Esha Shrestha
A fascination for optimisation
Reading Time: 9 minutes
Programme Manager Flix
Esha grew up in a small Nepalese town on the eastern hills of the Himalayas. Her parents – who owned a bed and breakfast, were able and willing to offer her a private education. Esha is acutely aware of her privileged upbringing. In Nepal, private schooling is often the only way to access good standards of education, learn English, and develop the mind set required to forge a better life abroad. She insists that compared to many of her compatriots, she didn’t endure tremendous financial hardship. However, she did have to keep hammering away to get herself to where she is today.
As a child, she proved to have a sharp eye for how things operate and a natural interest towards optimisation and efficiency.
A board game collector, a goal planner, and a rational thinker who clearly likes all her ducks in a row, it would be easy to label Esha as a strategy geek. But a different side of her is unveiled when she shares her interest in self-development books and her spiritual quest for freedom. A sign that one can be curious about the ``what`` and the ``how`` in their worldly activity, whilst also questioning the ``why``.
Tell us about your childhood in Nepal. Did you spend it climbing mountains… or is this assumption a terrible cliché?!
It is a bit of a stereotype indeed…, not all Nepalese are sherpas (laugh)! The small town I grew up in is located on the foothills of the lower Himalayan range. With green hills on three sides, it is a land of enthralling natural beauty. But I was too busy studying and working to indulge in too many outdoorsy recreational activities, and I was more drawn towards arts and crafts activities.
My parents own a bed and breakfast. It’s a small family-run establishment that has always been buzzing with customers checking in and out, many of them pilgrims. From a young age, I was interested in the daily run of its operations and felt fully invested in it. I started by supporting my parents with basic logistics and assisting customers at the front desk. My analytical instincts kicked in early and at 15, I asked to have a look at the accounts to figure out how to optimise our processes.
Was education important for your parents?
It was paramount. My mother played an important role in impressing upon my older brother and I the importance of academic learning and financial independence. Where I come from, girls are not necessarily given equal rights to education. But my mum – a strong headed woman, made a point of treating my brother and I equally. My parents worked hard to give us both access to private schooling. I felt a responsibility to perform at school, but it wasn’t like a burden. I saw it as teamwork, where the whole objective was for our generation to become better off than our parents. So I typically woke up at 5am to study before going to school at 7am. I was back home at 3pm and when I finished my homework, I helped my parents with the family business. But it was not the ascetic childhood it might sound like. I was happy and having parents that encouraged to study was a privilege. Apart from a couple of rebellious years when I reached 15, I was a good kid.
Why did you leave Nepal?
The university provision in Nepal isn’t all that good and pupils whose parents can afford it go and study abroad. I left home at 18 to enrol in a university in India. Engineering felt like an obvious discipline choice because I had this thirst for problem solving. Academically, it was a big step up for me, so I had to work harder than I ever had. When you grow up with power cuts that last for the best part of a day, you develop resilience! This experience was also a mental challenge as I had never ventured far beyond my hometown. I was living in a student dorm in a country where I didn’t know anyone, and I felt homesick for months. I’m sure that having interacted with tourists from a young age helped me develop interpersonal skills and build confidence.
Tell us about your first steps in the professional world
Once I graduated, I got a job in Bangalore in the southern India, as a quality analyst for Sapient, an American company now part of Publicis. My role – at the crossroads between operations and technology, consisted in testing the quality of the software that we were building for different banks and hedge funds. I had always had my eyes on a master’s so after 3 years there I left. I realised that I wanted to know how supply chain and operations worked end to end, as opposed to specialising in one particular sector. In 2015, I applied for Audencia’s Master in Supply Chain and Purchasing Management. The dual degree programme in partnership with Politecnico di Milano made it particularly appealing.
Joining the programme in Nantes must have been another daunting step?
Moving countries at 18 had already made me feel like I had crossed a mountain so this intercontinental move was a little less overwhelming. Making new connections was not the most difficult part. No, it was… getting accustomed to the foreign cuisine. I mean… the uncooked sea food… and don’t get me started on snails! But hey, just like everything else, with an open mind and a dose of courage, you adapt. I loved the interactivity of the lessons, and the project-based group work. There was a bar by the river in Nantes, which became our hangout. By the time the whole class moved to Milan, we had become close, and we had so much fun. As for Italian food… for me it definitely beats French cuisine. No offense! (laugh). Our Whatsapp group is still alive and we have regular video chats. That felt particularly comforting during lockdown.
Tell us about your experience at Nissan’s European headquarters in Paris
I secured an internship in Paris and managed to convert it into a permanent job. It was exactly what I had hoped and more As a supply chain project officer, I gained both business acumen and tech skills. Later, I moved into a reporting role preparing analyses to improve sales decisions. This gave me valuable exposure to senior management. I enjoyed the corporate culture there. Its diversity and mixture of nationalities reminded me of the atmosphere at Audencia. It was a male-dominated environment, but female employees felt empowered. I certainly never felt that I was treated unequally.
Why did you move to Germany?
I had been there a few times to visit my brother who was living there at the time, and I had fallen in love with the country. I was fascinated by this sense that every system is efficiently run. I wanted to experience this way of living from the inside, as a daily user. And also my boyfriend – now husband – was living there.
How did you end up with a boyfriend in another country?
He is Nepalese; we went to the same school back in my hometown. He is just one year older than me and we have known each other for twenty years. Our paths crossed again in India when we both got scholarships to the same university. After he graduated, he moved to Mumbai to study a master’s in computer science. He is a pure tech guy. I moved to Bangalore then Nantes before we reunited for good in Germany. We survived the long-term long-distance relationship.
Flixbus has an inspiring vision of making sustainable travel both comfortable and affordable. What does your role there entail?
I made a conscious decision to join a smaller, agile company, where I could apply what I had learned at Nissan and gain more ownership and freedom. I have been at Flixbus for 6 months and I am really enjoying it so far. The company has a unique concept, combining tech and transportation and it has propelled the bus industry into the digital era. As a project manager and senior business analyst, my job is to optimise all the processes, products and tools that we launch for our operations teams and partners. Ultimately, I help to add growth for the company and improve mobility for our users. Flixbus has recently acquired Greyhound, which is the biggest and oldest bus company in the US and we have gone live in Brazil this month. It’s exciting to know that we are touching all continents.
I admire how the company lives and breathes its corporate values and first and foremost its attachment to sustainability. It is such a warm feeling at the end of a long day to know that you bring a positive contribution to the world.
What is the most gratifying aspect of your role?
I have the opportunity of making an impact and coming out proud, which is exactly what I always look for in a job. Through all this daily data crunching, reports writing, and project greenlighting, I am improving the customer experience of our passengers and co-workers. I launch systems that are used by a lot of people and are making their work and life easier. I can see myself staying with Flixbus for a while.
Does your inclination for tidiness and optimisation also transpire into your daily personal life?
I like to keep my home space and my finances neat and organised indeed. My personal “COVID lockdown project” was creating an Excel finance dashboard. I realise it’s not everybody’s idea of entertainment, but it gave me a sense of joy and accomplishment! I am also a planner when it comes to my personal goals: I write them down every year, come up with an action plan and a project list, and review them regularly. The end of year is a period of deep introspection for me. I am not particularly passionate or impulsive, so whenever I have an important choice, such as a career move, I always research thoroughly. However, once my mind is set on a goal, I am decisive and consciously dedicate all my energy towards it with the intention to come out as a winner.
Please tell me that you don’t spend all your free time on Excel?!
Ha, ha, no, far from it. I like to paint. And I collect board games. My current favourites are Azul, Patchwork and Ticket to ride. I also enjoy a good game of poker. Not surprisingly, I enjoy mostly strategy and planning games (laugh)! I am openly competitive, and I hate losing!
I am also an avid reader of personal development books. I am influenced by the wisdom of Eckhart Tolle, and the teachings of Joe Dispenza on our ability to free ourselves from limitations. I enjoyed “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz; it’s a “practical guide to freedom” that has stayed with me.
Your favourite activity in Berlin?
I enjoy strolling around in East Berlin, which is packed with historical landmarks. I am not an expert in the Second World War, but I can’t help but feeling moved by what I see. I also like the feel-good atmosphere of the Weissensee Lake, and the East Side Gallery: once the Berlin Wall and now the longest open-air gallery in the world.
Looking back … Do you think you have achieved success?
For me success is a process and I want my life to be a constant learning curve. I fear that If I ever consider myself successful, I will take my accomplishments for granted and see the curve slow down.
Your professional and life accomplishments must make your parents very proud of you
Yes, I think they are proud of me. And of my brother too – he has a PhD in strategic management and is doing a post doctorate at ETH Zurich. But it’s not my parents’ culture to express it to us very often. What they would say is that they feel at peace with the way they have raised me, and the place that I have secured for myself in the world. Even though they could safely retire and finally enjoy life, they can’t imagine a life without working. I haven’t seen them much since I left home. I last saw them for our wedding.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
I hope that I will have grown. For me it’s not a question of promotion, job title or salary. It’s about self-development and my ability to constantly increase the scale of the impact that I am creating. This goal might lead me back to Nepal, where I can see myself as an entrepreneur. I would use my expertise in launching high quality operations projects and focus on accelerating the digital transformation of the country. Again, if I make that step, it will be a thoroughly researched and analysed decision!
Are you proud of your heritage?
Nepalese people are warm and welcoming. I am very fond of my country, and anyone who goes there will agree that its natural treasures are breathtaking. I just wish that people would look beyond the stereotypes. The mountains that surround us are superb and majestic but the topography makes life harsh for many Nepalese. However, I think we get our resilience from withstanding years of political instability and financial hardship.
