As part of the Entrepreneurial & Business Lessons-Candid Talk Series 5 focussing on women entrepreneurs, challenges, achievements, and learnings, we bring you in this series a standalone on the Executive Director at AMG Group Meenakshi Saxena. The talk was moderated by the President of the Indian Business Council and Managing Director at Symphony Capital Dr Suresh Nanda.
Director at AMG Solutions Meenakshi Saxena needs no introduction and has dabbled roles across various sectors from media to energy and finance across jurisdictions such as India, UAE, and Africa, including Mauritius in the field of compliance as one of the panelists, one of the first question put to her was describing her rich journey as an entrepreneur and what led her to take her first steps into the business of financial services and compliance.
She described her entrepreneurial journey as a transformative adventure. “As I embarked on a professional career in Mauritius it was around 2015 that the seed of AMG was planted by Mr Gupta (Amit) where I was made several offers to join the company. However, I refused on account of being content with my then-current position at that time.”
First steps in Finance, from advisory to compliance
The Compliance Director at AMG narrates: “I was persuaded to join the group since my presence was much needed and at that time, we were facing several challenges to help secure the right resource and it became intrinsic at a personal level to support my firm AMG in bringing my expertise.”
Saxena shared a titbit with the audience on her initial experience, she says, I found myself within a month after joining, questioning why I joined the company so late, and like they say it’s never too late. There are many areas where I can learn and contribute. I am happy about making the right decision at the right time. I say the Right Time since you can add value where you are valued by the group.
There are many challenges that Meenakshi Saxena faced on the path to becoming an entrepreneur where she says the main one was starting from scratch. “When I joined the AMG Group, it was mainly in a legal and tax advisory firm where in a previous stint with an offshore company taking services from the services provider whereas now I am the service provider. So, it was a complete flip for me and now I am on the other side of the fence with a different perspective. At the same time, I was confident that it wouldn’t take me much time to understand the nitty-gritty of the business with my dedication and hard work.
She continues in the same vein: “The bigger challenge came when we secured a Management Company licence since I never worked with a Management Company before while all my colleagues hail from reputed MCs.” The entrepreneur brings a twinge of humor, “There was this feeling of being a new animal in a zoo. I have now a dual responsibility which means I should know all the rules of business.”
“To be ahead of the curve and maintain pace in the competitive world, I read all the laws and legislations pertaining to Management Companies, from the whole FIAMLA guideline to the FSC handbook and FATF conditions. One thing led to the other when I was offered additional responsibility like BD, being my core strength and or operations constituting another strong pillar of legal and compliance where I chose the latter not because compliance is the future of finance globally. It owes to the fact that I wanted to safeguard my company since compliance is the integral department controlling the entire business of a management company.”
She pursues: “To get a deeper understanding and acquire the approval from regulators, I joined a part-time course one year and sat for the exams which I cleared with a grade A, which helped me secure all the necessary approvals from regulators. In short, it wasn’t a cakewalk for me and I am still learning each passing day!”
Key career milestone, AMG as fully flagged operational MC
As they say, it’s never an easy world for a woman or woman professional for that matter. The key milestone or accomplishment as Meenakshi Saxena harks back is that AMG Solutions has been able to create a niche in the market across the vistas of legal and international tax advisory. Thus, leading to securing an MC licence is considered huge. “I can proudly say that to the best of my knowledge, AMG with its India shareholding is the only fully flagged operational MC in Mauritius. Bagging the MC license in my current professional role could easily be considered as a key career milestone,” she says.
The need to strike a work-life balance, Meenakshi affirms that it’s a must to ace on both the personal and professional level, “Effective Time Management” is key for her. What’s a typical day like in the life of Meenakshi Saxena? She says: “I structure my day based on priorities, with some non-negotiable part attached to it, and balancing the responsibilities of being a mother is certainly challenging but becomes manageable with a clarity of mind.”
“I feel guilty sometimes for not being able to give enough time to my children but don’t let this guilt overshadow me or reflect in my behavior since work is an integral part of who I am and can’t imagine myself without it.”
She also credits her extremely supportive family, be it her kids who understand the time constraints of working parents that make them become more independent and responsible. However. It’s not that they are not demanding and it’s just that the demands are shifted to weekends while balancing the work, family, and social life may sound like a circus, again showing her humor, while saying that in reality, it’s just a day in the life of a modern parent where “we must make the balancing act and keep moving.”
Advice to Women: Move out of comfort Zone
A question from the panel on advice that she would give to other aspiring women entrepreneurs and professionals, Meenakshi Saxena says in those terms: “While this is not advice, I would like to emphasize that my experience has taught me that it’s neither an overnight venture nor rocket science, either. First thing is that you have to move out of your comfort zone because it’s a process that calls for dedication and patience. Believe in yourself is key. Fight your fear and keep the faith alive. Keep moving in the right direction and seek out support when you need it. Nothing can stop personal growth if you maintain your cool and positive attitude, stand your ground, be honest, maintain your integrity, foster relationships, value yourself and the people who are a part of your journey.”
In the end, Meenakshi Saxena shares ways and means to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs who are by nature more multitalented in comparison to their male counterparts.
“It’s a proven study that women are more efficient in multi-tasking and a great organizer in comparison to their counterparts. There is a need to fill in the gap. In Mauritius, we don’t get full-time help to take care of the household and look after the children back home. What the Government could do is help organize some fairs to showcase opportunities where they can excel. Support them financially to take risks of businesses and groom them.”
She postulates that in Mauritius, opportunity could lie in training across several sectors such as legal and compliance, aviation and HR consultancy; Agribusiness – Organic farming, eco / green product services; Textile – designing / manufacturing and also retail marketing; Food processing – restaurants / making unique food products; Policy change to strive for work-life balance-Work from home and flexible working hours for women, Paid family leaves for taking care of elderly people and children, No work after office hours where some introduced no lap top policies while only using a desktop at office and result oriented performance instead of a number of working hours.
