My Inspiration~~Indra Nooyi

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi (born October 28, 1955 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is the chairwoman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, the world's fourth-largest food and beverage company. On August 14, 2006, Nooyi was named the successor to Steve Reinemund as chief executive officer of the company. She was effectively appointed as CEO by PepsiCo's board of directors on October 1, 2006. According to the polls Forbes magazine conducted, Nooyi ranks fifth on the 2007 list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Nooyi has been named the #1 Most Powerful Woman in Business in 2006 and 2007 by Fortune magazine.

She received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1974, and immediately entered the PGDBA (Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration) program at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. After graduating from IIM-C in 1976, she worked in India for several years (including a stretch at Madura Coats). She was admitted to Yale School of Management in 1978 for a master's degree in Management. Following her master's degree from Yale in 1980, Nooyi started at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), from where she moved on to strategy positions at Motorola and ABB.

Nooyi is a Successor Fellow at Yale Corporation and serves on the board of several organizations, including Motorola, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Rescue Committee, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Among her friends are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who describes her as a "wild New York Yankees fan."

She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband, Raj K. Nooyi.In 2007, she was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India. In 2008, she was elected to the fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She joined PepsiCo in 1994, was named president and CFO in 2001. On August 14, 2006, she was named the CEO of PepsiCo, becoming the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 42-year history.

While at PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi has played a vital role in starting Tricon, which is currently known as Yum! Brands Inc. Nooyi recommended spinning off Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, arguing PepsiCo couldn't bring enough value to the fast food industry. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Co.

According to BusinessWeek, since she became CFO in 2000, the company's annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion in 2006.

Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal's list of 50 women to watch in 2005, and was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008. She is also a member of a highly secretive group known as Bilderberg Group and attended the meeting in 2004

In 2004, Nooyi and her husband donated $27,000 to the primary campaign of John Kerry. In March of 2008, Nooyi was elected Chairman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a non-profit business advocacy organization representing nearly 300 of the largest US companies doing business in India and two dozen of India's global companies investing in America. Nooyi leads USIBC's Board of Directors, an assembly of 25 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry.