Here’s how Shruthi S Gowda, Account Executive — Finance, found her bliss by learning to take active ownership at Meesho
Before joining Meesho, Shruthi S Gowda was in a series of roles where her true passion for accounting and finance were left unexplored. Despite holding a B.Com degree in those subjects, Shruthi had to settle for executive roles and even HR management, as a means to continue earning. At Meesho she is finally able to not only explore the finance field as an Account Executive, but also has the freedom to experiment and implement new processes to maximise efficiency.
Shruthi was dealt with an unfortunate situation as a college student when her father passed away, and as the oldest child in her family was left with the responsibility of taking care of her two younger siblings along with her mother. This also meant that she did not get to pursue an MBA like she had always wanted to and had to settle for jobs that paid the bills but did not fuel her passion.
After being dissatisfied in her career for sometime, and a year-long break where Shruthi waited for the right opportunity to come by, she finally found an opening with Meesho. Today she is responsible for a lot more than just collecting cash and handling billing.
A culture of ownership
“I joined Meesho as an Account Executive for the Finance team in February 2019,” says Shruthi, who first came across Meesho via Linkedin. A few Google searches in, and she was completely sold on the company. “The work culture looked exciting even online but when I came in for the interview, I saw so many young, bright minds and knew that I wanted to be a part of Meesho. I loved the whole interview process, especially how they treated me,” she says, adding how the interview seemed more like a discussion where they were genuinely interested in learning about what Shruthi would bring to the table.
Having not been able to actually pursue a career in finance so far, the first few days at Meesho was like taking a crash course for the same. “My first responsibility at Meesho was handling payables, which in simple terms translates to payments against the invoices for receivables from stakeholders. But it is never as straightforward as how it reads on paper and involves double-checking documents and billing on multiple accounts,” explains Shruthi, adding how over the years her responsibilities and the impact of her work has gradually improved.
“Earlier I was handling the payables and reimbursement of a limited number of vendors and employees. Now, not only do I have a lot more vendors under my purview, but I also take care of Insurance, Fixed Assets, advances and reconcile bank statements among other things. I handle vendors of the customer experience department, growth, user growth, insurance, and influencer payments. Under the guidance of my first manager Shrathi [KR; Manager — Finance Operations] and my current manager Vaishab[Patle; Assistant Manager Finance], I have gotten to be a part of different processes and learn quite a bit on the job,” Shruthi gushes.
More responsibilities, more confidence
“In my earlier roles, my responsibilities were limited and ranged from collecting cash and remitting to the bank to checking bills issued by the company to customers. I always dreamt of being in a role that would involve core accounting, where I would be able to do what I had trained for in college. Today I am doing just that,” Shruthi relates .
In her current role, Shruthi is happiest about getting the opportunity to work with teams across the board. “I get a chance to work with different teams like CX, advertising, and so on, and learn more about how they function. This helps me better manage their billings as well. My work otherwise was in a silo, especially because before Meesho I have not had the opportunity to work in a service-based company,” she says.
The BCom graduate did not have the confidence previously to interact with the higher ups in office, but she says the horizontal leadership structure at Meesho and her own achievements in the last couple of years has given her the confidence to interact with everyone from the key leadership to managers of various orgs. “More responsibility means I am now much more confident about my work and performance and everyone is very approachable. I love taking ownership at Meesho.”
Over time, she noticed how she has been able to scale at a rate she did not know she was capable of. As an organisation, Meesho places a lot of emphasis on employees taking ownership and expressing their ideas. There is freedom to experiment, and Shruthi certainly is someone who has been thriving in this setting.
Promoting good ideas
“Whenever we make a good call, we know that our managers and team mates will have our back. During the lockdown, for example, we circumvented the requirement of having an agreement or purchase order before making payment for bills by taking approval on pricing over mail.
Despite this, delays were inevitable, and I suggested that we don’t delay the payments for vendors. The team took this into account, and helped in releasing payments immediately and we managed the agreements retroactively,” she relates. Shruthi is also the reason why Meesho has nuanced employee reimbursement policies for travel, mobile, and more.
As someone who had lost hope of ever finding a job where she would get to explore her full potential, Shruthi’s story at Meesho is incredibly inspiring for all of us. We are not only lucky enough to work with someone who prioritises her work, but also someone who went from doubting herself and her capabilities to finding the confidence to trust in her instincts and communicate it to her managers as well.
Do you think you will make a perfect fit at the dynamic and enthusiastic team at Meesho where good ideas are always celebrated? Apply here!
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