The Journey of Manisha Girotra: A successful entrepreneur

Read this article to read the laurels and tussles of life of Manisha Girotra.

46-year-old Manisha is post-graduated from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. Being a gold medallist from DSE, DU she thought she expected to take decisions revolving the world’s economic cycles but her first job was making stock (inventory) statements for companies. Her second job at Grindlays was just as disappointing as stock statements. She occasionally doubled up her income by working as the pizza delivery girl.

Hanging in there, she says, are the magic words. Having complex conversations around and with women about mergers, acquisitions, fundraising was always a discouraging experience for both parties.

She faced many ups and downs. She says “Clients would not shake my hands and gave me a namaste instead, asked me awkward questions about when I was getting married etc. I’d be like, ‘I’m not here to talk about that!’”

Manisha was married at 24 but the long hours were not alien to her husband, Sanjay Agarwal, who today leads the corporate finance business at Deutsche Bank, India. Once, she was posted to Mumbai for a while, while her husband’s job was in Delhi.

Manisha exclaimed, “No one really had any faith in the concept of long-distance marriage, but it would have meant passing up on a promotion – so, Sanjay urged me to go for it.” Manisha has thus stuck around for a year and more in Mumbai, and a few more years at Grindlays, which opened up the pathways for her stint at UBS Bank – again, in investment banking.

By the time she was 33, she had escalated up the ranks to become the CEO at UBS. She reached this level with her consistent efforts and hard work. This major event in her life coincided with another part of her life – she gave birth to her baby daughter, Tara. The maternity leave then was only three months but still, she managed to handle both her family and career. At the time, crèches were as unheard of as they were considered an unnecessary expenditure – but eventually, Manisha initiated the conversation and lead their construction at all the companies she came to work at.

After twenty years of dedicated service, she left her position at UBS to help her ex-boss set up Moelis, which is now a global independent investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors.

By the time she was 33, she had escalated up the ranks to become the CEO at UBS. She reached this level with her consistent efforts and hard work. This major event in her life coincided with another part of her life – she gave birth to her baby daughter, Tara. The maternity leave then was only three months but still, she managed to handle both her family and career. At the time, crèches were as unheard of as they were considered an unnecessary expenditure – but eventually, Manisha initiated the conversation and lead their construction at all the companies she came to work at.

After twenty years of dedicated service, she left her position at UBS to help her ex-boss set up Moelis, which is now a global independent investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors.