Girl Power:
As a winner at last year’s Women Entrepreneur Awards and a person named as this year’s Indian Entrepreneur of the Year, JAYNE NADARAJOO has plenty to say on the topic.
Two entrepreneurs’ stories of success
Have you always had an entrepreneurial spirit or did you learn it from family or school?
I’ve always had a drive to do better for myself and my family. My dad had his own business but he died when I was 11. You could say that I inherited his entrepreneurial spirit, perhaps. Mum had to support our young family of five. My older sister Shanti and I started working on the weekends and school holidays to help mum out. I’ve worked in factories, fast food restaurants, cleaning companies, private tutoring businesses and more. These experiences taught me that you can change your destiny by working hard.
Do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made?
Personally, I believe you’re born with some traits and can acquire new traits if you’re determined to do well for yourself. Work experience and education set you on a path that can lead to success. Your resilience, willingness to think broadly, work creatively and be governed by a strong set of values will help you succeed. Author Peter Drunker has a quote that I love: “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”
You were a teacher before you opened your own schools. Why did you open the first White Lodge Kindergarten?
Early in my career I had an opportunity to do relief work in an international school. That exposed me to the wonderful world of internationalism and a positive school environment that was drastically different from my local school experience. I loved the positive approach to learning and wonderful relationships within the school community. I was determined to provide that same quality of education to my children one day. That motivated me to set up my own school when my dear son, Saktish, was born.
A lot of mums have great business ideas but struggle to get them off the ground due to the demands of home life. How do you find balance?
When I started White Lodge, Saktish was three years old, and I was pregnant with my daughter Kenisha. When you love your work and your family, there’s no compromise to one or the other; you need to live your dream and not your fears. It’s about not feeling guilty when you have to make hard decisions. I’ve missed many school events but that doesn’t mean I’m not a good mother. I believe in quality over quantity when it comes to spending time with my children – and having a supportive husband who is respectful of my work helps a great deal as well!
Do you have any doubts before opening a new business? If so, how do you overcome them?
My work at White Lodge gives me great joy, and my special needs school MSIS even greater joy! I had no doubts about what I wanted and still want to achieve – my focus is on what can be done differently instead of dwelling on what has happened. I had a very unpleasant experience with another school business that I co-founded and lost, so I used that experience to focus on making a greater difference in life instead of worrying about lost money. As Neil Patel says: “Winning provides happiness, losing provides wisdom!”
White Lodge now has 11 locations and you recently acquired Invictus International School. What is the one trait that allows this level of expansion to be possible?
Bravery. Entrepreneurship means you will need to deal with challenges, take risks and make mistakes. The key is never letting anyone break your spirit.
“Singapore doesn’t feel like a stopover any more. It feels like a place I can call home; a place where I truly fit in.” Anneliese is half-german, half-japanese, the product of a mixed marriage at a time when they weren’t that frequent. Growing up in Germany, she was a bit different from others around her – no blonde hair, for starters, and she also spoke fluent Japanese. Still, Anneliese learnt to love her differences – those things that made her “stick out” – believing that they strengthened her in many ways. Even so, when she got a chance to move professionally to Tokyo, she thought it was a dream come true. As it turned out, she didn’t quite fit in there either.
Moving to Singapore was a big surprise. “My first night here, I went to Din Tai Fung. I looked around and nobody really stood out. There were so many different hair colours and facial features. This is a place with so many mixes and different cultural backgrounds. I felt I’d found a place where I really fit in. It was completely unexpected.”
Making friends
Of course, making a home here is much more than about feeling you fit in. As a woman in a highpowered job, Anneliese meets people all the time so she has a lot of opportunities to connect and broaden her network. But like many working women in Singapore, she travels a lot, which can make having a social life challenging. She only has time to make friends outside of work on the weekends.
“Through work, I get to see a glamorous side of Singapore, but there are some great opportunities to understand a different side of life here. I make a deliberate choice to explore the city by foot, seeing
Focus on the similarities in people rather than the differences.
people in their natural surroundings, understanding how they shop and more. By not locking myself in a taxi, by taking mass transit, walking or spending time in a caf, I connect much more with my city. I’m an observer. Life here is colourful and diverse.”
Anneliese adds: “There are women in tech clubs, but just because you’re in the same business doesn’t mean you’re going to be fast friends.” Anneliese also believes you have to take the initiative yourself to make friends, opening up conversations, trying out new hobbies, approaching people you want to meet professionally and more. Taking a class is another great way to meet people. She herself has doubled down on pilates.
Opportunities at work
For some business leaders, it’s lonely at the top, but not for Anneliese. “I don’t believe in not having friends at work just because I’m the company president. In fact, the concept of having friends at work is very important to me, and I don’t have a work versus a private persona. My co-workers see if I’m happy or sad. Some days I have sparkling eyes from tears of sadness; sometimes from tears of joy.”
But make no mistake, Anneliese is the boss. She quickly moved up the ranks, becoming Vice President for Asia in mid2016 following her predecessor, another woman who taught her to be vocal, direct and outspoken. She taught Anneliese it’s okay to make a point if it’s important, and that she doesn’t have to just be “nice” by avoiding voicing a different opinion, even though that’s her natural inclination. This has become an invaluable lesson, something she tries to abide by now that she’s regional president. “I have an opinion and I like to share it, but I wasn’t always that way,” acknowledges the 37-year-old.
Mentors
In May, Anneliese received the “Business Leader of the Year” award at the Women in IT Awards Asia 2019. That’s a pretty big deal – think of it as an Academy Award in her industry. Under her leadership, Software AG in Asia consistently grew, reaching over 30 percent growth in 2017, making it one of the most successful regions in the world for the company. This success isn’t because Anneliese is a tech geek; rather, she is good at taking two things that don’t currently talk and making them talk. She can boil things down to something both sides understand.
She gives part of the credit to her success to having a great mentor along the way, a man with whom she could share concerns and get different perspectives.
“I think it’s important to have a mentor, especially for women. Mine gave me the much- needed encouragement to take risks, be brave and view my differences not as a limitation but as an opportunity.”
In turn, Anneliese now tries to coach people, helping them find their own solution rather than simply telling them what to do.
Stages of life
Adjusting to life overseas is different for different people at different stages of life. Half of Software AG’S sales staff in Asia is female; many are working mums who can meet friends through their kids. Anneliese has great respect for women who juggle careers and families. “I have so much respect for what they do. I think about how hard it is for me without having to juggle a family and I’m in awe of them.”
The real key to a successful move? “Focus on the similarities in people rather than the differences. People always react to being acknowledged. They appreciate it when you listen. In any language, a simple smile and gesture can make everything easier.”