Celebrating Women III: Indra Nooyi

If you’re an Indian woman who’s achieved something phenomenal, your achievement is celebrated on a magnified level. 

And it’s not what you actually did that’s lauded. It’s the fact that you’re an Indian woman that’s always scrutinized. 

Be it Priyanka Chopra or Lily Singh, you often hear them being described ‘a brown woman broke stereotypes’ and how historic it is that someone from a ‘minority community’ achieved something that was traditionally the white man’s domain. 

And if you listen to their interviews, you’d also see how a lot of these women of Indian origin highlight their background in one way or other. 

Which isn’t wrong, in any way. 

Yet, I find it completely fascinating how there’s one woman of Indian origin who accomplished a lot of incredible things and did not exactly flaunt her ‘immigrant status’, to put it crudely. 

This woman came to America way before Lilly or Priyanka did. Though she was from a conservative background, she broke the metaphorical glass ceiling in a way, that no one could have. 

This lady, dear reader, is a class apart: 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE COUNTRY?

Born in Chennai, Indra Nooyi was raised in an atmosphere where being a go-getter was encouraged. 

Her parents were as typical as typical South Indian parents could get: strict and obsessed with marks. She was always encouraged to perform well at school. At dinners, her mother would ask her and her sister to come up with speeches which expressed what they’d do, if they were the top leaders of the country. 

(Coming from a South Indian family myself, I can totally empathize with this. South Indian moms can give Chinese Tiger Moms a run for their money hands down)

Yet, instead of being a rebel without a cause, this practice was a formative experience for her. It taught her to ‘dream big’ and gave her ‘the confidence to become whoever they waned, despite her conservative Tamil Brahmin background’. As a result, she did well at school and went to two of the top collegiate institutions in the country (Madras Christian College and IIM Calcutta). 

Moreover, she wasn’t just a unidimensional swotter that most Indians tend to be. Apart from excelling school, she played cricket in college and was a part of an all-girl rock band! 

How amazing is that? 

After her MBA, Indra went on to work at Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell. Following this, she got an opportunity to be a part of Yale School of Management on a scholarship. 

Though her parents weren’t too keen on sending her alone to the US, Indra did end up moving there with just $500 in her pocket. While studying, she worked odd jobs so that she could make ends meet. 

In 1980, she had received her Masters in Public and Private Management. After getting her masters, she went on work at various leadership roles in BCG and Motorola.

By 1994, she had broken several barriers. Though she faced troubles trying to juggle her familial responsibilities and her work, she didn’t choose to let go of one of them. She successfully strived to balance both sets of duties and prompted by this, she started her journey at PepsiCo. 

PERFORMANCE WITH PURPOSE

At PepsiCo, Indra started off as a Chief Strategist and became the Chief Financial Officer, a few years later. 

Then in 2006, she broke through an incredibly high ceiling: She became PepsiCo’s CEO. 

Can you believe it? A woman of Indian origin from a highly conservative family became the CEO of one of the largest conglomerates of this world. 

And if that’s not a big deal, let me throw a little titbit here:

Statistically, most CEOs stay CEOs of a particular organisation for 5 years. If the CEO is a woman, chances are, she’d leave much before. 

But Indra Nooyi? She stayed as PepsiCo’s CEO for 12 years straight. 

And she didn’t just stay as a figurehead CEO. She revolutionized PepsiCo. 

She came up with a maxim, ‘Performance With Purpose’, which was PepsiCo’s promise to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around. 

Using this, under her leadership, PepsiCo’s revenue increased by manifold. She also went on to create a healthier image of PepsiCo’s brand by categorizing all the products into three buckets, “Fun for you”, “Better for you” and “Good for you” and pushed for the products to be healthier. 

Apart from the business related accomplishments, Indra also was a great boss. She would write thank you letters to the parents of various executives, congratulating them for raising great children who did amazing work. This was based on her very Indian values and an incident where people were congratulating her mother for her success. 

With all these actions, she exemplified one fact: she wasn't just a manager. She was a leader in the truest sense of the word. 

ON HAVING IT ALL, BUT WITH SOME SACRIFICES

Since I started working last August, I began reading more of non-fiction books by women like Sophia Amoruso, Sheryl Sandberg, Laura Vanderkam and Shonda Rhimes. Some, I could really connect with, like Laura and Shonda, who gave a very nuanced perspective about how to manage your time and how to say ‘yes’ to different opportunities. Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ was highly educative, though it came from a privileged space. Sophia’s autobiography was very… spoiled. 

When I read these books, a question kept repeating: Can women have it all? 

And I wasn’t fully satisfied with their varying degree of answers, because I kinda felt that I couldn’t connect with their notion of ‘having it all’ because they were born in a superpower nation and I was from a developing country. 

Coming from a collectivist nature like India’s, I often wonder if women can balance their careers and families, especially after marriage. Can it really happen or is it just a pipe dream? 

Yet, when I started reading about Indra’s life and watched her interviews, I felt there was hope. Though she’s often stressed on the struggles of ‘having it all’, she has also always said that you could have it all, but with sacrifices. 

And she didn’t make a big deal out of the struggles. All she did was arrive, see and conquer, come what may. She didn't make a fuss out of how things were hard. She accepted herself for who she was and made a difference. Here's what she said:

 An important attribute of success is to be yourself. Never hide what makes you, you. 

If this incredibly inspiring lady could do it after overcoming so many obstacles and biases, I feel a lot of us can do it too. 

And India could have more phenomenal female leaders, in all spheres!  

***

If you found Indra’s story inspiring, you could also check out the pieces I wrote on Anne Frank and Sophie Scholl. 

This campaign has been very special to me. Though the times have been rampant with upsetting news, with this, I’ve been getting to know about to know about so many different women in time, it’s not even funny. It’s empowering me to be more optimistic and not get dragged down by the sadness looming about in the world.  

If you also want to be a part of Celebrating Women and find out more histories of women, you can know more here. 

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this! I hope you liked it. :) 

Stay safe and awesome, 

Sending you lots of love and prayers, 

Archie <3