Meet Roopa Srinivasa, Executive Assistant to the Meesho CEO and all-round multi tasker
If there is someone in Meesho who deserves the title of a Multitasking Queen, it has to be Roopa Srinivasa. Roopa, not only works as Executive Assistant (EA) to CEO and Co Founder Vidit Aatrey, but also makes our weekly All Hands super lively (who else loves those Slido brainteasers?), organises the most talked about office parties in town, and also encourages Meeshoites to do their bit for charity. Plus, we have a Book club in the house, thanks to her.
Roopa, a true blue Bangalorean in her own words, loves to hustle. But before she became an EA, Roopa was all set for an academic career as a microbiologist. However, marriage and a subsequent shift to Chennai proved to be the end of her career in microbiology. Thankfully, she found her calling in being an EA after taking an aptitude test at her first job at Irevna (now Crisil), a global analytics company.
Though Roopa has worked as an EA across domains, and with various CEOs in companies such as NTT Data, UnitedHealth Group, and Mindteck, she considers her stint at Meesho the most exciting one yet. At Meesho, Roopa has learnt to hustle, taking on several responsibilities that go beyond her job profile.
Let’s now tune into Roopa’s life at Meesho!
I joined as an EA to both CEO and Co Founder Vidit Aatrey and CTO and Co Founder Sanjeev Barnwal in February 2019. Considering the JD of an EA involves organising calendars and a whole bunch of activities from the C-levels’ office, I was prepared for that. But when I hopped on board the Meesho rocketship, I realised that there is so much more that would be expected of me and also this would be a great opportunity for me to contribute. Being an experienced hand, I was immediately given a lot of freedom and flexibility by Vidit to implement everything that I had learned so far. This proved to be a big learning opportunity for me as well. And startups are often the best places to learn, and so, therefore I just decided to take the plunge headlong into work.
I started with organising calendars, fixing up meetings, following up with various teams to get the job done, however, true to a startup culture, I saw myself hustling within my role, and soon started taking on several other responsibilities as well. Just after I joined, Meesho was transitioning from the old office to the new one, so I immediately jumped in to help out with the moving, and even helped Raman [Kumar KV, Head-Admin & Facility] with administration work, while setting up the whole office.
Chai and why?
My primary task was also employee engagement, which is very important to Vidit, who lives by the motto of Listen or Die. He once said that, ‘Our best ideas and solutions at Meesho have always come from listening to our resellers.’ This is why he wants us to be in touch with each and every employee at Meesho on a regular basis. And one of the ways I helped make sure this was organised on behalf of the CEO’s office was through the programme Chai Pe Charcha, wherein any employee at Meesho could book an appointment with Vidit or Sanjeev for half-an-hour, and have a one-on-one brainstorming session with them.
This was a very thrilling experience for me because as soon as I would hit the send button announcing the fortnightly programme, I would get about 10–15 mails requesting an appointment. Soon, we opened up this exercise for all the leaders to enable easy accessibility and to encourage a culture of exchange, feedback and listening. The programme was a huge success!
For the love of books
Another way I thought I could bring Meesho folks together would be through their common love for books. This is when we started the Meesho Book Club, which again proved to be successful, and an ongoing endeavour. Further, I established Mee Care, through which Meesho is able to engage in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives. I consider all these projects as my babies. During many of these drives, the company also matches the amount that we raise, which is great. This year, we set up a Milaap page for one of our resellers (Meesho entrepreneurs) who was diagnosed with cancer, and the management is matching the amount we have raised internally for this.
I have also helped organise two major parties, which was certainly outside the comfort zone of this teetotalling Tam-Bram. The first one happened at Gilly’s in July 2019, in celebration of Meesho Formation Week and it was a huge success. The next one, in December 2019, happend at Big Brewsky, a party I still get thanked for. Both are certainly parties that will not be forgotten for a while.
Sale time frenzy
Sale days at Meesho, especially during Diwali and Dussehra are filled with excitement, and to keep up the morale of the teams, during these hectic times, I am often asked, “Roopa, kuch alag karwalo!” And I am not one to disappoint, so we have organised energetic Dhol performances and even Dollu Konitha — a Karnataka folklore. The energy is so high that we take these artistes around the office to all floors, and people get up and dance.
I often get last minute requests for parties and events, and I always take them up as challenges. On a day that I am sitting silent without walking around the office, I get worried that I am getting stagnant.
At work, I love to go over to people’s desks, and not only get my work done, but also love to connect with people. This is the only way to establish human connections, which is so important in my line of work. I represent the CEO’s office and I need to ensure that I have a good network within and outside the office. Moreover, nothing in this world happens without a follow up. You can easily describe me as that “follow-up person”. It’s in my blood now!
I am a people’s person, and I unfortunately cannot say no to anything — this is despite reading books like The Art of Saying No. If anybody in Meesho needs any help, they always approach me and I am always available to them happily.
The most valued
When it comes to the company’s core values, Taking Ownership and Acting with Integrity are the ones that resonate the most with me. When I am assigned with some work, everything from how to, where and why is designed by me. Of course, I take feedback and make changes when necessary, but I take ownership of any work I do. I also represent the CEO’s office and the company itself. As Vidit’s EA, I am also privy to a lot of confidential information. It is imperative that I act with integrity.
On the whole, I actually feel that all of our core values seep into my work ethics. Whatever I do, even if it is a small activity for a particular team, and they perform well, that’s a motivation. So, if they perform well, the company will do well, and if the company does well, the resellers do well. It’s all a circle.
In my experience, I have learned that an EA doesn’t organically have vertical growth prospects, but there is always scope for horizontal expansion. You can always keep on adding responsibilities and you can expand your horizon. My career is the perfect example of that.
Meesho has definitely offered me the most exciting journey of my career. When you start attending Mission Rise and conversing with resellers, your perception about the company changes and your motivation increases without limitations. The way I see it, Meesho itself is like a CSR initiative because it is enabling so many entrepreneurs to start businesses with zero investment, and making such a huge difference in their daily lives. When you look at the scope of it, then it is really amazing.
Want to join Roopa and team Meesho in creating 20 million entrepreneurs in 2020, then we are hiring across roles. Apply here!
