Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 2:58
Women think the corner office is not for them: Anisha Motwani, Founder & CEO, Storm The Norm in conversation.
She's also the author of Storm the Norm, a first of its kind collection of 20 contemporary stories of truly inspiring businesses and brands from India that either wrote or rewrote the norms of their respective industries and brought unprecedented change and vibrancy. She's on the advisory board of the CII Innovation committee. Uttal, Incubation. Center, Indian Institute of Health and Medical Research, india Diversity Forum, and a regular speaker at national and global business platforms
Anisha Motwani
@Anisha21 · 4:11
And that's when I got an opportunity to get into marketing with General Motors and then subsequently as chief marketing and Digital officer at Max, which is another financial services industry. And even now, the current work that I am doing with my own organization for the last seven years, tom the norm. It's all about understanding consumer behavior, working on that, and how do you apply that to make a substantial, significant difference to the business that you are managing? So that's been my career journey
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 0:34
You. So the world of advertising and marketing chose you. That's very, very interesting. And what a wonderful journey it has been, too. So the second part of my question was about how did you make sure that you are heard in a male dominated industry? Now with your move to General Motors, it's inherently a male dominated sphere, being a manufacturing land escape. And within that, also handling marketing. So how did you handle this whole challenge and make sure that you are heard?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Anisha Motwani
@Anisha21 · 3:48
You. So that's a very interesting question. Sreeja I have realized that even whether you are working in a male dominated industry or not, a very male dominated industry, as a women, you still have to be heard. You still have to carve out a place for yourself
You. Thank you for these pearls of wisdom. Very true. I think domain expertise and staying ahead of the curve and also speaking up very, very important perspectives that you've shared here. Thank you for that. What are your views about focusing on the spiritual quotient early on in one professional journey to help one grow in this realm?
Anisha Motwani
@Anisha21 · 4:16
And today's environment makes it even more relevant. And I call it the four C's as the benefits of spirituality. The first C is the sea of consciousness. Spirituality gives you a mirror to your own self. We are aware and conscious of our own behavior, of our own doing, of our own actions, of our own thoughts, of our own words. If we are not aware and conscious of our deeds, we will not be able to influence and change that
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 0:48
You beautifully said. Thank you so much for this wonderful perspective. And I think the sea of calmness, that is where ultimately, we all set to make our journey being centered, being calm. And this makes so much of I'm are personally able to resonate so much with what you said. My next question is, you've spoken about the conditioning that is intrinsic to women, that stops them from taking on opportunities, while women also end up taking on a lot on their plate
Anisha Motwani
@Anisha21 · 4:26
Is it something that's in the right direction, keeping my future career aspirations in mind, is it taking me there or is it just filling my plate with a lot of work that makes one feel relevant, that makes one feel center of attention, that makes one feel important. So it's sometimes more self imposed. Whereas with men I see a lot of laser sharp focus on this is my strength, this is where I want to reach and this is what's going to get me there
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 0:17
I want to thank you for taking the time to respond to each of the questions that I had and for participating in the Thought Leadership series here on Swell. Look forward to many more such deep, insightful conversations with you. Thank you. Anisha