My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future

Shantha Krishnamurthy is Indra Nooyi’s mother. In her work My Life in Full, Nooyi characterizes her mother as a hard-working and nurturing person who strongly influenced her in her youth. Nooyi remembers how, during her childhood, her mother worked nonstop to care for her children, husband, and in-laws while always encouraging her daughters to excel academically. Nooyi’s mother held progressive views about women’s education and empowerment, and she encouraged Nooyi’s ambitions to attend university and have a career. For instance, she would ask Nooyi to pretend to be the prime minister of India and give a speech about her plans for the country. The author praises her mother’s work ethic and organizational skills, claiming that she had the skill set of a CEO as well but was unable to pursue a post-secondary education like her daughters. Shantha continued to help her daughter succeed well into her adulthood, as she lived with Nooyi and cared for Nooyi’s first daughter while she was at work. Thanks to her lessons, encouragement, and practical help, Nooyi credits her mother with helping her attain success.

Thatha was Indra Nooyi’s paternal grandfather. He worked as a judge in Madras, India, and built a home to share with his son’s family. Nooyi grew up in the same household as her grandfather and spent a lot of time with him as a child. Nooyi characterizes her grandfather as a keenly intelligent and educated man who encouraged academic excellence. He often taught Nooyi academic lessons and helped her with schoolwork, and he asked her to read newspaper articles to him so she could learn about current events.

Thatha was unusual for his generation in his strong support for women’s education. This helped Nooyi and her sister, Chandrika, when they wanted to move out to attend university. Nooyi recalls how her close relationship with her grandfather prompted her to take his life lessons to heart. For instance, he coached her to always be productive and work hard because “‘Satan has work for idle hands’” (37). Nooyi was also inspired by her grandfather’s lifelong commitment to learning: He continued to be an avid reader into old age, believing that people should not let their minds atrophy. Nooyi explains that Thatha’s example and lessons had a great effect on her, writing, “Thatha remains my greatest teacher, and I refer to his life lessons in every aspect of my adulthood. My dedication to work, regardless of the challenges, I think, comes from him pushing me to keep going” (37).

Gerhard Schulmeyer is a German American businessman who has worked for Motorola, Asea Brown Boveri, and Siemens. In her memoir, Nooyi describes how she came to work for Schulmeyer at Motorola, where he ran the automotive electronics division of the company. She writes that she “knew Gerhard was a force the moment [she] met him,” and that if she wanted “someone who just cared about my brains—[she] should work for Gerhard” (93). After accepting the position to become Schulmeyer’s strategist at Motorola, Nooyi forged a close personal and professional bond with him, even changing companies to continue working with him at Asea Brown Boveri.

During their eight years of working together, Nooyi was inspired by Schulmeyer’s dedication to the job and learned valuable lessons from him about strategy and communication. For example, she credits him with teaching her how to understand complex problems and communicate them in an understandable way to others. She also acknowledges how Schulmeyer helped her develop the skills necessary to succeed as a corporate executive. She writes, “He was my teacher, coach, critic and supporter […] Under his tutelage, I had grown enormously” (93, 102-03). Nooyi’s anecdotes about Schulmeyer show the importance of mentorship in developing professional talent and reveal more about how Nooyi developed the skills of a CEO.