Shoot for the stars, PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi urges South Asians

Thursday, 12 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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OAK BROOK: Indra K. Nooyi, ranked by Fortune among the 50 most powerful women in the U.S., advised Indian Americans not to be satisfied with mediocrity and to "shoot for the stars". "We are all in the U.S. to achieve our dream. The possibilities are breathtaking. Among you are top attorneys, physicians, academicians and scientists. Maybe even the future president of PepsiCo. "But don't be in a hurry. I just got this job," Nooyi, president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo, quipped. Nooyi was the keynote speaker at a fundraiser by the Indo-American Centre, a not-for-profit group that offers services to South Asian immigrants. "Look beyond, money and privileges," said Nooyi. "Figuring out what you love and doing it is the key to happiness. Net worth can never define self-worth. Aim high and put your heart into it. "When I was growing up, my mother would play a game at the dinner table, asking me and my sister what we would do if we were the president of India. Her advice was, 'shoot for the stars'. If you (Indian Americans) have left the comfort zone (of life in India), don't be satisfied with mediocrity. "Never stop learning. That is the key to success and growth. Keep the natural curiosity you were born with." She said her most challenging roles were that of being a "good wife, mother, daughter and daughter-in-law". She told the audience, which included Indian American businessmen and community leaders, that when she was a graduate student applying for a summer job, she shopped for a dress for an all-important interview. She decided a business suit would be most appropriate. "I had just $50. In India, you don't go to the store and try out a business suit. I was too shy to go to the fitting rooms, which had curtains, making me doubly embarrassed. "Remembering my mother's advice, I bought a suit, which was a couple of sizes bigger. The suit cost $45, leaving me with no money to buy shoes. So I went to the interview in this attire, wearing snow shoes which I had bought in India." The interviewers, Nooyi said, went into "sartorial seizure" when they saw her. Feeling humiliated, Nooyi went to her career counsellor in tears. "You look ghastly," the counsellor told her, "next time, wear a sari. If they don't hire you because you wear a sari, it is their loss." Nooyi said she took the advice to heart and spent the entire summer with a top consulting firm in Chicago, clad in a sari. She referred to the example of "my colleague who had an MBA (master of business administration) and worked in the White House. At the age of 30, he decided to quit his executive position and become a manager in a hamburger joint. "He spent long hours at the restaurant, doing every chore. His clothes would be covered with grease when he came home, and his wife made him change in the garage. But he had a yearning to learn everything in the restaurant business. Today he is the chairman of PepsiCo and my boss." South Asians have now becoming a major force in the U.S., said Nooyi, but when she came to the U.S. at the age of 23, "I felt what it was to be an outsider and the pain of being excluded". Her family, friends and faith have been an anchor for her in troubled times, Nooyi said. "They are the three most important things in life. When times are bleak, it is they who pull you through. When I am wrestling with change, I turn to my religion."
Source: IANS