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Women are continuing to break barriers and achieve newer and higher roles. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, e4m started a series to celebrate the achievements of women in every field and laud their grit and resilience. As part of the series, we spoke to Divya Reddy Shah, General Manager (L’Oréal Paris), L’Oréal India.
Edited Excerpts
What are your thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’? According to you, how can women leaders and workers in the formal space create a sustainable future?
Growing up, I have always looked up to female leaders in my family, community and globally. Being a working mom, I understand the challenges that women face in and out of the workplace. Being an impactful leader who contributes to a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion is important to me.
Women leaders and organizations are in a unique position to promote gender equality: to pledge equal representation in the workforce, to prioritize specialized programs focused on building a pipeline of successful women in leadership, to regularly review compensation practices to ensure pay is fair and equitable and to openly share goals and progress online for everyone to see. Equally important is to address unconscious biases that exist at large by driving awareness and systemic shifts and to this effect. I believe male allies can be the biggest agents of change.
I’m glad we have occasions like the International Women’s Day as a reminder to break out of business-as-usual and amplify some of these concrete actions.
What is your idea of a gender-just workplace? Please draw from your own experiences to share how a supportive work environment helped you attain your goals?
To me, a gender-just place would be inclusive of a wider talent pool with a healthy mix of women, men, transgender, and nonbinary people bringing in different points of view and increasing the level of creativity and innovation.
We hear quite often that certain behaviour in men is seen as assertive, whereas that same behaviour in women is seen as bossy. L’Oréal via training and individualized coaching has really helped demystify and correct some of these cultural misnomers – a seemingly small step but a giant move in ensuring female voices like mine get their fair share of airtime without being labelled one way or the other.
Which women have been your strongest supporters and role models (both personally and professionally)?
Professionally, Indra Nooyi and Sheryl Sandberg have been my biggest role models. If Nooyi is a phenomenal immigrant story, Sandberg is a precursor of what is to come. Both have pushed honest conversations about the difficult choices many women face in the pursuit of ambitious roles in business and the constant trade-offs between work and family. Both high-powered authentic voices and both forces to reckon with.
On the personal side, my mom, aunt, and grandmom have been my biggest inspiration and support. My mom and aunt have taught me that women are fighters. And my grandmom taught me to always flour my hands before rolling a paratha. Both important life lessons. ☺
What is your advice to the young women who are either working in or planning to join your industry?
Lead with a yes – say yes to stepping out of your comfort zone, yes to stretch assignments, yes to moving to where the opportunity is. Remember that every accomplishment, personal or professional, began with a decision to say yes.
- Learn from others – you can’t succeed alone. Build a network of peers, subordinates that you can learn from, mentors, champions and coaches. Growth is never a solo endeavour.
- Help others rise – it is incumbent upon us and indeed our responsibility to help other women rise. We are never too early in our career to mentor, inspire or help others.
How are women in the marketing world reshaping the course of industry? How do you see women's representation in Indian advertising (both on and off screen)?
There is opportunity to improve women’s representation in Indian advertising: moving away from traditional notions of beauty, more progressive depictions to include diversity. L’Oréal Paris recently signed Nidhi Sunil, a new Indian global ambassador – former attorney, current Board Member of the Invisible Girl Project. We need more brands such as this to do what they say, break down age-old representations of women and rewrite the narrative for the new-age consumer.