Leadership is about being able to communicate in such a way that it helps others to evolve in their personal, social and professional life, says Veena Chawla, founder and Managing Partner at Caladrius Aero Consulting. Venturing into a relatively new field of Aviation consulting in India, Veena shares her insights, challenges and experience after spending about a decade in the new field.

“I took a career break when my daughter was born, it was definitely a daunting task to get back into the industry post-break. However, the idea of helping young, talented and deserving candidates in finding an alternate career path by making them self-reliant/ social entrepreneurs was an extremely appealing prospect and thus was born Caladrius Aero Consulting,” she adds. Today, Veena, an IIT Lucknow alumina, stands strong, breaking the glass-ceiling of venturing into the adventurous and challenging world of Aviation Consulting in India. Below are some excerpts from an Exclusive Interview with Veena Chawla for Women Entrepreneur magazine.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of Caladrius Aero Consulting. Shed Some Light On Some Of The Important Features Of Your Expertise As A Business Leader That Helped The Organization Intrinsically?

Caladrius Aero Consulting is a niche aviation consulting firm providing consulting services along with up skilling and training SMEs to become master trainers. Although there are a lot of programs in US and UK wherein the subject matter experts are trained and coached to become effective trainers, sadly India lacks such basic programs. The again, with the pandemic situation many of such subject matter experts were furloughed.

There is no doubt that Indian aviation sector has matured significantly in the past few years, but training programs to build effective trainer is an unexplored option. Caladrius Aero believes in working closely with such subject matter experts by training and coaching them to become effective trainers, helping them in creating a brand image and becoming influencers within the aviation sector.

Tell Us About Some Of The Key Business Philosophies Or Leadership Ideologies That You Leverage As A Business Leader.

Leadership skills are critical to the development of individuals and should be an integral part of an organization that is looking at continuous growth in its resources. There are multiple growth strategies for business expansion in terms of revenue, market share, and other such extrinsic metrics, but for organizations that are looking at sustainable growth, intrinsic resource growth is equally important. We have seen these trends in large IT or manufacturing companies and there is a lot that can be learned from the leadership in those organizations.

In Your Opinion What Have Been Some Of The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved So Far In Your Professional Journey? What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Success As A Business Leader?

Empowering women in aviation to break the glass ceiling and steer the industry towards greater good is our agenda. We, at Caladrius Aero firmly believe at empowering more women to take up the challenges in the aviation sector, especially areas like aviation consulting or Aircraft maintenance engineering that are mostly male dominated.

"I am seamlessly striving toward empowering more women to take on the challenges present across the aviation consulting industry"

This is the driving force propelling me forward to provide a platform, a friend, philosopher, mentor and guide for women in aviation. As far as milestones go, I would say the best is yet to come, but stay tuned!

What Steps Do You Take To Keep Yourself Well Aligned With The Evolutions Occurring Within Your Respective Field Of Work And The Tech Landscape?

 Just like all other fields, aviation is a constantly changing and evolving industry. With the latest trends and technologies like AI, robotics, Additive manufacturing etc making a mark in Aviation, I would say the learning never stops. After I took a break from my corporate career, I pursued a few courses that gave me a broader perspective and a business acumen. This helped me in establishing my start-up Caladrius Aero Consulting and emerge as a successful entrepreneur in the present competitive market dynamics.

As A Successful Business Leader And Entrepreneur, What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women And Girls Who Also Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?

My advice would be - “There is no secret ingredient to success, your hard work, perseverance, and determination will help you achieve your goal”.

Veena Chawla, Partner, Caladrius Aero Consulting

Holding a Post graduate diploma in Data Science from IIM Lucknow, Veena has completed Execute programme in Fintech, Banking & Applied Risk Management and is equipped with prolific experience in the finance as well as the training industry.