Indira Nooyi: The Cola Queen

Counted among the world’s 100 most powerful women, Indira started her career Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell in India. After coming across an advertisement of Yale Management School and with encouragement from friends, Indira moved to the US in 1978 with barely any money and finished her masters while working as a receptionist on the night shift.

Indira Nooyi is one of the most important Indian women in the sphere of the corporate world. Indra had always been a rule-breaker. Despite coming from a highly conservative family, Indira did not bow down to the convention of getting married at an early age and instead went on to her Bachelor’s in Science from Madras Christian College in 1974 and MBA from IIM, Calcutta in 1976.

Counted among the world’s 100 most powerful women, Indira started her career Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell in India. After coming across an advertisement of Yale Management School and with encouragement from friends, Indira moved to the US in 1978 with barely any money and finished her masters while working as a receptionist on the night shift.

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Post completion of her masters, Nooyi joined  Boston Consulting Group in 1980 working si there for clients coming from different industries such as retail, consumer goods, and textiles. 
Her stint at PepsiCo, for which made many headlines, started in 1994 as VP, Corporate Strategy and Development.

Working doubly hard to not be sidelined by her male counterparts, Indira Nooyi quickly rose to the ranks with overseeing some of the most important projects such as the acquisition of Tropicana and Quaker brands, after which she becomes CFO, President, and also a board member. All at once! She eventually became CEO in 2006 and continued on the position for over a decade.

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The list of laurels to Nooyi’s credit is long. She was named on Wall Street Journal's list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008 and was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008. Forbes named her the number 3 most powerful woman in 2008. In 2014, she was ranked #13 by Forbes. Fortune ranked her the most powerful woman in business in 2009 and 2010. On 7 October 2010 Fortune magazine ranked her the 6th most powerful woman in the world. In Fortune's Most Powerful Women List of 15 September 2015, Nooyi ranked 2nd.

A remarkable story of American dreams and many Indian students harbor, Indira Nooyi is an inspiration for achievers around the world. 
 

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