Heramba is an experienced management Professional with 18 years of work experience covering Product management, Digital transformation, Microfinance and rural finance. Heramba resides in Mumbai with her spouse and 13-year-old son.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herambaprasad/
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. Fulfilled. Started with the biggest and best Microfinance lender of the country, Grameen Financials (CreditAccess) in May 2009. The IIFM hangover continued here for more than a year as we were 5 from same batch working there. Parikshit, Jayant, Rohit and Gitesh Joshi. The learning was immense in terms of working in a corporate and real dynamics of microfinance sector.
It was a great launch pad for me and the 2 years spent here gave me immense learning. It also enabled me to get my next job with a Microfinance investment firm, India Finserve Advisors (India Value Fund). Managing investee MFIs and laying the foundation to be a Bank was quite an experience. The 4 years I spent here helped me grow my knowledge about Product, Process and use of Technology in microfinance business. Just after I left the company, it got the license to be a Small Finance Bank and successfully migrated to FINCARE SFB.
I am with YES Bank for almost a decade. The learning and growth have been fantastic here with exposure to all aspects of banking. The cultural and governance shift from MFI to Bank is one of the best experiences till date.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. Experiencing AP crisis, Demonetization, YES Bank moratorium and COVID from close quarters is definitely one of a kind for many of us including myself.
The most important learning would be to stay relevant to the company which helps one grow. Professional entrepreneurship helps a lot where you work as an employee, but your ownership towards tasks is like an entrepreneur. Being a workaholic is the way and there is no alternate to dedication and hard work.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. The things which gives satisfaction at work are the help and grooming you provide to your team and see them grow, the joy you get out of your work each day, and being optimistic about everything.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your
professional roles?
A. Absolutely. More than the subjects, it’s the transformation of personality, approach to problems and tasks, discipline and paradigm shift one gets to experience during the 2 years at IIFM helps a lot at work and it stays with you for ever.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. Constant learning and self-discipline at work have been helping me a lot. I have been fortunate enough to have great bosses throughout which helped a lot in terms of exploring new challenges, quick learning and grooming.
My belief is that the first thing one needs is knowledge and up-to-date information. Once you know it well, managing the same becomes easier. As one grows, the right application of the knowledge and people management becomes the key.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. The campus itself is the biggest memory. The Field Trip to Jharkhand, The Summer Internship in Odisha with a great guide Nikhil Sir and bike rides in the city are few of the good memories.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. These 2 years will transform one as a person. It changes the way one approaches studies, manages day to day life and deals with others. The diversified exposure one gets during this period helps improve our personality and management skills at work.
Most of the time, one would get to know organically the suitable and compatible career path. I would suggest focusing more on experiencing the 2 years fully from all aspects without worrying much about what’s coming afterwards in professional career.
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. Hectic but joyful. A typical day starts at 9 AM and ends at 8 PM. Best part is that not a single day goes with monotonous work and the worst part is Mumbai traffic after a long day!
The scope of work is diverse covering Product life cycle management, new product pilot project, Digital transformation, Portfolio monitoring and business plans. Half of the day goes with stakeholder management, meetings and reviews. Having a passionate team helps a lot at work, balancing the load and planning the day better.
Q. And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A. Weekends are calmer and filled with laziness. Main focus during these 2 days is to have good food and rest other than the usual household tasks.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. Books: Not a great book reader. But I like reading all sorts of articles regularly. Have recently started reading “The Alchemist” though.
Movies/ TV Series:
● SUITS
● Breaking Bad
● The Big Bang Theory
● Gardish
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. At present 25% of my team is proudly from IIFM. I try constantly hire from IIFM which is one of the supports will continue with.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. This should be a mandatory thing for all. Everyone has a story to tell 🙂