'Take risks to fly high'

 Divya Jain, senior vice president, sales, Netmagic, an NTT Communication Company is fun-loving and a fitness freak and extremely dedicated to her profession

Challenges of being a woman CEO/ top executive?

 I have been fortunate in my career so far, to not have faced any challenges specifically because of my gender. I have always had the firm support of all my colleagues, who have valued me for my skills and leadership.

 Educational background

I graduated from IMGVSN, Pilani and completed my M.Sc. in bio chemistry and food & nutrition from Maharani College, Jaipur. I have also been part of Executive Education programs like “building teams for high performance” etc  from Indian School of Business and Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad, ISB-Hyderabad, IIM – Bangalore.

 Family Background

My father is the President at the CK Birla Group, while my mother is a retired school Principal. I have two brothers, based in Mumbai who are senior corporate executives. I live in Mumbai with my daughter and husband who is a senior Human Resources professional. We stay with my mother-in-law, who has always been an anchor and great support in my pursuit of striking a good work-life balance.

 Working in a male-dominated field of IT:

Information Technology is an arena dominated by knowledge rather than gender. My colleagues irrespective of gender have treated me equally.  With regards to my male colleagues, I often converse with them on topics of mutual interest such as cricket and politics.

 Does a Glass ceiling exist?

I have been fortunate to not have encountered any glass ceilings in my journey thus far. I believe that a glass ceiling is built in one’s own mind, and thankfully, the working environments that I have been a part of, have never been prohibitive.

 Advice to working women

The most important thing a woman must never forget is to always believe in oneself, and to never underestimate their abilities. They should always demonstrate self-confidence and the courage to take risks. Risks can often be rewarding if they are well thought through. I would encourage everyone to dream big and with continuous, systematic and sincere efforts everyone will be able to fulfill their dreams.

 Hobbies

Reading, swimming, playing different sports and the spending time with my daughter.

Future plans

My future plan is to build and expand high performing teams and places where people look forward to join. I also plan to look for business growth opportunities in technologies like cloud, Security, E-commerce.

High -Five

• Your Fitness Mantra: Workout 5 days a week which includes swimming, going to the gym and running. I avoid carbohydrates intake post 6 pm.

• You’re De-stressing Mantra: Spending time with my daughter, nephew and niece. Alternately a walk by the beach is also calming.

• Where you like to shop? Honestly I am not a shopaholic, and hence depend on my Image Consultant for most of my wardrobe.

• Your favorite Holiday destination: Goa and Sydney.

• 5 things you cannot live without: My family, work, dreams, reading and sports car

@Workday

• Morning activities: Begins with a workout, followed by reading the newspaper and breakfast with the family
• Leave for Office at: 9 am
• 1st half in office: Identifying key priority areas, resolving pending issues and a call to relevant stakeholders on current issues
• Lunch: I have my lunch around 1.15pm, which includes pulses, vegetable and no carbs
• Post Lunch: Meetings with the customer which includes discussion on win plans on key cases, discussion on the pricing strategy. Sometime is also given in interaction with the OEM and interdepartmental meetings.
• Leaving office at: 7pm to 7.30 pm
• How you spend your evenings: I spend my evenings with my family
• Sleep time: 10.30 pm

Ekta Saxena

 (ektasa@cybermedia.co.in)