Since a very young age, I was instilled with the core values of kindness; treating others the way you want to be treated, integrity; being honest, respectful, fair, and gratitude; to appreciate everything in life and never take anything for granted.

Being born to working-class parents in India, I moved to the UK at the age of 9 with my family. Growing up to see my parents work tirelessly hard to give us a ‘decent life’, seeing their struggles and efforts to give us better future, made me motivated at a very young age. I made a commitment to myself that I will live and breathe by the values taught to me.

Graduating opened up many doors for me. I applied my learnings and gained extensive commercial knowledge over the years as I grabbed every opportunity that came my way which allowed to grow myself. The professional knowledge I had gained taught me on building core transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, leadership, time management and people skills which are extremely important to employers. A recent article by Forbes ‘Why Soft Skills Are More In Demand Than Ever’ confirms soft skills provide career longevity as technical skills will change overtime but soft skills remain with you throughout your career.

My hard work allowed me to save up to travel. Traveling is something I absolutely love, and I think traveling is really important as it helps you immerse in different cultures and build connections with people which helps widen our perspective. While I was on my most recent holiday, I discovered I had been selected for an interview with ABSTRACT.  Upon reading about their vision to make the corporate world a fairer place, and their aim to create leaders of tomorrow, I automatically knew I want to be part of an organisation who helped people grow not only professionally but also thrive personally.  What better way to build those leadership skills than working with like-minded professionals who are helping businesses create the future leaders of tomorrow! I have attended a few interviews in the span of my career but the interview with the ABSTRACT team was something special where I was able to be my authentic self.

The whole team at ABSTRACT made the process extremely smooth and I felt a burst of positive energy while speaking to the team who really inspired me. I was over the moon when I received the amazing news that I had been offered the job and greatly appreciate this opportunity.

I see myself as a leader and my mother has been my role model. I sadly lost her one month before the pandemic, having suffered for many years battling with cancer. Her positive and ‘never give up’ attitude towards life gives me the motivation to succeed and shift my focus on what really matters. I want to be a role model to many young girls from every community, it doesn’t matter where you are from, what your background is, but, as long as you are willing to work hard, if you put your heart and mind to anything, the world can be your oyster. It is humbling to see that ABSTRACT have a track record of helping women and under-represented groups into leadership through their career management programmes.

Lastly, a quote which resonates with me:

"Your values create your internal compass that can navigate how you make decisions in your life.’’ - Roy T. Bennett.

I can truly say how lucky I am to have found an organisation which is purely based on values. I look forward to 2023 where I start my journey with the ABSTRACT family.