Alarge majority of firms focus on metro cities when it comes to recruitment. As a consequence, talented individuals living in smaller towns miss out on lucrative job opportunities and are compelled to move to bigger cities in order to find employment. It is pertinent to note that the challenge here is not pertaining to an individual's capabilities but opportunities available at their disposal. Addressing this issue head-on is Mythily Ramesh. An experienced business leader, Mythily co-founded Nextwealth, a service delivery firm that aims to bring job opportunities to deserving candidates irrespective of where they live. Headquartered in Bangalore, Nextwealth focuses on various service areas such as AI/ML data services, IT services including testing & application services, BPO services, and so on. The firm works on a distributed delivery model, through which more than 4000 young talented professionals work through six centers, each being led by an individual entrepreneur.

As an ex-employee of Wipro, Mythily worked in a variety of roles in her 20 years within the organization. She wore numerous hats while successfully leading many verticals and achieving her revenue targets. She then became the Co-Founder & CEO of NextWealth and has been running it for last 12 years. Under her able leadership, NextWealth has been experiencing a rapid growth rate of almost 100 percent while looking forward to further expansion. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Mythily shares her early education as well as prior industry experience at Wipro, the underlying idea behind starting Nextwealth, and much more.

Shed some light on your early education and the vast and diverse professional experience that you bring to the table. What were some key milestones throughout this journey?

I did my Engineering from Guindy Engineering College, Chennai in its first Computer Science batch and then went on to do my MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. Post my MBA, I joined Wipro as part of its campus placement as a Software Developer. After two years I moved into the role of product management. I went on to become the Marketing Head and later handled the business for South as the Regional Business Head, which gave me exposure to overall business operations. I was instrumental in driving the Quality journey at Wipro as the Six Sigma Quality Head for two years ­ I am a Six Sigma Black Belt too. Post this, around 2000 when the dot com boom hit the world, I headed a startup within Wipro called 01markets which was into e-procurement and reverse auctions - We were the pioneers of setting-up the reverse auction process in India.

I then moved into handling business development, strategy, and mergers & acquisitions for Wipro, a role I played for about 2-3 years before moving into Wipro BPO where I handled several functions such as pre-sales, solutions, transition, operations, BPO consulting as well as building the domain and practices for six or seven different verticals. After working in multiple roles at Wipro, I felt the need to do something different, something which had a social impact. Consequently I quit Wipro after 20 years. A year later I met Dr. Mitta, Anand Talwai, and SR Gopalan and we founded Nextwealth together.

What motivated you to establish Nextwealth? Tell us about the underlying idea behind the company and some of its most unique features?

 In 2008, Nextwealth was founded to provide job opportunities to people in small towns and our aim of creating social impact was taken care off! We work through a  unique distributed delivery model and employ approximately 4000 young people working across six centers, each being led by an individual entrepreneur, who is also responsible for the overall delivery. Most people, when we mention small towns, think low end work or poor quality work. However we are doing  AI/ML data services, IT services including testing and application services, BPO services, for some of the top retail and IT companies in the world. And we are doing this at world class quality levels of 99 percent plus accuracy levels.

Around 60 percent of the firm's employee strength consists of women. As a flexible and agile firm, Nextwealth has been able to perform tasks at a 30 percent lower cost as compared to city-based firms and has experienced a tremendous growth ratio of 100 percent in the last two years. While presently, 4000 employees are working for the firm, we are planning to increase that strength to 10,000 within the next two and half years.

In your opinion, what has been the driving force behind your success as a business leader and entrepreneur?

One of my biggest inspirations has been my mother. She does different things and she does things differently. She has always taught me that nothing is impossible and every problem has a solution. My husband and children have been a supporting force throughout my career as well as in everything I have been doing. I have also been extremely lucky to work under inspiring bosses both at Wipro and and now at Nextwealth with Dr Sridhar Mitta. All the diverse skillsets that I have learned throughout my career have made me a capable person with the ability to handle multiple things at the same time. Around ten years back, I came in touch with the Isha Foundation along with various spiritual practices and meditation. Following the kriya practices of yoga and meditation has helped me stay grounded and prepared to handle whatever comes my way.

“Live Life Kingsize ! Limitations Are Only In The Mind”

What advice would you give to young women who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

I would like to advice young women and entrepreneurs to first believe in themselves. You will be amazed at the depth of abilities that we possess. Instead of comparing yourself with others, compete with yourself. Whether working as a professional or staying at home as a homemaker, make your life choices based on what you want to do, and what brings you happiness without any regrest. Lastly, remember every problem has a solution you have to connect the dots and find it.

Mythily Ramesh, Founder & CEO, Nextwealth

In an accomplished career spanning over 30 years in a gamut of sectors, Mythily has donned many hats and has several achievements under her belt. An ex-employee of Wipro, she worked at the firm for 20 years across numerous verticals and roles. Presently, Mythily is  the co-Founder & CEO of NextWealth, bringing-in jobs and opportunities for deserving candidates in small towns across India. She completed her BE in Computer Science from the College of Engineering, Guindy, and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.