“I am a person who believes in teamwork”
Exploring the world of the hospitality industry was not on the cards for Anne Sajeev, who started off her career in the Department of Health. However, in 2005, life took a different turn for her when she visited a property which was planned as a hospitality project. “I fell in love with that property, took it up as a challenge and decided to do something out of it.The rest is history,” she says.
What started off as a challenge for herself later on escalated her into the role of the Managing Director of Fragrant Nature Hotels & Resorts, Aroma Group of Companies and Fragrant Nature Film Creations.
Anne fondly remembers the moment she decided to step into the hospitality industry and says, “What I learnt from this is that during such a turning point in one’s life, it is sometimes not necessary that you should have prior experience connected to what you are planning to do, but if you set your heart and mind and passion to it and learn as much as you can about it, you can turn things around and make it successful.”
Anne says her younger self was a very positive person, “ Always had so many dreams. The only thing my younger self did not know was how to get to those dreams and what steps were required to attain certain landmarks in your life. So I would advise my younger self to not lose sight of her values and goals and to always remain patient as nothing happens overnight. That is not how it works. And along the way there will be so many lessons that you will learn, so always keep looking forwards and not backwards.” She adds, “I am a spiritual person and there has to be that grace from God. God has a plan and that will translate to what is ahead of you,” she says with graceful positivity.
As a leader, Anne is fully aware that it is all about teamwork. ”I am a person who believes in teamwork. Alone I might not be able to do anything , but as a team there is so much that we can do. This is how I have always seen the people who work with me and my core team members know that. My staff and my team is my first priority, and I make sure to take care of them no matter what the crisis may be.
“They have the trust that I will always support them and be there for them. In the last couple of years we have faced enough crisis and of course there were situations we thought we would not make it through. But my team and I always believed that when there is a huge crisis, there are 100 options we can look at to get through it, step by step.”
