How a farm laborer became a millionaire
You are the creator of your own
destiny. How she describe her own. Struggling to earn even Rs 5 a day to
starting an IT company, Jyothi Reddy's story is full of inspiration.
Nothing can stop a human being
from becoming what he/she wants to achieve in life.
This has been proved by Mrs.
Jyothi Reddy with her spectacular travel from a field laborer to the CEO of an
organization in the US. This is the true story of Ms. Jyothi Reddy who now owns
a software company in the United States of America and who has a great vision
to change many lives of women in rural India.
Life history
She was born in 1970 and was
the second among her four siblings. Because of abject poverty at home, her
father admitted his two daughters into an orphanage saying that they were
motherless.
She lived in an orphanage for
five years from class five to class 10. Life there was tougher. Later she
attended a government school while at the orphanage she also took vocational
course while residing in the superintendent's house. Jyothi used to help her
superintendent with their household work.
Jyothi married at 16 to her
cousin, instead of working on to make her dreams come true. After having 2
children, the situation became even worse as she had to work in the fields for
a daily wage of Rs. 5 to take care of her children. These situations made her
even stronger to stand and fight for life.
With her husband and daughters
Then she got an opportunity in
the form of NYK (Nehru Yuva Kendra), a Central Government scheme which sought
to create awareness among the youth. She took the opportunity and became a NYK
Volunteer and later started teaching. But the money she was making was not
sufficient to run her family. She used to stitch petticoats at night to make
more money. She also learned typewriting. Apart from her bad financial
situation, she also had to fight with family and society to do what she wanted to
do.
She studied and obtained a BA
from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and studied for a postgraduate
degree from the Kakatiya University on weekends and obtained degree in 1997.
This made her get a special teacher job for a salary of Rs. 398 per month. She
used to travel for two hours to reach her school. She utilized this time to
sell sarees to her co-passengers which gave her some extra income. Her struggle
for life made her become conscious about the time and it showed her the ways to
utilize the time available creatively.
Her job was regularized and she
started making decent money. But she did not want to settle for anything, as
her passion to reach a higher level always was haunting her to find the next
best. A relative's visit from the US made her think about going to the land of
dreams, United States. She studied computer courses to get the eligibility to
work in the US.
American dreams
Though Jyothi fought her fate and reached the
land of opportunities, it was a rough ride. She went to US by leaving her two
daughters in a missionary hostel.
She found a PG accommodation
with a Gujarati family in New Jersey at $350 per month, worked hard in a gas
station, work as a baby sitter, load/unload goods and work at a video shop for
her survival. She then joined a company called CS America as a recruiter with
an aid of a close relative. Later she got another offer from a different
company, but it did not stay and she had to go back to babysitting and gas
station for survival. That was the beginning of her entrepreneurial dreams. She
wanted to start her own business and was looking for the suitable line of
business to start.
Entry into Entrepreneurial
World
When she visited Mexico for
stamping, she realized that she could start a consulting company as she was
familiar with the paperwork involved with the Visa Processing. With her savings
of $40000, she opened an office in Phoenix in 2011. She has been successfully
running her company KEYSS since then.
Her two daughters moved to US
and completed their education in the American schools.
Social Responsibility
Her practical experiences with
a struggling life made her think about doing her part in helping the people in
need. Whenever she visits India, she goes to old age homes, orphanages and
provides a helping hand to them. She also visits educational institutes to
inspire and empower the future generations.
Self Motives and Tireless
Effort
She has joined hands with many
NGOs like Prajadharana Welfare Society, MV Foundation and Child Rights Advocacy
Forum (CRAF) and formed a Pressure Group Force for Orphan Rights and Community
Empowerment (FORCE).
She is also working on her
vision which empowers the rural women with skills and makes them
self-sufficient.
This is how a girl from a
village created her own destiny and went to the top of the world and started
helping many.
Courtesy: jyothireddy.com
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