From Dreams to Reality: The Rise of a Visionary Soma Chakraborty
There are few who dare to dream and fewer who make that dream into a reality, in the dynamic world of healthcare entrepreneurship, few stories resonate as powerfully as that of Soma Chakraborty. As the Founder and Managing Director of her company, Soma has carved a niche for herself with her remarkable vision and unwavering determination. Holding an MBA in marketing, she embarked on her journey with a dream to revolutionize the industry. Her path, filled with both challenges and triumphs, serves as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women who dare to break the mold. She added “No job looks perfect at the outset, no team is perfect when you step in, no new institute has all the answers but the important point to realize is that you have to take the risk, you have to say ‘yes’ to all yours opportunities which are coming on your path and I feel when you’re getting opportunities it’s a “God Blessing” to do something extraordinary”.
Soma's entrepreneurial journey is a testament to her relentless pursuit of excellence and her ability to navigate the complexities of the business world with grace and resilience. From securing initial funding to leading her company to unprecedented growth, her story is one of passion, perseverance, and profound impact. This article delves into the various facets of Soma Chakraborty's journey, exploring the challenges she faced, her significant achievements, the broader impact of her work, her personal insights, and her enduring vision for the future.
Introduction:
Soma Chakraborty is a Founder cum Managing Director with qualifications like MBA in marketing. She was grown with the dream in her mind to become an entrepreneur. From her teenage years, she wanted to become an entrepreneur but she wasn’t born with generational wealth and had to fight for education, and therefore she believes that dedication, dream, and determination are the only paths for making you a successful entrepreneur. Later on, she started her career as a Sales Executive in the Hospitality Industries, unfortunately, people used to ignore sales and marketing profiles. As she is a seeker, she believes in opportunities so she always says ‘yes’ to them.
The turning point in her career was when she and her daughter got into a car accident, just after a few years of working in the hospitality industry. In that accident, her 3-year-old daughter got severe injuries for which she had to stay in hospital for 19 days with her daughter. As she was discharged from the hospital, Soma Chakraborty needed to stay at my home taking care of her daily needs. During this period she lost her job, broke her savings, and also became mentally weak. After a period of one year when she was looking for a new job, she suddenly got a call from a different sector. As she said yes to opportunities she accepted the profile of HOD marketing in a renowned hospital. From this new opportunity Soma didn’t need to look back, she kept on achieving new goals and success followed her.
After a successful career in Corporate Hospitals for 10 years, she felt that she would create her world as she dreamt earlier. She thought of establishing her Hospital, where middle-class families could get treated at an affordable cost. It was pathetic and painful when mass death took place due to a lack of hospital beds and financial costs during the Covid pandemic.
Challenges and Achievements:
According to HRM policies, employees who are supported and valued by their leaders can be more productive and resilient. When your purpose is clear and inspired by the mission it empowers them to make informed decisions in a limited time and cut through information overload. If the teammates don’t understand their purpose, work with them to clarify it to motivate them. This clarity of purpose can inspire the team to carry on in difficult situations and make progress despite setbacks. It can make the employees feel that they are self-sufficient and give them the renewed energy they need to continue working. Soma Chakraborty's life was not a cakewalk, as any other startup she faced problems like she could not complete the infrastructural part the team was losing their energy and they were unstable about their future.
Talking about her achievements she said “I would like to confess that a huge step is pending to become an Icon entrepreneur in the world, I have achieved very little and I always celebrate this small achievement which motivates me to go ahead for the next goal. At an early stage, I dreamt about a successful career and somehow I achieved it due to dedication, passion, and aggression. “I don’t want to stop myself “I don’t need retirement, it would be a blessing for me if I could work till the end of my life.”
She received the CIB Award from UGC for female Entrepreneur in 2014, the Outstanding Leadership Award in Healthcare Marketing in 2019, the Emerging Entrepreneur Women in 2021 at Bengal Pride Award, Rotary Change Maker Award from Rotary Calcutta Club Mega City in 2022, Feature in Women World India magazine and Feature in Femme Times magazine (Inspiring Women Awards).
Personal Insights:
Balancing “work and Personal life” is very difficult, she feels that as a wife and as a mother you have to build the thin line between this and make them understand your identity make them proud and add value to society.
As a leader, she believes that leaders should be grounded. It serves as a moral compass about how team you will lead and inspire your team. The more consistently you apply these principles the greater likelihood you will build a team that will thrive and perform beyond your expectations. She said” In my mind, there are few benefits of having a management philosophy. These include: Feeling more confident about your management style, Making better hiring decisions, Offering your team more clarity about your expectations, Performing at a higher level with an engaged and inspired team, and Retaining more of your staff, The most important goal of preparing a mindset is to change negative attitudes into positive ones, by helping coworkers believe in themselves first and then to acquire trust and respect on Institute, Care and serve people and Model and set standards for others to follow.
Her management philosophy evolved over the years and now has these principles:
- Build trust, have integrity, and demonstrate competence
- Engage all employees in setting ambitious goals
- Manage with empathy and accountability
- Position each team member to be successful
- Create a positive and encouraging environment
- Treat each individual with respect and humility
Impact and Vision:
Talking about the skills required in healthcare she said “You must ease the entire stereotype thought for breath-breaking benefit and adopt some new changes. To healthcare industry is a vast field and its need continues to develop. Keep the mindset “To adapt to new changes “acquire new technology; assure assist to a consultant by best modern machineries” nevertheless provide high-quality treatment within affordable cost.”
Next about the future trends in India, she replied the government should be more involved in the healthcare system “India is already a developing country and we are continuing to develop in every aspect, I feel that the Government should take the initiative for more tertiary care hospitals along with facilities and more modern techniques for cancer treatment as well as Bone Marrow transplant. At the same time we could notice half of the population isn’t covered by insurance which is specifically categorized for urban people, Government should take care of the matter.”
The vision for her is to create a healthier world where every individual has access to comprehensive health services. She added “The healthcare market is growing significantly and today in this advanced stage of India there is a huge lack of medical facilities to cater to the mammoth population. My aim is to create a Medical Hub in every state of our country. We are coming up with Nursing college, Medical college non-paramedical Institute, and pharmaceutical industries”.
Conclusion:
She advises young women to “As women in healthcare, we need to work together to support one another and challenge those systems that aren't working for us. If you're new in your career, don't be afraid to speak up when added support is needed, or if something just needs to change be your advocate.”
At last, she ended it by saying “If you are a generous giver, then God will bless you by giving you back as a generous receiver”.
