Hi! I am Shreya. I was born in well to do and highly educated family in Bihar where education was of paramount importance. I was a good student and excelled in my studies throughout my schooling days and graduated with Hons. In Political Science from prestigious Miranda House college, Delhi University. I then pursued my PG in Management and specialised in Human Resource Management with distinction. I chose HR since I always had a keen interest in people matters and had leanings towards Training & Development. I continued excelling in my professional life and played many important and leadership HR roles in reputed organisations of varied size and industries like WNS, MPC, UBQ Technologies. However, I also simultaneously harboured a strong passion for attaining a PhD degree and then embark upon an entrepreneurial journey in the area of skill development to become a change agent for many lives across the various strata of the society. It was my passion and single-minded focus that led me to successfully pursue and attain both my dreams even when I was continuously juggling between my home and work responsibilities.
I successfully transitioned from a fruitful corporate life to a demanding entrepreneurship journey in 2016 - just a year and half after giving birth to my second child. I also utilised my brief maternity related break to fulfil most of my doctoral thesis requirements and getting trained on becoming a professional trainer from IATD.
I took baby steps in the world of skill development in late 2016 and soon found a firm footing and thereafter, never had to look back. One prestigious assignment led to other and soon I had an impressive repertoire of clients across IT, BFSI, Retail, Manufacturing industries. This journey has been riddled with many challenges but I would like to talk about two of them which will resonate well with my peers-
I came across the first one was when I decided to move away from a safe corporate HR profile to a riskier and more challenging option of a freelance Corporate Trainer right after the birth of my second child. It was a time of complete change or rather revamp I would say on all fronts.
Then the second crossroad came after the first year - a mixed bag of successes and failures as a corporate trainer: a period of self-doubts. I had a stable job with good salary but now everything was uncertain.
It was definitely not an easy journey to begin with but not as difficult as it seemed initially. In my case, since I mostly operate independently, setting up a company and getting the right people kind of things don’t directly apply. But still I had to think and make decisions on similar matters. For example, I had to invest time and devise a strategy to develop relationships and networks that could fetch me a steady stream of business
The most satisfying aspect of my journey till now has been that my goals are aligned to my ‘existential needs’, i.e., I always wanted to work in a field that creates an impact or makes meaningful positive changes in somebody’s life. Now my chosen profession of a Corporate trainer, Performance coach and Communications advisor enables me to make that ’Positive meaningful impact’ on varied kinds of people. I am thoroughly enjoying this phase and hope to make it even more productive and meaningful in the future.
In my opinion, if the mindset is positive and the self confidence is high then nothing can stop a woman from breaking the glass ceiling. Look at any successful female leader and you will find these two traits common in all. Yes, a supportive family, a great mentor or a role model contribute.
Learn to overcome and manage your self doubts. Keep learning from one’s mistakes and making a mental note of these major learnings. It is important to break big goals into smaller milestones and celebrate the attainment of each milestone. When in doubt, you can take stock of the wins/losses of these smaller milestones and most often you will find yourself in greener territory. Please demarcate between professional and personal success. Failures in either should not create self-doubts in the other space. When in doubt, be open to discuss and change course if needed. Big egos always create self-doubts because you are raising the stakes for yourself.
I want to continue this remarkable and interesting journey along with making time for my loving kids. I have miles to go before I sleep!
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