Kavita Chitta Vrat

I attribute my success to my parents, especially my father. Before anything I do, I call and ask my dad, and he gives me the confidence to do it. He always says, 'Yeah, why not? Sure, you can do it. Don't worry about anything.' When I was struggling with my MBA and thought about quitting, my father told me, 'You're not a quitter. You need to just take some time. I know it's a big break from the time you studied last time, and now you're taking up. So, it'll take easy on you, you can do it.' My entire family has been supportive - my sister, my husband, and my kids. My husband believes in me and says, 'You are a mother, you can do anything.' I also want to be a role model for my kids, showing them that if I can do it at this point in my life, they will definitely be able to do it. I wanted them to see me and join my graduation so they have those thoughts and inspiration for their own futures.

The best career advice I've received came from my boss, my super boss. He told me that you have to just give your heart, go for it, and give your best shot. It might not happen, but what happens if you get it? Then you have no stopping. When I was applying for the scholarship and asked if he thought I'd get it, he said, 'Come on, there's no loss. What if you get it?' I really admire him for showing me the right path and telling me to just do it. He taught me that it's okay if there are failures, but then get up and just do it again. There are no setbacks. That advice has stuck with me, and it's what I try to preach to everybody - just give your best shot.

I would tell young women entering my industry to be open to taking on new things and not limit themselves by saying 'this is not part of my profile' or 'this is not something I'm supposed to do.' I find that even if something isn't 100% your responsibility, if it's somehow interlinked to what you're doing and gives you a learning opportunity, why not take it? When I was trying to get out of my older profile, I took on as many projects as possible to see if the other job would be good enough for me and if I could sustain it, because I was changing my profile. You should always be welcoming to learn new things so that down the line, you know things and are ready to take on all the challenges so you can grow and succeed.

For me personally, because I am not from here, my biggest challenge is going upfront and trying to give my opinion. I try, but I feel that it's still in my head - maybe people will not accept me, or maybe they won't like my idea. I'm working towards overcoming this. I try to contain myself and not speak a lot, but my MBA has really given me that opportunity, and I'm trying to use it. Whenever there's a leadership opportunity, I still feel like, 'Do you think I'm ready? Do you think people will start liking me, or maybe they will accept me in that profile?' That's my biggest hurdle, because obviously English is not my first language, and we think a little bit differently than compared to people here or the colleagues here. Building confidence in public speaking is something I'm actively working on.

In my work, I feel that sharing knowledge and trying to help everybody is most important. It's not about making the task easy, but at least creating that kind of bonding where people can reach out to each other and ask for help without any hesitation. I value creating that bond where people can approach you without any thoughts in their mind - if they have a doubt, they can reach out. I do the same thing - if I have any doubt, I don't want to keep it to myself, I just go to the person and ask for help. Asking for help is the best thing that can happen, and people learn through that and develop a special connection. You have someone there for you, so you're not all alone. Personally, I try to teach my kids to help people, to be kind, to be gentle. I feel blessed that my kids are really great - they ask questions like 'what do we do?' or ask my permission before doing things. The value I've passed on to them is that you're not supposed to lay hands on anybody, you have to be kind to yourself, do whatever you can, but don't hurt anybody, and be together.