Shalinee Laddha – Class of 2005

Tell us about your organisation/profession and your role.
I am a budding entrepreneur – with interests in diverse areas like education, textile, power, and financial services. I work as CMO for a group of companies.

My expertise lies in Marketing and Strategy. I am also looking after Business Development and Relationship Management temporarily.

How did you manage with a young son during your course at the ISB?
I am often asked how I managed with a young son at the ISB – he was then 8 years old. We decided that it was not prudent to shift my son Pradyumna for a year to the ISB as it is tough to get admission in a good school in Mumbai. It was the more difficult for me to stay at the ISB as I knew that I would have to live without him for a year. My husband Rajesh should get the most credit for helping me through this difficult phase – both mentally and with logistics as he assumed my role for 11 months. However my son finally stayed for almost 4 months on campus.

ISB as an institution recognises that family is an integral part of the student and goes to great lengths to make the spouse and child comfortable on campus. This helps the students’ focus on their studies and makes the family stay an enjoyable and memorable experience. I think the vision of the management at the ISB coupled with the rich and mature faculty and staff, the diverse fellow student body and their spouses, the Sarovar staff, then Dean M Rammohan Rao, then Asst Dean Ajit Rangnekar and Savita Mahajan have all worked hard to make staying at the ISB one of my now 13 year old son’s most memorable days. There were days on campus when I would meet him only for a few minutes in a day – however the support system of the ISB made sure that he was not perturbed. Ajit consented to him attending class with me and he had special meals, liberty to roam the safest campus on earth at will, use all the sporting facilities and was surrounded by friendly people all around He got rather spoiled and was sorry when I finally came back to Mumbai. However, he now makes it a point to accompany me to all the solstice meets.

Please share with us your advice to women – how to focus on work-life balance and learnings that you would like to share
Many prospective ISB women aspirants, and often many current batch students and alumni seek my views on work life balance and how to maximise the learnings from the ISB. I feel the ISB prepares a student to tackle any role - be it as a professional in a job or as an entrepreneur. The focus as woman should not be to try to compare oneself with any other man or woman. Each one is different and with a different set of circumstances. Hence it’s important that one analyses one’s situation and one’s aspirations and finds a balance. What may fit one may not be another woman’s cup of tea. Often work will take priority – and that’s when the family support system will kick in. But there are many who do not have any support system – and at such a time – there is no harm in taking a step back – and working out the family problems. With your ISB skills, you will be adroit in multitasking and quickly tide over the problems and lead again. One piece of advice is to start planning for a family quickly and get it over with –so that at the age of 35, your child is a teenager who is fairly independent and a support system for you.

What is your vision for the school?
My vision for the school is that it becomes a university that has the highest ratio of women candidates in the world - students and successful women alumni working in leading positions and the largest body of women entrepreneurs.

What role can the alumni play in building the school?
Alums will play a major role in achieving the above mentioned mission. We not only have to be in a good position ourselves but also support other ISBians across batches. Solstice should have greater attendance, with a large number of alums networking and sharing across batches.

What do you think is an area you can contribute in?
I have been mentoring many women prospective candidates, alums and women studying in the current batch. I shall continue to do so. I would also like to use my expertise in communication, marketing and relationship management – to further the cause of the ISB’s mission.