Leaders

Women entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and age groups are constantly smashing stereotypes and changing the business scene. Women inspire us in all walks of life as they play countess roles for everyone. But when it comes to entrepreneurship, they not only inspire us but also set noteworthy examples.

There are many amazing success stories to be heard from such wonderful women. Geetha Ganesapandian is one such strong women leader who has created a name for herself in the industry against all odds. Geetha Ganesapandian, Founder of Edvicons is a mother of 2 kids, who has cultivated a strong sense of resilience throughout her life & career. Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with her development enabled her to continue to grow and thrive.

"I trust my capabilities with confidence and my purpose is to focus on Edvicons growth, more importantly, I keep my innovative and creative ideas flowing to make a difference in the industry always, and to finally sum it up my USP is Sales& emphasizes Geetha Ganesapandian. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur Magazine, Geetha Ganesapandian elucidates more about her exceptional professional journey.

Take us through your early educational journey and the prior industry experience that you bring to the table.

I have a bachelor's degree in chemistry, a master's degree in business administration, and a diploma in fashion design from Chennai University. Before we get into my industry experience, I'd like to highlight a few interesting achievements from my college days. Aside from studies, I used to participate in a variety of sports and cultural activities, to name a few. I represented the University Cricket team and led our University's Kho-Kho team, & I won multiple cultural events throughout my college days, which gave me confidence in the early days of my career. I bring in 15years of industry experience, working across multiple segments. I began my career as an HR Recruiter, then advanced to manage HR Operations, Employee Engagement, Retention, and Performance Management, before moving on to Sales & Operations in Edtech and launching my own entrepreneurial venture Edvicons.

Tell us about the various roles & responsibilities that you shoulder as the Business Partner for Edvicons.

In my current role as a Business Partner, I wear multiple hats. It all starts with marketing and positioning our brand in the market, attracting potential leads, curating compelling proposals, presenting our solutions, deal negotiations, closures, implementation, delivery management, and post-implementation engagement. My primary focus area is revenue generation through existing and new customers.

What are some of the most pressing challenges that you encounter in your current role? How do you successfully mitigate these challenges?

"Life will throw you challenges, but it is in those challenges that you learn who you are." my favorite lines from Maya Angelou - resonate with my carrier journey.  When you manage a business, every day brings new problems. Identifying the correct certified professional trainers for all 500+certification programs that we successfully supply in the industry is a major challenge, as is delivering the training. Effective communication throughout the process has always helped to mitigate day-to-day challenges. I believe in market research to understand the challenges and how well prepared we are to cope from an organizational standpoint, as well as bringing in my own experience, skills, and ideas to navigate through the tide.

In your opinion, what are some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved? What has been the driving force behind your success?

After Marriage & Maternity, a woman undoubtedly faces much more challenges in her personal life and career; I was not exempt from this, I had to deal with a lot of stress and personal problems. When I was blessed with my second child in2015, I took a career sabbatical before returning to work & looking for a new job. However, it was not going as planned; I had to knock on several doors but none were answered. I finally chose to move to Dubai and, after much struggle, landed a basic job, leaving all of my former experience behind, and began my second career as a Sales Consultant from scratch. I still believe this is a major milestone in my overall career for landing in unknown territory after a maternity break and the most important milestone in my career is starting my own company and being a successful Edtech brand in the Middle East, Africa, & East Europe region.

There is always a driving factor behind every successful woman; for me, it was my motherSargunam. She was instrumental in shaping my profession and pushing me to overcome every barrier I encountered, and of course, the motivational factor for how I achieved this position is my Kids Vihaan Saanvi & better half Gopinath.

“Entrepreneurship provides an avenue for women to close the pay gap & ascend to positions of leadership on their terms”

Drawing from your experience as a business leader, what would your advice be to young women who aspire to become entrepreneurs in the future?

While most executives agree that the best person regardless of gender should get the job, stories of women finding more success with a male or gender-neutral name on their CV show that unconscious bias remains. Hence, I believe that for an increasing number of women, starting their own business is the fastest route to the C-suite. Today's start-up culture allows women to be their bosses and pay their own salaries, defining how they want to work and making the work-life balance simpler.

Entrepreneurship provides an avenue for women to close the pay gap and ascend to positions of leadership on their terms. Running our own business also allows us to collaborate with and hire other ambitious, like-minded women, nurturing a new generation of female leaders.

Geetha Ganesapandian, Founder, Edvicons

Geetha is An exemplary business leader boasting 15 years of industry expertise having held several roles in multiple sectors, eventually stepped into the entrepreneurial route & launched Edvicons.  She strongly believes in effective communication, has always approached every opportunity with a solution-oriented mindset, has made life-changing decisions that have yielded compounded results in her career & business life, has built trust among all her customers & stakeholders, & always focused on customer need rather than selling the product.