When looking around and looking through the years, I find that Aditya Birla as a group has had its presence in varied aspects of my life. I remember buying my Idea mobile phone sim card that I have been using for the past three years. It has not only catered to my communication but data needs as well. As I always aimed to enter the corporate world, I was sure of coming to Mumbai and working in the financial services field. As I started working, I realised that most financial services firms have their offices in Worli, Mumbai. My daily travel involved passing through the Bandra-Worli sea link, to which, Aditya Birla has contributed through Ultratech Cement Ltd. The biggest presence it has had, has been in the apparel segment. All my office wardrobe needs get fulfilled by brands like Allen Solly and Van Heusen. I look at these brands from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. as one stop shops for comfortable and elegant workwear. My family is into investment consultancy and hence I have, over my growing years, closely seen my father working with the Birla Sun Life insurance employees as he was working as an insurance agent. In my first year of MBA at NMIMS, Mumbai, I got a chance to interview Mr. Ajay Srinivasan, the CEO of Aditya Birla Capital Limited which was a very good experience and it helped me develop a different kind of perspective of looking at the corporate world. This describes the pervasiveness of the group in my life.
I come from a business family and a Chartered Accountancy background. These things have had their pros and cons and affected my life in different ways. Firstly, a business family background sabotaged my will to do something of my own and take my dream of joining the corporate world seriously. Secondly, I turned into a passive personality for various reasons combined (the major one being complacency). I somehow figured that I was not totally content with what I was doing in terms of my work. I then decided to move to Mumbai and most importantly decided to take decisions for my career myself, whether they turned out to be right or wrong. I made sure that I acknowledge and accept my weaknesses and then planned a variety of things that could help me in overcoming them. The most important step that I took for this was to maintain a journal of my personality in terms of my strengths and weaknesses. I made sure to stay around such people (in MBA college or during summer internship) who are strong in the areas in which I fall weak. This made me look at things with their perspective and handle them with their approach. I now make sure to find at least one thing that I can learn from each person that I meet. Starting to network and keeping my mind open to other’s ideas was another step that I took to explore more and get more awareness. All these things have helped me in firming my belief in myself and my dream of joining the corporate world. Now, I am more assertive, more proactive and clearer in my thoughts as to where I want to head next.
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