Seeing Life Beyond Setbacks: Priyanshu’s Journey

Challenges and setbacks are a part of life, and it takes a lot of courage to go through them and see things beyond them. This resonates with Priyanshu’s career trajectory, where he, with all his might, looked at life beyond failures!

Priyanshu was a happy child who loved to joke with his elder sister about being their parent’s favorite child. Although he was not very inclined towards studies, he was extremely passionate about sports, especially tennis. He participated in multiple tournaments and inter-school matches but had to quit due to injuries. Then music became his new passion, and even today he enjoys humming to some guitar strings whenever he gets some me time! Priyanshu’s story is one of resilience, determination, and finding joy in unexpected places.

Though Priyanshu was introverted and indulged in minimal interactions at school, his communication skills when it came to presentations were awe-inspiring from the beginning. He was always fascinated with upcoming technologies and computers, so he took the usual route and opted for the Science stream in his 11th standard to later do engineering in college. Upon initially entering college , Priyanshu found it difficult to make friends as he was really introverted. Plus, a few subjects were highly challenging for him to understand and learn, like Electronic Devices and Circuits (EDC).

When his exam results of the first year were out, Priyanshu had an average score in other subjects; unfortunately, he had a back in the subject of EDC, which he struggled with. All his peers, even those with a lower chance of passing, had cleared the exam, and he had not made it there. This was a disappointing feeling for Priyanshu, as he had never scored such low grades or failed in his entire academic journey so far.

Priyanshu was utterly taken aback and panicked about what he would tell his parents. Parents who had never put any restrictions on him, who have been supportive and had instilled faith in him all this while. Priyanshu believed that it was so disappointing that he couldn’t ever overcome it or face his parents. With all these apprehensions in his mind, Priyanshu stood still before his parents, thinking they would be furious and angry with him. His parents were slightly upset but didn’t react as he thought they’d. Instead, his father motivated him to see what could be done next!

He momentarily focused on moving ahead with other subjects by not carrying the baggage of failing an exam. He almost felt this might be the end of possibilities for him; he couldn’t make it big in life or even make his parents proud, as it was the only exam he consecutively had a backlog of throughout his 4 years of college.

They say that all ends well, but was it actually for Priyanshu? By the end of college, he had cleared his backlog in that subject. However, when it was time for placements, he was offered jobs for both technical and non-technical job roles. When it came to making a choice, Priyanshu decided to accept the non-technical job offer because they provided a handsome salary for a fresher. He was always open to trying new things, which made the decision even easier for him. He was placed in an ed-tech company where his role was with the sales team. Initially, within the first few days, he thought everything was going just fine until he gradually realized that the company’s morals were corrupted. He wouldn’t want to continue working in such an environment. The pay was good but at the cost of being morally corrupt!? No, he immediately left the company and, from scratch, started looking for technical job roles in Jaipur.

While his hunt for a job was on, he came to know about Cyntexa, an IT services company that belonged to Shrey, who was his acquaintance from his college days. Back in the day, when he used to study Java at training, he would often find Shrey there giving Salesforce lectures. So without delay, he immediately applied for the developer role here at Cyntexa.

Priyanshu cleared the interview and got the offer letter. He then went to his parents and discussed it with them. His parents were not entirely convinced whether he should join a startup. Still, Priyanshu managed to convince them that joining the company would be a great learning experience for him.

When asked to describe his initial days at Cyntexa, Priyanshu just said, “Impeccable.” Since day 1, he has been in awe of the core organizational values and ethics. The training period was a toiling grind for him, as the day at work began as early as 7 in the morning for classes and went on for eight hours after 10 am. He now giggles, remembering his training days; the days used to be so hectic that most of the time, he would partially be sleepy, just nodding his head on the first bench while his mentors were teaching.

Assignments, tasks, modules, messy sleep cycles, and project alignments were all part of his initial time, and he managed them with sincerity, diligence, and determination. A series of hiccups were to follow once he was converted to a full-time employee. He recalled his first client call experience, which happened to be just average, as he was nervous about facing a client directly but, with a bit of help from his seniors, somehow graciously managed to complete the call. Since then, Priyanshu has gradually started working on his communication and client presentation skills, which have helped him a lot in the years to come. One fine day, when all the while Priyanshu had only been working on Sales and Service Cloud in the Salesforce ecosystem, Vishwajeet Srivastava (CTO & Founder of Cyntexa) asked him to start learning for Salesforce Commerce Cloud and then later Shrey asked him to start building practice for the same. This was something unexpected for him and the suddenness of the moment was just unexplainable for him.

This new and advanced area required Priyanshu to start everything from scratch; he was initially apprehensive and skeptical but then decided to go with the flow as there was absolutely no guide, reference material or a dedicated person to mentor him. It almost felt like walking barefoot in a landmine-prone area with him, as no one knew what was going to happen next!

When he was first introduced to the cloud, he was asked to attend live induction sessions that used to take place at 3 in the morning, again churning Priyanshu’s sleep cycle upside down. After attending the sessions, he would barely sleep enough and, with red eyes, would still be present in the office to complete his tasks while meticulously planning and building a solid practice and command of the cloud. Plus, he was the only person at the helm of affairs regarding Commerce Cloud at Cyntexa.

At the outset of his association with Commerce Cloud, Priyanshu faced a significant setback when the first client he worked with expressed frustration due to technical issues that caused delays in project delivery. Then one thing led to another and things started compounding over. This time Priyanshu not only had to handle multiple tasks but also effectively manage projects, conduct induction sessions, and mentor the trainees. When asked about how he coped with the challenging situation, Priyanshu acknowledged that starting something new can often be chaotic, and it’s normal for things to go off track initially. However, he emphasized the importance of maintaining faith in oneself and the process, even during the most testing times. Whenever he felt self-doubt or low, he resorted to munching on chips while jotting down his thoughts in a new notebook to declutter his mind and approach things from a fresh perspective.

Talking to Priyanshu about his style of leadership, he categorized himself as a thought leader who has deep expertise in Salesforce Commerce Cloud. He always brings a unique perspective to the table. He motivates his colleagues to work with a blend of intelligent work and hard work, emphasizing the importance of taking ownership of one’s work. He often said, “If you’re opting for it, then you have to own it!” Through his efforts, he usually creates a positive impact on his team that results in increased productivity and better team performance.

The organization recognized and acknowledged his efforts, expertise, and demeanor, and he then became a partner at Cyntexa and continues to serve his 3rd term. This was a massive thing for him, seeing his career trajectory take a leap forward. From where he thought that one failure could define his whole life, he became a partner at a company solely because of his hard work and dedication.

Today, along with looking after the client projects associated with Commerce Cloud, Priyanshu is also keenly related to the Pre-sales team. He’s a trainer, a team leader, a coder, and a partner at Cyntexa. He aspires to look into the other aspects of upcoming technologies like AI and automation. Besides work, he manages time for his passion for singing and travelling as much as possible. Looking back at those times when Priyanshu doubted himself the most he says, “One thing I have realized so far is that, We can’t undo certain things, instead we can rebuild. Plus, we should own our mistakes and not let them control our present and future.”

This was his journey of bravely looking at life beyond failures. He, who once doubted himself, is now looked up to by many in the organization. This is truly a remarkable story of the triumph of faith and persistence over setbacks!