What can make women the winners when it comes to Finance? Their patience, perseverance, the right temperament, good negotiation, and networking skills.  Most of the women are born with such great skills but only a small percentage of them become global leaders in Finance. While it's not a secret that this field is male dominated, few determined women wake up every day with a fire in their belly to blaze their path in the field of finance and one such strong woman is Jarna Gaglaani.

The Director of Finance at Udrive, Jarna shares some insightful aspects about her journey and women leadership with us.

Take Us Through Your Journey With Udrive

Sometimes you don't choose a path but the path chooses you and that's what happened with me. Through my career had several opportunities to work in varied areas of finance and accounts and now I was looking to experience the strategy and commercial aspects of the business. When I joined Udrive in 2018 company was growing rapidly, the service was loved by the customers and there was that much more work to do. I worked like a consultant first few months in Udrive trying to streamline processes, automate workflows with tight timelines. I remember working very closely with operations, customer service, marketing, HR, adding value wherever possible. I enjoyed working on the commercial aspects of the business, preparing financial model, valuation, fund raise. I was constantly learning new things, and this made my journey with Udrive exciting. I was fortunate to work with a young team of founders who trusted my work and valued my inputs. It was a start-up so I knew I cannot look for instant gratification, but I was focussed on adding value. I loved the feeling of creating something. Off course, I had my moments of doubt because unlike a MNC or an established organization, no two days were same at Udrive, especially with Covid in 2020 we were looking at surviving from one day to another. "I only have a role if there's a business to serve." This kept us going and can say today that have come a long way.

Tell Us About Your Family And Early Educational Journey

I come from a typical middle-class family where my dad was a self-employed businessman struggling to meet the ends for a family of 5 consisting of mom, dad, my two sisters, and me. We had average schooling; I had never imagined myself taking up a professional competitive course like CA because no one in my family ever did it. I did not have any mentor or anyone to look up to. Maybe my only motivation was, to be able to provide for my parents when they needed it. My early struggles helped propel me forward!! It instilled strength and determination to succeed and that's how I decided to do CA. My true reason to take up Chartered Accountancy was that I could afford it myself and did not have to burden my parents.

“Jarna believes that one should learn, unlearn and relearn to stay relevant as a professional”

What are some of the major obstacles women face to reach the heights of their professional journey?

Women don't face significant barriers to enter the workplace, but they do face multiple obstacles when it comes to advancement. Most women struggle to be taken seriously when it comes to their career aspirations. They are encouraged to pursue their career until that doesn't become a hindrance to fulfilling their domestics responsibilities. Many women leave their jobs at peak of their careers because they are unable to balance their work and family together. Later relaunching a career after a long hiatus becomes challenging. It requires combating ageism, rebuilding confidence, reconstructing a network, dusting off old skills or developing new ones, and catching up on technology. Here is where qualified, capable, and experienced workforce is lost who could potentially represent women in the leadership roles. Additionally, Women find it extremely difficult to access a strong and robust support network. With majority of the high-level business world still being dominated by men, it can be hard to blaze their own path and facilitate the introductions and connections into some of the more elite business networks. Women have a hard time looking ahead to a place at the table. How can they drink, play golf, hang out or go to business events with men? In most cases they would not even be invited.  As most of business today still rings true with the philosophy that 'it's not what you know; it's who you know,' this can be a huge factor in career advancement.

What Can Be Done To Bring More Women Into The Top Leadership Roles Overcoming The Persistent Gap You Just Mentioned?

For the change to happen everyone will have to change the rules of corporate engagement for women. Unfortunately, kids are not raised in 3 months of maternity, hence corporates should devise a more flexible working environment for women who are the primary care givers and retain women employees from trickling out of the workforce. 

Mentorship is key to putting more women in leadership positions. The men look up and see many folks like them as role models they can aspire to emulate. They feel comfortable getting to know these mentors and can see themselves moving into their shoes, however the same is not the case with women who must constantly struggle to find those shoes. This needs to be addressed. We need to encourage more mentors both women and men to coach and groom women leaders to reduce this gap.

CONCLUSION Every women needs to remember "You are never too small to make a difference."

Jarna Gaglaani, Director Of Finance, Udrive

Identify a role model for yourself who would be the guiding light in your career progression. What we need most in our journey is a resounding voice that says, `Yes you can do it!' so go get that for yourself. If you are lucky to be surrounded by women leaders, then seek mentorship from them. Invest in upskilling yourself. Build a team with your spouse and discuss your career ambitions. Stay focused and trust that you are capable to lead the world. Don't undermine your capabilities. Be the woman you would like your daughter to be.