“With over 19 years of experience, and having spent over 18 years in the Learning & Development sector, I have come to realize one thing, the need is great; the responsibility, greater; the journey, arduous.”
I am Sonia Das, born in Berhampur (now Brahmapur), Orissa (now Odisha), and raised all around India. Being one of two daughters of doctors in the Army wasn’t easy, as we kept moving from one place to another every three years – change of people, culture, and place. This constant change taught me the biggest lessons of life very early on, one of them being, “Change is the biggest constant of life.” And even though it was a compulsion back then, I value the skills of acceptance, flexibility, and empathy that I picked up in those formative years. These created the foundation for what was to become my career.
Honestly, I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do. I spoke decently well, and thanks to my upbringing, I could pass off as smart & confident. As was the case for most people who graduated in the early 2000s, I also joined the bandwagon of trying my luck in the world of corporate, in the customer service division. The moment I saw my facilitator and attended my first session of culture and communication training, I knew what I wanted to be. And there, without much thought, it came to me: My Career!
15 years thereon in the corporates, 14 years of which completely in the L&D space, I was privileged and honored to learn from some of the best in the industry, receive opportunities gargantuan in nature, and emerge on top of class. I’ve worked in the Top 2 Fortune 500 companies (among others), and in one of them, I spent more than 8 years helping set-up the communication wing of the then to-be-launched customer service for the biggest e-retailer in the world. I was also the training manager for the money division of the same company, managing 5 countries and ~10000 employees.
And just when I thought, “This is it!”, life had another think coming. For reasons my own and too personal for this forum, I quit my high-flying career, disposed of everything called assets, packed my bags and returned home (Odisha). Here, I wrote a book of poems (Wandering Mind, Wondering Words), studied some more and got certified professionally, started professional coaching & counselling services of my own, and went back to my career, again; this time however, as a Freelancer.
When I stepped into this world, I realized that this path wasn’t easy at all. While there’s a lot of work, I realized a few things very quickly – the quality of training is atrocious (mostly), the pay is peanuts (our own doing), and the unnecessary but desperate need to create monopolies. Who’s the victim in all of this? Unfortunately, the participant.
I’d love to further deliberate, and discuss the above issues to create & have a level platform for everyone in the Learning & Development space as a Freelancer, as I genuinely think that the world is based on a simple mantra – “The more you give, is the more you get, because there’s enough for everyone.”
Looking forward,
Sonia Das
LinkedIn – @soniadas220183
Instagram – @soniadiaries
WhatsApp – +918249500710