Some leaders inspire everyone with their deeds and then some leaders influence with their story of struggle and achievements. Anna Singh is such a leader who can make you feel empowered with both empathetic actions and a courageous journey. She is a woman full of positivity and far-reaching dreams. She breaks stereotypes, creates new paths for others to follow, and handhold the needy to reach the pinnacle of success. As a mom and an entrepreneur, Anna understands the world of confronting challenges that hinder women’s progress. What’s more interesting is that she is showcasing the essence of ‘women behind the success of women’ ever since she was just 21y old.

While the pandemic is paving harsh routes of unemployment, the bold and beautiful lady is helping people to stand on their feet again – through her firm Facehiring. Anna co-founded the company with like-minded veterans who were part of the pilot group of Monster.com. At present, Facehiring is thriving to become The Biggest Job Seekers Network.

In an exclusive conversation with Women entrepreneur India, Anna shares more about Facehiring as a flourishing brand. The valuable nuggets from her focuses on fighting the challenges in a woman's entrepreneurial life. Indeed, her story will be an inspiration to many young leaders.

Tell Us About The Factors That Incited The Founders To Establish Facehiring? Give A Brief Note On The Brand.

As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic has been causing havoc - claiming lives and jobs of people. Even after a yearlong suffering, India is still not out of the crisis. Answering the call of this traumatic scenario, Facehiring (FH) was an instant action of innovation to provide an opportunity for the laid-off employees and job aspirants. As an abrupt response to the turmoil, we came up with a unique concept of connecting job seekers to the interviewer without having to come in close proximity with them. The brand connects global jobseekers of similar interests on a single platform. Secondly, the firm connects students to their dream universities abroad. Unlike institutes or organizations that partner with certain universities to get a sale, we help students study at the University of their choice across the world.

This apart, Learning and Development is a very unique feature of Facehiring. Course videos related to every field from AI, ML to Mechanics and more – You name it, we have it. We also offer certifications after course completion.

A lot happens over a single platform. A professional platform allowing you to interact with others as well as learn and grow together. FH is revolutionizing the way job seekers represent themselves to recruiters. We introduced a video pitch method to record yourself and make your presence clear and precise in front of the interviewer. The idea is helpful for the recruiters as well, as they can analyze candidates’ calibre and confidence better through video rather than an image.

What Are Your Roles And Responsibilities At Fh?

I am playing the role of a Chief Learning Officer and I remain conscious about market updates. I conduct webinars and seminars and prep the back-end team to come up with effective learning modules. I undertake things in a very concrete and detailed manner, because FH is our baby. We are a team of 50 members now, but began with just five numbers. As we are moving forward, the roles and responsibilities are also expanding.

We have campus managers (representing each course) in many universities across the country. These campus managers are in direct contact with us. We make sure to give certain perks to them. We train them on personality factors such as how to enhance growth and personality development. We also make them understand the importance of being involved with the peers to become a leader for tomorrow.

Throw Some Light On Your Leadership Journey. Portray Your Leadership Style.

I am not a born leader but an ordinary individual with a heart to help others. My leadership journey began when I was just 21. I ideated a non-government organization where I was teaching underprivileged children and trying to help women from a remote slum.

“Education should nurture the whole child and their journey ahead; not merely peg where they stand today - sreeja iyer, founder sparkling mindz”

When I began my journey of leading an organization all by myself, I realized that you cannot sit in an AC room and understand the problems of others around you and what they are going through. Only when you are close to people and come down to their level, you will understand them.

Encouraging women to learn and open self-help groups was a rewarding experience. I believe that the role of a leader is not to dictate but to be a patient listener. And at the same time, we should offer freedom of creativity to the employees. Throughout my journey, I have been greedy for advancement and growth. It is important to be greedy but not in a negative manner. I believe you need to have faith in the failures, and the success of the people around you. I can never be a leader alone, I am a leader today because of my team.

Society Today Is Witnessing The Evolution Of Women's Entrepreneurship. What Is Your Perspective Towards It? Share Your Experience Of Being A Women Business Person.

Since time immemorial, women have encountered a wave of challenging circumstances. The moment you decide to take a road less travelled by women, you will have many hands pointing towards you! Personally, I have a 16 months old baby, you can imagine the hurdles by my side. Fortunately, I have a husband and a family which strongly backs me up However, many are not privileged with such support. The problem is with not looking at women as an individual with caliber, intellect, and knowledge. I believe that in situations where we are our own support it is imperative to have self-worth and rise to the position we wish to achieve and truly deserve. It is pivotal to show up and sustain in such an unsupportive environment. Honestly, I want to see myself in a position to help women. I would love to share a percentage of my profit to support every woman who dares to dream and soar higher than the limitations which are imposed upon her.

Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Co-Founder, Sparkling Mindz

Approach For Transforming Children As Inspiring Confident Learners And Change Makers

• Joyous learning approach where children consider learning for life and not just for exams; engage with it deeply through game-based and experiential approach.

• Co-ownership of learning where children have their own goals and they make progress on goals in each learning area.

• Deep, Wide and Connected Learning is how children learn to question, look at their learning beyond exams, textbooks, find purpose in their learning, and learn connect it to everything they learn and their own life in practice

• Value-based Learning to ensure that children develop values like empathy, depth, growth mindset, collaboration, connected learning, quality, innovation, and reflections in how they learn and live

• Innovative and Quality Systems to ensure that the vision and change in approach is held strongly by the facilitators, parents, and the assessment process