Sulajja Firodia Motwani lives life on the edge

Sulajja Firodia Motwani ViceChairperson Kinetic GroupDressed in a black formal shirt and a slate grey skirt teamed with heels and minimal accessories Sulajja Firodia Motwani cuts a striking picture As we meet her one Saturday afternoon at a fivestar hotel in Worli her svelte figure belies her age and her nononsense disposition states that she is here to talk business Patience clearly isnrsquot one of her virtues mdash halfway through our interview she chides our photographer who is taking her pictures to finish the job at hand soon ldquoHurry uprdquo she saysSulajja Firodia Motwani counts corporate doyens such as Ratan Tata and Narayan Murthy and world leaders such as Bill Clinton and Bill Gates as her role models PicsShadab KhanPerhaps itrsquos such an impatience to excel and be on top of every challenge undertaken that has won this enterprising Vice Chairperson of the Kinetic Group of Companies worth 500 million accolades from peers and competitors She has not only been proclaimed as India Today magazinersquos Face of the Millenium and made it to Fortunersquos list of 25 Business Leaders of the Next Century but also honoured with Indiarsquos Most Powerful Woman award by Business Today In top gearShe started revving her way to the pinnacle of corporate success in 1996 when she returned from the United States with an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University followed by a stint with a financial portfolio management company BARRA International in Berkeley CalifornialdquoI embraced the challenges thrown my way as Kinetic was always in my bloodrdquo says the scion of the Firodia family whose grandfather HK Firodia founded the Kinetic Engineering companyIn spite of this being the family business for two generations the business czar preferred to learn the ropes the hard way by joining the sales teamldquoI flung myself wholeheartedly in work Besides overseeing the companyrsquos strategy sales marketing and finance portfolios I lived out of a suitcase I visited gas stations and over 200 Kinetic dealers across India during the first few years in officerdquo Motwani reminiscesBeing the bossrsquos daughter her father Padmashree Arun Firodia is the founder and current chairman of the Firodia group gave her a readymade platform to execute her ideas and strategies But she had to earn the respect of colleagues and factory workers and started working at the grassroot level to see how the business operates and strike a chord with dealers and distributorsldquoThe sacrifices were enormous We travelled through dusty tiny towns in rural Maharashtra meeting dealers and distributors It was tough as I was constantly ill with a sore throat or upset stomach but I just dug my heels in and continuedrdquo recalls the mother of oneThe selfconfessed workaholic was so keen to finish the work at hand that she hardly took any time off during her pregnancy ldquoI took just four days maternity leave when my son Siddhant was bornrdquo Motwani smiles proudlyIn the rsquo90s Kinetic was making mopeds and had a joint venture with Honda to manufacture scooters Under Motwanis tenure the grouprsquos turnover rose to R1200 crore Also the Kinetic Engineering company the grouprsquos flagship company which sold mopeds and motorcycles saw a dramatic rise in turnover from Rs 15 crore in 1995 to Rs 150 crore in 20012 But rather than basking in the glory the businesswoman decided to tread new groundsA new beginning ldquoChange is the only constant and I realised in order to survive we had to hive off our core business of mopeds and scooters as we couldnrsquot compete with the bigger players We did a Joint Venture JV with Mahindras in 2008 and sold our stake in this JV in February 2014rdquo she explains matter of factly Although it was an emotional decision as these sectors represented the essence of the company over a period of time Motwani and her team ventured into allied and new business areas such as automotive technology automotive systems and components multilevel parking solutions elevators and escalators and green energyThe entrepreneur who counts corporate doyens such as Ratan Tata and Narayan Murthy quiet performers with strong values as she calls them and world leaders such as Bill Clinton and Bill Gates as her role models is confident that her foray into these growing sectors will reap rewardsAdventure seeker Itrsquos easy to presume that it must be all work and no play for Motwani But just like her corporate career where she thrives on taking risks the professional loves to indulge in some adventure sports to unwindRight from sky diving to scuba diving and mountain biking the daredevil corporate prefers ldquoany sport that is a threat to her liferdquo and claims itrsquos the adrenaline rush that gets her recharged Skiing is another passion that she indulges in with her husband Manish and son Siddhant The health freak also ensures that she visits the gym regularlyOne might assume that after spearheading a company and taking it to the pinnacle of success the 43yearold would like to take it easy for some time But she says with steely determination ldquoIrsquove still not reached my full potential I feel Irsquove begun my second innings now and am bullish about the futurerdquoJudging from her neversaydie spirit and determination that shouldnrsquot be hard we say