Born on 28 October 1955 in Madras, India. Indira Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and former chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo. Nooyi completed her schooling at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in T. Nagar. Later she went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Madras Christian College of the University of Madras in 1974 and subsequently a Post Graduate Programme Diploma from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. A couple of years later she got into Yale School of Management and moved to the USA where she earned a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management in 1980.

How Indira Nooyi Began her Career

An inspiration for thousands of women across the globe, Nooyi began her career at Johnson & Johnson followed by textile firm Mettur Beardsell. She also did a summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton while she was at Yale. In 1980, she joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and then worked at Motorola as Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and planning.

Nooyi and PepsiCo

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and 2006, she replaced Steven Reinemund as the CEO, becoming the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 44-year history. Before that, she served as President and Chief Financial Officer, beginning in 2001 and was also a part of PepsiCo’s Board of Directors. Nooyi directed the company’s global strategy for almost over 10 years and led its restructuring including the 1997 divestiture of Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands. This allowed the company to increase the pace of its share buyback strategy, thereby giving it more leverage to pursue future acquisitions without shareholder backlash. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998 and the merger with Quaker Oats Company which also brought Gatorade in 2001. Both these acquisitions led to positive results.

Nooyi’s Performance with a Purpose was a successful move that created long-term growth along with a positive externality effect on the environment and people. Reclassifying PepsiCo’s products into three categories: “fun for you” (such as potato chips and regular soda), “better for you” (diet or low-fat versions of snacks and sodas), and “good for you” (items such as oatmeal), this initiative was backed up with ample funding. Moving corporate spending away from junk foods into healthier alternatives, Nooyi aimed to develop the healthiness of even the “fun” offerings. She also focused on environmental concerns and sustainability, redesigning packaging to reduce waste, conserving water, switching to renewable energy sources and recycling and encouraged better work culture to reduce retention rates. On August 6, 2018, Nooyi stepped down as CEO and continued to serve as the chairman of the company until early 2019.

Nooyi’s Achievements and what you can learn from her

Nooyi made it to the Wall Street Journal‘s list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008 and also Time‘s 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008. Forbes also named her the #3 most powerful women in 2008 and #13 in 2014. Fortune ranked her the #1 in the list of Most Powerful Women in Business in 2009 and 2010. In Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women List of 2015, Nooyi ranked 2nd. Forbes ranked her at the 3rd spot among the “World’s Powerful Moms” list. In 2017, she was ranked the 2nd most powerful woman once more on the Forbes list of the 19 Most Powerful Women in Business. She was named one of America’s best leaders by U.S. News & World Report. She was also elected to the fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and named CEO of the year (2009) by the Global Supply Chain Leaders Group. In 2013, Nooyi was one of the “25 Greatest Global Living Legends” named by NDTV. In the same year, she was awarded by the President of India Pranab Mukherji at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. She has also authored her book The Calloway Way: Results & Integrity and currently serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.

She Married Raj K. Nooyi in 1981 and has two daughters with him. Indira Nooyi is an inspiration for millions of aspiring women entrepreneurs around the world and is the perfect example of how hard work and determination result in success. The sky’s the limit, aim for higher and work harder, never give up because success comes to those who try.