Women’s Day series — Episode 4
A vivacious, driven member who always says “Yes!” to challenges that come her way, Devyani Saxena, is an Assistant Manager, Marketing & Operations at Simpl.
Along with her degree, which she attained as the batch topper, she also went out and got herself 5 internships in the 3 years of her college — in such diverse areas as retail marketing at KhaDigi, banking at SBI, handling promotions for an NGO, being a team lead at AIESEC, writing content and emceeing.
Q: You are in the early days of your career. How different is working life from college life?
The lines between college and work life are blurred for me. When I started college, I wanted to go out there and learn more than academics. I thought it was important to get different experiences and start building a network around me before starting my career. And I love meeting people. As a girl, there isn’t much freedom to meet and hang out with people. My classes were from 9–4. I used to skip the last lecture and go do various internships over the years from 4–9 pm. And get home by 10 pm.
So it has always been a mix of work, learn and play — and juggling these different aspects of life is like a game of life.
Q: What drove you to take this path?
I was raised by a single mom who always told me that I should do anything and everything that will take me up in my career. I have two elder sisters . I learned from my family that being good at studies is a basic requirement to do anything else. There was always a level — a standard of doing things — I had to match. And I had a lot of interests, which I wanted to pursue.
From your parents’ perspective, your hobbies and extracurricular interests may not lead you to the right place. Sometimes it takes years. My mother supported my interests but her only requirement was for me to maintain my grades. I have seen families where they say NO to everything other than studies. It is a blessing to have a family that supports you. So I could understand where she was coming from — as a parent she just wanted me to have a good education and strong foundations. And I saw that the right thing was to strike a balance by listening to my mom while getting to do what I love.
In the end, it’s worked out really great for me. Perhaps even better than if I had focused only on what I want, what I love and so on.
When I decided to do the internships and pursue my interests along with studies, I didn’t know where it would go, but I did it anyway to see where it would take me.
Q: Would you say this has helped you in your job? If yes, how?
I would say I got a lot of exposure in different fields that made me really confident in many ways. A couple of instances — when I came for an interview with Simpl, all of their requirements matched with everything I had become through the things I was doing thus far.
I was investing my energy into various things with a lot of dedication. And it paid off big time.
Some time into my first job, I wanted to look for another opportunity that would challenge me more. And I was able to tell myself it’s ok to think this way and I will get the kind of opportunity I want with my background. It was really great to come for an interview with that kind of confidence because there was never a nervous moment. I was chill. I knew I have done things. I knew if I say something wrong, it’s fine. You develop that kind of maturity when you do things. I had this state of mind that if this doesn’t pan out, I’ve done so much that I’ll find another opportunity.
Q: Can you share some things you’ve learned or words of advice for others like you?
It is very important to empower yourself. You need to be confident of what you are and what you can do. Nobody else is going to come and do it for you.
A couple of rules I have:
1. If you know something, raise your voice and say it. In my class, it was 2 girls and 30 boys. At my internships, sometimes I was the only girl. Sometimes when there are discussions or heated debates, it’s easy to feel that as a woman, it’s ok to keep quiet and that there’s no need to say anything. In those times, you need to give yourself a push and just say it out loud — it’s fine to do this.
2. If you don’t know something, there’s no need to keep quiet and hide your lack of knowledge. If I say out loud that I don’t know, it’s an opportunity to learn from someone around.
3. We need to identify our strengths and weaknesses through participation and improve ourselves. If I am not good at presentations or interviews, it’s good to do a self-analysis and go out there and present anyway. If I say I should avoid presentations, it remains a grey area always — they are not full black or white. If you go and do it, you get feedback from others, from yourself too and you improve.
Q: Do you have role models you look up to?
I don’t have one role model; I appreciate different things about different people around me and learn from everyone I find inspiring. I feel good when I hear different women’s stories. Not just one story. I feel a special connection with women. Men are always around. They are everywhere. But there’s something about the quiet strength of women that attracts my attention.
Q: What are your thoughts/observations on the empowerment conversations happening today?
I see a lot more people who encourage women to follow their dreams. And it is more participative. Sure, there are people who don’t think it’s important. But there are a lot more men who get this and think they need to do their part in making the world better for women. There is perhaps better gender balance at work now.
So things are changing and the bottom line is that as women, we need to do our part in empowering ourselves.
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Our interview with Devyani just made us want to go out there and get shit done. Hope it had the same effect on you!
Have a story to tell? Write to us and tell us. Or refer an amazing woman you know whose story needs to be heard.
