In a time where Indian girls were taught only enough to get married, Indra Nooyi was breaking all the barriers and preparing to conquer the world. Nooyi started her career with a bachelor’s degree in science and became the first female CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations, Pepsico. She paved the way for many Indian women in the business and corporate world. The Princess Magazine seeks to feature her incredible success story as the princess of the month.
Indra Nooyi is a name that will forever resonate in the ears of all women around the world, especially in the corporate world arena. Nooyi is one woman among the net of business leaders representing the contributions, accomplishments, and merits of women in society today. What makes Nooyi an exceptional role model for all women still looking to Break the Glass Ceiling? Astonishingly, Nooyi has broken through the transparency of obstacles women still face in the struggle to climb up the executive ladder; she has developed a unique style of leadership that merits her continuing success.
In 2006, when Indra Nooyi took over as the CEO of PepsiCo, she shattered the glass ceiling for immigrants and women, becoming one of the world’s most influential corporate executives heading a business with a billion-plus dollar revenue. At that time, Nooyi was one of fewer than a dozen women at the helm of America’s 500 largest companies. Under her stewardship, PepsiCo navigated an economic recession and withstood challenges from activist investors.
She also pioneered the embrace of healthier products — expanding the range from ‘fun’ to ‘better and good.’ Those achievements notwithstanding, Nooyi’s rise has not pushed a crowd of women to the pinnacle of corporate America.
Further, Nooyi led the firm to increase public and policy awareness on obesity and environmental protection issues.
Even as she navigated through these challenges, its revenues rose from $35 billion to more than $63 billion, and its share price increased by about 80%. Nooyi led PepsiCo to environmental responsibility: reducing water usage and the carbon footprint and increasing recycling.
Nooyi is famous for saying that a woman cannot have it all, meaning women have to sacrifice personal life to achieve professional success. This would remain the case so long as stereotypes of men’s and women’s roles within the family remain intact. Women do far more housework, looking after children and aged relatives than men. If men could bring themselves to take on half the load of such work, we could see more Nooyis rise.
One of the famous quotes by Nooyi is, “I’m very honest, brutally honest. I always look at things from their point of view and mine. And I know when to walk away.” She is also known for the saying, “As a leader, I am strict on myself, and I raise the standard for all; however, I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be mine in the future.” Nooyi is a firm believer in grabbing the opportunity and presenting the knowledge widely. She is a role model for millions of women. Her rise from a humble background to a top leadership role is a saga of determination, hard work, and integrity. Nooyi joined Amazon’s board of directors after serving as the chairperson and CEO of the multinational corporation PepsiCo. from 2006 to 2019.