I remember one of the first jobs I wanted to do was that of a telephony operator. When I was little during my holidays with my grandparents, as we didn’t have a phone, we had to go to the central telephony station where I was fascinated to watch the operators connecting people. I still hear in my ear, “You have the connection.” I thought it was the coolest thing on earth and many times I remember role playing as a telco operator. I went to business school and it’s interesting as in the end I spent most of my career in telecoms.

Back in the day, I was considered for a promotion but one of the decision makers was not in favor on the basis that I was likely to have a family and kids and would not continue my career. There are stereotypes around women getting married, having kids and dropping their careers. I still hear this around me, even today.

I think it’s important for women to be clear about their career expectations, be intentional and explicit and make these conversations part of the regular dialog with their line manager and their network.

There is nothing you cannot do. Go for it, a lot of women hesitate in front of career opportunities, thinking too much about what skills they don’t have and not enough about those skills they do have.