Leadership & Learning Everyday: My PGP MAX Journey as a Working Mother

Balancing work, study and motherhood has always felt like a delicate equation. I am a mother of two, working full-time, and managing a home that never really slows down. When I decided to return to the classroom, I needed a programme that would not ask me to pause my professional life but instead help me accelerate. That is how I found my way to PGP MAX at ISB.

My career has taken me through telecom, technology, banking, financial services, and start-ups, across product, programme management, technology, and strategy. Most recently, I had the invaluable experience of leading the Founders’Office at DMI Finance, one of India’s leading NBFCs.

These roles gave me both breadth and depth, but they also revealed a gap. I had spent years building the engine from the inside. Now I wanted to understand how it functions from the outside and beyond. That curiosity, sharpened by my ISB journey, shaped my next major step: stepping into entrepreneurship.

Returning to the Classroom After Twelve Years

After researching business schools for a long time, ISB stood out for two clear reasons: it is Indian in context and global in outlook, and it has a deeply rooted network across the country. For someone who was unwilling to step away from work and family, the PGP MAX format felt like a perfect fit. I could study without pressing pause. I could keep moving.

Coming back to the classroom after twelve and a half years broke the monotony of a single-track corporate routine. It brought new perspectives, renewed energy, and a sense of rediscovery. The class atmosphere is electric. Every weekend feels like an ignition switch for curiosity and potential.

Learning From Doers, Thinkers and Risk-Takers

If there is one thing that defines PGP MAX, it is the diversity of the cohort. In a single classroom, you will find a fighter pilot, a lawyer, a public policy expert, and a start-up founder. It turns every discussion into a case study shaped by lived experience.

Their perspectives show me how differently people think depending on their lived experiences, and how important it is to challenge your own assumptions.
The learning does not end when the session does. Conversations continue over chai breaks, dinners, and late evening debates. Ideas flow, perspectives collide, and sometimes a simple discussion can spark the seed of a future venture. It is a space where creativity is nurtured by community.

Preparing for Leadership That Blends Purpose with Scale

The financial sector, where I spent my recent years, is fast, brutal, and rapidly changing. It needs leaders who can balance trade-offs between business growth and regulatory pullbacks. This work required me to build leadership muscle that strengthened my ability to influence, make purposeful decisions, and scale impact within a large organisation.

However, the immersion at ISB, the deep dives into Competitive Strategy, Marketing Management, Decision Making under Uncertainty and being surrounded by a tribe of audacious thinkers, gave me the clarity and courage to pivot. I realised that the "new perspectives and renewed energy" I gained were not just for improving my corporate role, they were a launchpad for an independent journey.

With this entrepreneurial mindset, I recently exited my role at DMI Finance to pursue creating systems and solutions from the ground up. I am now leveraging the multidisciplinary lens built over my career, and the bold thinking fostered at ISB, to build ventures that blend purpose with scale.

Each week at ISB reminds me that growth is not a pause but a practice. As a working mother, a professional, and a learner, I am discovering that every door really does open when you knock. You only need the courage to reach out and the willingness to learn and lead by creating.

Synopsis

Jyotsna Pahuja is a PGP MAX Class of 2026 student at ISB and a former senior professional at DMI Finance and Entrepreneur- building STEAMIE - India’s first complete STEM Education Ecosystem. With experience across telecom, technology, financial services, and start-ups, she brings a multidisciplinary lens to leadership. A mother of two, she is passionate about purposeful leadership, continuous learning, and creating impact without stepping away from her professional journey.