CEO Insights Magazine

"As a woman leader, every day, I make a conscious effort to extend selfless concern for the well-being of other women. I prefer to resolve conflicts/issues peacefully by adopting a ‘holistic' approach and maintain perseverance in every endeavour of mine. This is both for myself and the fellow women who observe me. Most importantly, I make sure to come across as an achiever. I believe in the saying that goes ‘Strong women aren't born, they're forged in the fires they've had to walk through. They're warriors with hearts of gold," says Sarah Rao, Founder of Edsmart Global Group of Schools & e-ART when asked about how she has been able to develop into a pioneering figure in the corporate realm.

Edsmart Global is an acclaimed group of schools that believe in shaping fully empowered global citizens in a perfectly serene and green learning environment. The group uses technology as an enabler to ensure that their students are equipped with the tools and skill sets that help them to thrive in a competitive global environment. In addition to being an Educator Sarah is a startup enthusiast. Her Startup Venture eART (e-AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY) is currently working on building futuristic product/tech based apps in Edtech and Consumer Services space.

In an exclusive interview withCEOInsights, Sarah talks more about her professional journey and the unique operations of Edsmart Global & e-ART.

Give us brief details about your educational and professional background. How are you leveraging the best of these elements across your school's operations?
I was born into a conventional business family.I dreamt of becoming an entrepre neur from my childhood days. Having worked with esteemed organisations such as Microsoft, Syntel & UST in key roles, I was happy, but my determination to become an entrepreneur became stronger by the day it knew no bounds. I always had an aspiration and vision to become a global business leader impacting many directly or indirectly in a positive way. As an empowered woman myself, I am a strong advocate of women empowerment.To impact and empower thousands of women across the world is my vision.

In pursuit of my desire, I established an HR Consulting Firm (My first start up) did well however eventually suffered losses due to 2008/9

recession. It was my first Start up business venture. Though it excelled very well at beginning but ended up in a loss. The experience of that first failure taught me invaluable lessons for life. But I never gave up. I went on to try new ventures that eventually became a success. After a successful journey as an Educator for almost a decade, I still found my self in dearth of leadership and critical abilities to excelas a startup enthusiast, hence pursued a Post Graduate Program at Indian School of Business. ISB has shaped me and gave me the ‘Wand of knowledge and Network' to excel and empower many more women like me. I feel extremely thankful for my family's entrepreneurial roots and ISB for the abundance of business insights.

Elaborate on the inception story of Edsmart Global. What makes your leadership style different from others?
The power of education lies in shaping children into amazing, creative human beings who make this world a better place to live. With education becoming increasingly commercial by the year, we, as next generation entrepreneurs, found that the existing gap between the ideal learning atmosphere and school set up that garner the innate capabilities of the students is within the right ballpark of our goal to make a positive difference in the way an entire system has been working. An idea to move the needle forward in the domain of education has incited our choice and that resulted in the inception of Edsmart Global.

As an empowered entrepreneur with varied interests and a constant learner, I believe in the impact of collective growth. My goal as a leader is to find solutions to real time problems with the collective strength or synergy of 1000-10,000 empowered women through my startup initiatives(Soul Story, Drillex, Portalnw operated under e-Art ).

Share your experience of being a women business person.
Female entrepreneurship in a complex male dominated business world comes with its own unique challenges. Despite all your passion, entrepreneurship can eat at you until there's no more meat on the bone before you step up the ladder of success. Surges and successes of women lead companies are all over

the news now.It certainlyfeels empowering. But unfortunately, that's only part of the story. The gender based discriminatory barriers still seem to be lurking around in the business world. Most women entrepreneurs find themselves caught up in a world where their leadership skills are still underscored and often still struggle to be taken seriously.

What strategies do you follow to meet each student's requirements while ascertaining maximum output of your course?
My ability to identify the pain points and offer workable solutions to the concerned has been my unparalleled USP since I turned an entrepreneur. This formula applies to all the mutually exclusive startups that Im working on.

Championing the cause of identifying and harnessing the unique potential of every student apart from advancing their overall knowledge is my goal as an educator. Today, there is a greater need to promote and protect students' conflict resolution abilities rather than giving them mere textbook knowledge. Diversities arise from sharp differences in children's'learning and grasping abilities.

At Edsmart Global, we ensure that these diversities are bridged through the implementation of tailored lessons specifically designed for a varied group of students. Most importantly, we focus on hybrid models that deliver comprehensive & experiential learning outcomes. Simply put, with the help of our 5P methodology that is coupled with Japanese IKIGAI concept of living, we enable children to develop strategic response plans to future shifts in trends or during the emergence of crises. Our course consciously prepares children for what follows. Parents are opting for such curriculum too. This is nevertheless an evidence of an important transition underway.

How did the Impact of Education change women's roles in society? What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Brigham Young had rightly said “You educate a man, you educate a man; You educate a woman, you educate a generation”. Women's education paved way to disrupting gender roles, marking an end to blind obedience at least to a certain positive extent if not in its entirety. Educated women in turn set good examples for their daughters and offer a reason for their sons to acknowledge the potential of other women. After all, an educated woman is an empowered woman.

Sarah Rao, Founder, Edsmart Global
Sarah is a pioneering women leader with an impeccable eye for detail.