Ambitious Women in Tech 2019

www.insightssuccess.in

VOL 6 June-2019

Ambitious Women in Tech 2019

ISSUE 7

Asmita Mishra Co-founder & CMO

ASMITA MISHRA

AN INSPIRING TALE FOSTERING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

Desk

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s women business leaders continue to step up the ladders with astounding confidence and maturity, not only in India, the global business fraternity has been outspoken in welcoming the change.

In its endeavor to boost up this trend, the Government has reserved INR 1,000 crore funds for women entrepreneurs. DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) has further announced one-third reservation for the women entrepreneurs in the startup program. These steps are aimed to generate more viable business ideas alongside multiplying the footprints of women.

Few excerpts from a previous study from Dow Jones titled ‘Women at the Wheel’ reveals that: - The overall median proportion of female executives in successful companies is 7.1 percent,compared to 3.1 percent at unsuccessful companies.

- A company’s odds of success increase with female executives at the VP and director levels.

Women Business Leaders – The Architect of Modern India

- Statistically, significant evidence shows that there is dependence between a company having female executives and its success It’s an absolute myth that education or being wealthy are the only ways through which women can craft her own way out. Along with pioneers like Anuradha Mittal, Vandana Luthra, Upasana Taku, there are countless women entrepreneurs and leaders who have fought against all odds and still have reached upto the horizons. Its the grit, passion, and the hunger to perform something different – and sometimes to answer back themselves, family, or even the society.

With little or absolute no business background, the brigade of Indian women leaders continue to march forward and are forcing the conventional practices and strides to amend their ways.

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Devasish Kanojiya Executive Editor Rahul Niraj Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan Art & Picture Editor Rahul Kavnekar Co-designer Savita Pandav Business Development Lead Ashwini Pahurkar Business Development Executive Pravin Yalameli Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Manoj Shelge Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

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INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

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Cover Story

20 Ms. Komal Agarwal

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Fatema Abbas

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Sonam Madaan

ASMITA MISHRA An Inspiring Tale Fostering Creativity and Innovation

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Ajisree Pillai

A Blockchain Enthusiast

Anuradha Gupta

A Visionary Technocrat

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Anjali S

Transforming the IT World with Novel People Skills

Garima Oza

She didn’t follow the path, she created one

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30 Women Leaders at the Frontfoot Breaking the Shackles and Rising to the Occasion

Kamaljit Gatore A Passionate HR professional

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Manju Mohan

Building and Maintaining Strong Relationships

Rajashree Sampath Crafting Her Own Pathway

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Smita Bhadury

DeďŹ ning Unique HR Strategies

Sonali Chowdhry Leading by Example towards Cohesive Synergy

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Triveni Kathuripally An Inspiring Journey of Relentless Determination

Vani Sreeram Charting her own Path

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SOARING INTO THE

FREE SKY

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s the Indian tech domain continues to surge ahead and play a vital role in developing the economy of the country, the rise of women tech leaders over these years is a reason to cherish and acknowledge. Recognizing the landmarks accomplished by some of the noted women leaders, we bring this special edition of “Ambitious Women in Tech 2019”. In this magazine, we have featured their journey, experiences and mentionable benchmarks that put them in the elite league.

On the cover page, we have Asmita Mishra – CMO & Co-founder, CEO and Founder of Epitome Research LLP. With a demonstrated history of working in the market research industry for over a decade, Asmita is highly skilled in Market Research, Quantitative Research, Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Customer Insight.

Alongside, we have also enlisted Ajisree Pillai – Associate Director of Global Blockchain Foundation who believes that work ethics is nothing but Integrity, discipline & time management, and that it should permeate every aspect of one’s job.

Anjali S – Associate Vice President from Knack forge is one such business women who bring in years of acumen and professionalism in the business. Anuradha Gupta – Founder & CEO of Amantya Technologies focuses on building Effective, Efficient, and Equitable solutions have been her forte since the start. As the Co-founder & COO of GSN Solutions – Garima Oza aims to excel each day with a ‘customer centric’ mindset and perseverance has made her a rising star of the industry. Kamaljit Gatore – Sr. Manager – HR of iResearch services believes that everything is achievable through honesty, transparency, focus, clear communication, and hard work. Manju Mohan – CEO & Co-founder of IONIXX has set a benchmark as a woman leader in the competitive IT services industry in India and USA. As a pillar of strength managing several crucial business units of Klaus IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd, - Rajashree Sampath – Director is featured next. Smita Bhadury – Director of Knowledge Lens brings rich experience in accounting and people management. As the CEO & Director – Digital Marketing of NET Comm Labs, Sonali Chowdhry is a tech superstar building herself up in the software development sector who leads her life by inculcating a variety of good ethos and values. Triveni Kathuripally – Co-founder of Miraki Tech is a success story for the budding entrepreneurs by the virtue of her passion and hard work. Finally we sum up this section by having Vani Sreeram, Director- Digital Marketing Division – Honeycomb India who realized her potential and worked dedicatedly towards embracing SEO and digital marketing.

We have encompassed a captivating piece of infographic article written exclusively by the editor of this magazine. So let’s unveil the journeys of these women patriarchs and find out what makes them so distinctive.

Cover story

Asmita Mishra Co-founder & CMO

ASMITA MISHRA An Inspiring Tale Fostering Creativity and Innovation

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Aiming to establish an organization which would lead the industry in providing real time solutions to clients

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“Entrepreneurship is a serious commitment and one needs to have a nerve of steel to succeed” With a demonstrated history of working in the market research industry for over a decade, Asmita is highly skilled in Market Research, Quantitative Research, Marketing Strategy, Advertising, and Customer Insight. Post-completion of PGDM in Mass Communication, she has also studied Advertising & Public relation from Indira School of Communication.

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I dream and I work towards them

Her personal life is as exciting and interesting as her professional life. A travel enthusiast, she loves exploring new places, getting to know about new cultures, food, and people. By nature, she is a very organized person who needs to see everything in proper order – be it her home or office! Being disciplined and organized helps her to get more clarity in life. As a person, she has always aspired to be someone who is strong, loving, and working to her fullest potential.

The Light of Motivation

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omen business leaders have come along a long way in today’s business eco-system and are playing a pivotal role by expanding new dimensions and are not shying away from limiting themselves. The evolution from homemakers to inspiring leaders is inspiring millions of other aspiring women professionals, who are in the process to make it to the big league. The present and the future of the Indian corporate fraternity are breaking the traditional shackles as the women are emerging as a stringent force to reckon with in the business community.

This excerpt exhibits the journey of one such dynamic professional, who has taken the center stage by the virtue of her determination, business acumen, and the inclination to delve deeper to understand perspectives and the human mind. Asmita Mishra – Co-founder & CMO of Epitome Research Services LLP has been at the forefront in shaping her professional life that has led her to be an inspiration for countless aspiring entrepreneurs. Having worked with multiple prestigious organizations and being a core member of various research projects, finally, she added wings to her entrepreneurial ambitions in 2016.

Asmita shares a very closely-knitted bond with her parents. She candidly admits that she is very fortunate to have such supportive parents in her life. She exclaims that her parents are the backbone of her success as they have always walked the extra miles while she explored potential opportunities in different cities. Her Father - Amar Deep Mishra is a VPNetwork Department – VodafoneIdea while her Mother - Neeta Mishra is a homemaker. As the guiding force in her life, Asmita’s parents have showered unconditional love and support that has fuelled her

(L) Jury D’Costa (M) Risha Kapoor (R) Geeta Sarfale

instincts to surpass every challenge and explore unexplored dimensions. She proudly adds – “They always dreamt of me achieving bigger goals in life”.

On the professional front, her business partner – Piyush Soni has played a dominant role in motivating her to start up her own venture. Her life-changing decision to quit her high-paying salary and settled job forced her to craft her own future path, which was definitely one of the toughest decision of her life. Also, the fact that Asmita was entering in a segment that already had a fierce market was also a deterrent that made her choice more difficult.

Perspective towards the ‘Male-Dominance’ in the Industry Asmita strongly feels that if not in equal number, women are taking up strong roles and are being exemplary the way they are handling their role. She says, “I feel, a woman always bring something different to the table along with the required skills. As I am into this male dominated domain, my first instinct is to working my way out through work which reaches out and shines for its quality”.

Right from the inception of Epitome, Asmita had a clear

intent of empowering the women professionals by hiring and placing them at responsible levels in the organization. With time, Asmita has successfully managed to convert her thoughts into a practicality that sculpted Epitome to evolve as a platform of success, and determination for the professionals. Acknowledging the contribution from her colleagues, she picks a few of the quotes that inspire these women to cross the horizons.

Geeta Sarfale – Project Coordinator – Geeta follows and is hugely inspired by the below lines of Lady Gaga“Some Women Choose To Follow Men, and Some Choose to Follow Their Dreams. If you ‘re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that is doesn’t like you anymore.”

Jury D’Costa – Project Coordinator “I am a Woman, What’s your superpower?”

Risha Kapoor – Account Manager “It took me quite long time to develop my confidence and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent and my confidence is something which wasn't given to me but I had taken it.”

Delivering premier services that support client’s perceptive business objective

smita has a novel piece of advice for the womenprofessionals who want to make it big in the marketing career. She exclaims, “Marketing is problem – solving and management. Women tend to be growth enablers and they always have been a good manager.

Their emotional quotient is the strength along with management skills. Anyone who is inclined towards communication, marketing is the best role to understand things on-ground.” With years of experience, Asmita calls marketing as one of the most important aspects of work in today’s modern time. As people cannot work in insulation, and as work is for the people, educating and informing the people about the work also plays a dominant role in today’s business environment.

Exquisite Services Honeywell | GFK | Ipsos | DELL | SBI | Coca-Cola | Unilever Being associated with the above prestigious clientele, Epitome Research is a full-service market research agency. The journey that commenced with a capital of 15K has crossed a turnover of over 20 Cr in just a span of 3 years – this itself speaks about the volume of success and market penetration Epitome Research has done! Today with offices in Dubai, UAE and Dallas, USA, it has extended its dominance to international territories and is ranked amongst the matured players in the analytical research industry. Despite these milestones

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and moments, team Epitome is grounded and continues to reach the pinnacle of success.

Its core expertise is to collect brand advocate’s voice and analyze their opinion. It provides primary researches to its client at the Global level via both Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies. Offering diversified services dealing both in Quantitative and Qualitative market research, it assists its clients by forming business decisions, optimize strategies, fuel thought leadership, and drive headlines. The expert workforce is the most valuable asset for Epitome Research as the team carries extensive knowledge of the local market and experience in field-tab & market research at global level research. It has an in-house tool to conduct online market research and a mobile App- ‘Apptome’ that makes it easier for the clients to see and meet their respondents virtually.

Crafting the Roadmap Ahead Having written a success story by the name of Epitome Research Services, Asmita carries a very optimistic outlook for the future. She adds that while the last 3 years have been nothing more than amazing and glorious, the next 5 years would be vital in building up a cohesive team and also to establish the entity in terms of marketing. Expansion in new countries like the UK and Singapore are the next set of milestones for Asmita and team.

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Interview With Insights Success

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n an exclusive Interview with Insights Success magazine,

Ms. Komal Agarwal - Marketing Director, Pebble India, sums her professional journey while giving a brief about the current market scenario.

IS: Brief us about your journey since the beginning of your career.

Komal: After completion of Electronics Engineering from NTU Singapore, a successful stint in the Investment Banking sector with JP Morgan, and Management Studies from IIM Calcutta, I decided to venture into my own Business – Pebble, a brand of Mobile Accessories, in 2013. Pebble was started in a small office with a team size of 5, which has today grown to 60+ people and a state-of-the-art Pebble Corporate Tower. Today the Brand boasts of over 100+ SKUs in India and Middle-East, with 10000+ Retail Partners and 10 Million+ satisfied ‘Pebblers’ globally.

The journey with Pebble has been an extremely steep learning curve in literally every aspect of the business from product development, people management, and brand-building till personally managing post-sales customer service calls.

IS: What was your source of motivation? Or, who is your role model or the person that inspires you? Have your family played a

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significant role in scripting your success voyage?

Komal: My father has always been my biggest source of motivation and a role model. Watching him give his 100% to every venture that he has been a part of, facing all possible challenges head-on with an unbelievably calm and clear mind, and his extreme perseverance have been an immense source of inspiration.

Yes, my parents have played the most vital role in my journey from the start. Be it readily sending me abroad for higher studies because of the exposure that I would get (which was tough for them considering I’m an only child), always encouraging me to be independent and strong mentally, being right by my side through all challenges - both personal and professional, and being a constant guide in helping me take difficult decisions. Overall, they have always prioritized my education, personal development and professional growth over any societal norms that are commonly faced by women in India.

IS: Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Komal: One of the challenges faced was to place a high quality product in a market that has an extremely price sensitive mindset and cluttered with

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cheap options. Secondly, dealing with channel partners has been a challenge as well. A lot of the regional channel partners are experienced and know the business inside out but are generally from a traditional school of thought. They are a bit patriarchal at times and need to be brought around to seeing me as a businesswoman and not just a ‘young girl with a fancy degree’. Lastly, another constant challenge is to ensure freshness of products in terms of design and innovation as the tech industry is going through constant upgrades due to which an overall life-cycle of a product is reducing constantly.

IS: Apart from stirring high-end professional profiles, who is Komal Agarwal in personal life?

Komal: I am calm but relatively strong-willed and open-minded. Love to sit back on weekends with an interesting book and a cup of coffee; Fond of travelling to offbeat places and immersing myself in the local culture. Friends would describe me as an avocado-lover, binge-watcher and someone who is obsessed with everything technology!

IS: Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

Komal: The mobile accessories market in India is extremely lucrative. It is expected to be around INR 15000 Cr in the current year and is growing at around 10.5% annually. This growth can be owed to many factors. Primarily, with the increase in smartphone penetration in the country, the consumption of media on smartphones has also increased significantly. Due to this there is a growing demand for more battery thus need for power banks, and also need for more audio products such as Earphones, headphones and Speakers to enjoy the media content better.

The only concern is that the majority of this market is highly unorganized and cluttered at the moment, with plenty of small private labels and unbranded sellers offering low quality products without any clear warranties. Fortunately, the consumer mindset is now shifting from being only price sensitive to quality consciousness and reliability. The consumer has started to realise the benefit of purchasing a long-lasting product in one go instead of getting into the hassle of purchasing a cheaper product multiple times due to limited life of the product. This is why Pebble that focuses predominantly on quality and service has been able to grow significantly and maintain its reliable brand positioning in this industry.

IS: Where do you see yourself in the near future? Tell us about your future goals.

Komal: In the near future, I see myself growing Pebble to significant heights and ensuring the personal and professional growth of every individual in my team. As a future goal, I would like to play a significant part in helping boost the educational and health concerns of our society in whichever way possible.

IS: What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs?

Komal: If we keep waiting for the perfect opportunity, the perfect idea, the perfect people, we may never be able to move ahead with anything, and by the time we do, it might be too late. Entrepreneurship is a continuous learning process and it’s more important to improve and adapt along the way.

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Ajisree Pillai Associate Director

Ajisree Pillai A Blockchain Enthusiast

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lockchain is an intriguing technology. It is often seen as the next big thing with varied applications. Bitcoin and Ethereum have already made a mark in the market and people want to know and explore more about the technology and how it can be applied in business.

Global Blockchain Foundation as a research analyst. Thus began her association with blockchain. She was later promoted to Manager International Business and then on to the post of Associate Director, a position she currently holds.

Mission: Blockchain Community

Ajisree Pillai, Associate Director, Global Blockchain Foundation is one of those who are at the forefront of facilitating this emerging technology’s application in business. She started her career with an International Internship in Oman in 2014. She later pursued MBA from Symbiosis International University and was placed in the

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Global Blockchain Foundation (GBF) is an international Non-Profit social enterprise. Its global vision is to build a sustainable blockchain community through international cooperation. The key initiatives of the Global Blockchain Foundation are:

• iCognitive Global: To provide transparent business to uplift rural economy using emerging technologies.

• Blockchain Investors Summit World Tour 2019 • GBF Global Skill Initiative Program • GBF Global Industry Academia Connect Program • GBF Entrepreneurial Support Initiative GBF’s core vision is to build a thriving blockchain community. It is a researchdriven organization which ensures to give a platform to blockchain enthusiasts who are just as passionate bout the future of the industry. This | June 2019 |

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At the end of the day, your work ethics should reect on your personality. That’s what matters the most

has translated into blockchain summits experiencing a boom over the past few years. What makes GBF different as an organization is a fact that it focuses on bringing the quality of people on board and helping startups come to the forefront with their ideas and innovations.

Growing with the Technology Ajisree currently also works with iCognitive Global, the world’s first blockchain & AI based Agri e-market Place, as a Senior Research Analyst.

She deems her journey towards blockchain as a memorable one allowing her to meet some of the thoughtful industry leaders, Government Delegates and Blockchain Enthusiast around the globe. She has had a front row seat to some of the most remarkable real-time use-cases and practical demonstrations of Blockchain in the corporate world. Her new role has her excited to see both herself and the company explore new solutions for blockchain applications.

For Ajisree, work ethics is nothing but Integrity, discipline & time management, and that it should permeate every aspect of one’s job.

Success is what motivates her to do a good job. She says, “Knowing the fact that my hard work and perseverance will help me achieve greater professional success is what keeps me going. Mr Pankajj P Ghode and Mr Praneet Kumar play a huge role in my

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success since they taught me the true meaning of leadership and professionalism.”

The Indian Aspect Ajisree believes that for India, blockchain technology offers numerous opportunities across many sectors. She points out to the fact that a few states have joined hands with blockchain startups established abroad to study the implementation of the technology in various sectors. There needs to be massive awareness about this technology but currently, there is a severe lack of talent to build relevant solutions that address real-world problems. She also shares a few use cases in India where blockchain has a huge potential in the near future: • Banking and Finance • AgriTech • Telecom • Voting • Healthcare etc Ajisree also adds that the central government and central banks want to promote blockchain projects but not crypto-currencies and initial coin offerings. She says, “As the saying goes ‘It’s hard to love blockchain and hate crypto’, I hope things change for the better soon. Our leaders should soon realize the immense financial and operational implications that Blockchain brings to the table.”

building a career in blockchain, Ajisree cautions that it is not an easy path.

Because, the adoption and integration of the technology are still in the primary stages, demand for people with blockchain skills is more than the supply. She advises them saying, “I believe if you spend the right amount of time online and learn from the relevant resources, you can get a better understanding of the technology & its use cases in several ecosystems. If you are looking to nurture a blockchain career as an entrepreneur, you need to focus on the real time problems and needs of the blockchain community.”

Achieving Milestones – Together!

Ever since she joined GBF, it has been a steep learning curve for her. Through hard work, right kind of support and her aptitude to take on challenges, she has quickly marched her way forward to managing Investor relations and International Business from a research analyst. She has been a part of the immense growth in the past 2 years.

With iCognitve Global the landscape has grown even wider. The focus is now transforming the roots of global rural economy by integrating the entire Agri- value chain through the digital co-operative platform by harnessing emerging technologies. She looks forward to being a crucial ingredient that helps GBF achieve its vision of establishing a global community.

For the young who are keen on

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Anjali S Associate Vice President KnackForge

Anjali S Transforming the IT World with Novel People Skills

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one are the days, when women were considered fit only for managing the household activities. The new generation women across the world have overcome all negative notions and proved themselves in all spheres of life including the most intricate world of business. India is blessed with its own pool of ambitious women who are making splashes in the business world.

Anjali S is one such business women

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who bring in years of acumen and professionalism in the business. With around fifteen years of experience, Anjali is the Associate Vice President of KnackForge spearheading operations of the company. Her expertise is in HR, organizational development and people management.

The Professional Highlights Anjali completed her Master’s Degree in Human Resources from one of the premier (Tier II) B-school situated in

India. Later, she started working at Bengaluru with a Recruitment Consultancy firm in recruitment space.

She grew from recruiting employee to managing entire administration of the company; Anjali has successfully worked on challenging assignment with extreme dedication and people skill.

She is certified in data analytics, Certified Learning & development professional who understands process | June 2019 |

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I believe in my team and members around me. And, I have a role to shape their career and well being at KnackForge.

Taking care of them is my responsibility and getting things done is my role which I keep myself always conscious Trust & Respect people

& technology to the core. She is dedicated to bring in the best work environment for KnackForge.

About KnackForge KnackForge is growing Information Technology Company developing software and applications for its clients. Through its unique blend of top talent, the company provides true partnership for application development. One of the core differentiations that set KnackForge different from other Companies is its ‘People Centric’ base. And in the technology space where Angular and PHP are core development platforms. It has AWS Cloud-based application development and maintenance.

The company has an open culture and open seating arrangement. This helps KnackForgians to reach out to different teams and understand every individual.

By embracing technology, valuing people, and creating innovative processes, Anjali handles all the operation at ease.

“We welcome new members who have the passion to write software and build new applications. We work as a team and help our members enjoy what they do”, Says Anjali. The company stands out in the business world on account of its approach towards employees and clients. “If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our clients; hence we keep building our members professional and technical skills”, Adds Anjali.

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Some Valuable Insights from Anjali’s Desk Anjali believes in continues learning throughout life. Whether it is working with the CEO, President, Anjali has come a long way in exploring the business world. She believes that the greatest impact of anyone’s success is one’s relationship with the people. She also believes that integrity is one most important ingredients of trust which have helped Anjali to achieve success.

Anjali Says, “Attaining trust wasn’t easy and quick. It came with a simple formula: Results + Integrity + Concern = Level of Trust which I kept being conscious about” Anjali has been mainly involved in setting up the new office infrastructure at the IT Park. Change in organization structure, reach out to professionals, retain employee, building trust, and creating intentional leaders for tomorrow are some of the challenges that she takes up as opportunities.

Anjali is backed by great professional leaders who helped her to grow as a successful leader and that has shaped her management skills. Her people skills are highly appreciating.“My principles at work have been very simple and straight forward. Treat people the way they want to be treated and help people to grow. Give respect to people and always be conscious of my behavior keep it easy and powerful.

The emphasis has been on how soon the work is done and what quality results are there” says Anjali.

Words of Wisdom Transparency, clear communication, and focus are three strong pillars that helped her to grow in life. Anjali advises the budding entrepreneurs, whether it’s professional or personal life, always stay updated with current trends. “Grow your skills and have certification in numerous fields as it will definitely help you to grow in your career. Do what is right, Develop intentional leaders, celebrate and care for people, are some of the key mantras that will drive you ahead”, says Anjali.

Holding a responsibility by being grounded, managing different people, having the ability to tolerate criticism, and keeping a watchful eye are some of the things that always motivate her to opt for the best.

“My motivational tool is taking the ownership and having the full access to drive the show Transparency and clear communication with my President and CEO is my success”, Says Anjali.

Future Ahead Anjali sees KnackForge as a top technology listed company with a strong focus on AWS platform to support clients. Progressing forward with a positive approach, Anjali along with her team will surely build strong technical leaders alongside creating a learning environment for the betterment of the masses.

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FATEMA ABBAS Confident of Reaching Newer Heights

Fatema Abbas Training & Development Professional

IS: Brief us about your journey since the beginning of your career.

Fatema: Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life or wait for weekends to come.

I was fortunate to understand this and comply it.

Integrity, building credibility and never give up attitude have been defining my career right from the start. I have had my share of rough patches, and through them I have consistently reminded myself that it’s not just what you achieve but also what you overcome. When I look back, the journey has been magnificent and I see me evolved into a wiser, credible and a more content person.

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IS: What was your source of motivation? Or, who is your role model or the person that inspires you? Have your family played a significant role in scripting your success voyage?

Fatema: I do not have any specific role models, as I believe that every individual / instance / experience we encounter in our life holds the capacity to teach us something good, only if we give them a chance. Every little thing around me motivates me to do something grander, honorable and prolific.

Of course, my family has been my greatest strength

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Interview With Insights Success

throughout in scripting my success voyage. It’s rightly said that the learning happens from home, my three kids, in their own unique ways have been instrumental in teaching me professional tactics and personal mantras and they keep doing so every day.

IS: Kindly tell us about the challenges that you faced to withstand the complexities of the industry.

Fatema: All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. By facing complexities you either win or you learn and both these outcomes are positive. To mention a couple of complexities – adapting classic learning / training framework to modern systems, incorporating blending experiential learning as oppose to blended typical processes, making training functions more proactive and strategic instead of reactive, opportune to up skill and transform the training functions. Most of the times, I have been successful in overcoming these however at times I wouldn’t be as they would be beyond my circle of control: at times the resistance or budget issues or stereo type / conventional thinking or unhealthy work politics. However dire the situation, they have never stopped me from accepting the trails head on.

IS: Apart from stirring high-end professional profile, who is Fatema Abbas in personal life?

Fatema: Fatema Abbas, is a simple human being who believes in nurturing the soul with purity and strength. I follow certain ethics and principles. My life theories are very simple – 1.Don’t let anything external disrupt your internal equilibrium, 2.You can be vulnerable or gentle and still be very powerful and rock solid at the core, 3.The problem has never the mind, but the mindset.

IS: Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

Fatema: My industry is that of management education.

Management is the art of balancing business and people.

Scrupulously molding the young generation to lead and inspire their human resources and create and sustain their trades. The best way to edge them is through providing them experiential learning, industry exposure, generating curiosity in them and most importantly is leading them through examples.

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IS: Enlighten us about your achievements, memorable moments, and awards which you would cherish lifelong.

Fatema: There have been numerous cherish able moments both personal and professional. Mentioning a couple of them and the reason why they are treasurable: 1. Won the Panache Mrs. India Popular tittle 2018 and was crowned Sakal Mrs. Pune in the year 2006. My philosophy that I endorse during these titles and even now when I am a jury to many beauty & personality pageants is to be beautiful externally and internally. 2. I have received the Corporate Peacock award for social work and have been felicitated in the Delhi Parliament for my various social work that I do. My belief that I promote is your achievements are incomplete if they haven’t been shared or given back in some noble ways.

IS: Where do you see yourself in the near future? Tell us about your future goals.

Fatema: Being a successful individual in my professional and personal life, I see myself continuing to walk the path that I’m already on and as years pass by I will be taking up more opportunities and arenas wherein I hope I will be able to continue my present success and inspire people, especially women, to live their own lives in ways that could bring up on a positive influence upon the society, and our society as a whole.

IS: What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs?

Fatema: My advice to our young and dynamic millennial is to make endurance and gratitude your close friends. It’s okay at times to move twenty spaces backward so that you could take a calculated great leap forward again. It’s okay to face breakdown at times and use this as a propeller to create your break through.

Create a mechanism to regularly introspect yourself professionally and personally. Keep a balance of your ambitious flight upwards and your divine journey inwards.

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BREAKING THE SHACKLES & RISING TO THE OCCASION As the canvas of Indian entrepreneurship grows bigger and mightier, the gradual rise of women professionals in the arena is no big shocker. Rubbing the shoulders with their male counterparts and often surpassing them has become a thing of the past.

Over the last few years, the rise of women entrepreneurs in India has forced the business world to realign and shout it loud saying that the concept of women entrepreneurship is not obscure anymore!

FACTORS FUELLING THE RISE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS Education Women empowerment Entrepreneurship avenues Evolving business world Consumption & Investment opportunities

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| June 2019 |

Women Leaders at the Frontfoot

STARTUPS WITH HIGHEST COUNT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS TECHNOLOGY FOOD BEVERAGE FINTECH EDUCATION

Under the Lens -58% of the women entrepreneurs are aged between 20-30.

-73% of women entrepreneurs have reported revenue of under Ten Lakh INR.

-8.05 Mn businesses in India are managed by women entrepreneur.

Take it as an inspiration, a modern-aggresive approach, or a radical step – the rising trajectory of women entrepreneurs in India is a major boost for every individual,family, community, and the nation.

-Devasish Kanojiya |June 2019|

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T

his excerpt showcases the journey of a multi-faceted persona who had the will to convert every challenge into an opportunity. Anuradha Gupta – Founder and CEO of Amantya Technologies – a startup striving to roll out Intelligent products and solutions through B2B and B2C offerings.

She entered the business world with a vision to bring her dreams to life.

Leaving behind her well settled and growing corporate career, she started her entrepreneurial venture in 2009.

She placed her best foot forward to reach the masses and transform their careers by embracing tech-enabled

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learning practices. Establishing an empire of own in an environment flooded with challenges was not an easy task for Anuradha. But her concrete endeavors to surpass these challenges are what helped her to stand tall as an entrepreneur and place the cornerstones of Amantya Technologies.

Her career span at Tier 1 Software Services companies like HCL, Aricent, and Harman, and a previous venture at NGN Technologies gave her the conviction and focus to empower Amantya Technologies to make progress in right manner. Anuradha’s corporate and entrepreneurship experience of more than eighteen years helped her to establish good

governance and be a disruptor for an enhanced tomorrow.

What Triggered Success?

Focus on building Effective, Efficient, and Equitable solutions have been Anuradha’s forte since the establishment of Amantya Technologies. For her, continuous learning and improvement has been the key which has unlocked numerous opportunities leading to the success pathway. Looking up to successful people, visionaries, and their success mantras alongside the constant support from the family, enabled her to put the best efforts and achieve the desired results.

| June 2019 |

Hoots and Cheers to Achievements Acknowledging the current market scenario, Anuradha along with her team has crafted out two Go to Market (GTM) Enterprise SaaS-based products: EmpAnalytica (www.empAnalytica.com) – It is an intelligent employee efficiency analytics platform which monitors and manages employee efficiency and productivity. The web portal plays a significant role in measuring and reporting individual as well as team level analytics. iDocManager (www.iDocManager.com) – It is an intelligent Document classification and data extraction solution offering prominent support to the automation of document-intensive business processes. Supporting use cases like Invoice, Forms, KYC, Receipt processing and Data Extraction, this solution is applicable across various verticals like BFSI, Healthcare, Governance, etc.

Her next initiative is towards solution development for upcoming 5G Networks in Telecommunications.

They are building solution to test Devices and Network Performance as per 4G and 5G network KPIs to help Service Providers, OEMs to bring best possible offerings for end users.

About Amantya Technologies Bootstrapping the business world with Amantya Technologies, Anuradha has been instrumental in taking it to newer heights by benchmarking its presence across India and the US. The company strives with a vision to build an AI and Advanced Technologies enabled process automation ecosystem to bring measured effectiveness for enterprises to extract best possible value in their June 2019|

business process. They are building various efficiency systems based on process automation, employee efficiency, OCR, 5G and other technologies. Providing efficient solutions at competitive prices is what makes the company unique.

Team Amantya is well-equipped with exemplary technical expertise and enriched experience helping it to create out-of-the-box products and customized services. Embracing newage technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, 5G in Telecom etc. the company is striving hard to build a better tomorrow with its intelligent Software Product Engineering services.

Since inception, delivering wideranging quality products having longlasting impact on the clientele has been the USP of the company.

Founder’s Take on Technology Anuradha believes that India has made significant advancements in adapting technology and still has a lot of potential to unlock, explore, and tap numerous novel opportunities.

Recognizing that innovation and scalable deployments are the need of the hour, she says, “We have a strong and evolving startup ecosystem in place. Along with a visionary government, which is open to fairly associate with technology-enabled startups and enterprises, deployment and sustained development shall be a reality that will benefit in elevation of living standards of common people.”

Opining the Neophytes Anuradha is looking forward to seeing more and more successful women entrepreneurs who will make a global footprint with their entrepreneurial knacks. She believes that success comes to those who are Passionate, Patient, and Perseverant

about their chosen venture! Looking at the emerging opportunities in the corporate space, she advices the young minds to always believe in themselves and their work. “Don’t let challenges deter you. Let every difficulty be learning for you. Success is not achieved overnight. Tread the journey with conviction and stick to your values. Have the right team & support system and there will be no looking back,” she added further.

A Long Way to go Anuradha is working very focused in making Amantya Technologies to be a frontrunner in the IT business ecosystem. She is on a mission to pin the company on the canvas of the most preferred software product engineering companies worldwide in the near future. Currently, she is placing her best foot forward in engaging new and retaining existing clientele. She is making every possible move to refine Amantya’s features and offerings. She is planning to expand the workforce with professionals who can effectively stir the technical, business development, and Sales/Marketing roles who would share same passion and commitment and a belief in mission and vision of the company.

Anuradha wants to make Amantya Technologies build tech-enabled product studio offering value in various dimensions, rather than focusing on a single product. The company will follow the product engineering journey backed by cutting-edge technologies with prime focus on measured Effectiveness and Quality. Under her aegis, the company is all set to disrupt the technology landscape and progress multi fold to become a credible Technical Entity in the upcoming years.

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Interview With Insights Success

RENDEZVOUS WITH

Sonam Madaan

I

n an exclusive Interview, Sonam Madaan - Assistant ManagerTalent Acquisition at XICOM, talks about her professional journey and gives an insight about the HR domain in India.

IS: Kindly brief us about your professional journey?

Sonam: Well My journey has been a real fun since I started my career via Campus Placement in HCL Bserv as Technical Support Officer in 2010.This experience has added a great advantage to my profile..Then moving on I got an opportunity from a Mumbai based Software Development Company, Though I applied there for Support Team but fortunately they found me a good fit for Business Development …Further considering Business Development as a core forte, I got an opportunity in a Product based firm i.e HRizzus – A B2B recruitment portal ....Gained a lot of exposure in meeting CXO level HR professionals …Being there for a petty good tenure I wondered that I got my core Skills i.e BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ..No one might have given a thought that my core skills would change to TALENT ACQUISITION soon…Then I joined Xicom Technologies in Nov 2013 into Business Development.

Being in Sales for a good tenure I decided to move on to a more stable

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profile, fortunately my mentors witnessed my social hunting experience and that’s how my organization has offered me a role in Talent Acquisition team. Since then I’m associated with Xicom …Long time!!!

IS: Kindly talk about the most memorable moments along with the challenges you have been through?

Sonam: Don’t know about others but I’m pretty used to accept challenges since my College Days..May be that’s why Life keeps on shattering challenges on me to continue to make me a best version of MINE…I love to interact with Children,To teach them so I took upon Teaching as a profession while I was in College..I used to provide home tuitions and fortunately I started earning so as to repay my Educational Loan...That was the BIGGEST CHALLENGE I ever faced.

Moving ahead in Professional life I eventually came across so many challenges but life always keep on motivating me to look ahead ..

Talking about Moments-Yes I have got so many beautiful moments to cherish through out my career so far…One of the remarkable moment which I can recall right now is that when I over achieved my Sales target for the first time and got a Rs 5000/-cash reward Incentive..

IS: What kind of ethics, principles and manner of working do you observe while working in the HR domain?

Sonam: Its been 5 years now I have been in HR Domain but Look at the Irony side !! Technically I’m not MBA so I haven’t studied anything theoretically..Its just that I have applied everything directly. But I must say being a Business Developer in past that I can easily empathize the situations..

As far as my ethics /Principles are concerned I believe in following a simple friendly approach..I try to source my candidates via various social media channels ; Internal referrals so the primary ethic that need to be follow is –FRIENDLY APPROACH ..Relationship building is the key to get success in any field or domain.

Secondly –I always EMPATHIZE with the candidates I’m connected to.

Thirdly – I always encourage TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION. IS: Kindly talk about your acumen in the areas of Business Development and Talent Acquisition?

Sonam: For me these two profiles are quite similar via different perspective :-

| June 2019 |

Business Development –Art of Selling Products /Services to acquire Clients.Talent Acquisition –Art of selling company’s USP to acquire the best talent around.

Undoubtedly, both the profiles require extempore quality. We need to simultaneously make quicky and tricky decisions either while talking to a client or a Candidate. Else we gonna loose a business equation.

IS: How has HR domain transformed over the years?

Sonam: Indeed HR Domain has transformed a lot over the years…Earlier recruiters were only known for making cold calling on the data fetched by portals..But now it has been evolved to a huge dramatic profile..Gone are the days when recruiters were solely dependent on job portals. Now-a-days Recruiters has to act like a MARKETER. They have to involve into EMPLOYER BRANDING. With the passage of time Recruiters have understand that PASSIVE candidates are not available on Job portals ..They have to change their working style in order to target the creamy candidates available in market..And that’s how MODERN RECRUITMENT has replaced TRADITIONAL Recruitment.

IS: Please brief us about the HR practices and services you follow in your organization.

Sonam: We follow the MODERN RECRUITMENT Practices here. I’m being involved into Employer Branding, To create a Great pool of Talent Pipeline.

Relationship Building with the Employees /Candidates.

IS: Where do you see yourself in future? Or, what is your ultimate professional objective of your life?

Sonam: After spending a good tenure in HR domain, I'd like to continue putting my best efforts in the same domain And would like to see myself at a CXO level position in future..

June 2019|

Sonam Madaan Assistant Manager

IS: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Sonam: Try to Learn and Add Soft Skills at the initial stage of your Career..This will ultimately help you out in a longer run..

IS: What is the one thing that is acting as your motivational tool? Or, who is your role model and how the person inspires and motivates you?

Sonam: Well Yes I do have a ROLE MODEL in my life and he is my only Motivational tool for me.

I’m influenced by one of his exceptional quality i.e Strong DETERMINATION. Irrespective of circumstances if one holds a strong determination both at MIND +HEART then only we can achieve our target…I have witnessed him to succeed in his life…And that’s how whatever I do, whatever I achieve. I just wanna make my Role Model proud of me.

IS: Share your views on the current HR business scenario in India.

Sonam: HR plays an important role in defining the Business Equation of any organization Bec it’s the HR team who fields the best players in the organization…

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“

If you’re willing to burn the midnight oil, it will take you to levels you never knew existed

Garima Oza Co-founder

Garima Oza She didn’t follow the path, she created one

“

I

f you dream it, you can do it” – Walt Disney

If one has dreams and a determination to fulfill it, they can definitely achieve anything in life.

New age business women embody new India-one which is bold, willing to take risks and learn from their mistakes. These businesswomen are not only breaking traditional barriers but also showing India how to do

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business with a fresh perspective.

From making a social impact to opening up new vistas with technology, these women are leaders of today. Across the globe, women today have more power than ever before.

Garima Oza, the Co-founder of GSN Solutions is one such businesswoman. Under her aegis, what started off as a team of 4 part timers is now a buzzing team of 25

full time resources working on eight projects. Garima’s ambitious zeal to excel each day with a ‘customer centric’ mindset and perseverance has made her a rising star of the industry. “Having talented and skilled people helps, but its thinking like a customer that makes a massive difference”, says Garima.

An Enlightening Journey Garima started her journey in the Aviation Industry in Mumbai as a | June 2019 |

reservation staff and then as a crew member. After getting married in 2003, she moved to Pune. She started her career from scratch in the BPO industry as a customer service associate. On account of her extreme dedication and focus, she got promoted as a Team Leader soon.

The will to overcome challenges drives Garima to become better.

Garima then joined a software solutions company as an Operations Manager. This being a new industry for her, she had to go through the ordeal of learning the trade and the details all over again. During this stint she mastered numerous skills like automation, data analysis, presales, program management, people management, and managing customers.

Like every other entrepreneur’s journey, Garima’s journey has been a roller coaster ride filled with up and downs. “In this journey (with work and personal challenges) I faced a new hurdle every day, but perseverance and ‘fear of failure’ kept me going. I went to the depth of subjects, understood them and asked for help,” Garima Says. She truly believes that nothing is impossible in life and if one can give their best, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Surpassing Adversities In establishing a company, challenges can be many but a real entrepreneur surpasses all these difficulties with endurance.GSN Solutions is one of the biggest risks she has taken in her life. Before GSN, she had a very well-paying job.

After twenty years of experience in June 2019|

various roles, she finally decided to action the dream she always had; the dream to start a business of her own.

Garima has invested every ounce of energy into this on a daily basis and continues to overcome any and all challenges that come her way.

Talking about challenges Garima adds, “Somewhere deep down in my heart I knew that we would not fail and we would work hard and persevere against all odds. There was lot of times in the first year where survival was becoming tough but we over all these challenges with pure grit and endurance.”

A Customer-centric Organization The company builds products for the Reverse Logistics Industry with an array of the most relevant technologies. With extensive experience in the IT service industry, GSN Solutions also offers Services in the field of Process/Data automation, Robotics Process Automation, Data Analytics, Data Visualization, Machine Learning etc. Talking about the company Garima explains, “Our business model is simple yet manifold. I don’t believe a unidimensional model or approach can put you ahead of the game. It must be a 360-degree perspective” Looking at the things on daily basis from the customer’s point of view helps GSN provide best-in-class services. “We look at our Product and Service models under a magnifying glass. Just like we do with data in analytics, if you wrangle and strangle your service offerings well enough, it’ll tell you the truth”, says Garima

GSN is a customer centric organization always ready to walk the extra mile for the customer. It is standing in the customer’s shoes that enable a whole new perspective.

“We also truly believe it is the people that make or break a company, and we have been very fortunate to have a great set of people”, says Garima Wise words for budding entrepreneurs Garima believes that good communication with customers is also vital for any business. It helps building relationships and also is one of the most underrated success factors.

While advising budding entrepreneur Garima exerts, “Hard work & common business sense beats skill. If you’re willing to burn the midnight oil, it will take you to levels you never knew existed” What Lies Ahead?

Under Garima’s leadership, GSN is growing at a steady pace. The company is working on the Products that could bring large scale automation shifts. Progressing forward Garima see GSN as go-to Company for automation and solution Services especially for the reverse logistics industry. The company also continues to grow as a digital partner for customers in other industries with proven success stories already under the belt.

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Kamaljit Gatore Sr. Manager - HR

Kamaljit Gatore A Passionate HR professional

“

A

lways be hungry, be patient, and Network within the Industry. Hunger will not let one become complacent, patience will help in clearing obstacles and make better decisions and Networking will give the necessary jumpstart which is needed to become an HR entrepreneur”

This is the mantra which drives one ahead and makes one a successful leader. A true businesswoman learns from mistakes and always overcomes the challenges which life throws at every step. One such women who abides by this mantra is Kamaljit Gatore, Sr. Manager-HR at

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iResearch Services. She is a persuaded visionary who believes that everything is achievable through honesty, transparency, focus, clear communication, and hard work.

Kamaljit has always been passionate about HR functions. She holds a Master’s degree in HR and has more than nine years of work experience in the same. She began her journey as an HR Executive. This helped her to build the foundation that was required to becoming an HR leader. She has dedicatedly worked in the entire lifecycle of HR function, right from the basic role of sourcing candidates from

professional networks and portals, interviewing candidates, employee retention, creating compensation benefit plan for employees to managing complex roles like creating HR policies, leadership hiring, driving culture, nurturing talent, and setting business aligned workforce strategies.

Dedicated Leader, Innovative Company iResearch Services is providing bestin-class marketing-first services to the global brands with focus on dependability, customer service, and uniqueness. Since 2008, the company’s | June 2019 |

‘‘

Be hungry, be patient, and Network within the Industry

research enthusiasts & sales scientists are helping brands to build their digital-trust. She is one of the pillars of iResearch that bring in years of acumen and professionalism in the business. With her positive approach, she is dedicatedly driving the team of iResearch towards a better future.

Under Kamaljit’s aegis, in span of three years, the strength of the company has grown from 70 to more than 400. She has hired 40+ executive in record 15 days along with introduction of anti-harassment policies. “The Human resources team under my leadership team has grown from a team of one to a team of five”, asserts Kamaljit.

Usually most people do not think about HR when it comes to branding.

Majority of people emphasize that strong brand brings in good talent, however Kamaljit believes that strong brands are built on the foundation of strong talent. “The business model that I have implemented at iResearch is to allow our employees to be engaged, to be free and responsible, we encourage our employees to communicate and we appreciate the efforts that are taken to get the result”, says Kamaljit.

Converting Challenges into Opportunities At the end of the day, success comes to the people who take risks. Recently, iResearch acquired a potential client; the requirement was to add forty

June 2019|

resources in a period of 15 days which was a very challenging task. Kamaljit and team took this challenge and completed the recruitment in a record 15 days. “There were multiple risks associated, high salaries for people without the required skill, losing the client if we did not meet the hiring criteria, however we embarked on a journey with multiple career drives, campus hiring, hiring from competition, weekend walk inns and ended up with the required number,” says Kamaljit.

This seven years journey of Kamaljit at iResearch has been a roller coaster ride filled with lot of challenges. Talking about most memorable moments Kamaljit said, “I faced no shows, had multiple people accepting offers and not joining, fighting with practice leads about implementing policies, dealing with people who never stick to timelines, and arranging parties.

Having said that, I have made some remarkable friends, met inspiring people, I have been able to make changes in a few people’s lives and I can certainly say that I have been successful in running a tight ship” Kamaljit’s Inspiration Kamaljit truly believes that to be the successful in the life one must have inspiration and clear focus to achieve anything. Yogesh Shah, Director of Intellectual Research Services inspired her in many ways. He allows Kamaljit to make mistake. To quote him -“If you do not commit a mistake, how would

you know the difference in what works and what doesn’t,” she says.

Yogesh has always encouraged Kamaljit to be adept with new HR practices and technology that are getting implemented nationally and internationally. Talking about Yogesh, Kamaljit says, “He leads his team and me to never stop learning and exploring new things in personal and professional life. He has always encouraged me to introduce and practice technology and be adept with new HR practices that are getting implemented nationally and internationally” A Road towards Better Future In today’s interconnected and digital world, technology is revolutionizing HR function in an amazing way.

Progressing forward with the positive approach, Kamaljit will continue to lead the HR function at iResearch. She is dedicated to implement and equip iResearch’s team with social and referral recruiting tools, mobile app based HR systems, talent analytics, and learning technology. “We are implementing technology that can be leveraged to reduce the heavy lifting and allow my HR team to engage with our employees and take initiatives,” asserts Kamaljit.

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Manju Mohan CEO

Manju Mohan Building and Maintaining Strong Relationships

I

t is fair to ascertain that strength in numbers is not just a saying, but a philosophical phrase that transcends way above the normality of the term networking. Establishing good relations personally and professionally is a virtue embraced by the people, who are gracious enough to cherish it.

A stronger bond between people develops long term relationships with mutual understanding and respect for each other which is especially required in smooth flow of operations in any business.

Standing testimony to this belief is Manju Mohan – CEO of Ionixx Technologies, who has set a benchmark as a woman leader in the competitive IT services industry in

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India and USA. As an industry thought leader, she has always believed in this simple principle: “It’s all about forming deep relationships with the people who advice you (mentors), the people you work with (colleagues) and the people who you work for (customers).”

She considers people as the most important resource of any business.

Also, what’s quite heartening is her strong sense of respect for people, that goes as far as putting aside possible differences of opinions she may have with them.

“People will treat you the way you treat them.” says Manju.

Her insights on current tech-enabled

businesses in India are also quite interesting.

“Technology is evolving rapidly all over the world. And specifically, in India, owing to its population of over a billion and as one of the largest adopters of mobile technology, there is immense potential to wield influence with technology in a big way.”

What does Ionixx Technologies do?

Ionixx Technologies is a design-driven software services and blockchain development company with a global presence spanning regions that include USA, India, Singapore, and Canada.

As a technology development company with a blockchain focus, Ionixx helps forward-looking startups and | June 2019 |

‘‘

People Are Our Assets

enterprises with blockchain, cloudenablement, enterprise agility, and other cutting-edge web and mobile technologies. Ionixx is driven by the passion to innovate and a deep commitment toward creating usercentered products and compelling customer experiences. They specialize in blockchain development to design, build, and deploy custom end-to-end solutions across several business domains such as fintech, healthtech, education, logistics, telecom, media and entertainment. Ionixx promises transparency, methodical execution, and seamless delivery at its core.

customer retention as Ionixx experienced a rather pivotal change and built its focus around web/mobile development.

Tracing the Journey: E-learning to Information Technology Services and Product Development

What Lies Ahead?

Straight out of college, Manju founded an e-learning firm that developed corporate training courses. Just around then, in 2008, tech giant Apple released its first iPhone. Capitalizing on this ripe technological boom and identifying the exponential scope of mobile-based applications, Manju began to explore exciting possibilities in this realm.

She says, “We created first-aid training on the little Nokia screen with little graphics and instructions. From there, we started exploring more on the mobile side,”. From here, Ionixx diversified from a simple app development company to a product development company after an extremely successful run with a mobile and cloud based suite of products to automate the workflow of a microfinance institution. This comprehensive suite of products proved to be a major contributor for June 2019|

Once the automation for the workforce of microfinance operations was done, the company was successful in creating paperless offices which dramatically improved work efficiency. When Ionixx started undertaking projects for other companies, it bootstrapped the development of their products.

Eventually, the services side of the business was born and it resulted in becoming the company’s core business itself.

“User experience design, I feel, is what makes or breaks a product. You can have a great idea and great technology but if you can’t get users to use it effectively - then you are going to lose them,” explains Manju, emphasizing the importance of design and user experience.

When asked about her views on Blockchain technology, Manju very strongly opines, “Blockchain is a technology that will transform the technology landscape the way that the internet did over 20 years ago, except I believe this time the change will happen more rapidly - we move very fast these days. The core features of blockchain are that data is stored in a decentralized and immutable manner which result in more transparency, trust and security. Blockchain will be integral in solving a lot of today’s issues with security breaches, data authenticity, provenance of goods and much more ”

The Driving Force & Future Roadmap Apart from watching inspirational talks and motivational speeches on the Internet, a major factor contributing to Manju’s relentless pursuits toward success are her parents, who she says have always inspired her almost on a daily basis.

Manju expressed that, as an organization, they would like to grow in size rapidly and provide employment to a lot of people. She also feels that working with more entrepreneurs and businesses that positively impact the world will help her enhance the condition of business operations exponentially.

“We would like to be known as the goto design and development partner that you can trust!” she remarks on a concluding note.

Her Words of Wisdom for Budding Entrepreneurs “Work on your strengths, not only weaknesses while being resourceful because everyone faces all sorts of challenges initially. Also, build networks as there is a lot to learn from the people around you, and it is important to derive great things through others,” tells Manju informing the new generation about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

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Rajashree Sampath Director

Rajashree Sampath Crafting Her Own Pathway

W

hile gender diversity in the corporate sector has always been one of the talking points in the Indian business eco-system, lately there has been a tremendous rise in Women’s reaching the ‘C’ level. Defying the odds and conquering every obstacle on the way, women business leaders have taken the center stage in attaining diverse business goals.

The Indian IT sector that is progressing at a brisk pace and as it continues to evolve with each passing day, women leaders have cemented their dominance in the most dignified manner. Their unmatched expertise and the ability to

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manage complex business scenarios have bought in a significant change within the IT fraternity and the Indian business ecosystem is applauding this welcome change.

One such multifaceted persona who has managed to grab the eyeballs of the IT domain by the virtue of her determination to bring in positive changes to the work environment is Rajashree Sampath. As one of the Directors of Klaus IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., she has been the pillar of strength as she manages several crucial business units of Klaus. Over the years, she has managed Contract Staffing in Embedded, Automotive and IT

Services along with Managing payroll process & International Language Translations. Started as IT Services Company, Klaus has taken a long journey to transform itself as a tech giant as today it successfully manages countless projects related to IT and Engineering. This transition from staffing to managing large, complex projects has attracted talented technocrats to join Klaus. Today the company has gathered expertise in the areas of IT, Embedded Automotive, and Healthcare & Life science.

Prior to joining Klaus, she has been associated to prestigious organizations including Mastek, NeoIT, and Vista | June 2019 |

‘‘

Transforming the young talented professionals to align with the corporate world

Info Systems. Having amassed expertise over two decades, Rajashree has been instrumental in building up an extensive training-cum-deployment model under Staffing Services alongside training fresh talents and building young teams.

Her Journey at Klaus Rajashree is an integral part of the Klaus core team, as she is a part of this Organization since its inception in 2011 and has witnessed the evolution of the entity from a count of 40 to over 1200 employees as on today’s date.Abiding by her one over-riding principle of ‘learning endlessly’ has helped her to setup small to large corporates in wide-ranging areas such as Human Resources, Finance, and Admin. Over a period of time, Rajashree has formulated numerous policies that have helped the organizations she has worked for by creating a positive work environment and a culture which imbibed equal opportunities for all. The results were evident through employee loyalty and higher productivity.

Elaborating on the unique business model embraced at Klaus, Rajashree asserts “Our business models are agile which gives our clients the comfort to work with us. We work on Staffing, Development and Testing activities.

Our uniqueness lies in our flexibility to cater to every client differently. We consider people as the biggest asset June 2019|

and give a lot of importance to their career progression which in turns leads to the Company’s progress.”

For the budding professionals aspiring to be the technocrats of tomorrow, Rajashree shares her piece of advice.

She adds – “Life isn’t easy and people who learn the hard way sustain in the market. As they say, there is no shortcut to success. But thanks to technology and mentors in the Industry who are ever willing to help budding entrepreneurs and support & finance their ideas, the present generations have much scope to succeed”.

Memories and Motivations – Defining Life Rajashree has a plethora of memories that she collects from her personal and professional life. On the personal front, giving birth to a beautiful girl was the most gratifying moments and on the professional front, getting promoted as the Director at Klaus was another incredible moment. As every individual looks upto a person who stands out to be the ultimate source of inspiration, for Rajashree it’s none other than Mr. N K Varma - Managing Director of Klaus. His determination to take up new challenges and drive it to success is highly motivating and has inspired many individuals including Rajashree. Also, his down-to-earth attitude and ensuring work satisfaction for every employee is truly appreciated.

Rajashree’s take on the Current Scenario With the ever-changing technologies in the global scenario, there is a growing demand for technology-enabled services and India is leaving its footprint in this arena. With its large talent-pool, India is a force to reckon with and has become the digital capabilities hub of the world. India is the topmost offshoring destination for IT companies across the world, having proven its capabilities in delivering both on-shore and off-shore services to global clients. Emerging technologies now offer an entire new gamut of opportunities for top IT firms in India.

The Roadmap Ahead Having conquered challenges including managing resources working in remote locations and many more, Rajashree carries a very optimistic view of the future. In her grit to take Klaus to the epitome of success, she aims to reach a headcount 2500 in the next two years with a continued focus on the latest technologies.

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Smita Bhadury Director

Smita Bhadury Defining Unique HR Strategies

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ith a firm passion for finance and strongly influenced by her husband, Smita Bhadury, the Director at Knowledge Lens, brings rich experience in accounting and people management. She drives the company investment strategy and manages vendor relations. She also drives the overall talent management, the investment strategy for the company.

The Journey till Date Smita’s journey started in the field of accounting when the mobile market in India was in its nascent stage. At the earlier stage of her professional career, she had worked with a startup in

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Mumbai on managing their accounting and finance. Subsequently, she had a break in her career as she had to travel to the US with family and decided to make voluntary contributions to National Library and many others.

On return from the US, she helped her close friend in her entrepreneurial journey and thereafter started Knowledge Lens, I took over the Finance and HR Operations of Knowledge Lens.

From professional ethics, her DNA rest on Smart Work and Complete Accountability. Thus, Smita looks after the Finance and HR Operations of

Knowledge Lens. Throughout the career, work has been a key guiding principle for her. “Work is worship and we try to do our best in whatever role we assume,” – expresses Smita.

‘My Overall Motivation - My Husband’ “My Husband has been a great motivator for me. And he is the role model for me. Everything about him screams AMAZING. He is the most forgiving person I have ever met. HE is so kind, so patient, so understanding.

His simple living and high thinking always drove me to be the best in what I do. His focus on work, and his selfless dedication towards everything | June 2019 |

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I would drive to see myself as all-round entrepreneur

he do drives me always ,” says Smita.

Know More about – Knowledge Lens Knowledge Lens’ focus has been on employee motivation and diversity initiatives since its inception. Also, the company helps in enabling women professionals to balance the overall professional journey apart from the key responsibilities of Finance and HR. Knowledge Lens has a very de-risked business model, where it has ‘Environment Business’ which focuses mostly on the B2B model and B2G model. This unique model created by the company along with International Certification and Collaboration made Knowledge Lens to create a niche in its space, uniquely.

Apart from everything, it has Enterprise Data Business – a partnerbased strategy which helps the company to work with giant partners and provide niche consultancy to large clients in the US. Making a Difference In India, the company maintains direct customer relationship with large corporates, especially in Industrial IoT Space. The company is differentiating with unique features and solutions that help beat the cut-throat competition. Its unique business model is the reason that Knowledge Lens stands tall in this competitive environment uniquely.

‘Trust’ – One thing that Changed Everything The biggest daring challenge the company took was to setup the

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Environment Laboratory in Chennai.

The reason behind this is to have a downward integration of its Environment Business to enable it to give a complete solution to its customer in the environment. This was a big investment with little knowledge in this field. But, with the help of the company’s domain expert and trusting on the key people, Knowledge Lens dared to make an investment that paid off. This was a major decision for the company which helped it to reach the epitome of success.

Noteworthy Achievements Till date, the company has achieved many milestones and recognized among the crowd. One of the important milestones is for the startup to grow without any employee attrition in this competitive world. Moving from a small office to over 500+ seater IT Park in Nov 2018, was another big milestone for the company; as they had to do multiple scenario modeling from a Finance and HR Perspective to look at the future business and outlook.

Moving to a new place which was costing almost ten times the original space was a big decision and remarkable milestone.

Last but not least, empowering women in Knowledge Lens and driving diversity initiatives with Knowledge Lens is another important milestone that the company has achieved.

Smita also shared one of the very important milestones, which is very close to her heart and everyone in the company still cherishes the moment. It is the moment when the Knowledge Lens got its product MCERTS certified. This was one of the

remarkable moments as it is the only startup company in India which achieved an International Certification for a homegrown product. This brought Knowledge Lens a lot of credibility in the market.

Future Roadmap Keeping in mind the enormous opportunities across the globe, Smita is dedicatedly running behind her objectives. She has decided to take Knowledge Lens to a 200 Cr company by 2022 with a global presence across the world. Even though, she has been on the top management position in the company driving Knowledge Lens financially; she would like to explore other areas of management other than Finance and HR. Voice of an Influencer “The most important aspect for every budding entrepreneur is the profitability of business. No business can sustain long term if there is no focus on profitability. VC funding etc. only can last only for limited period, if a viable business has to be created, it is required that we have a strong business fundamentals and the business should add sustainable value. Once we master this art, then all business is viable,” - says Smita. Furthermore, she asserts that “The second most important aspect is the passion and drives to make the impossible. Every journey will appear impossible at the beginning, unless u drive it with passion and confidence.”

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Sonali Chowdhry CEO, Netcomm Labs

Sonali Chowdhry Leading by Example towards Cohesive Synergy

trong ethos and beliefs derives a person’s integrity, nature and sense of authority when it comes to doing anything and everything.

Good manners, ethics and values become a driving force for some people. Those who constantly imbibe such values in their daily lives and motivate others to do the same are hard to come by. A collective pallet of these ethics and beliefs in the long run can surely enlighten the path to success.

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good ethos and values is Sonali Chowdhry. As the CEO of Netcomm Labs, her approach towards her role has remained simple - to get her team to work in coherence and synergize with each other. With this noble thought she embarked on the journey to provide a helping hand via Netcomm Labs to their clients while considering a fact that a foundation of reliability should be built between them and the respective clients.

One of such intriguingly well, tech superstar building herself up in the software development sector who leads her life by inculcating a variety of

‘The Web & Beyond’ - As their tagline suggests, Netcomm Labs caters to a huge variety of customer base.

Their portfolio includes names of some

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famous entities like Fena Ltd, Maruti Insurance, Bajaj Corp, Dabur, Havells, Sigma Global Inc and OPTC India etc.

Their major achievements have been being recognized with the CIO User’s Choice Award in 2017 and the MSME Ministry ‘Empowering India Award’ in 2018 recently. “Our HRMS product called Officenet has gained customers on a PAN India level in the last 10 years. It has competed with several global tools to earn a niche space for itself in the Domestic market” said Sonali when Insights Success asked her about the accomplishments achieved by the company.

| June 2019 |

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Family support and a congenial work environment helps in dening the growth path of your career

On Her Way Up

There have been various experiences in the past 15 years of handling a medium sized company, which have enriched her career path as well as her enterprise. She believes that being a woman in the business at the early stage, sticking to the good values has been very important factor. These values were part of her upbringing which ensured a safe working environment. She made sure that it remains always driven on high principles, fair practices and a discipline towards maintaining work ethics. This has resulted in helping and building a credible track record of progress and maintaining growth. Also, the company has developed an approach for positive and transparent relationship with employees, clients and other third party users & stakeholders.

The Journey & the In-between According to Sonali, the most memorable and remarkable moment of her life has been her participation in the CIPD Annual HR show at London.

While reminiscing that moment, she said “It gave us a chance to compare our HR Technology offering with similar tools from the world over.”

Also, one of the challenges she faced was moving their office to a new facility - a modern IT park which they

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overcame and now has become a boasting factor. She feels proud of owning the new workplace.

The driving force behind Sonali has been the unconditional love & support of her family in lieu with congenial work environment, which according to her is important to grow one’s career.

To excel in her all the other roles as daughter, mother and wife, she believes that this is something more relevant.

Her take on the current technologyenabled business scenario in India:“India is today being seen by the world as a fast growing economy and Technology is one of the important enablers in all spheres of business. The Technology providers like us have to keep living up to the changing global trends in order to build better products and give better services. Constant skill up gradation and quality delivery will hold the key to those who want to increase their market share.”

Her Vision for the firm & it’s Future Mantra for the Newbies With the constant enhancement and enrichment of Officenet their HR Product, its feature-list, their USP along with the HR domain expertise has been the deployment of Officenet with a large percentage of customization and changes as per the specific enterprise’s business requirements. “Good customer referrals have played a significant role in our increasing deployments on a PAN India basis” expresses Sonali.

Entrepreneurs today have to realize that there is no shortcut to success. It requires patience and constant work to strategize and channelize their efforts in the right direction in order to grow a business. “Entrepreneurs require to be daring and experimental all the while in order to grow.” adds Sonali.

The vision for the future is not farfetched; it is much more concentrated and streamlined as far as organizational goals go. The firm’s main focus will be Officenet on Mobile & in the coming years it will be targeted towards a lot of product enhancements which she thinks will come from their experiences of integrating the Mobility Framework.

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Triveni Kathuripally Co-founder

Triveni Kathuripally An Inspiring Journey of Relentless Determination

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n today’s era of new-age innovation and diverse business opportunities, the contribution of women as entrepreneurs and managing various management positions alongside donning the cap of a homemaker is truly amazing! Having absolute clarity and transparency about executing their professional commitments, this gradual change of mindset is not only disrupting, but bringing a renaissance in the Indian business eco-system.

This captivating piece of the excerpt is an inspiring story of one such individual who always had the grit and vision to climb the ladders of the

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entrepreneurial world! Today, as the Co-founder of Miraki Technologies Private Limited, Triveni Kathuripally is a success story for the budding entrepreneurs by the virtue of her passion and hard work. Inspired by women business tycoons like Indra Nooyi – CFO & President of PepsiCo and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Founder Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited, the entrepreneurial bug had bitten Triveni while she was in her graduation. However, life progressed and the final push to break the barriers came in 2015 when she took a break from her existing job at Deloitte.

Co-founding Miraki Technologies Having required acumen and expertize in the IT sector, Triveni saw an opportunity in the field of IT services.

As the usage of the internet was a mere twenty percent, there was a huge business prospect in the area of Web and Mobile App development sector.

This wide gap in the area of internet penetration motivated her to design a business model along with other Co-Founder Mr Sriharsha Sriramoju.

While Sriharsha takes care of Projects & Client Management, Triveni manages the Finance and Business Operations. Highlighting the core values, Triveni adds “Talking about Ethics, principles, and manners of | June 2019 |

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We don’t just BUILD websites; we build websites that “SELLS”

working then it has to be “Employee Friendly” and while dealing with clients it has got to be “Client friendly”. And of course within the minimum ethical rules and then work on your goal very firmly steadily and with complete dedication.”

Talking about the start of the journey, Triveni recalls it was just the two co-founders and one employee. The team started with small projects and convincing the clients about the company and showcasing the technical expertise of the team was an uphill task. Steadily, as Miraki continued to deliver quality IT services, it gained the credibility and the flow of projects increased with the passage of time.

One element that has fuelled the transformation of Miraki as a matured contributor in the industry is the ability to understand the perspective of its employees and clients and work accordingly. This success mantra has assisted the company to gain brownie points on client satisfaction and nearing the epitome of success on a short span of just 3.5 years.

Initial Challenges that Strengthened Miraki Like every other start-up, the company was started with limited resources and financial crunch was the biggest obstacle for the team. It also received an offer from a major group that

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offered to buy a major stake at Miraki.

The bold decision of not accepting the offer was risky as well as one of the toughest call for the company.

However, as Triveni puts its forward, “On one side, we were short of funds & an offer from the big group for major stake and on the other side we didn’t want to sell the major stake at the beginning of our days. We were completely a bootstrapped company and wanted it to be so in the future too”. Today as Miraki takes giant steps forward towards attaining countless milestones, it fondly acknowledges its friends, families, and the companies who trusted and supported their journey at the start.

Business Model Instead of aligning to specific business models, Triveni explains that the company has stuck to the basics and has been following a very ‘customercentric’ approach. Rather than just completing an assignment, Miraki focuses to be a trusted partner by walking the extra mile with the client by offering better technical solutions.

The company also performs ‘competitor analysis’ on every new project with an objective to stand ahead of others. Secondly, adhering to project timelines and having seamless communication results to transparency in the process that ultimately brings glitters to the brand and adds new clientele.

The Motivation that Speaks Out Loud Speaking about the motivational factor of her life, Triveni remembers an event where the speaker talked about ‘Share a smile’. This thought had a great deal of influence in her life as she realized that bringing a smile on the faces of the employees as well as of the clients go a long way in cementing a long-lasting relationship. Triveni has embraced this quality today as it motivates her to work better every day.

The Roadmap Ahead Triveni puts up a very optimistic face of Miraki for the future. She adds that instead of ending up as just another software services entity, the brand aims to create its own niche and hence is working on developing its own products. It has a dedicated R&D team that works for the next-generation products and is also launching a unique AI (Artificial Intelligence) Enabled product by the end of FY2020. Triveni concludes by saying, “Our goal is to be the single platform for any company for their web requirements (Software, Mobile or Digital Marketing). We want to be a one-stop solution for them.”

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Vani Sreeram Director- Digital Marketing Division

Vani Sreeram Charting her own Path “

ou have to do it yourself; no one else will do it for you.

You must work out your own salvation.” – Charles E Popplestone, Author

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steadily. Following this mantra of rules, strict self-discipline, and taking up as many responsibilities as she could, Vani Sreeram has been the author of her own destiny.

Every human being is given the power to dream. Those who actually work on their dreams relentlessly are the ones who realize them and achieve their destiny. No one gets to live someone else’s life. One can create, design, and progress on a path designed by his/her own hard work, perseverance, and self-belief. The need is to keep walking and taking each step as it comes, slowly but

Her career started as a typist at a data entry company. This was followed by a job change as a Lab Assistant cum Receptionist at an institute offering .NET course. Later, she joined an IT firm as an SEO Trainee, where she realized her passion towards Digital Marketing specifically SEO. Once her passion was in sight, all she needed was a supporting pad where she could grow. She found the right

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environment at Honeycomb Creative Support (P) Ltd. where she joined as an SEO Executive, 6 years back. Here, she came to realize her full potential and her interest in Digital Marketing. Dedicated since the beginning, she has grown to be Director, Digital Marketing Division.

The Launchpad Honeycomb is a leading marketing communication agency based out of Bengaluru, India. The company began with art working and adaptations for SMEs and Corporate Clients for advertising-related | June 2019 |

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I believe in continuous constant learning which is result-oriented and suggest all to do the same

purposes. It has now evolved into a one-stop shop that provides companies with a comprehensive range of Marketing Communication Solutions & Services. As a representative of the Digital Marketing Division, Vani stands tall by empowering the customeroriented business model that the company follows. The services it provides are top-notch and its unique identity is striving for 100% customer satisfaction. Vani says, “We believe in customized services based on the requirements of each customer.We serve all our customers with the utmost dedication and start off with a rapport-building approach.

Also, we believe in assisting customers and clients with after-sales support as well.”

The Defining Moment Initially, there was no space for Digital Marketing at Honeycomb.

Vani took it on herself and began rigorous SEO for the Honeycomb Website and other pages, be it onpage or off-page. In a few months, she gathered over 28% extra leads through her extensive services. Thus began the journey of the company’s Digital Division as it grew from a one-woman department to a sevenmember team.

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Vani recalls this exact empowering and memorable moment, “I remember this day, so clearly, when I, as the sole Digital Marketing person, was given the opportunity and responsibility to be able to build my own team and capture clients for Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. That was the moment, I felt like I had achieved something and that I am capable of that and more.” The biggest boost came in last year when she picked up clients for Digital Services. Now, the department has over 4 clients who have added a good amount of percentage to the company profits and are looking forward to more.

From Inspired to Inspiring As someone who has always been adaptable to changes at the work environment, Vani finds her constant source of motivation and positive influence in Noufel A N, Founder, Honeycomb and Rajiv Talreja.

Speaking of them, she says, “Noufel, is my mentor, guide and an entrepreneur himself and Rajiv Talreja, is an author, business coach and entrepreneur. And they have always guided me to a path of success. I have also done the P.A.C.E program by Rajiv Talreja and he has been an inspiration ever since.”

Vani’s growth curve is itself a story of inspiration for many women who are trying to break the glass-ceiling across the country. She advises them to ‘Hustle and align’. She asks them to, “Work hard, play harder. Find a balance between working and chilling. Embrace the concept that rest, recovery, and reflection are essential parts of the progress towards a successful and ultimately happy life. Be proactive and clear in your decisions, take time but when you are done, it should be in perfect sync to what the brief was.”

Pushing Limits to Grow Vani wishes to continue working for Honeycomb and someday own and manage a sister concern company in association with Honeycomb. The company and Vani, both believe in hustling and aligning, thereby working for the growth. Her top career goal is owning and completely managing her own sister concern company and for that, her ideal path would include giving her best and doing justice to her work, pushing her limits and facing challenges with her head held high.

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