The phrase “where there is a will there is a way” stands appropriate for Nithya David’s professional life. Her journey to become an HR Entrepreneur is motivating for many budding women entrepreneurs working in corporates and advertising agencies. The following are the snippets from an exclusive interview with Nithya where she takes us through the various phases of her entrepreneurial journey.

What Inspired You To Embark On The Entrepreneurial Venture And How Has Been The Journey So Far?

I started as an advertising professional with JWT in Chennai and then shifted to corporate services. I went to Dubai to work with the Landmark group as the marketing manager for the GCC (Gulf Corporation Council) after getting an opportunity there while working with JWT. Two years later I returned to Bangalore and started working with Ogilvy. Started working as a marketing consultant for Gotham comics. I had an interview with Shekhar Kapur who introduced me to Virgin comics in India and recruited me to work for Gotham comics, their marketing wing as a consultant. While working as a consultant I gained the confidence of interacting with people and help them get suitable jobs. I gained extensive knowledge, experience, and built good relationships with people across different corporate domains, and started working with big names like Mudra and Ogilvy. I manage to place the best resources for my clients and slowly carved a niche across agencies and corporate houses as a reputed HR consultant. This made me establish Upstream to assist candidates in building their careers and shift from agencies to corporate houses or vice versa.

“My job as a recruiter is to see beyond. It is not about just placing a person from one place to another but seeing their career growthas well”

My job as a recruiter is to see beyond. It is not about just placing a person from one place to another but seeing their career growth as well. I always ask them to try. There is nothing wrong with trying. So far, my journey has been a remarkable one while helping young talents making their career and also bonding strong with big corporate houses and agencies. Therefore, as a recruiter, I not only place people but also provide result-driven advice along with putting a lot of effort into career counseling. I also understand my client's needs and I support them in every way in identifying the right candidate for the job.

What Are The Challenges You Face In Your Workspace? How Do You Overcome Those Challenges?

As an entrepreneur, you need that one intuition to understand what the person needs and I felt that this is my calling and this has been with me for the last few years. However, delivering as a solo entrepreneur doesn’t go easy always. A lot of challenges are being faced and sometimes the hard work is ignored to be recognized. While facing varied hurdles in my workspace, I find the biggest challenge is to convince a candidate to have the confidence in his or her ability to pull up in the long run. A person’s self-doubt disturbs a lot. They think that they can’t do it or the profile is not suitable for them. But helping them to have confidence within and making them believe that they can do it is the intuition that one needs to master in this specialization. And I have successfully helped many candidates to shape their career and look towards a long-term goal.

How Have You Managed To Balance Your Personal And Professional Life So Far? Kindly Throw Some Light On The Future Roadmap Of Upstream.

Balancing my personal life with my professional life is a big challenge, with the support from my husband, parents and sister. My family stands out to be the biggest pillar to lean on in every thick and thin and I am blessed to have them always standing strong beside me. Now I am a mother and my child is too young who needs attention at every minute. My husband balances his time when I attend any meeting or work otherwise. I balance time too for my child and family along with the candidates who need me the most as their career decisions are equally significant for me. Moreover, I have been working with names like Titan, Epsilon, Target, Essilor, Maersk, etc., and agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy, Lowe DDB Mudra whom I have successfully provided the best resources. Therefore, it is a challenge for me as well as a dedication to stand by my work and family equally as and whenever they need me. I believe that the art of knowing how to build a strong relationship with clients as well as with the candidates is the USP of my work. I am looking forward to expanding my business in the long run and want to work for more corporate houses and start-ups.

Nithya stands out to be a perfect example for many women entrepreneurs who are striving every day to make a difference in the corporates. We wish her all the best.