My Life in Full: Work, Family, and our Future

My Life in Full- Good read When I started reading this book, I expected to learn more about Indra Nooyi’s work and time management—especially since she is not only a professional but also a mother, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and more. These are all roles that many women take on after marriage. As a working mother myself, I wanted to understand how she managed everything and whether she succeeded in fulfilling all those roles. However, in the book, Indra is brutally honest about the choices she made—particularly acknowledging that she did not have much time for her family. She shares that her parents, in-laws, extended family, and most importantly, her husband, managed the home and children while she focused on her career. I admire her honesty. It’s something that is often missing in today’s leaders. Many present a sugarcoated version of how women can "have it all"—how one can climb the corporate ladder while also being a perfect homemaker. I don't entirely agree with that view. A few gifted individuals might manage it, but for most, trying to do it all can lead to a stretched and exhausting life. Reading the book gave me a new perspective: at the end of the day, you have to choose what you value most. Indra was a terrific leader and a compassionate co-worker. She showed up for her job whenever it was needed. At the same time, it's possible she wasn’t always there for her children when they needed her. But she made her choice and committed to it—and she created wonders out of it. Indra has been a powerful example, especially for her own daughters. After reading the book, I developed tremendous respect for Raj. He has truly been an exceptional parent and husband. Many marriages crumble under such circumstances. Not all men are raised to accept and celebrate their wives' success. He not only supported but also inspired Indra to pursue what she was best at. Indra's parents and in-laws also deserve applause. She was able to succeed in large part because of the strong support system they provided. It’s not easy to accept your daughter’s or daughter-in-law’s unconventional choices and back her unconditionally to pursue them. All in all, Indra has done a wonderful job by sharing her life story. It will surely inspire many young girls and women to choose their own path and walk it with confidence. From my side, the book deserves 5 stars. 😊

An INCREDIBLE book that you must buy. An astonishing story of absolute grit, perseverance and bone-chilling sacrifice. Books like these establish the fact that leaders are made, not born. Highlights and Quotes: - "We are investing in your education to help you stand on your own two feet," he said. "The rest is up to you. Be your own person." (Alok: JUST the advice we've given to our daughters :) "Satan has work for idle hands." That never left me. Still, today I struggle not to be doing something useful all the time. - I had landed in the US with $500. I was at Yale. I searched high and low in that Wawa for curds, but I couldn't find them. I didn't know that curds in India are called yogurt in the US. - I developed my own research routines. For a company that made citrus processing machines, I crawled through juice plants in Brazil and Florida and learned the intricacies of squeezing oranges with different commercial machines. I hung out in a bar in Green Bay, Wisconsin, nursing a lemonade, to listen to competitors' factory workers talk about their troubles on their tissue lines, and then drew lessons for my clients. (Alok - Meaningful insights take tons of hard work to gather!) - In the single most valuable corporate benefit I received in my early career, the head of BCG's Chicago office, Carl Stern, called to tell me to take up to six months off—with pay—to help care for my father. (Alok - Amazing examples of EMPATHY from employers) -Nooyi is a small village near Mangalore, and my in-laws loved that I carried the name in my pursuits in the US and put their tiny town on the map. - I would sit up reading mail and reviewing documents until 1 or 2 a.m. I was almost never around for dinner. I didn't exercise. I barely slept. I left home for the airport at 4:30 a.m. on Mondays and lived in a Marriott hotel room until Thursday night. (Alok - lots of examples of EXTREME sacrifices :) - "Listen to me," my mother replied. "You may be the president or whatever of PepsiCo, but when you come home, you are a wife and a mother and a daughter. Nobody can take your place. "So you leave that crown in the garage." - Getting into the nitty-gritty of EVERYTHING - the fantastic story of the 1.5 Billion IT project she took apart herself. - When I was a little girl, my mother asked me to make speeches pretending I was India's prime minister. She also worried about finding me a husband - The most memorable comment came from a portfolio manager in Boston. "Who do you think you are?" he asked me. "Mother Teresa?" (when Indra presented the strategy of Pepsi to shift the plan to healthier foods that may have sacrificed earnings)

Currently rating just for how the product delivered . There is some red patches on the side of the pages as you can see from the photo. Other than that the book is in good condition.

Tearse and Precise. Very well written. The Book is really captivating. Though I am a working project, I read it in just 3 days.

An inspirational autobiography. The personal struggles that she goes through to climb the corporate ladder is worth knowing, for every ambitious youngster. She seems to feel for not having spent time with her daughters, during their childhood. The book provides several insight for every aspiring youngster wanting to go to USA.

We live in a world where Indra Nooyi has already carved an unbelievably multidimensional path towards success. This book is as inspiring as her interviews and imbibing even a fraction of her commitment could bring us enormous returns, in terms of success and fulfillment.

This book is so inspiring. Everyone should definitely give this a try.

I liked the thought process which triggers a lot of questions for our governments and entire ecosystem on building a sustainable world in future I just couldn’t relate at some points where too much of details about work was put up.It made the reading a bit slow paced for me Overall,a good read and good to know about life of an Indian women leader in detail

Once I started, I could not put down the book. It was extraordinary narration of Indra Nooyi’s upbringing, cultural nuances, multigenerational family support system and her phenomenal achievements despite biases, prejudices and stereotype associated with the male dominated US corporate world. But it also brings out the American dream very well. She generously credits many mentors and her supporters of different cultures and nationalities though out her career. There is hope that there are men who could see the potential of women. The hard work, passion, attention to details, strategic perspective, etc were brilliantly narrated by Indra Nooyi through out her career at Meetur Beardsell in Madras, J&J Bombay, Yale SOM program, BCG consultancy work, ABB, Motorola and later PepsiCo. Indra Nooyi explains the various assignments in detail, and you can’t but be impressed with her ability to ask the right questions and integrate diverse disciplines. Design thinking she narrates is very relevant and a lot to learn. But the most important impact will be on the diversity and gender equality she describes with the male bias, plans to address and many more. Indra Nooyi has done a huge service to open the minds of male corporate leaders to embrace diversity and the need to achieve work life balance for women with clear plans and suggestions. Hope this opens a lot more discussion to raise the standing of women in the corporate world. I could emotionally relate to her narration of Madras and the family culture as mine was identical. I saw the picture of her grand father’s house in Madras and my reponse was I remember seeing that house. It was just a stone throw away from where I lived. A must read for everyone.

She is my role model. Still on the reading process

Una mirada al interior de los nódulos que interconectan los sentimientos y las motivaciones de una profesional exitosa en la industria y esposa/madre tratando de balancear vidas

勇気づけられました。日本語訳版もあればいいな。

It makes regular woman believe that it is all possible