Small changes over time result in a big impact: Sushma Berlia, President - Apeejay Stya Group
We still have a long way to go before achieving gender equality. Sushma Berlia is working hard in this direction to make sure women feel more empowered at the workplace.
Sushma is the President of Apeejay Stya Group, a 7,500 cr international conglomerate of businesses with activities in pharmaceuticals & chemicals, real estate & development, international trading & distribution, financial investments & services, and several emerging businesses such as information technology, publishing & media.
To empower women at the workplace, Sushma makes one change at a time, understanding their problems and mentoring them. “Small changes over time result in a big impact. If someone cannot work full time due to commitments at home, we help them with part time jobs or flexi work time or by giving them opportunities to work from home. The aim is to help them in any way possible to become self reliant.”
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In acknowledgement of her efforts she was also invited to deliver a keynote address on the ‘Role of Women at the Work Place’ at the UN World Social Summit held at Copenhagen (Denmark in 1995).
Fortunately, she never had to face any gender discrimination during her childhood. When she was a child, her father used to take her to his office often after school. That is where she began to learn about business.
Sushma says her dad has been her greatest mentor. “My dad was a freedom fighter. He always encouraged us to do more for others and help people as much as possible. He paid a great emphasis on education and learning. He often used to say, ‘Business is the process of creating wealth for all’,” says Sushma.
Sushma recalls an incident form her childhood which had a profound impact on her, “It was during the 1971 war. Once when we were traveling in our car from Kolkata, suddenly there were bombings nearby. We didn’t know what was happening. We all got out of our car and started looking for shelter. I became extremely afraid and thought we all might die. Then my father looked at me and said, ‘we all have to die one day, you don’t need to die a thousand times anticipating death’.“
Her dad always encouraged her and her siblings to try out different things and not be afraid of failure. Sushma says she always feared disappointing her parents and letting them down, which also motivated her to excel in all activities in her life. “Once I scored a bit less in a subject and was very afraid of showing the report card to my father. But somehow he sensed it and said it was ok. He never put pressure on me,” Sushma adds.
Breaking the glass ceiling
Sushma got married in 1981. “When I went to my husband’s office I saw there was not even a single woman at the workplace. The family I had married into did not favour women going to work. My husband, Vijay, wasn’t too encouraging initially. But my mother- in-law was completely in favour of women working; she always believed,” if you marry an educated woman, give her a platform to prosper, you can’t ask her to sit at home.”
She became the first woman from her family to go to office. “When I was getting into business we were not doing that well. I decided to learn the nuances of business. One of the biggest things I learned was that it is always better to ask for help then to pretend that you know everything,” she says.
Things were difficult, you had to juggle priorities at home and office, “I often used to teach my children in between the meetings. And get their homework done in the boardroom itself many a times. In any area in life, it’s never an easy journey. There will be difficulties and rewards and nothing lasts forever.”
Sushma shares her three key lessons with us:
1) Believe in yourself and listen to yourself.
2) Don’t let money drive you, have an idea and a business model; money will follow.
3) Tough times never last. Those who don’t succeed give up too soon.