Daijiworld Media Network
Nov 4: Twenty-two years ago she was a daily wage labourer at a farm, earning a paltry sum of Rs 5 per day. Today, she is the CEO of a company which has a turnover of Rs 25 crore!
Hard to believe?
It is not a movie script or a fiction, but the real-life story of a brave woman whose dedication and commitment has taken her to the zenith of success.
Sheer dedication and an unwavering will to reach the goal are all that one needs to taste success - that's the moral of this brave lady D Anila Jyothi Reddy's life story.
Born in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh to extremely poor parents, Anila is elder to her three other siblings. Her father who joined military soon gave it up, unable to cope up with the strict disciplined life there. He then admitted Anila to a government orphanage declaring her as having lost her mother at a young age. While in the orphanage, she completed her 10th standard with first class marks. With an intention to pursue college studies she returned home, but again extreme poverty forced her to discontinue studies. In 1986, when Anila was just 16 she was forced by her father to marry one Sangi Reddy. But her life did not change even then. Poverty continued to haunt even after marriage, and she had to work in a farm for Rs 5 per day as wage.
It was the government programme of opening night schools in interior places that helped her turn her luck a little. As she was the only girl who had passed 10th standard with a first class, she was given the job of teaching poor students and elders in the village. Her smartness, commitment and intelligence helped her to win the hearts of not only the students but of the entire village. She was later promoted as supervisor of the school. Thus encouraged, she managed to complete her BA from Ambedkar Open University, and later MA from Kakathiya Open University in 1997.
After completing her masters degree she secured a government job as teacher a little away from her place, with a salary of Rs 400 per month. She had to travel at least two hours by train to reach the school. Her business acumen came to the fore when she decided to utilize the two hours in train to earn her bread. She began selling sarees on the train, and earned a commission of Rs 10 per saree. However, despite two jobs at a time - as teacher and saree vendor, she could not free herself from the clutches of poverty, because, by then she already had two kids to look after.
Another turning point in her life was when she was working as teacher. One of her distant relatives came to Warangal, whose lifestyle, capacity to spend, and personality impressed Anila and sparked in her the idea of travelling abroad for a better life. She availed information from that relative about going to USA. She felt that if her relative could make it to the USA, why not her? Her relatives told her that to go to USA she must be proficient in computers. It took her less than a year to do that.
After six unsuccessful attempts, luck finally turned her way in the seventh attempt and she got the visa to fly to the USA.
In the year 2000 she landed at New Jersey where Indians consist a considerably large populace. But problems were in store for her when her own people - relatives who had encouraged her to come there - refused to even talk to her! She was given shelter by a Gujarati family as a paying guest, and she got a job as salesperson in a video shop where she started earning USD 420 a month.
One day, a man from Warangal met her in the video shop and offered her a better job with a recruitment company for a salary of USD 800. Having proved her dedication to work, she was next offered a job at ICSA company in South Carolina as manager.
Again, tough challenges pursued her when ICSA company asked her to resign because she did not have work (H1) visa. But she did not heart. She quickly learnt the procedure to get H1 visa, and armed with this knowledge, she travelled about 2,400 km from South Carolina to Mexico to get the visa. Travelling alone to Mexico, and giving satisfactory answers to immigration officers, she managed to get H1 visa.
Her experience in getting H1 visa was the toughest part of her life, she says, at the same time, it was also another turning point. The visa proved to be her 'passport' to success.
After she returned from Mexico with valid a working visa, an idea flashed to her, and the entrepreneur in her told her - 'instead of working for others, why can't I open my own business ?' She had another brainwave - of guiding newcomes to USA by providing complete information on H1 visa. By then she had managed to save about USD 40,000, which she invested in her new company 'Keys Software Solutions'. A boy from Gujarat became her first client, to whom she not only managed to get H1 visa, but also a job in a multinational company!
Since then, she has never looked back.
Today, she is the CEO Keys Software Solutions, which has an estimated turnover of Rs 25 crore!
Now she has brought her two children to the USA, and both are pursuing engineering. Her husband visits USA at least 5 times a year, thanks to Anila's efforts !
Today, Anila Jyothi Reddy’s success is not limited to her family or friends; it inspires thousands of self-trapped, introvert persons to rise above their countless defeats and fight against any storm with a courageous heart and claim a better future. She proves that to be successful, one does not have to be equipped with exceptionally brilliant qualities or talents, what is required is aspiration, will and perseverance to accomplish. As they say, ‘the harder you work, the luckier you get’, and no one epitomises this better than Anila.
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