My World, My Way - Disha Gupta, SJMSoM IIT Bombay

Quite palpably, our appearance has a huge role to play in the impression we leave on people’ mind and the way we are perceived in everyday life both personally and professionally. In fact, as per a national poll conducted by the Centre for Professional Excellence at York College, Pennsylvania, appearance ranked second only to communication for qualities most often associated with professionalism. Although many organisations today promote casual dressing, I believe that dressing formally at work, not only creates a positive visual image but it also helps boosts self-confidence by reinforcing ones skills and qualities in the eyes of their employer, co-workers and clients. Aditya Birla’s Allen Solly was my go to brand during my three years of professional career at Deloitte Consulting. I love the their garments sit on my body. My sense of dressing was often complemented by my seniors and peers at workplace. The plethora of colours and fabric patterns offered in their professional clothing range makes one spoiled for choice.Over the years, Allen Solly has been credited to transform the dressing lifestyles of professionals in India by providing them an opportunity to make a fashion statement at work. It has progressed swiftly in the past years, and has accomplished a proximate position in the highly competitive readymade market within a short span of time. It has also ventured into kid’s apparels (“Allen Solly Junior”) and accessories. The idea of Friday dressing at workplace has been revolutionized by this brand.Its tagline “My World My Way”, resonates with every professional.SJMSOM - Drive to make an ImpactComing from a traditional Marwari household, doing a job and enrolling for an MBA programme was a huge challenge for me. As a child, I had always aspired to be an independent working women. I have always seen my mother asking my father for money if she needed to buy anything. It was never that my father refused her for anything, I never liked the idea of being dependent on someone husband/father for finances. However, my relatives and grandparents, due to their orthodox roots were never supportive of my ideas and beliefs. Despite huge family pressure and tensions at home, I got to do a job after I finished my graduation. However, I still lacked financial independence. Apart from doing my regular job at office, there were times I was asked to attend client meetings and networking dinners outside my workplace for which I was never given permission at home. This I believe has caused a huge setback to my career.My thought of doing masters was not welcomed by my family. It took me a while to convince them. In college, I was extremely good at my academics, and had managed to secure first place in my university. I had a passion to learn more about some of my engineering subjects and wanted to do an M.S degree from a reputed university abroad. My family refused point blank. It took me a while to convince them for an MBA degree. They eventually agreed for it as long as I would be staying in my hometown Hyderabad. It took me a lot of time to convince them of staying in a different city to pursue my MBA. All my hard-work paid off eventually, and I got through School of Management, IIT Bombay.