Outstanding Women in Business: Griffith College Lecturer – Alpa Agrawal
The Outstanding Women in Business event is less than a week away. We spoke with Griffith College lecturer and entrepreneur Alpa Agrawal about her journey and career to date
Profile: Alpa Agrawal
Q. What is your relationship with Griffith College?
I am a lecturer on the MSc International Marketing Management at Griffith College Cork. I teach the International Marketing Management module.
I have also recently completed my Certification in Training and Education from Griffith College and hence I am also an alumna.
Q. Why do you think you were approached to take part in this event?
The panel discussion was about managing stress in your role. I am an immigrant entrepreneur and I run an international business with clients in Europe and America and suppliers in Asia. The nature of my work enables me to work in the nights due to the time difference with Asia. I work on the operations and sort of run and organise the back end, talk to suppliers, place orders and look into execution while taking care of the customers in Europe in the day and customers over in America during the evening.
Along with running the business, I also took up the responsibility of lecturing in the MSc International Pharmaceutical Business Management programme in Griffith. I teach the "International Marketing Management" module and also completed my Certificate of Training and Education. The work that I do always keeps me on my toes irrespective of the time. I think the organisers found it nice that I manage it all at the same time and they probably thought it will be very interesting for the audience to know my story and know how I do it.
Q. Why did you agree to participate in this event?
I came to Ireland six and a half years ago, completed my Master's in another college and thereafter started my own business here. I have also taken lectureship and completed my CTE from Griffith. My journey as an immigrant entrepreneur here in Ireland has been a very interesting one. I am absolutely in love with Cork and owe a lot that I have achieved to this wonderful city and its people. It is the people here who have made me what I am and I would never want to miss any opportunity to repay that back to the city. I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk to women and I hope to be able to make a difference in someone’s life.
Q. Please tell us about your role in this event.
I am a panelist in this event “Outstanding Women in Business” and the title of our discussion is “Managing Stress in Your Role”.
I hope to be able to share my experiences and learn from the co-panelists about their journeys.
Q. What comes to your mind when you hear “Outstanding Women in Business”?
Well, I feel that there is always this invisible word “Outstanding” with the word “Women”, whether we say it aloud or not. We as women are nothing short of a miracle! We handle so many different roles in our lives, not only at work but at home as a wife, mother, daughter, homemaker and we do it all with a beautiful selfless smile on our faces. The event celebrates this and I am delighted to be a part of it.
Q. What would you like to see stem from this event?
I would like people in the audience to go with an “I CAN TOO” attitude. Each woman on the panel has achieved great things in life and it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn from them. I hope that if we collectively can make a difference in the life of even one person, our purpose is met!
Q. What is your advice to all the “Outstanding Women” in the crowd?
I would like to say to all the lovely women out there that you are a powerhouse of energy and you can achieve anything that you set your eyes on. Just believe in yourself and your talents and skills. We are born to be multitaskers and can manage absolutely anything and everything in life, from personal to professional! We also happen to live in this beautiful city with such lovely and positive people around that motivate you to work hard and achieve our goals. Our love and unity as a society, city, and country will set an example for the world to follow! LOVE can win anything and at the end, it's only LOVE that prevails!
The Outstanding Women in Business event will take place at Griffith College Cork at its Wellington Road, Montenotte campus, Wednesday 8th May. Book your place below.