Pepsi Is $150 Billion Co Indra Nooyi CEO Interview

Summary

In this interview, Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, reflects on her journey from her childhood in India to leading a global company. She discusses her mother's influence, her rise in the corporate world, and the strategic acquisitions under her leadership, like Gatorade and Tropicana. Nooyi also addresses the challenges of balancing her role as a CEO with her personal life, her efforts to make PepsiCo's products healthier, and her views on leadership and the evolving role of women in business.

Takeaways

• 😀 The CEO of PepsiCo considers her role a dream come true and feels fortunate to lead such a large company.
• 💡 She values diverse ideas and feedback, as they can potentially lead to significant success for the company.
• 🌟 Her upbringing in India, with a mother who encouraged her to dream big and a father and grandfather who supported her education, greatly influenced her success.
• 🎓 After obtaining degrees in India, she pursued further education at the Yale School of Management, which was a pivotal step in her career.
• 🔍 Her first job after Yale was at the Boston Consulting Group, where she gained valuable strategic experience.
• 📈 PepsiCo acquired Gatorade and Quaker Oats under her leadership in strategy, which were key to expanding their product portfolio.
• 🍊 The acquisition of Tropicana was driven by the need for a beverage brand that served consumers in the morning.
• 👥 As CEO, she personally tests numerous products and is actively involved in new product development.
• 💌 She maintains a close relationship with her employees through various communication methods, including personal letters.
• 👩‍💼 Her role as a woman, immigrant, and CEO comes with unique challenges and opportunities, but she sees it as more of a positive than a negative.
• 🌍 The global financial crisis and technological disruption have made being a CEO more challenging, requiring a broader range of expertise.

Q & A

What did Indra Nooyi consider her role as CEO in relation to activist investors?

Indra Nooyi stated that her job as CEO was not to keep an activist happy but to ensure the company is performing very well.

How does Indra Nooyi describe her experience growing up in India and its impact on her career?

Indra Nooyi described her upbringing in India as a dream come true and something she had to pinch herself over, given her humble beginnings and the significant leap to becoming the CEO of PepsiCo.

What values did Indra Nooyi's mother instill in her during her childhood?

Indra Nooyi's mother instilled in her the values of dreaming big, being ambitious, and the importance of education, despite the conservative South Indian Brahmin values that emphasized marriage over higher education for women.

Why did Indra Nooyi choose to attend Yale School of Management?

Indra Nooyi chose Yale because of an inspiring article she read about the Yale School of Management's approach to education, which brought together different sectors.

What was Indra Nooyi's first job after graduating from Yale?

After graduating from Yale, Indra Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago, where she spent six and a half years.

How did PepsiCo come to acquire Gatorade and Quaker Oats?

PepsiCo acquired Gatorade and Quaker Oats as part of a strategic move to diversify their product portfolio with a 'good for you' brand and to gain access to an isotonic beverage for athletes.

What was the significance of PepsiCo's acquisition of Tropicana?

The acquisition of Tropicana was significant for PepsiCo as it filled a gap in their beverage portfolio for a product that served consumers in the early morning hours.

How does Indra Nooyi approach receiving feedback and ideas from others?

Indra Nooyi listens to everyone's ideas and feedback, as she believes that even a small idea can translate into big success for the company.

What is Indra Nooyi's personal practice when visiting someone's home?

Indra Nooyi makes it a point to check the kitchen cupboards within the first half hour of visiting someone's home to see what PepsiCo products they have.

How does Indra Nooyi view the challenge of being a CEO in the current global environment?

Indra Nooyi sees the role of a CEO today as more challenging due to factors like the financial crisis, geopolitical upheavals, and technological disruption, which require CEOs to be experts in multiple areas.

What did Indra Nooyi do to show appreciation to the parents of her executives?

Indra Nooyi writes personal letters to the parents of her executives to thank them for the 'gift' of their children to PepsiCo, sharing their child's contributions to the company.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 CEO's Dream Realized

The CEO of PepsiCo expresses her astonishment and gratitude for her position, comparing it to a dream come true. She discusses the value of advice and ideas, emphasizing their potential to drive significant success within the company. The narrative also covers her upbringing in India, her family's aspirations for her, and the contrast between her mother's ambitions and the traditional expectations of marriage at 18. Additionally, she shares her educational journey, from her early life in India to obtaining a degree from the Yale School of Management, influenced by a Time magazine article. Her parents' surprising support for her decision to study in the U.S. is highlighted, as well as her initial career steps post-Yale at the Boston Consulting Group.

05:01

📈 Strategic Acquisitions and Product Innovation

The paragraph delves into the CEO's strategic role at PepsiCo, focusing on key acquisitions such as Gatorade and Quaker Oats, which were pivotal in expanding the company's product portfolio, particularly in the health and sports drink categories. It also touches on the acquisition of Tropicana, aimed at capturing the morning beverage market. The CEO's approach to innovation and product testing is discussed, including her personal involvement in tasting and evaluating new products. Furthermore, she addresses the challenge of receiving advice and feedback from various sources and the importance of considering all ideas for potential business opportunities.

10:11

💪 Leadership and Navigating Challenges

This section highlights the increasing challenges faced by CEOs, particularly in the last decade, due to financial crises, geopolitical changes, and technological disruptions. The CEO discusses the need for leaders to be versatile, engaging with diverse stakeholders from world leaders to frontline employees. The encounter with an activist investor is mentioned, emphasizing the CEO's focus on long-term company performance rather than short-term activist demands. The board's support in maintaining the company's strategic direction is also noted.

15:11

🍽️ Balancing Health and Taste in Food and Beverages

The CEO addresses the criticism surrounding the health implications of PepsiCo's products, outlining the company's efforts to introduce healthier options with reduced sugar levels. The gradual reformulation of Pepsi to lower sugar content is discussed, aiming to acclimate consumers to healthier choices. The narrative also defends the salt content in snack products like Lay's, comparing it favorably to common foods like bread. The CEO's personal engagement with the products and her visits to people's homes to check for PepsiCo products is shared, reflecting her dedication to the brand.

20:12

💌 Personal Touch in Corporate Leadership

The paragraph focuses on the CEO's personal approach to leadership, including her communication with employees through various channels and her efforts to maintain a personal connection. She discusses writing letters to employees' parents as a way of acknowledging their contributions and the impact of her upbringing on her leadership style. The CEO also shares her views on the possibility of 'having it all,' reflecting on the sacrifices and trade-offs she has made in her journey to the top.

25:17

🌐 Cultural Impact and Global Perspectives

In this part, the CEO reflects on her immigrant background and its influence on her career, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of being a female immigrant leader. She discusses the importance of role modeling, especially for women and minorities, and the pressure to succeed to avoid regression. The CEO also shares anecdotes about her family's reaction to her success and the cultural differences she has navigated in her professional life.

📚 Early Influences and Career Aspirations

The final paragraph returns to the CEO's early life, discussing the influence of her mother's aspirations and the cultural expectations placed upon her. It also revisits the CEO's career trajectory, from her initial roles to her current position, and her continuous receipt of advice and its impact on the company's success. The narrative encapsulates her journey and the driving forces behind her achievements.

Keywords

💡CEO

CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer, the highest-ranking executive in an organization. In the context of the video, it is central as the interviewee is the CEO of PepsiCo, a large multinational corporation. The role involves making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations.

💡Dream come true

The phrase 'dream come true' is used to describe a situation where something very desirable that was previously only imagined or hoped for has actually happened. In the script, the interviewee uses this phrase to express her astonishment and joy at becoming the CEO of PepsiCo, a position she never imagined achieving when she was young.

💡Activist

In the context of the video, 'activist' refers to an individual or group that seeks to influence a company's decisions by purchasing shares and advocating for changes they believe will increase the company's value. The interviewee discusses how her job is not to appease activists but to ensure the company performs well over the long term.

💡Strategy

Strategy in a business context refers to the planning and actions a company takes to achieve its goals and objectives. The interviewee mentions her role in corporate strategy at PepsiCo, which includes acquisitions like Gatorade and Quaker Oats, demonstrating strategic moves to diversify the company's product portfolio.

💡Leadership

Leadership is the act of leading a group of people or an organization. It involves setting the vision, direction, and goals for the group and motivating others to achieve them. The interviewee reflects on her definition of leadership and how she inspires and guides her team at PepsiCo.

💡Incredible

The term 'incredible' is used to describe something that is difficult to believe because it is so surprising or impressive. The interviewee uses this word to describe her journey from humble beginnings in India to leading a major American company, which she finds almost unbelievable.

💡Trade-offs

Trade-offs refer to the process of balancing competing demands or choosing between multiple options, often involving sacrifice. The interviewee discusses the trade-offs she has made to achieve her professional success, including personal sacrifices and the need to balance work and family life.

💡Role model

A role model is a person whose behavior, achievements, or values are admired and taken as a model to follow. The interviewee acknowledges her position as a role model for women, immigrants, and others, and the responsibility that comes with it to set a positive example.

💡Support system

A support system consists of the people and resources that provide assistance and encouragement. The interviewee mentions the importance of having a support system, such as a spouse or family, to help manage the challenges of being a CEO and maintaining a work-life balance.

💡Collateral damage

Collateral damage generally refers to unintended harm caused by an action. In the context of the video, it metaphorically describes the negative consequences or sacrifices made in the pursuit of success, such as the strain on personal relationships or health.

💡PepsiCo

PepsiCo is a multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation. The interviewee is the CEO of PepsiCo, and the script revolves around her experiences, leadership, and the company's strategies, products, and operations.

Highlights

Dream of becoming CEO of a large company like Pepsi

Receiving advice and its impact on business decisions

Activist involvement and the CEO's responsibility

Importance of product visibility in consumer's homes

Defining leadership and its influence on success

Unexpected support from family in pursuing higher education

Influence of mother's aspirations and traditional values

Father and grandfather's encouragement to dream big

The decision to study at Yale School of Management

Experience at Boston Consulting Group shaping strategic thinking

Joining PepsiCo and the role of headhunters

Strategic acquisition of Gatorade and Quaker Oats

Importance of Tropicana in PepsiCo's product portfolio

Value of customer feedback and idea generation

PepsiCo's approach to testing new products

The significance of snack products in PepsiCo's brand

Challenges of being a CEO in a changing global environment

Activist suggestions and the CEO's response

Evolution of Pepsi Cola and adapting to health trends

Making snack products healthier and reducing salt content

Balancing work and personal life as a CEO

Role model as a woman and immigrant CEO

Overcoming difficulties as a woman and immigrant

Being a CEO for over 10 years and the stock performance

The importance of family and upbringing

Writing letters to parents of executives

Transcripts

[Music]

did you think you were gonna grow up to

be the CEO of a large company like Pepsi

this is like a dream come true

I pinch myself every day to say this is

really happening to me

do you get advice from people all the

time and do you ever listen to it you

never know if a nugget of an idea can

actually translate for big success in

the company not long ago an activist

showed up my job is not to keep an

activist happy my job is to make sure

this company is performing very very

well I suppose somebody has a product

from our company that's based in Atlanta

and you see them in their refrigerator

what do you do I let it be known that

I'm very unhappy would you fix your time

please well people wouldn't recognize me

if my tie was fixed but okay just leave

it this way all right I don't consider

myself a journalist and nobody else

would consider myself a journalist I

began to take on the life of being an

interviewer even though I have a day job

running a private equity firm how do you

define leadership

what is it that makes somebody tick you

have been the CEO of PepsiCo for more

than 10 years did you think when you

were a young girl in India that you were

going to grow up to be the CEO of a

large company like Pepsi well I tell you

something this is like a dream come true

I pinch myself every day to say is this

really happening to me because if you

trace my roots and go back to where I

was born and brought up and to where I

am today those two points will never

connect and now to be here in the United

States running such a large company it's

almost an incredulous thing that's

happened to me so let's go back to India

for a moment so you grew up in a very

close family

and when you were very young your mother

would at the kitchen table say well why

don't you pretend you're Prime Minister

of India or something what was the drill

that she was if it to you I think she

was a bit she is a very bright woman and

she didn't go to college because her

parents didn't think girls should go to

colleges and they couldn't afford to

send her to college so in a way she

lived vicariously through the daughters

so she kept pushing us to be whatever we

wanted to be dream big but she'd always

tell us but at 18 I'm getting you

married off but you can dream big until

then so at dinner table virtually every

day she'd sit down and have this

conversation about give me a speech as

if you were the president one day to be

Prime Minister one day we'll be chief

minister and she'd always pratik us she

never give us a compliment she just tell

us or no Chief Minister will do this no

Prime Minister will do this so she kept

pushing us to be better and better and

better and if we got one compliment from

her we said wow we must have done really

well so she really raised the bar

constantly on us and I think she gave us

hopes but then anchored us firmly into

the conservative South Indian Brahmin

values of you gotta get married at 18

which didn't happen I want to tell you

but that's what she kept telling us so

if you don't get married at 18 it's a

disgrace at that you know that's the way

she positioned it for us but I think the

other side was my father and my

grandfather said do whatever you want

dream do whatever you want but just get

a good set of grades in school so that

your mother can get you married off so

that was my upbringing

so we had these checks and balances at

home so you did get some degrees in

India and then you decided to get a

degree from the Yale School of

Management when you said to your parents

I'm gonna go to Yale which is in

Connecticut in the United States what

did they say this is perhaps the biggest

mystery of them all because my

conservative mother and my you know

supportive father actually allowed me to

come to the United States shock the hell

out of me because I would have thought

my mother would have fasted for days and

thrown a temper tantrum

absolutely not she actually came to the

airport and saw me off they even bought

me an airline ticket which even today I

wonder how they did it what caused him

to do it but they both are very

supportive they had enough people around

here to sort of look up on me and make

sure I had a support system but they

encouraged me to go and live out my

dream how did you pick Yale you know

it's interesting there was an article in

Time magazine or something like that

which sort of talked about the Yale

School of Management the Masters in

public and private management how they

were bringing together the different

sectors and it was a beautiful article

and I read about it at the u.s. IIST

library in the consulate office in

Madras where I was growing up I was so

intrigued by the approach to education

from Yale som that I decided to apply to

Yale alright so when you graduated you

then began to go into various strategy

kinds of positions where were you

initially I left Yale and went to the

Boston Consulting Group in Chicago right

and spent six and a half years there and

perhaps one of my most formative

experiences because being a strategy

consulting especially in BCG at that

time which was sort of the father of

strategy allowed me to see problems of

companies in a holistic way it wasn't

just marketing or just operations or

supply chain or whatever I saw every

aspect of the company and sort of gave

me ten years of experience in six years

and I became a better person because of

that how did PepsiCo hear of you a

headhunter called me one day and said

the PepsiCo would like to talk to you

and I came in and talked to PepsiCo and

his history

they gave you the job of being charged a

strategy it's a corporate strategy okay

so you did make some acquisitions that

under your

leadership as the head of strategy one

of them was Gatorade and were Quaker

Oats which came with Gatorade it was

that a good acquisition for you and were

you happy to do it it was one of the

most brilliant acquisitions that we did

as a company because it gave us Gatorade

which was an amazing isotonic beverage

probably the best isotonic beverage in

the world today for athletes isotonic

means sports drinks sports drinks and so

it gave us access to Gatorade and we

could do all kinds of things with

Gatorade we didn't have a good product

in our portfolio and that was good but

the bigger attraction was the Quaker

Oats brand in PepsiCo we had no food

brand that was good for you and we

needed a good for you brand in our

portfolio and when we looked at the

world the best good for your brand even

today is Quaker Oats and we wanted that

brand badly so what was interesting is

we wanted Quaker Oats

and Gatorade other beverage companies

only wanted Gatorade and didn't know

what to do with Creek roads because we

had both businesses for us the Quaker

Oats Company which included Quaker and

Gatorade was an absolutely logical

acquisition so when I was a young person

I played sports and in those days it was

such a long time ago that the

conventional wisdom was you were not

supposed to drink anything during

halftime because you would get a cramp

and so you were just supposed to sweat

and the idea of hydrating hadn't come

along so one time we played a team in

Australia in La Crosse and they had a

different idea that to drink beer during

halftime and actually work they did much

better so we actually went to that

approach but because you should actually

hydrate when you play to avoid the

cramps but that's how Gatorade was

created that's right but at that time or

before Gatorade people didn't really

know that as much what about Tropicana

that was one of your ideas as well how

did that come about 1997 we bought

Tropicana because we had no brand no

beverage brand that was serving

consumers before 10:00 a.m. in the

morning the first time somebody reached

for a PepsiCo beverage was at 10:00 a.m.

which was either a Pepsi or a Hmong do

so the first early hours of the morning

we had no product and so Tropicana for

us was always on the radar as a brand

that we needed in our portfolio for

a breakfast beverage so when Tropicana

came up for sale we grabbed it so I

assume everybody comes up to you and

says well make Pepsi taste differently

or make the frito-lay chip different you

get advice from people all the time and

do you ever listen to it they give me

ideas on products how are existing

products taste and what new products we

ought to be developing they give me

ideas and feedback on our commercials

they give me ideas for commercials

packaging I get ideas for everything the

most important thing is to keep both

yours open because you never know if a

nugget of an idea can actually translate

to a big success in the company so one

of the things I've learned is not to

dismiss the ideas I catalog all the

ideas I get then I send it out to my

people saying hey I listen to this group

of people talk about our products and

this is what I heard is there something

here should be do be doing something

about it

so I listen to everybody you do all the

testing or some of the testing yourself

one of the greatest things about my job

is I can actually taste and test

products when they're in the early

stages so just to give you an idea

during our annual planning cycles I must

taste somewhere between 50 to 100

products over three days whether snacks

or beverages or Quaker products or

Tropicana products everything that

they're thinking of launching over the

next three years of five years they'll

show me prototypes and you know I can

give an opinion not that my opinion is

the only thing that counts but I can

give an opinion there's something else I

do David which might sound a bit corny

but I'm going to tell it to you any time

I visit anybody's home within the first

half hour I make it a point to find my

way into the kitchen and I'm opening

cupboards to see what products they have

because to me it's very important that

if I visit somebody in their homes any

anybody who invites me could be a friend

anybody they've got to have Pepsi

products I suppose somebody has a

product from a company that's based in

Atlanta and you see them in in their

refrigerator what do you do I let it be

known that I'm very unhappy okay so if

you invite me you know what to do

I will change everything I don't have

the other products anyway but don't

worry I would have your products thank

you appreciate it

what about snack products and how are

you trying to make those healthier a

single celled bag of fleas has less salt

than a slice of bread so you should eat

your bag of Lay's with a smile on your

face that's right even with a smile like

that I wonder whether I gain some weight

but

do you exercise you play not whatever

they've been CEO as I mentioned for more

than ten years which most CEOs of

Fortune 500 companies are probably four

five years or so so you've obviously

done very well the stock is up

I think 67 percent since you've been the

CEO it's harder to be a CEO now than it

was 10 years ago I think when you look

at the world in the last decade the

financial crisis in fact changed the

world

enormous Lee because you've had since

then really the world has not recovered

from the financial crisis you've had

geopolitical upheavals all over the

world on top of that technology

disruption is absolutely rewriting the

rules of most companies what kind of

jobs are you gonna keep in the company

how are you gonna digitize your value

chain how is ecommerce going to impact

your business there's some technology

that's impacting every part of the

company so in this last seven years in

particular it's been a real challenge to

run a large company because you've got

to be a foreign policy expert you've got

to be a technology person you've got to

be able to talk to the front line you've

got to be able to talk to world leaders

CEOs have had to do a lot just to be

able to manage their companies and keep

them going in this incredibly troubled

global environment so it's been a

challenge not long ago an activist

showed up and the activists said well

maybe you should spin off your free

delay for your lay business your snack

business what was your response and how

did you happen to keep the activists

pretty happy my job is not to keep an

activists happy my job is to make sure

this company is managed for the next

generation and is performing very very

well and if the activist is happy in the

process so be it let me just say

something David I am an internal

activist I own 33 times my salary in

PepsiCo stock my entire net worth is in

this company so if an activist or

anybody in the outside had a great idea

on how to improve shareholder value that

sustains I listen to them so I listen to

the activists I had my own personal

convictions and I have a super Board of

Directors so I shared with them the

strategy of the company which I you know

I'm very transparent with them Oba

and I told them where we're headed and

where the activists wanted us to go and

it was very clear to the board as it was

clear to me that that was more of a

short-term strategy and what we were

embarked on is really the long-term

strategy the board backed me the courage

of our convictions prevailed and we are

you know exactly where we were before

the activists came in and performing

very well so one of the main things that

you sell is Pepsi Cola

mm-hm and there's another company Coca

Cola and if you have a blindfold test

can you tell the difference yeah

absolutely

have you tried the two beverages well

I'm told that years ago when they were

blindfold tests more people liked Pepsi

Cola and therefore Coca Cola tried to

reformulate its formula and it didn't

quite work out the secret formula for

Coca Cola's had to be in some vault

somewhere the Pepsi Cola so we have a

formula in the vault too but I tell you

having you know I'm a chemist by

undergraduate degree and so I'm always

testing competitors products the Pepsi

Cola product was which was invented by

some chemist way way way back is one of

the most complex refined amazing

formulae let's say it is very good but

most people would say that Pepsi Cola

and maybe Coca Cola are not that healthy

for you so you must have heard that

argument before and how does Pepsi Co

under your leadership try to make

products like Pepsi Cola healthier what

is your plan to do that products like

Pepsi Cola we invented many many many

years ago in society was completely

different there was more under nutrition

than there was over nutrition and at

that time people felt that drinking

products with that much sugar was all

right Society has changed and it

behooves us to change with Society so

what are we doing overall we are

launching more products with zero or

very low sugar we're taking Pepsi itself

and reformulating it for lower and lower

sugar levels and so the idea is to train

the consumer to start accepting

carbonated soft drinks with lower sugar

levels now the challenges overnight your

country in the consumer to do that

you've got to step them down piece by

piece so that when we get to a level

which is you know like 50 or 60 calories

per 8 ounce or 70 calories per 12 months

they're comfortable with the product so

that's the journey we're on what about

snack products I mean they've been

criticized or having a lot of salt how

are you trying to make those healthier

so let me just give you a good piece of

news a single-serve bag of Lay's has

less salt than a slice of bread really

yes because its surface salt for bread

you need it as a leavening agent in soup

you need it as a preservative with

potato chips as a surface salt so it's

it's actually three ingredients in a bag

of Lay's a little bit of salt potatoes

and heart healthy oils so you should eat

your bag of Lay's with a smile on your

face that's my first mother smile my

face but I wonder whether I gained some

weight but I gained weight do you

exercise you play not whatever I think

you should be fine suppose somebody says

I don't care about being healthy I just

want to have a great time I want to eat

a great snack what is your snack that's

gonna make me the happiest Oh free toes

redose Fritos oh my god you'd feel like

you died and went to heaven

I have tried that and yes they are

pretty good huh people are really the

heart of PepsiCo

now you have over 200,000 employees so

how can you possibly relate to them do

you do it through emails or how do you

keep your employees informed about

everything they have so many employees

so we do videos we do emails we do town

halls and forums every quarter every

time I travel you know we meet with

employees and I do town halls in that

town or country that I go to

occasionally I'll write very personal

letters to the employee base as a whole

for example my kids were going to

college I wrote a person letter to

everybody saying I'm going through

tremendous separation angst or if I felt

our employees were not calling their

parents often enough I'd write a letter

about why it's important they call their

parents so whatever is on my mind on a

personal basis I want them to know me as

a person rather than just an executive

so I'm very accessible to them and I

talk to everybody from the front line to

my senior executives a number of years

ago you spoke at the Economic Club of

Washington and you made a speech that I

thought have really captured a lot of

people's attention and one of the things

you said was that you write letters

to your senior officers mothers to kind

of give them a report card on how their

children are doing do you still do that

and what was the theory behind that so I

have to take you back a few years when I

first became CEO I went back to India to

visit my mother who was in India at that

time my father had passed away and my

mother was there and I stayed at the

hotel because you know the home was a

little bit more rugged and I wanted the

comforts so she told me I had to dress

up and show up at home at 7:00 a.m. in

the morning and I wondered why but you

know and mom gives you instructions you

just follow it when I got home and I sat

in the living room stream of visitors

and random people started to show up

they'd say hello to me and then go to my

mom and say you did such a good job with

your daughter

you know compliments to you she's CEO

but not a word to me and when I watched

this interplay going on I realized that

I was a product of my upbringing and my

parents if my father had been around

today they should get the credit because

it's what they did for me and to me that

allowed me to be who I was that day and

occurred to me that I never thanked the

parents of my executives for the gift of

their child to PepsiCo so I came back

and I started to write to my direct

reports and you know other senior

executives narrating the story my

cultural background what happened when I

went to India and then I wrote a

personal paragraph and what their child

was doing at PepsiCo and said he'd thank

you for the gift of your child to our

company and it opened the floodgate of

emotions parents just started to

communicate directly with me and it's

been an amazing experience because I now

write to about 400 executives so you

read a letter their parents what are the

executives say they say don't do that or

they say I'm glad you told my mother how

well I'm doing or my father

so our executives actually get very

emotional about it because their parents

have never received such a letter

and their parents are now getting a

letter which is always a positive report

card right I mean I'm not going to write

anything else so their parents are so

delighted about receiving this letter

they tell their neighbors and the uncles

and their aunts and then the executive

says my god this is the best thing that

happened to my parents and the best

thing that happened to me

could have feels proud so have you ever

written letters to the interviewers

you've ever had of their mothers no not

yet

yeah okay you think a woman today has it

easier than when you became CEO so I'm

always afraid that if I fail I may have

to go back to something that I don't

want to go back to and so that fear

always motivates me and I Drive myself

be better and better and better at my

job every day

some people who might be watching this

or a burglar story would say this person

has it all she's a woman who's become

the CEO of a great company she has a

husband she's married to for more than

30 years to happy and healthy daughters

who are gainfully employed is it

possible for anybody certainly a woman

in our society to have it all and do you

think oh you have had it all well on a

relative basis yes I've had it all okay

on a relative basis I'm very fortunate

to have a wonderful husband two great

kids a very tight-knit family an awesome

job with a great team but you know to

get here and to stay here I mean lots of

trade offs lots of sacrifices you know

under the water a lot of collateral

damage but I think somehow I've had the

strength to power through all of that

can you have it all that's the big

question in this definition I think if

you have the right support system if you

have an understanding spouse if you want

to be married and if you're willing to

make all the trade-offs that you need to

make you can't have it all but while you

do all that there will be heartache

there will be pain there would be some

collateral damage underneath the surface

gotta live with it when you became the

president of Pepsi you came home one day

and your mother was there and she asked

you to get some milk and well maybe you

could tell the story better than I could

well you know this way back in 2000 and

I was just informed but 9:30 in the

night from a phone call that I was gonna

be president of the company and so I

went home because I was working on the

Quaker Oats deal to tell my family that

I was going to be president of PepsiCo

and I walked in the house and mom opens

the door she was living with me at that

time and I said mom I got news for you

and she said well before your news go

get some milk I said it's ten o'clock in

the night why should I get milk and I

notice that my husband's car was in the

garage I said why didn't you tell him to

get the milk she said well he came at

8:00 he was very tired so I let him be

now you go get the milk and you know you

never question your mom so when got the

mail came back sort of banged it on the

countertop and I said I had big news for

you I've just been appointed president

of PepsiCo and all that you care about

is the milk

I just looked at me and she said what

are you talking about she said when you

walk in that door just leave that crown

in the garage because you are the wife

the daughter the daughter-in-law and the

mother of the kids and that's all I want

to talk about anything else just leave

it in the garage so don't even try this

with me anymore

so I think the mom you don't try

anything but she must be very proud that

you're the CEO I think she is but she

keeps me very grounded David what is

more difficult being a woman being a CEO

or being an immigrant being a CEO or

being a combination what do you think

has caused you more difficulty and what

did you have to work overcome work I

don't know if it's difficulty I think

being a woman an immigrant has had its

positives and its negatives it's had its

positives because you sort of people

take notice of you because you're so

different you walk in the room people go

she's a different sort of a person

female immigrant tall you know all of

these work together it's been difficult

because they go how will she know how to

run this great American company so I

think it's been both a positive and

negative but I say on balance more of a

positive than a negative you think a

woman today has it easier than when you

became CEO or do you still feel that you

still have to work harder to be a woman

CEO then let's say a man who is a CEO of

equivalent size company I think easier

today only because there's a few more of

us in positions of power but I think

from a personal perspective it's got

nothing to do with women or being in

this position I have the immigrant fear

so I'm always afraid that if I fail I

may have to go back to something that I

don't want to go back to and so that

fear always motivates me and I Drive

myself be better and better and better

at my job every day so you're a role

model obviously for many women do you

see yourself as a role model and

particularly from women from in the air

from outside the United States I don't

have a choice but to be a role model and

I feel a privilege to be the role model

whether it's for women for minorities

for Indian women for sure everybody

looks up to me and you know wants to

learn from me and get my advice I you

know I can't you know give them all

enough time that's the thing that makes

me feel very bad because I get letters

every day asking

for advice or whether I'd be a mentor to

people I can't do it all so I try to do

my best by speaking in public forums and

trying to disseminate information on a

large scale but I think because there

are so few of us we have to play the

role of being the role model and we have

to make sure we do a good job because we

have to set the standard for others who

might follow in our footsteps so one

time I think I read when your husband

was saying well injury you're spending

all your time on Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi and

what about me and what was the your

response well you always done even today

he'll tell me that your Lister's PepsiCo

PepsiCo PepsiCo then the kids then your

mom and somewhere in the bottom I sit

there and I keep telling him you're on

the list just be happy you're on the

list but you know he knows that I love

him dearly he knows that he is my rock

that you know I just he's my life but

you know he likes to be higher up on the

list who wouldn't recognize me if my tie

was fixed but just think this way all

right

I don't consider myself a journalist and

nobody else would consider myself a

journalist I began to take on the life

of being an interviewer even though I

have a day job running a private equity

firm how do you define leadership what

is it that makes somebody tick you have

been the CEO of this no prime minister

will do this so she kept pushing us to

be better and better and better and if

we got one compliment from her we said

wow we must have done really well so she

really raised the bar constantly on us

and I think she gave us hopes but then

anchored us firmly into the conservative

South Indian Brahmin values of you gotta

get married at 18 which didn't happen I

want to tell you but that's what she

kept telling us so if you don't get

married at 18 it's a disgrace at that

time you know that's the way she

positioned it for us but I think the

other side was my father and my

grandfather said do whatever you want

dream do whatever did you think you were

gonna grow up to be the CEO of a large

company like Pepsi this is like a dream

come true I pinch myself every day to

say this is really happening to me do

you get advice from people all the time

and do you ever listen to it you never

know if a nugget of an idea can actually

translate to a big success in the

company not long ago an activist showed

up my job is not to keep an activist

happy my job is to make sure this

company is performing very very well I

suppose somebody has a product from a

company that's based in Atlanta and you

see them in their refrigerator what do

you do I let it be known that I'm very

unhappy would you fix your time please

well PPAP Chico for more than 10 years

did you think when you were a young girl

in India that you were gonna grow up to

be the CEO of a large company like Pepsi

well I tell you something this is like a

dream come true I pinch myself every day

to say is this really happening to me

because if you trace my roots and go

back to where I was born and brought up

and to where I am today those two points

will never connect and now to be here in

the United States running such a large

company it's almost an incredulous

that's happened to me so let's go back

to India for a moment so you grew up in

a very close family and when you were

very young

your mother would at the kitchen table

say well why don't you pretend you're

Prime Minister of India or something

what was the drill that she was exhibit

to you I think she was a bit she is a

very bright woman and she didn't go to

college because her parents didn't think

girl should go to colleges and they

couldn't afford to send her to college

so in a way she lived vicariously

through the daughters so she kept

pushing us to be whatever we wanted to

be dream big but she'll always tell us

but at 18 I'm getting you married off

but you can dream big until then so a

dinner table virtually every day she'd

sit down and have this conversation

about give me a speech as if he were the

president one it'll be Prime Minister

one there'll be Chief Minister and she'd

always pratik us she never give us a

compliment she just tell it or no Chief

Minister will