Gursimran Mann, MD, Simbhaoli Sugars shares the many firsts in her life

My first role model
My father. As a child, watching him walk the talk in difficult situations helped build my character. He combined leadership with humility and a modern outlook

My first job As a trading manager with Simbhaoli Sugars
My first boss At Nestle, where I interned. He was so calm, thorough and data-driven. I try to apply my learnings from him in my own professional life

My first promotion
As General Manager, Marketing and Business Development, Simbhaoli Sugars, at age 24. It was exciting to grow the companys Trust' retail brand and engage in various business development roles

My first disappointment
Sugar is a heavily regulated sector. An early disappointment, probably, was realising the amount of red tape involved. I am happy that we are moving to a more decontrolled environment now

As told to Ajay Modi
Photo by Vivan Mehra