Inspired by two leaders of AnyMind Group, Kosuke Sogo and Otohiko Kozutsumi, I decided to join the company as the third employee back in 2016.
I am Tripti Chaudhary, Regional Deputy Head from the Strategic Initiatives department of AnyMind Group.
Graduating as a communications management student, my specialization and passion was (and still is) in advertising. When I started off, I was handling a variety of roles which included corporate strategy, recruitment, sales enablement, and sales, along with strategic planning for campaigns. Over time, I realized it was not just about advertising that I was interested in, but also about the growth in the technology industry.
That was the point where I saw the potential for me to grow as well, and it became the role I ventured into. Ad tech was one of the aspects of this fast-evolving advertising landscape, and I’m proud to contribute to shaping AdAsia into a major Asian player in the landscape.
Back then, I was not sure what to expect from this job as we started this from scratch. Knowing Sogo and Otohiko (the company’s co-founders) will lead the business convinced me to join them on this journey, which over three years later, has been nothing short of amazing.Working alongside Sogo and Oto has been incredible due to my past experience of working with them. Their personalities as leaders are fairly different from other leaders that you will find in the market, but I have to say, are very complementary. They also share a special commitment and dedication, which has made a fairly profound impact on me – allowing me to easily and fully support them. At the end of the day, we can not control any external or environmental factors, but we are good as long as we are in this together with strong commitment.
I am thankful for the diverse roles given to me throughout these three years. The entire management team completely understands the way I function, and the unique role they had given to me was brilliant as it enables me to do more than a project, to learn, and add value to it.
The amount of value that the company has given to me, I would like to give it back with the diverse role that allows me to work with numerous departments in the company. It feels like I am working with everyone and I thoroughly enjoy that.
In terms of career, I have seen myself grow professionally and personally. Starting off as a newbie into the ad tech industry, I have improved by leaps and bounds – just ask anyone who has worked with me! I communicate in a better way and work with more efficiency, which makes me happier.
When you are working in a startup, everything may not be clearly defined. It’s important to always take initiative whenever you spot a gap: you will be appreciated and you’ll be able to make an impact from it.
I can attribute the main drivers of my growth into two things – my own moderation and my managers. Sogo was my first manager and as the company grew, so did the number of departments and members; leading to the establishment of my department, Strategic Initiatives, formerly entitled Corporate Strategy. Vivek Misra, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Country Manager of Singapore, became my line manager (and still is!). He has taught and mentored me so well, and I have learned so much from him regularly. Having him as a capable mentor, leader and manager has been so rewarding in my professional journey.
By consuming so much knowledge through weekly sync ups with Vivek, it provides me with a great amount of motivation as I am working remotely. Every person would have different key drivers for themselves, it just boils down to what motivates them.
When we were scaling quickly, we added in so many new faces. It definitely gets more complicated but at the same time, we need to have them on the same speed and level as us. That becomes our key goal, we want to make sure that we enable the people to enable the company. You cannot do everything on your own, teamwork is key.
Also as part of the regional team, I have to align everyone on the same page, as we operate in 13 offices across 11 markets. When we are developing initiatives, we need all managers to understand and onboard the strategy decided on, and this becomes another challenge for the role.
To overcome this challenge, constant communication is key. It is also important to solve negative problems with a positive outlook & output. And my main goal in the last two quarters has been to enable all markets with constantly communicating with them, so we can all work & grow together as a team.
Personally, I have improved remarkably in time management due to the diversity of the role, work piles up, and it gets to the point where I have had to prioritize, while mediating with key stakeholders for delay on some tasks. But, I am definitely able to handle everything a lot better after working here for over 3 years.
I really admire the leadership from the management team, and that is why I’ve defined my commitment to working here. Additionally, I believe that in order to be successful, we need to start with a good foundation and build from there – things will then go smoothly as the company scales, and ultimately we will achieve positive results.
I believe in maintaining a good work-life balance. We work so hard, committed to our own careers and goals, and we often forget about our personal growth.
For me, interaction with people is very important – the relationships that we build at work and outside. In the company, I have a few people that I can truly rely on, and with them, I am able to vent with, share terrible jokes, and share insights, especially the Strategic Initiatives team & Pratan, who is one of my closest colleagues.
On most evenings after work, you’ll find me at a yoga class, meeting my friends, or spending time with my family. These habits work as my stress reliever. From 9 to 6, I prioritize work, and from 6 pm onwards, I prioritize life. So, the essence of life is to have balance.
If you’re looking to join AnyMind Group and the #AnyMindFamily, head on over to our careers page. To find out how it’s like working at AnyMind Group, you can follow us on Instagram @AnyMindGroup
