Indra Nooyi chats with Priyanka Chopra - and it's a power talk on racism, feminism, and building empires

The Forbes Women Summit held at Pier 60 in New York City saw women bosses from all walks of life - leaders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and artists - come together to discuss how women pave the new way forward.

The day began with a welcome note delivered by Moira Forbes, EVP, Forbes Media. India's own power women, PepsiCo Chairman & CEO Indra Nooyi, and actress-activist Priyanka Chopra, delivered the last keynote of the day, in conversation with Forbes.

From the boardroom to the box office, Chopra and Nooyi who have both built global empires, spoke about breaking barriers and engaging billions.



Talking about the initial days working in America, Nooyi said, "In my early days working in corporate America, I never really fit in. I worried about how I was perceived."

"I decided after a while that I’m never going to win the looks battle. So I’m going to focus on the brains. I focussed on doing the job better than anyone else could do it," the top boss added.


Talking about the art of balancing work and family, she said,"If you struggle with these choices, you’re not crazy. You’re human." Adding, that companies need to give women the infrastructure to allow them to "have a family, come to work, and bring the two together".


The PepsiCo boss also had a piece of advice to recruiters, "The next decade is the decade of women. If you want to run a successful company you have to recruit the best and the brightest (i.e. Bring women into the company)."

But it's not just firms that need to hire more women. Women themselves need to encourage other women, she added, much like the sisterhood showed in 'Sex And The City'.

A new SATC fan, Nooyi, who said that the show impacted her thinking about the meaning of sisterhood, stumbled upon the show only 3 months ago and binge watched all 94 episodes.

Also Read: Want to become a good boss? Read Indra Nooyi’s 7-point guide on managing work, life

"We need a sisterhood. We need an environment where we have a safe space. We need to be sure we don't fear helping the woman next to us for fear they will take our potential."

Nooyi also recalled a time when her sister was accepted to a prestigious school away from their hometown, but her mother threatened to fast to death, if she left without getting married first. But even in those days, her feminist father and grandfather didn't succumb to that pressure, sending her sister to college, and eventually her mum stopped fasting.

For Chopra, being raised by feminist parents shaped her into the person that she is. The 'Quantico' actress recounted an incident when being told that she wouldn't get married because she can't cook, she had her father step in and say that he would just send a cook with her when she decided to get married.

Sharing some more advice from her father, she said, "My dad always told me, 'You don’t want to fit into a glass slipper that someone else made for you. Go shatter that glass ceiling'."

Chopra, who has often spoken about being subject to racism during her student years in the US, also spoke about facing stereotypes at work.

"I was put in a box. I could never be the exotic, beautiful girl, I could only be the engineer or whatever - the stereotype was in people's head. That was something I wanted to break," she said.

Thank you @moiraforbes for having me at this year’s Forbes Women’s Summit, and thank you to the incredible #IndraNooyi for sharing the massive load with me! Being tasked with the responsibility of inspiring a room full of achievers is no easy feat. Each one of you is making a mark on the world, and yesterday was proof that we’re stronger together. It was my honor to spend the day with you. Keep on kicking ass! @forbes #GirlBoss #ForbesWomen

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on Jun 20, 2018 at 4:59pm PDT

Adding that it did diminish her spirit for a while, "I was not cast in projects because I came from an industry which was very different."

But she said she wasn't afraid to walk into a room and introduce herself. "I'm not afraid to walk into a room and introduce myself. You may not know me. I can tell you I'm an actor, an artist, but I'm also someone who's not defined by my ethnicity or where I come from", she added.

“I was not afraid to walk into a room and introduce myself. You may not know me…but I’m also someone who’s not defined by my ethnicity or where I come from,” said @priyankachopra during her keynote conversation with Indra Nooyi, Chairman & CEO of @pepsico, and @moiraforbes at today’s #forbeswomen’s Summit. Head to our story for quotes from their talk on breaking barriers and engaging billions.

A post shared by Forbes (@forbes) on Jun 19, 2018 at 2:10pm PDT

Chopra also emphasised on the the need to believe in yourself, "You make mistakes ... you might make wrong decisions ... but courage of conviction is the only integrity you need to have."

Elaine L. Chao, US Secretary of Transportation, Lori Wright, GM, Microsoft Teams and Skype Marketing, Arianna Huffington were among the other speakers at the event. Lisa Woll, CEO, US CIF was awarded the Impact Award.