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About Me
I am a banker by profession who has spent more than a decade in banking in Canada and overseas. I have gained professional experience in various lines of banking like retail, small business, and commercial in the roles of client relationship management and team management working with 5 of the largest banks in the world.
I am a proud Indian by birth and a proud Canadian by choice. After struggling in my early days in Canada, I have made it a mission to help international students, work permit holders, and new immigrants navigate through the issues of finding their dream job and settling in this new country that one day they will call home.
I was lucky to have my sisters in this country who were a bit of support but even being in the same country, they were thousands of kilometers away. I realized that there was a lack of support in everything be it social life or professional life. I, being an extrovert, felt the pain inside me when I found that my social life is not even close to what I had in India. So, I took this as an opportunity and started making friends to get through those tormenting times. Even today, the biggest reason for immigrants leaving this amazing country and going back to their country is the lack of social support.
All I can say is that it was not easy at all, but somehow I managed. My friends in those days helped me a lot in terms of providing mental and social support. But either everyone is not so lucky or they have different mental strength levels when it comes to dealing with such situations. That realization led me to start helping international students and newcomers in their initial settlement days. I did that for a couple of years and got some great results by changing people’s life.
Then a few years ago, I started getting requests from people who wanted to grow in their professional life and needed help. That was another turn in my life when I decided to help the same vulnerable category of people and support them in their development and success. I did that for some time and then Covid-19 hit which accelerated the need for that support. I was having multiple one-on-one conversations every single week and that is when I decided of launching this platform.
Via this platform, I have planned to help/support students/newcomers in need so they can be successful in their personal and professional life here in Canada. This platform will also act as a mentorship portal in the coming future where we will match professionals with mentors that can help them with their long-term growth.
Below you can review my journey in Canada and also learn a little bit more about me. Remember, LinkedIn doesn’t know everything about us.
SPORT
Handball, Basketball, Volleyball, Cricket, Soccer, Badminton, Table-Tennis
INTEREST
Videos Games, Travelling, Camping, Business Ideas, EVs, Animals
NO TO
Drugs, Alcohol & Smoking
YES TO
Adventure and Fun
13
Years of Professional Experience
12yr 1yr
Banking Hospitality
2
Countries
5
Multi-National Banks
MBA
Finance, Canada
PGDBA
Marketing, India
7+
Cities in Canada
100+
Mentoring Sessions
EARLY
LIFE
I was a very studious kid in my primary school days. I and my sister always used to steal 2 spots out of the top 3 positions in the class. Did I not tell you I have a twin sister? Oh, yes I have a twin sister and no, we are not identical for obvious reasons.
By the time I got into 11th grade, the worm of reality and practicality crept into my brain. I started reasoning with everything that I studied in class. And the result was me not getting into the top 3 positions; neither in 11th grade nor in the 12th grade.
I was fortunate enough to secure a seat in an engineering college in the IT (Information Technology) faculty. The 4 years were long but went by really quickly and I graduated in 2008 when the global recession hit the world. India was no exception and IT companies started putting the newly recruited graduates on the bench which essentially meant a guaranteed job without any guarantee of getting called to work; yes that was scary. I learned a lot of real-life lessons while pursuing the engineering degree that I cherish to date. I made life-long friends and I learned about double-face personalities.
My practical mindset with a lot of common sense helped me secure my first job which turned out to be in banking, yet it was not in the IT department. This was a campus interview selection that meant I still had some iron in me to be proud of myself.
PROFESSIONAL
LIFE
My first job in banking was in India with ICICI Bank as a Collections Manager. I was put in the hole with the darkness of Collections without any knowledge or prior experience. But maybe that was one of the best professional lessons for me as I excelled in managing large teams with remote supervision from my manager. This tremendously helped me in learning more lessons of life by living them firsthand.
After working at ICICI Bank for about 3 years, I got headhunted by Citibank N.A as a Collections Manager where I worked for 6 months before getting, what I prefer to call the profile elevation to the Credit Manager role. During this time, due to my increasing interest and curiosity in the business domain, I decided to pursue Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Symbiosis Institute of Distance Learning.
I worked in the Credit Manager role for about 14 months when the “Canada calling” came to my life and I decided to move to Canada for further studies. I landed in Canada to pursue my Masters in Business Administration at Asper School of Business, Manitoba.
This is when my own struggle started to explore, fight and settle myself in the Canadian job market and culture. It was not easy to get my first job when after 9 months of being in Canada, I started working at a family-owned business “Hotel Royal Plaza”. Within a few months, I was given the charge to manage the hotel and its sister company India Palace Restaurant.
Among various reasons for not getting a bank job, there were reasons like “you will have to get rid of your ear-rings first”, “you are over-qualified, how can we hire you”, “you do not have Canadian work experience”, “you do not belong here”, and more. Those things did not bother me and I kept my head straight and high with my dream of getting back into banking.
It took me 9 months after my graduation to find my first bank job at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as a Banking Advisor. It is at that point in time, I decided that I want to make my career in banking only and that was just the beginning.
After working for RBC for just under 2 years, my curious mind tricked me into choosing Commercial banking over retail and I joined the HSBC Commercial banking unit in Winnipeg as a Relationship Support Relationship Manager. I enjoyed Commercial banking so much, that my interest got me into Small Business banking as an advisor with Scotiabank.
After working in the Small Business world as an advisor for just over 2 years, I got promoted to the Assistant Manager role within the bank. As leadership positions with challenges were always of interest to me, I worked hard in that AM role to finally get my first branch as a Branch Manager. The growth within the bank has been phenomenal and multiple factors have contributed to that.
It feels like a dream come true but it still feels like nothing has been accomplished. So, the journey continues on in the pursuit of accomplishment. Now, do not confuse my happiness with accomplishment. I am very happy with whatever I have achieved and whatever I am doing today but I know I can do more and that pursuit is still going on.
GIVING BACK TO COMMUNITY
Helping others has always been in me, be it in school or college days or be it my professional circle. I think I got this from my parents and I feel proud of myself that I do have this in me.
I still remember the days in school as an 11 or 12-year kid, I used to go out to collect funds for the non-profit Help Age India and that satisfaction was unmatchable.
I have been active in various non-profit organizations, student bodies at the graduate and undergraduate level, and lastly through my involvement with the mentorship and career guidance program. Below you will find my past and active involvement details to give back to the community.
Here is my journey
Over the Years
2022
Launched my personal website
After increased one-on-one sessions with the mentees from across Canada and the globe, I decided to formalize this process and launch my own website.
2018
Dream Team Scotiabank
Joined Scotiabank in the Small Business team and grew into a leader with the support of a great team and strong leadership. Got promoted 3 times in 4 years.
2017
Commercial Banking Calling at HSBC Canada
Quit retail banking and moved to HSBC to learn about Commercial Banking. It was a great learning in a very short time period.
2015
Graduated and got my first job
Graduated in early 2015 and found my first real bank job in the last quarter of the year. This job gave a hope for a better future and the confidence to keep fighting. .
2013
Moved to Canada to pursue MBA
After my first visit to Canada in 2012, made up my mind and moved to Canada in 2013 to pursue the MBA from Asper School of Business. Life completely changed for me then. Already graduated from PGDBA in India
2011
Joined Citibank N.A India
After excelling at ICICI, head-hunted to work for Citibank N.A India. Those were one of the best days of my professional life.
2009
PGDBA from SCDL
Enrolled in the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration offered by Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning
2008
Graduated From Engineering College and joined ICICI Bank
Graduated in 2008 when the big global recession had hit the world. Afraid of even finding any job, landed one of the best jobs of those years with ICICI Bank India.