While editing, we made a change in the opening sequence - because you need to know the risks that Namrata took

From Boardrooms to Cheeseboards: How Curiosity Built an Unconventional Career

What happens when a management consultant with a successful corporate career decides to follow an unexpected passion and ends up building an award-winning artisanal cheese brand in Chennai?

In this episode of My First Job, we sit down with Namrata Sundaresan, co-founder of Kase Cheese, to explore a career journey that defies conventional expectations. From studying engineering and management, working in HR, marketing, research, and consulting, to discovering the art and science of cheesemaking, Namrata's story is a masterclass in curiosity, reinvention, and lifelong learning.

This conversation goes far beyond cheese. It explores how careers evolve when we remain open to opportunities, embrace experimentation, and allow our interests to guide us toward meaningful work. Namrata shares how travel, food, entrepreneurship, personal loss, and a willingness to keep learning helped her discover a craft that eventually became a thriving business with social impact at its core.

You'll learn how an unconventional idea became a scalable enterprise, why curiosity is one of the most valuable career skills, how artisan businesses can create sustainable livelihoods, and why success often comes from being willing to receive opportunities—not just seek them.

If you've ever wondered whether it's possible to build a career outside traditional paths, transition into a completely new field, or turn a passion into a business, this episode offers inspiration, practical insights, and a fresh perspective on what a successful career can look like.

Listen now to discover why some of the most rewarding careers are the ones nobody plans for.

What does a career in logistics really look like? How do products move across countries, industries, and continents? And what does it take to go from selling photocopiers to helping launch a cargo airline?

In this episode of My First Job, we speak with Kochat Narendran, a logistics and supply chain professional with more than 35 years of experience across automation, consumer electronics, freight forwarding, express logistics, and aviation.

Narendran shares how an unexpected career path led him into one of the world's most essential industries. From his early days at Xerox learning the fundamentals of sales and customer relationships, to helping build market-leading logistics businesses, he explains the skills that matter most in a rapidly changing world.

This conversation explores careers in logistics, supply chain management, freight forwarding, cargo transportation, international trade, sales, operations, and leadership. Narendran discusses how technology has transformed logistics, why relationship-building remains a competitive advantage, and how young professionals can create long-term career growth through adaptability and continuous learning.

You will also hear fascinating behind-the-scenes stories about global cargo movement, managing large operational teams, handling crises, building business networks, and the complex process of sourcing and launching cargo aircraft.

Whether you are a student considering an MBA in Logistics, a young professional exploring supply chain careers, or someone interested in how global commerce actually works, this episode offers practical insights, career advice, and real-world lessons from decades of industry experience.

Key Topics: Logistics careers, supply chain management, freight forwarding, cargo airlines, international shipping, sales skills, networking, leadership, aviation logistics, career development, operations management, and future opportunities in India's growing logistics sector.

What does it take to build a successful career when you don't come from privilege, don't speak fluent English, and don't have a clear roadmap for success?

In this episode of My First Job, we speak with Karaiadiselvan S., Managing Director of CADD Centre, whose journey offers powerful lessons for students, graduates, engineers, entrepreneurs, and young professionals navigating today's uncertain job market.

Rather than focusing solely on his rise from trainee engineer to business leader, this conversation explores the principles that created long-term success: continuous learning, adaptability, resilience, communication skills, entrepreneurship, and the courage to pursue opportunities others overlook.

Karaiadiselvan shares how a simple conversation with an HR manager changed the direction of his career, why he chose learning over salary, how he overcame the challenge of studying in Tamil medium, and the mindset that helped transform a small training organization into a global network that has trained over 1.5 million professionals.

Whether you're exploring engineering careers in India, looking for career guidance after college, wondering how to develop employability skills, or considering entrepreneurship as a career path, this episode offers practical advice that remains relevant regardless of industry or technology trends.

You'll learn:

• How to make better career decisions in your 20s
• Why learning compounds faster than salary increases
• The value of staying long enough to master a craft
• How communication skills can accelerate career growth
• What employers look for beyond qualifications
• Why successful people create opportunities instead of waiting for them
• How to build a meaningful and future-proof career

If you're a student, graduate, engineer, or young professional searching for real-world career advice, this episode provides insights that can help shape your next decade of growth.

Subscribe to My First Job for conversations that help you make smarter career choices and learn from people who have built extraordinary careers from ordinary beginnings.

What is it really like to become a teacher in India?

In this episode of My First Job, experienced educators from Montessori, CBSE senior secondary, and rural government schools share the realities of teaching as a career in India.

If you are a student, graduate, career switcher, or someone exploring meaningful careers after college, this conversation gives you a practical and honest look at the teaching profession.

From handling young children in Montessori classrooms to preparing Class 11 and 12 students for board exams and competitive exams, this episode explores the skills, patience, communication abilities, and emotional intelligence required to become a successful teacher.

The discussion also covers teacher salary expectations in India, work-life balance, classroom management, student psychology, parent pressure, government vs private schools, and how technology and smartphones are changing education. The guests explain why teaching is more than a job — it is about mentorship, facilitation, curiosity, empathy, and lifelong learning.

Whether you are preparing for B.Ed, Montessori training, CBSE teaching jobs, government teacher exams, or simply wondering if teaching is the right career path for you, this episode offers deep insights into the rewards and challenges of education careers in India.

Topics covered include:

• How to become a teacher in India
• Teaching careers after graduation
• Life of school teachers in India
• Montessori teaching careers
• CBSE and government school teaching
• Skills needed to become a teacher
• Challenges faced by teachers
• Career growth and job satisfaction in teaching

If you are passionate about education, children, communication, mentoring, and making a difference, this episode will help you understand whether teaching is your calling.

What does a career in Psychology, UX/UI Design, or Digital Marketing actually look like in India today?

In this episode of My First Job, we reverse the format and speak to three young professionals who are building modern careers in fast-growing industries:

• A Clinical Psychologist & Counsellor working in trauma therapy, couples counselling and trading psychology
• A UX/UI Designer & Product Designer working on user experience, service design and digital products
• A Digital Marketing Entrepreneur building brands, freelancer networks and marketing campaigns

If you're a student wondering about:

• careers after psychology in India
• how to become a UX designer
• UI UX designer salary in India
• digital marketing careers for freshers
• counselling psychology as a career
• product design jobs
• freelancing in digital marketing
• startup careers for Gen Z
• creative careers after 12th
• careers outside engineering and medicine

…this conversation gives you a realistic look at the work, challenges, growth opportunities and future of these professions.

The episode explores: ✔️ What psychologists actually do in therapy sessions ✔️ How UX and UI designers think about apps, websites and user journeys ✔️ How digital marketers work with brands and clients ✔️ The role of creativity, psychology and technology in modern careers ✔️ AI and the future of design, counselling and marketing jobs ✔️ How young professionals discover unconventional careers ✔️ Entrepreneurship, freelancing and startup culture in India ✔️ Attention spans, social media and digital behaviour ✔️ Career confusion, passion and finding meaningful work

Featured guests include:

• Vandana Subramanyam – Clinical Psychologist & Founder of PsychoFlix
• Archishman Durbha – UX/UI & Product Designer
• Subhiksha Srinivasan – Digital Marketing Entrepreneur & Founder of A Friday Project

Whether you're exploring:

• psychology courses after graduation
• UX design career path
• UI UX jobs for beginners
• digital marketing business ideas
• counselling careers in India
• creative jobs with high salary
• startup and freelance careers
• careers for creative students

…this episode offers practical insight into what these industries really look like behind the scenes.

📌 Subscribe to My First Job for conversations on careers, entrepreneurship, creativity, technology and the future of work in India.

#PsychologyCareers #UXDesign #UIDesign #DigitalMarketing #CareerGuidance #ProductDesign #CounsellingPsychology #DigitalMarketingIndia #Freelancing #CareerPodcast

If you are in your 20s trying to figure out what a career is supposed to look like, this conversation will reset how you think.

Commodore G. Prakash shares career advice for 20s India that goes far beyond any job portal or campus placement tip.

→ How the discipline of naval service becomes a competitive edge in the corporate world

→ What his very first posting taught him about leadership — before he knew he was being tested

→ Why making decisions under pressure in the Navy is the best training for a business career → The one piece of advice he gives every young professional starting out today

Commodore G. Prakash (Retd) served at the highest levels of the Indian Navy before transitioning to business leadership. Few guests on this show bring that combination of institutional credibility and hard-won private sector experience.

The conversation covers how to grow in career India when your starting point looks nothing like the destination — and why career advice for 20s India sounds very different from someone who spent that decade under orders at sea.

Subscribe and turn on notifications — new episodes every week.

My First Job Podcast explores real career journeys across every industry — the first job, the pivots, the lessons.

Hosted by Venu Gopal Nair. #MyFirstJobPodcast #CareerAdviceIndia #DefenceCareers

# Inside the Cockpit: A Fighter Pilot's Unfiltered Story

Rarely does someone pull back the curtain on military aviation with such raw honesty. In this episode, a fighter pilot with over 3,000 hours of flight experience walks us through what it truly takes to wear the wings, from basic landings all the way to executing precision strikes under nine times your body weight in G-force.

Can you imagine landing a damaged aircraft near Chennai on pure instinct and split-second judgment? That harrowing story alone makes this episode worth your time. The pilot covers everything from navigating without GPS using maps and radio within 200 kilometers of airfields, to why transitioning from Western to Russian aircraft demands complete retraining from scratch. He also reveals that training a single pilot costs nations approximately 45 to 50 crores, making every dropout genuinely expensive.

Beyond the cockpit, he reflects on directing operations during the Kargil War (including how Pakistan's bulk purchase of 50,000 snow boots from Europe betrayed their plans) and critiques India's Agnipath scheme with the kind of directness you rarely hear publicly.

Honestly, this conversation covers the ground thoroughly and keeps covering it in ways that feel fresh and surprising throughout.

Tune in now for one of the most candid military career conversations you will hear.

Aircraft transitions between Western and Russian models require complete retraining — the fundamental systems differences are so significant that pilots cannot simply adapt from one to the other, despite having thousands of flight hours.

• Logistics, intelligence, and weather matter as much as advanced weaponry — the Kargil War demonstrated that military victories depend equally on supply chains and environmental conditions, not just superior aircraft and firepower.

• Current drone technology has significant operational limitations — despite their revolutionary impact, drones remain constrained by communication range and battery life, making them less versatile than manned aircraft in many scenarios.

Rarely does a career span from commanding troops in active conflict zones to advising a global tech giant on cybersecurity strategy, but that is exactly what Colonel KPM Das has done.

His journey from joining India's National Defence Academy at just 16 years old to becoming National Cybersecurity Advisor at Cisco is genuinely remarkable.

In this episode, Das reflects on how the Academy's demanding structure (40 percent dedicated to physical training alone) forged a resilience that carried him through decades of service. He describes being posted to Nagaland and Manipur in 1979 during a period of active conflict, learning firsthand that military training doesn't eliminate fear but teaches you to manage it through teamwork. That lesson, that strength lives in teams rather than individuals, stayed with him throughout his entire life and career.

Could a 16-year-old who expected to escape academics have predicted leading cybersecurity strategy for one of the world's largest technology companies?

Transitioning to civilian life after 40 years of service, Das argues veterans carry transferable skills including integrity and action orientation that organisations desperately need. He also makes a compelling case that cybersecurity is accessible to anyone, noting that most breaches stem from human error rather than sophisticated attacks.

• Military training's unexpected value in tech leadership — Das's defense academy experience and combat zone postings directly shaped his ability to lead cybersecurity strategy, proving that military discipline and crisis management translate powerfully to corporate settings.

• The paradox of command isolation — Despite leading teams, leaders face unique loneliness when making critical decisions with incomplete information, a counterintuitive reality that separates leadership from teamwork.

• India's demographic advantage as a cybersecurity risk — The country's young, digitally-savvy population, while presenting economic opportunities, simultaneously creates distinctive cybersecurity vulnerabilities requiring continuous strategic adaptation.

Tune in for a conversation that genuinely earns its length.