Walking The Talk

Bhandwalkar was not content merely managing events and promotions for the
various IT companies she worked with. Rather than stick to this humdrum life,
she took a sabbatical and got herself an MBA degree from New Zealand and then
plunged headlong into creating marketing strategies that she believed in

Job Profile: Bhandwalkar has taken the
Herculean task of establishing ADC Krone's brand in India, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh. This includes creating brand awareness internally and externally for
the parent and child brands like TruNet and SLA Plus, within the carrier and
enterprise businesses. She also calls herself the custodian of the company's
mission and vision statement and makes sure that this is followed in all aspects
of communication.

Background: Though a Maratha,
Bhandwalkar's forefathers moved to Bangalore during Shivanji's era. She
completed her schooling in Bishop Cotton College in Bangalore and then joined
Compaq in 1993 as a customer support executive. Three years later she moved to
Intel to look after the promotions and events for the SMB market. This is where
she got her first taste of marketing but also realized that her potential
extended beyond execution of marketing activities. Before shifting to American
Power Corporation, she took a hiatus of three years to complete her MBA in
marketing from Massey University in Auckland. Then she went on to work with ADC
Krone. She was clear she did not want to join a big organization where she was
liable to get lost in a crowd. Instead she wanted to work with a company that
helped her put her education into good use.

Sony Bhandwalkar, Marketing Manager Krone Communications

Challenges: Bhandwalkar feels that women
have to prove themselves repeatedly, despite their track record. She has to do a
lot of convincing when she is sharing her ideas with the sales team so proper
communication is a big challenge for her. She admitted that there have been
times in her career when she suffered due to lack of proper guidance.

Strengths: Perseverance and
persuasiveness have held her in good stead. She is also good at getting along
with people from all walks of life; this is where her communication skills set
in. Bhandwalkar also felt that women, by and large, are good planners and are
more organized in the work and thought process than their male counterparts.
Talking about her weakness, she said that often she gets overtly excited about
some ideas and wants to work on them at that instant, a tendency she is trying
to overcome. A stickler for perfection, she is usually not very satisfied with
her work and has been told by her peers that she downplays herself often.

Family: Bhandwalkar lives with her
parents and brothers. Her sister works in Convergys while her two brothers are
employed with IBM Global Services and Fidelity. Since all four siblings are in
the infotech area, evenings are a fun time dissecting the latest developments in
the industry.

Hobbies: Food, music, books-Bhandwalkar
loves them all. She loves to try various cuisines and is especially fond of
Vietnamese, Malay and Chinese fare. Since she has some training in classical
Hindustani music, she loves to listen to lounge music as well as Sunidhi Chauhan.
When it comes to books, fiction is what she likes best. And weekends are spent
either trekking or hanging out with friends when she is not helping her mother
with chores.

Future Plans: Bhandwalkar has great plans
for her career and for ADC Krone. She believes she has lots to achieve. “It's
like the bar that keeps rising and the ladder that keeps growing taller,” she
quipped. “Never be satisfied with where you are on your learning curve; always
try to accelerate it and figure out how you can learn more so you can contribute
more,” she advised.

VINITA BHATIA

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in