A confident entrepreneur at heart, Purnima Santosh break the stereotypes with her incessant quench for success

Entrepreneurship has been a male-dominated arena until the rise of the 21^st century.  Even while the status of Indian women has been changing as a result of growing industrialization, urbanization, spasmodic mobility and social legislation, there is still a long way to go. For women, breathe many handicaps to enter into and manage business ownership due to the deeply embedded traditional mindset and stringent values of the Indian society. Today, our country boasts of a number of female entrepreneurs who have created successful business brands across the world and with people making conscious attempts to bring down the gender wall, the journey becomes tranquil.

Relentless zeal and incessant quench for success have helped a handful of women break the stereotypically pre-conceived notion of gender, fragmenting the glass ceiling. The CEO Magazine recognizes one such influential personality, Ms. Purnima Santosh the founder and COO of Value Vision Management Consultants. A passionate recruiter, a specialist in niche skills and executive placements in IT Industry, Purnima brings high-quality experience in Executive search, Digitizing IT Recruitment processes and Manpower Planning and has left an indelible mark in the field of Human Resource Management. No wonder she has achieved credibility in the industry and enjoys excellent rapport.

Under her guidance, Value Vision Management Consultant has gained huge recognition and has established itself in the name of trust in IT Recruitment services.  With right blends of trendy methods of souring and technically proficient recruiters, the company has grown into one of the fastest growing and preferred resourcing firms catering exclusively to the IT Industry. Set up with a focused approach and an objective of delivering higher business value with top quality service, Purnima leaves no stone unturned to guarantee utmost satisfaction to her clients.

The CEO Magazine in conversation with Ms. Purnima Santosh:

What is your take on your dream as a business lady? 

My biggest dream was to be a successful entrepreneur without making a compromise on my ethics and morals which, I try to achieve every single day through dedication and sincerity towards work.

You are such an inspiration! It would be great if you could share some of your greatest professional accomplishment to date?

Today, I am a proud entrepreneur because of my clients who have continued to retain our company services year after year and their trust in our abilities to overcome difficult mandates is my biggest achievement and satisfaction. Besides, it's a privilege of the company to have conferred with several accolades and appreciation for quality service.

Have you ever failed in your initiatives? What have you learned from your failures?

Failures are stepping stones to success! I have faced many challenges and failures in my 24 years of a professional career but each time I learn from mistakes to realign to the industry dynamics and evolution. I put all my efforts to sustain company's reputation and standards by deriving best practices from everyday learning. Don't ever let failure stop that quenching drive and vision you have as an entrepreneur, and most significantly as a woman. Throughout, I have been an enthusiast in adopting new trends and have accepted every piece of challenge quite fearlessly. Even in the contemporary era of threat from AI and ML, I continue to believe in myself.

What are your ideals?                                  

I believe service to humanity is service to God. Serving people and making them happy gives me happiness. This is what my parents and teachers have imbibed in me since childhood.

How many hours a day do you work on an average?

I believe in smart work and not in working for long hours. Hence, dedicating eight fruitful hours a day is more than enough to achieve the determined goals.

So far, what is the most beautiful decision in your life?

Becoming an Entrepreneur has been the best decision ever. Nothing could have been as beautiful as this.

What stimulated your ideas to start a new business venture or to bring significant changes in an existing business/at the workplace? 

I was always fascinated by the thought of buying and selling. So business was always in my mind and Technical Recruitment was need of the hour when I started my career. Lack of technically qualified recruiters in the IT industry inspired me to specialize in niche technologies hiring.

What effective strategies have you implemented or what initiatives have you taken to achieve success?

Upgrading knowledge, implementing the best practices like quick turnaround time, sourcing through social media, head hunting, focus on quality resumes and a thorough validating process of candidates are some of the initiatives or say strategies which have helped me reach where I am.

How do you define success? What is your take on the ways to achieve long-term success?

Success for me is a distinct concept.  Clients' and candidates' satisfaction towards our quality service and efforts is my definition of success. You know, sharing a strong rapport is intrinsic to any business which is why I believe in the customer-centric approach that ensures customers at the center of business philosophy and ideas because it is they who help us meet myriad opportunities and contribute to our success. Thus, quality service would any time be my primary focus while dealing with customers and clients.

Would you like to tell us few words about your future plans?

Future, for me, looks very promising and challenging at the same time. What I shall be doing is to continue to adopt changes while accepting the challenges that pave my way.

Who has been your greatest inspiration?

My greatest inspiration has been my father, who has always worked selflessly for others. He has molded a lot of my personality. It's he who has taught me to give happily without even caring about the fruit.

Whom would you like to attribute your success to?

 I would attribute my success to my family and most significantly to few of my colleagues who thoroughly stood beside me in all ups and downs of the business. This bunch of beautiful people is the backbone of the company. I am blessed to have such supportive, encouraging and loving people in my life.

Do you think your personal life is affected by your professional life?

Work-life balance is of dire importance. The profession of HR is a high demanding function of every organization.  Hence, time cannot be a limiting factor in the recruitment sector. But I am contented and blessed to have an understanding family who plays a significant role in shaping my professional success. With a little adjustment, patience, and small compromises I have been able to maintain a good work-life balance.

What do you think is the biggest challenge to female leadership?

Our society creates a lot of barriers for women to grow as a leader. But I strongly believe that a transformation of attitude can alter the perception of woman leadership. Attitude, competition, self-motivation, self-discipline and work-life balance are quintessential to eradicate challenges faced by a woman in the present market scenario.