Ruzan Khambatta: Living Life Queen Size

She stands apart as a woman entrepreneur. From an early age, Ruzan's goal was to create and manage path-breaking IT businesses and projects. To further this goal, she pursued computer applications, hardcore programming and systems integration.

She decided to begin her career from scratch, without drawing on her family resources and contacts. Ruzan launched Wizz O Tech, a pioneer in web-enabled content and then E Comm Opportunities which was the 1st Gujarat Broadband ISP. Currently her enterprise is doing lot of innovative projects in Augmented Reality.

Ruzan has developed strong fundamentals in the domains of business strategy, programming, marketing, sales and system design. She's a woman who always wants to innovate and experiment-un-constrained by convention.

Educational Background

Ruzan graduated in bio-chemistry and completed her masters in life sciences. She was amongst the 12 people chosen all over India for British Chevening Scholarship for Advanced Management Program for Young Indian IT Professionals, 2001-2002, at the Manchester Business School, one of the best six business schools in Europe. This helped her achieve a perfect mix of managing and innovating a technology centric enterprise.

Is IT Male Dominated?

Ruzan accepts that it is a challenge but the one whch can be handled well. She says, "When I started my career in IT, as IT was supposed to be a knowledge field and so women were hardly seen it. I had to overcome it by walking the extra mile and demonstrating the various technology know-hows and deliver results. Sometimes I have to go out-of-my-way to prove my potential."

Ruzan believes that being a woman gives her some innate qualities like being intuitive, comprehensive, attentive and having detailed communication style with better listening skills, inclusive, interactive-collaborative leadership style, being empathetic which facilitates trust-building, the most important building block for a relationship, and being people oriented-all these help her immensely in her leadership skills..

Challenges Galore

 

"Like any challenge in life, it's not what actually happens that will determine the outcome but it's what you decide to do about it. Invite challenges in your life. Embrace it. They make you stronger, " says Ruzan philosophically. She continues, "I entered into a field which required a fusion of technology with lot of home-grown innovations.

As the major constraint was that the technology was not at all established and it had to be proven to be functional. These were all possible because of the impetus to technovate and innovate. Then the task of handling a team not just of white collar people but also blue collar people is in itself an arduous task. I always emphasize that woman are very good into multi-tasking and are best all-rounders. It is just the belief in ourselves that give us the boost to take us through."

Advice to Working Women

Ruzan has some really valuable advice for working women.

Focus on being the best: Never compare yourself with your colleagues but compare yourself with the best and then compete with yourself. Don't ever give up.

Value- add: Always do value addition in your task/work/assignment that you do. Deliver more then what is expected from you. This will make you stand apart from the crowd.

Voice your opinion/dissatisfaction: Take charge, and don't be afraid to call out inequality when you see it or experience it. But make sure you voice the same to people who are in charge and see to it that you explain to them logically and not emotionally. Fight it back

Time for self: Never ever neglect yourself. Relax, enjoy and do not forget to take your daily dose of de-stressing. Be the alpha woman.