Not one to shy away from stating how he believed in living the quintessential MBA dream, Sujit Nair, a 34-year-old social entrepreneur started out with a 9-5, quite like most of his contemporaries. But in the year 2010, it was time for a change. Two start-ups later, the enterprising Bengaluru entrepreneur is spearheading an initiative to build a strong community to help city youngsters channelise their skills and aptitude towards social responsibility and change. The biz whiz, who also plays a key role in promoting trade and development between India and UK/Europe, chats with us, just as he gets ready to render free personalised career counselling sessions.
“I did my biotechnology masters at Bangalore University. I worked for a company as part of a management team soon after. Then for a year, I was part of a founding team of another biotechnology firm. While the corporate experience gave me the quintessential ‘stability,’ I needed more out of my life. So I went to London for an MBA. I then worked for an ad company before starting up on my own,” begins Sujit. Fortunately for Sujit, the accolades came early. “I was nominated for UK’s prestigious National Young Masters Enterprise Awards (in association with Google) for Best Business Pitch. In the year 2011, I was featured by Entrepreneur Country Magazine among the best entrepreneurs in the UK under the age of 30. For my work in promoting entrepreneurship across UK, I was elected as the fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), a 260-year-old society whose Patron is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and was later chosen as RSA Connector (India ambassador) of RSA, While I had to start from scratch, the struggle made me realise how important it is to hone and channelise potential in the right direction.
That makes all the difference and that’s why in my role as RSA Connector, I am working closely with youngsters to build a community of RSA fellows in Bengaluru to provide young promising individuals additional support from other RSA fellows across the world.”
Taking baby steps, Sujit aims to spearhead an initiative that hones young talent. And is ready to offer unrelenting support through www.sujitnair.co.uk. “Post our RSA drive, youngsters had a flurry of doubts. That’s when I decided to don the hat of a career counseller as well. The forum on my website is free and one-on-one,” he adds. With so much on his plate, is there any time for a breather. Sujit responds, “My wife has been so supportive and I try and spend time with her, as she helps me broaden my perspective. I do squeeze in some time to blow off steam at the gym and read autobiographies whenever I can.”
