With a firm foothold as the Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospital Enterprises Limited, Sangita Reddy speaks to us on how she has many feathers in her cap. Although, she was born with a silver spoon, it wasn’t all hunky dory for the daughter of Dr Prathap C. Reddy. Sangita spills the beans on how she took the plunge at the age of 18 and worked her way up.
With many achievements to her credit, she has played a big role in strengthening the foundation of India’s first integrated corporate hospital chain. Speaking about the transition from college to Apollo, Sangita reveals, “The day I finished college, my dad said ‘I hope you’re coming to work tomorrow.’ I worked at the ward, food services, housekeeping and was even yelled at by the patients. One patient threw idli at me saying it was like a rubber ball. I was very young then, but when I saw happy patients going home, I knew I was doing something meaningful. So I went abroad and studied hospital administration.”
Sangita went to complete her post-graduate and executive courses in hospital administration from Rutgers, Harvard and the National Singapore University. She credits her teams for her work-life balance and says, “When you have a good team and a compelling reason to do what you do, you find the time. I’m passionate about healthcare and all the roles flow around that. Also a good support system at home is important; when my kids were younger, my mother-in-law was at home and I had a nanny who became a part of the family, which was a big help.”
We ask if her kids are being prepped to join the family enterprise and she replies with a smile, “My 24-year-old-son has finished engineering and is working on a device and a healthcare app, my second son, who is 18, is doing his under grad in business and my third one is in the class XI, studying science. He is the last hope to have a doctor in the family. I was given guidance by my dad and mom both and was told to make a difference and the financials will follow.”
About her relationship with her three sisters, she says, “My sisters are the best; we have a Whatsapp group which is very active, whether we are supporting or shouting at each other. In skill sets and personality, we are very complementary and we keep our personal and business lives separate.”
Recalling a recent sojourn, she reminisces, “Two years ago, we did a family cruise around Norway with all of us, dad, mom, my sisters, the husbands and the kids. I travel on work a lot and like to see how healthcare is practiced everywhere. My last trip to Fiji was for a tie-up with the National University of Fiji. I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the health and education minister and after the PM spoke, the VC said their first relationship with India was with Apollo Hospital.
I was in Abu Dhabi for the world economic forum. I’ve been to all the hospitals in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya and others. On my bucket list this year is Manasarovar, Machu Pichu, the flower festival in Brussels, the tea ceremony in Japan and to swim with the dolphins.”
