Atryee Sarkar

Due to the early influence of an aunt, who taught her to be fiercely independent and unconventional in her thoughts and action, Atryee Sarkar does not carry any shyness associated with a small-town upbringing. Born in Jamshedpur and a product of the Sacred Heart Convent, it is this childhood influence and the years spent away from home at Hostel, that shaped her personality and continue to prompt her to make a success of whatever she sets out to do.

She began her professional life - at the best learning ground for those interested in making a career out of brands - the Brand Research department of Hindustan Lever Ltd. Personal compulsions brought her to Kolkata in 1998 , when she joined Tata Steel in the erstwhile Steel Marketing Division. A year later, however, once Tata Steel began focussing on brands, she found her calling in the company. This allowed her to create a niche for herself and grow rapidly into the position of Head, Market Research Group. “The focus on brands gave me the feeling that my skills were needed in the company. Subsequently, the most enjoyable stints here have been those with Brand Management Group and Tubes Marketing and Sales,” she asserts.

Particular about target setting both in her personal and professional life Atryee says, “it comes naturally to me to fix personal milestones and work towards them. I think that’s the only way one can implement one’s ambition, otherwise one can never reach the desired goals or dreams.”

This ability to plan enabled her to complete her MBA and find her true calling, while her only sibling, her sister, preferred to remain a housewife. Atryee thrives on the opportunity to interact and influence others while at work, and likes to take charge and have the opportunity to test her creativity to the utmost.

She has, thus, contributed with her creativity through innovative research methodologies developed by her while at Hindustan Lever, to the creation of the Parivaar at Tubes and the Brand Management Group at Tata Steel. The recognition through the British Chevening Scholarship for Women in Leadership & Management is rated as a personal milestone.

Steadfast in her intention to continue to grow professionally, Atryee hopes to head a marketing function or organisation five years hence. She would prefer to keep working in the area she is passionate about and “without which I can see no meaning going ahead in life.”

A woman of many interests, Atryee likes to spend her few hours of leisure listening to music, reading or spending time with her son. “I cannot get peaceful sleep if I do not read before I sleep. I read mostly fiction and biographies. While travelling I make it a point to read business articles of interest.” In music, her preferences veer to rock, both hard and soft.

Performing beyond expectation always

When she can manage a few hours away from the madness of managing her life, she tries to get a few stolen moments of peace by making a difference as a compassionate human being. She likes to spend time taking care of orphaned children and the neglected elders at various homes in Kolkata. This woman with a heart may not wear it on her sleeve, but even while at work, she tries to mentor young women in the organisation and make them believe that positive ambition and a steely resolve can take them to towering heights.

For this daughter of a former manager in the erstwhile Indian Oxygen Company, life has taught her that “you have to give up something to get something” but yet “everything is possible, all one needs to have is the ambition and attitude to make it happen.”