- Owner of Pushpa Industries, Sheetal Talati dreams of building a trained team of female employees to work in her manufacturing unit
- Under the supervision of Sheetal Talati, the Pushpa Industries’ manufacturing capacity grew by 5.5 percent
- Using government’s initiatives like Make in India, Sheetal Talati seeks to educate and train women to help them grow in the manufacturing sector
By taking over her father’s business at 21, Sheetal Talati forever tossed away the archetypal stereotype of a male heir steering the family business after the owner’s death. She runs one of the leading manufacturing company Pushpa Industries which manufactures heat transfer equipment. They have been one of the best coil manufacturers for over 30 years.
Some individuals are born leaders, just like Sheetal Talati who is a visionary, an entrepreneur and believes that a woman can break all barriers and emerge as a successful professional even in the heavy machinery industry. Sheetal plans on starting a training program in the future to encourage women to join the sector and work on the shop floors. In her factory unit, she has even recruited women brazers highly skilled at their work.
Her father’s untimely demise and responsibility of supervising a decades-old business replete with male competitors was a tough battle and she knew that it was a rocky road ahead. However, giving up was never her way of thinking. “When I first started visiting the factory I made a lot of mistakes lost a lot of business as the clients withdrew their orders. My workers and I were sitting idle for a long time, It was a scary period” She recalls that she had to create an image of her own since most of the people from her industry mostly male were not taking her seriously. Sheetal started losing old clients. But she fought back, regained confidence, and strove to streamline business operations.
Sheetal feels that if a woman is persistent, it will not be difficult for her to work in the manufacturing sector.”In Indian society, to date, women are not allowed to make any decisions on their own. They have to start from somewhere and be the change .” Yes just like Sheetal who made the change happen for real.
Starting Off Without an Idol
At the age of 21, running Pushpa Industries as “the new boss” and achieving the target growth of 15 per cent within a year was an uphill task. Sheetal’s experiences have made her realize that there is a vastly unexplored area for women to engage in the manufacturing industry. Women’s reach is not just limited to offices but also stretches to the shop floor. Women have this fear that they might get hurt while working with machines and if they get a scar or a burn then they will have problems getting married.
Again the aspect of mindset comes into play. Sheetal thinks that it is a myth that women cannot work in the manufacturing sector owing to physical weakness. It's my dream to one day have an all-women team,” Sheetal candidly says. She also adds that women are mentally strong and they can use this mental strength for a lot of purposes.
“I have also been vulnerable several times especially after marriage and during pregnancy, many of my male counterparts and competitors believed that I will be lazy in my work as my full concentration will be on my family. But I did not allow my work to get hampered.” Sheetal reminisces the time when her competitors were all set to grab the family-owned business. However, that could not happen as she stood firmly and faced them.
Taking Small Steps towards Empowerment
It is the women who can make the difference by making themselves competent and stand up to the odds. Today, Sheetal’s father will be proud to see her daughter elevate Pushpa Industries to greater heights by sheer hard work and conviction. Sheetal is hopeful that government initiatives like Make in India and other skill development programs will help women to get the right resources and training to increase competency for the manufacturing sector. Initiatives like 'Make In India' and several MSME funding schemes will provide wings to women entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry.
Machine Maker celebrating Woman in Indian Manufacturing is coming out with incredible stories of #Womanufactuirng. If you would like to recommend anyone among you to be featured write to us at info@themachinemaker.com
