Indra Nooyi turns 64: A peek into the top boss's resumé post-PepsiCo

From starting her career as a product manager at Johnson & Johnson to becoming the CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi has come a long way and has paved the path for many successful women to follow in her footsteps. They say, ‘the future is female’ and Nooyi, one of the most successful, top honchos of our time, is a living, breathing example of the same.

A source of inspiration for many, Nooyi stepped down from the post of CEO of PepsiCo in 2018. The 64-year-old mother of two hasn’t been grabbing headlines since then, but is still doing phenomenal work in the projects and areas she has ventured into.

As she turns another year older, we take a close look at what the Indian-American businesswoman has been up to.


For starters, Nooyi is serving as a member on the Board of Directors at Amazon. The honcho’s move to join Amazon was praised by many as it took the percentage of women on its board up to 45%, a new high for the industry. Once her departure was announced in August 2018, speculations were rife that the former CEO might join politics. However, Nooyi quickly ruled out the possibility by denying the rumours.

Nooyi told Fortune magazine: “I’m not good at politics," the Chennai-born said. “I’m just a good worker bee." The Indian-American businesswoman made it clear that she will be prioritizing her family over everything else. She also expressed her desire to mentor and guide other women to get them to powerful positions.

“I think after stepping down as CEO I can work with other women to figure out how to get them to c-suite positions, as a mentor and supporter," she told Fortune magazine. She also acknowledged the constraints and challenges women face to acquire positions of power. “I see the struggles women go through, and you cannot expect every woman to be a superwoman. It just does not work because there’s one constraint we all have, and that’s that there are only 24 hours in a day."

Nooyi also made care crisis her next big area of focus. She feels that childcare workers are not paid enough and that it could lead to a shortage of 1 million caregivers. We need to take action, she said, and quickly—ideally in the next 24 to 36 months. And that’s exactly what Nooyi plans to do.

Nooyi also feels inspired by a number of prominent leaders and sportspersons. A few days ago, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King receiving the Nobel Prize, she shared that she was reflecting on his brilliant speech, “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” King, an African-American activist, had delivered the inspiring speech on 26th October, 1967.

Nooyi paid tribute to King on the 52nd anniversary of the speech.



She reiterated his thought, “we can achieve anything we set our minds to, so long as we believe that we are capable and worthy.”



Nooyi also sent out a tweet appreciating Billie Jean King, an American professional tennis player, on the anniversary of her victory in #BattleOfTheSexes tennis match. For the uninitiated, ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis matches are essentially the matches (singles or doubles) where the opponents are of the opposite gender.

King had won the tennis match against the tennis player, Bobby Riggs in 1973.


A staunch supporter of women’s equality, Indra Nooyi also shared that she has been inspired by Katherine Johnson, the groundbreaking @NASA mathematician whose calculations made the Apollo 11 mission possible.

Nooyi wished Katherine on her 101th birthday. The Apollo 11 mission, for which Johnson had done extensive work, was launched in 1969.


As Nooyi turns 64 today, it will be interesting to see what life has in store for her.