22 Jun Charu Agarwal – Women breaking the Stereotypes | Women in Kale
Resilience is a skill that not many would possess. Being resilient means achieving what you want breaking all the odds and being optimistic. Meet Charu Agarwal, Lead Business Analyst at Kale Logistics Solutions who was not only resilient in continuing her professional journey, but also resilient in ensuring work life balance.
Her MBA in Aviation Management let her to kickstart a career at Mumbai International Airport. Later on, she went on to become a Subject Matter Expert crafting insights for an IT solutions provider catering to the air freight industry with Kale. Here is her journey with Kale.
Initial days
Charu says, “when I joined Kale was expanding and positioning itself as a full-fledged company. Before joining Kale, I spent three years in Mumbai International Airport where I gained the industry exposure. But working for an IT company as a Business Analyst was something totally new. However, as a subject matter expert I was able to offer clear insights on different product development and improvisation and with my domain knowledge I was given the opportunity to build product manuals and other documents for the industry users. I was also writing user manuals and project documents for other products too. In 2015, when Mumbai International Airport became our client, it was a mere cake walk for me. Undoubtedly, Mumbai is a significant airport in India, and addressing their challenges are equally significant. As a Business Analyst in the initial days, I could make them understand about Kale’s Cargo Community System as I was fully aware of their business challenges and requirements. Even today, I’m the SPoC for Mumbai International Airport.”
Women vs men ratio in Air Cargo and Logistics
Aviation industry is especially male dominated and in cargo department men vs women ratio is pretty high. If the situation is so grim, then we cannot expect women to reach the top positions. Even in Kale when I joined, there were a lot of men in my team. However, that was not a hurdle for my growth.
Equal opportunities for women in Kale
In the initial days when I worked with Kale, there were more men, and I was more or less the only girl in the entire team. Yet, the management and my seniors trusted on my capabilities and never stopped me from going further. For example, I was given an opportunity to travel to Mauritius for client projects as a woman. The organisation never thought that she is a woman, and she cannot travel. You’re given equal and challenging opportunities based on merit, and not based on your gender. Moreover, Senior Leadership and my teammates in Kale too are quite supportive. Not only did they grow, but they lifted me above too. Today I’m proud to say my team has 50% of women who are making the right strides.
Pandemic, work from home and work-life balance
The COVID-19 pandemic was the toughest time for all of us. We never thought that we all will be disconnected physically from office for so long. While it all looked gloomy initially, we managed to do all this so far quite comfortably. In between I was pregnant and delivered a child as well. Due to the travel restrictions, my parents couldn’t travel here neither could I travel to their place. My husband and I were on our own. In this scenario, Kale management offered me a maternity leave and allowed me to take two months extra leave as well. This way, my husband and I were able to give utmost care to the child until my parents reached to help us.
Wrap
Charu is one of the highly potential women employees in Kale. In her 7 years career, she has been a valuable asset for the organisation. Going forward, we will get to know the story of several other women employees in Kale who have achieved beyond their limitations.