From A Farm Labourer To CEO Of A Billion Dollar IT Firm: A Jyothi Reddy Success Story (image: twitter.com/KiranKS)
Jyothi Reddy”s life story from a farm labourer to a CEO at a billion-dollar software firm is nothing but inspiring. A rag-to-riches story is of women”s steadfastness and perseverance.
Born in a destitute family of farmer Venkat Reddy in Narasimhula Gudem village in Telangana“s Warangal, Jyothi is second of the five children. She and her younger sister was sent to an orphanage by their father with the thought that they would at least receive food, a place to stay, and obtain some skills to earn a living. Her sister fell sick and return to home, but Jyothi Reddy had to continue at the orphanage and she studied at a government school. She had difficult time at the orphanage, Jyothi recounts and also assisted the orphanage superintendent with household work. Though she completed 10th grade with first class, the financial constraints forced her to not further studies.
At the age of just 16, Jyothi was forcefully married and by 18, she became a mother of two. The financial difficulties also posed her to work in the farm fields as daily wage labourer for just Rs. 5. Jyothi”s life took a turn when she joined at the Central Government”s scheme Nehru Yuva Kendra as a volunteer and then started teaching. Since the money acquired from teaching was not enough to survive, she began to take tailoring work at night to secure more money. Despite the odds, Jyothi Reddy obtained a BA degree from the Dr BR Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and a PG degree from Kakatiya University in 1997. Though education improved her a lot a bit, but was not enough to live better.
Her whole attitude towards life took a swift turn, when a maternal cousin visited her from the US. It made her aware about the opportunities and possibility of a better life abroad. For this, she took a post graduate diploma in computer application from Hyderabad and also started to save money to go to US. Eventually, she went to the US, leaving his daughters behind.
The life at abroad has also awaited lot of challenges for Jyothi Reddy, but with determination she encountered everything. Jyothi took on small or big jobs to earn a living which includes working at a gas station, baby-sitting, and as a recruitment professional. Following in October 2001, with her savings of USD 40,000, she ventured into entrepreneurship and launched Key Software Solutions Inc., a private limited company. In the first year, her company obtained a minimal profit of USD 1,68,000 and after the third year it turned into million dollars. Currently, the turnover the company is USD 15 million and over 100 employees works in her company.
Jyothi Reddy says, “I want to do much more. Women can also become better businessmen than men by sheer hard work and intelligence,” TOI reports.
“I want to tell women to be economically independent and take their own decisions instead of depending on their fathers, husbands and sons at various stages in life. They keep educational degrees as mere certificates and stop working after marriage unlike in the US. Be the master of your fate and remember, taking care of children is part of life, but not a life,” TOI quoted as she is saying.
