Woman Power: A True Professional

PREETI MAHAJAN, Director, Sine Wave

Job Profile

Mahajan's husband, Vipin Mahajan, started Sine Wave a decade ago and she is now
a Director in the company. Sine Wave, a power conditioning company and an
Emerson Networks channel partner, offers a wide range of power solutions to
corporates and SMB customers, which include Reliance Group, Dabur, Hutch,
Standard Chartered Bank, ABN Amro etc. And Mahajan often acts as the frontÂ
face of the company, networking with customers and ensuring that the business
keeps growing.

Background

Since her father was with Dunlop Tyres, Mahajan spent her childhood
traveling all over the country. Once she completed her post-graduation from the
Wadia College in Pune, her family moved to Mumbai. There were not too many
opportunities coming her way in psychology since she was just 20 years old.
Preeti then studied IT systems analysis and software designing. But she realized
she was more a people's person and decided  to chuck software designing to
get into hardware selling at Computer Point. She met her husband when he too
joined Computer Point and married him in 1990. The duo was heading rival
business divisions and Computer Point too had a policy about  spouses not
working in the same company. An exception was made for Mahajan, but she did not
feel comfortable bending the rules. Which is why she shifted to Microland and
was instrumental in setting up the company's New Delhi office. Later when Vipin
started Sine Wave, Mahajan decided to leverage on her business acumen and
contacts to help the business grow.

Challenges

Mahajan does not believe in asking for concessions as a professional, just
because she is a woman. Her advice to other women in the industry is to get used
to the long working hours and not worry about gender benders. In fact, being a
woman has always worked in her favor as customers are more courteous to the
fairer sex.

Strengths

An extrovert, Mahajan loves to interact with people and is very emphatic.
This helps her make friends easily. Also, she believes she is very customer
oriented, which she tries to pass onto her team as well. She has even come up
with the concept of 'Customer Delight' in Sine Wave, which could be

the reason why 50 percent of the company's business is repeat orders.

Family

She has a 10-year-old daughter, Kalli. When Sine Wave was started, the
Mahajans decided to have their office close to their house, so that they could
rush home, whenever their daughter needed them. Even today, Mahajan makes it a
point to return from work and have lunch with her daughter when she is back from
school. Sometimes, Kalli calls Mahajan and asks her to pop over and help her out
with her homework in the evening, which is why she keeps all her important
client meetings in the morning, when her daughter is in school.

Hobbies

Music of all genres is something that helps Mahajan unwind. Currently her
favorite track is Shakira's Hips Don't Lie. She also enjoys old Bollywood
numbers as well as ghazals. Partying is another thing that Mahajan is very fond
of.

Future

She does not believe in planning and would just like to work for as long as
is possible. And if given a chance, she would love to retire to the beaches of
Goa, staring at the surf and sun.

-VINITA BHATIA