International Women’s Day: Saluting MICE Leading Ladies – Naina Vishnoi, regional sales manager, hospitality cloud sales, Cvent Singapore

The fight for gender equality is for everyone, and necessary for economies and communities to thrive. With this in mind, International Women’s Day 2020 galvanises all women to work towards an equal world. In support of this campaign, TTG Asia and TTGmice are featuring women leaders in the travel, tourism and business events industry this week. Today, we speak to Naina Vishnoi about her work in mentoring other women in the industry.

What is the one narrative you’d love to change about women in the workforce, and why?
I have worked with, learnt from, and mentored many women over my years of experience at Cvent. One of the top challenges I face in my line of work is changing the mindset of both men and women equally. For instance, sales, the field I work in, is dominated by men. It seems far-fetched for women to travel the globe for meetings, negotiate top contracts, lead a team, etc, which is why we see fewer women in sales. I would want more women to open up to these challenges, support other women in doing so, and be equally competitive.

Are you able to change that narrative at Cvent? How?
At Cvent, we have set up a Women in Leadership (WIL) committee. Being a core member, we reviewed some top achievable goals: representation in leadership, guidance to women in middle management through mentor and mentee programmes, work-life balance for working moms, and a system that lends support to women in their careers. Apart from that, an initiative very close to my heart is for more women to take up sales roles, especially in senior management.

As gender equality is for everyone, not just for women, how are you encouraging this in your workplace and your community?
You’re absolutely right – and this ties perfectly into this year’s International Women’s Day theme: Each for Equal! An equal world is an enabled world – and that’s equality across cultures, gender, religion, etc.

At Cvent, we truly believe that an equal workplace means that every voice is heard and each person is valued, and we live and breathe that every day. We have a set of six principles – called the Soul of Cvent – which drives our company culture, one of which is “Be Direct.” It highlights the importance of giving your perspective, challenging the status quo, and being open and honest with everyone – no matter what your role or title.

Cventers truly work on an even playing field – and all of our senior leadership, including our CEO, are huge supporters of this.

What community cause are you most passionate about that you can use your professional skills or position to support?
I am passionate about literacy – I believe this could be the greatest gift we can give to our youth. Literacy empowers human beings and makes them independent. Being a part of our WIL committee at Cvent, I partake in mentor-mentee programmes to mentor young women, who have just joined the organisation and are new to the world of sales, to help them figure out their career path, work on their improvement areas, and build on their strengths to accomplish their short and long term goals.

What secret talent do you have?
I learnt to make a Singapore sling from one of my clients and must say, I am pretty good at it.

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