The entire world was lauding Indian talents after IIT-Bombay Alumnus Parag Agrawal became the CEO of Twitter a couple of weeks back. It was a proud moment to see an Indian take over the tech giant, following the path of Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella.
A new addition to the list of Indians on their way to global domination is Leena Nair – who is to become the French luxury brand Chanel’s new CEO. According to NDTV, after working for Unilever for the past 30 years, Nair has left her role as Chief Human Resources Officer to become Chanel’s Global CEO.
View this post on Instagram
Here’s a little bit about Leena Nair. Born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, she is a gold-medalist from XLRI Jamshedpur and had joined HUL, Unilever’s Indian subsidiary in 1992. She was also named Fortune’s one of the most powerful women in the world in 2021, reports News18.
The 52-year-old woman was the “first female, first Asian, youngest ever” Chief Human Resources of Unilever, according to Money Control. In the early days of her career, she surprisingly opted for more “factory roles” and was appointed as the factory personnel manager of Lipton (India) Ltd in 1993. She worked at different factories of HUL in West Bengal’s Kolkata, Tamil Nadu’s Ambattur and Maharashtra’s Taloja.
View this post on Instagram
In 1996, she became the Employee Relations Manager at HUL, in 2002 the HR Manager, and slowly she climbed the corporate ladder over the years to become what she is today.
According to Chanel’s statement, Nair has a “global reputation for progressive and human-centred leadership, delivering significant business impact” and is a “visionary leader whose ability to champion a long-term, purpose-driven agenda is matched with a consistently strong record of business outcomes”.
I am humbled and honoured to be appointed the Global Chief Executive Officer of @CHANEL, an iconic and admired company.
— Leena Nair (@LeenaNairHR) December 14, 2021
Celebratory tweets were on the rise as another Indian took over the role of CEO of a global company. Have a look:
French fashion house Chanel named Leena Nair, an executive from Unilever, as its new global CEO on Tuesday, picking her to run one of the world's biggest luxury goods groups.
Well done 👍
https://t.co/IIGOxGxOlD— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) December 15, 2021
Another Indian rises, this time at the iconic 111 year old French luxury fashion house @CHANEL #LeenaNair Congratulations 🎊 https://t.co/Mk7wZP5dvg
— Shelley Singh (@shelley_singh1) December 14, 2021
India is proud of you. https://t.co/51ULIVtjTQ
— Sreedhar Bevara (@SreedharBevara) December 15, 2021
Indian CEOs are taking over the world, and not just in tech. https://t.co/Oaepa6bxO5
— Tailor & Circus (@TailorandCircus) December 15, 2021
So inspiring to see Indian women taking the top leadership roles in the biggest companies! Congratulations @LeenaNairHR! Many more to come in the future ✨ https://t.co/S1iAveA4K8
— Dhruvil Shah (@dhruvilshah45) December 15, 2021
Another Indian to step up in the row #LeenaNair #CHANEL https://t.co/YNhUipSPut
— Gagan Sokhey (@waveringmindz) December 15, 2021
Indian women being the Global CEO of luxury brand @CHANEL
More to women power 👍👍
Congratulations 🎉 🎉
PS : please help make a way for @CHANEL makeup stores in india too😍😍 https://t.co/PUN0WX5UPk— spiceuplife (@prernadkothari) December 15, 2021
wow! congrats another India origin CEO of a major global company. Googled her she is an XLRI product — @XLRIJamshedpur should be proud. https://t.co/gzBwDxOeOT
— Reality Check India (@realitycheckind) December 15, 2021
It’s amazing to see Indian women achieve great heights!