End of First Innings AND Beginning of the Second

“I am retiring from corporate life”. I never thought I would ever say this phrase. But here I am after almost 40 years of corporate work life I have decided to hang my gloves finally. It feels good to retire on a high. The last 8 years with Unilever have been absolutely amazing. It was a dream run made possible by a wonderful team and great leaders like @Alan Jope @KeithWeed @ConnyBraams @LeenaNair @NitinParanjpe @PaulPolman @SanjivMehta to name a few. I choked today when Alan and Nitin announced my retirement to the whole company. They made today a very special day for me. May 31 is my last day at Unilever L. I learned one big life lesson in the last 8 year – a corporation can be enormously successful AND at the same time have a heart, soul and a purpose.

Prior to Unilever my 18 years with Coca-Cola was very memorable. Coke gave me fantastic global experience. I got to work in 6 totally different geographies and learned from some of the best marketers and operators. Thank you @SandyAllan, @SanjayGuha @MaryMinnick @MarcMathieu @JavierSanchezLamelas. I learned a lot about what it takes to be competitive in life, learned that brand is much more than just a name on a package. Also learned the whole notion of having fun at work and thinking big.

Early in my professional career I was fortunate to work in relatively small, entrepreneurial insights agencies. Besides learning story telling skills these places also taught me what it takes for a David to win against Goliath. I will be forever grateful to @StuartCampbell-Morris and @PraneshMisra.

Now onto the next chapter in life – A chapter that will consist of “Portfolio Work”. A portfolio consisting of a few Board positions, some consulting/advisory work, mentoring start-ups in insights and analytics space and hopefully (Covid permitting) some travelling around the world with my wife and spending some quality time with my 16-month old granddaughter.

Thanks to everyone who enabled my success. I certainly enjoyed the ride and hope you all did too. One big takeaway – Nothing is more important in life than people and relationship you have with them. Nurture them and invest time in building sustaining relationships. World is small and round and I am sure our paths will cross sooner than later, and I am looking forward to that happening.