Hi, my name is Prenita Reddi. I’m often described as being driven, adventurous and passionate individual who is also an entrepreneur. My latest venture
As women, we juggle families, careers and friendships yet we often lack confidence. We often find our inner critic thriving on pointing out our flaws and focusing on our short comings, forever allowing us to believe we are not good enough. In this process we often forget our strengths and talents.
Five and a half years ago I found myself returning to work after maternity leave, struggling to cope with the pressures of fitting back into my environment. Although I had made significant strides in my career, had two degrees, Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Business Leadership, and worked for a very well-known corporate company, I felt that after my maternity leave, I was being overlooked. Despite the barrage of encouragement from my colleagues and peers, I felt extremely saddened. I felt that I was just as intelligent, educated and committed as my male counterpart and that I was not progressing further because I was a woman with children in a very male dominated environment.
After some deep soul searching, venturing through a heap of self-help books and endless discussions with my husband, family, colleagues, friends and sometimes even random strangers about the way I was feeling, it finally dawned on me, that it is not due to lack of desire, perseverance or brains that women don’t reach the top but rather through our belief in ourselves. We feel that we have to be acknowledged by others for our accomplishments. We believe that our achievements, triumphs and successes are useless it is recognised by someone else. I wanted, needed and required approvals from my superiors which lead to the lack of belief in my own abilities. My male counterparts on the other end didn’t face that same conundrum. They in fact used every opportunity to talk about their accomplishments and use it as a platform to bolster their careers….. A trait of a leader, I realised… And that’s why they became, leaders.
In my Ah hah moment, I realised that the world needs leaders! The world does not differentiate in gender of the leader, contrary to popular belief of the mystical glass ceiling theory that us females have ingrained into our own self-created world, but it just searches for leaders! It needs people who have intellectual, emotional and spiritual strength. People who believe in their abilities even when then odds are against them, people who can use their lessons and experiences to inspire others. It is only when I realised this that I was able to embrace my journey.
It was only at this point that my belief in my abilities had grown to such an extent that I was ready to reach for the top, but not just in my corporate environment but I was ready to leave the nest and take up the opportunity to create and build my own company.
The choice of breaking free from the corporate shackles to commence on a business venture is a daunting task and it ensured that I spent several sleepless nights thinking about the obstacles that lay ahead. Amid being an overwhelming and demanding task, I found that with perseverance and self-belief I prevailed! My message to women is: Believe in yourself; reclaim your power and take control of your life; conquer your fears by being ambitious and knowing that you are good enough. Accept that there will be bad days, but know that you have the ability to get through them because YOU ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE.
