CNBC Make It gets personal with Ann Mukherjee, the CEO of Pernod Ricard North America who oversees Absolut, Jameson, Malibu and other famous liquor brands.
This story is part of the Behind the Desk series, where CNBC Make It gets personal with successful business executives to find out everything from how they got to where they are to what makes them get out of bed in the morning to their daily routines.
She says her earliest memory as a child is of an assault she suffered at the hands of two drunk teenagers. And when she was 14, her mother was killed by a drunk driver. Her job today, she says, helps turn her pain into "positive, meaningful change.". "As a leader, I feel a strong sense to stand up for those who have gone through similar experiences as I have, and do everything I can to make sure others never have to go through it.
Here, Mukherjee talks about how trauma affected her ability to lead, the person who permanently altered the trajectory of her career and a lesson she's learned as a woman CEO in a male-dominated industry:I was five years old when my parents immigrated from Kolkata, India, to Chicago. I was an only child, and my mother was my best friend. My father was always more distant, so she ingrained in me the importance of being independent, and how to deal with difficulties in life.
Life isn't about what happens to you. It's about how you respond when things get hard. I learned that lesson very early.[My husband] Dipu and I met in an online chat room in 1995. The winners for [1994] Miss Universe and Miss World were both from India were announced just months earlier and he was like, "Shouldn't we be proud?"
I was unsure if I could work for a wine and spirits brand, after everything I'd gone through. He said, "Don't you get it? The universe is talking to you, and telling you that this is your opportunity to right wrongs. How could you say no?"
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