared as the Campus Winners which gave wings to my journey with Reckitt that was about to unfold. We left no stone unturned in collaborating with our mentors from Reckitt who gave us immense support and the more I worked on the idea, the more my FMCG dream fuelled towards reality. We were ecstatic when we were declared the National Winners in January 2021 and I received my Reckitt PPO the same evening. I cannot even describe the feeling in words when I envisioned the opportunity to work with one of my dream companies that day. The opportunity to be able to represent India as the Top 5 teams in the Global Round was amazing and we were so grateful to be able to reach this stage.
If there was one thing that remained constant throughout my journey from HUL to Reckitt, it was my unending belief in what I wanted to do. Irrespective of how demotivated I felt or how tough the struggle got, I always had the strength to get up and work towards a dream I saw so many years back. Now as I sit here, working for Reckitt, trying to amalgamate my passion into my work, all I want to say is always be true to yourself and choose the direction that your heart guides you to. It may feel like a struggle at times but it’s always worth it! And lastly, keep dreaming, because dreams do come true!
Saumya Shrivastava
Management Trainee, Reckitt
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