Her Story
About Suchitra
My journey has been amazing, filled with learning and sharing throughout. I started my career with a Master's in Business Administration, and right from the beginning I was mostly into HR and sales. I was also a communication trainer, providing leadership coaching to college interns and freshers in corporate training programs. I worked with larger corporates like Wipro, IBM, and Entity Data, primarily in sales. The best part is that I've worked with startups, smaller organizations, mid-level corporates, and bigger organizations, which really helped me shape up in terms of leadership and networking. I spent 14 plus years in Malaysia working across Southeast Asia with leaders and clients from countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Based on my performance in acquiring new clients and mentoring people, our board of directors decided to grow in the U.S., and I moved here about two and a half years ago. As CEO of Accord Innovations Inc., I'm responsible for overseeing everything - the COO, CTO, CFO, business development team, and head of marketing all report to me. My day-to-day responsibilities involve mentoring the team, providing solutions wherever there are bottlenecks, and being empathetic while managing a team of 300-400 people. I have to balance taking care of both internal and external stakeholders and clients. I work closely with CTOs, CIOs, and CHROs, and I've successfully acquired tough accounts like Accenture, AIA, and CHUB by presenting our capabilities and demonstrating what makes us different. Our company is a 15-year-old, mid-sized growing company with revenue of $20 million USD, and the achievement is collective - it's the entire team effort that has made us what we are today.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Suchitra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my upbringing and the values I learned from my parents. Coming from a defense background with my father in the Army and my mother as a teacher, leadership is in our blood. I learned discipline, independence, being vocal, maintaining integrity, and taking risks from my childhood. The go-getter attitude and being brave - these qualities run through me because of my father and mother, who are my biggest idols. I've seen them working hard and taking tough decisions in life. Being in the Army and moving every 3 years is not easy, and as the eldest in the family, I watched how they took responsibility for their family members and us. I've learned from my life, from day-to-day things, and from people in and around me, both in office and outside office. I've been fortunate enough to work very closely with leaders, which really helped me learn from them and be what I am today. I also believe in working hard and doing everything with passion. The kind of wide exposure I got right from my childhood, traveling across India and meeting thousands of people from different cultures, backgrounds, religions, and festivities, made my horizon very wide. This made it very easy for me to adopt and accept any sort of culture or people, and to be open to different conversations with people from all walks of life.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The only advice is just be you. Be confident. And don't settle for less. Go for more. What next? Be inquisitive. Take risk. Be confident. And don't settle for less. Sky is not the limit. Work hard and work with passion. Just be natural, be you, go all out. Don't restrict yourself, oh, this is my thing, this is - no. Identify your weakness and strength, work on it, and just get going. Being a woman, yes, there are a lot of challenges. You have to take care of your family, mental, emotional, hormonal health - everything comes into picture, but you have to be strong and go all out. That's what is my message for the women.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are integrity, discipline, being vocal and true, and maintaining transparency. I believe in live and let live - if I'm growing, I would love to help people and other platforms grow together. I believe it's very important to learn from each other's journey, not only from a business perspective but as a person also. Sometimes it's good to be a listener as well, because people are going through a lot of things and sometimes they just want someone to hear them when they're venting. I really love helping out and contributing wherever it is possible in my purview. I believe in being empathetic, because managing a team means there are so many people who look up to you, and you have to understand, empathize, and provide them solutions. Being a leader means you have to balance both while taking care of your internal and external stakeholders. I also believe in respecting each other and growing together, and being open to feedback while also being open to mentor people.
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