Tag: 2017 April – May

Regardless of how times have changed and the world has evolved, the corporate domain still remains dangerous ground for a woman. More so for Sri Lankan women who also battle a traditionalistic and often dogmatic society. A few though have emerged victorious reaching the pinnacle of their chosen careers. Eranthi Premaratne is one such outstanding woman.

A lawyer by profession, Eranthi also holds a BSc in Bioscience from the University of Colombo. “I left school in 1995 and entered university but with the situation in the country at that time there was quite a backlog at state universities so my father encouraged me to enter Law College while I waited for university acceptance. I didn’t want to be a practicing lawyer but my father said that’s fine and to do it only as a qualification. On the basis that I would never practice, I entered Law College as well and passed out.”

Despite not wanting to practice law, fate had other plans for this multi-talented young woman. “I am what I like to call a drifter. When I finished both university and my attorneys, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. I knew for a fact what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to be a doctor or a practicing lawyer. During this time, I joined an NGO that was involved with community work but that didn’t interest me either. Simultaneously I started a Post-Grad program at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies on International Relations. Some of our lecturers were from the Centre for Policy Alternatives like Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu and Rohan Edirisinghe. I found their work very interesting and asked them if I could join the CPA.”

While working at the CPA, Eranthi found herself involved in areas like constitutional reforms and policy making which grabbed her interest. “I got in to what I am doing now completely by chance. While at the CPA I worked on some labour related projects and found myself getting more and more involved. There was a particular issue where some NGOs had complained to the Fair Labour Association about factories in Sri Lanka. That’s how I started off in the labour law area.”

Recognizing Eranthi’s knowledge and passion for the labour industry in one of Sri Lanka’s largest industries, global clothing giant Nike asked her to join their ranks as a Corporate Responsibility specialist in Sri Lanka. While at Nike, Eranthi was required to conduct audits at the MAS factories. During one of these visits and an ensuing conversation with the management at MAS, Eranthi moved from a global brand to Sri Lanka’s premier name in the garment industry, and has not looked back since.

She now has over 15 years’ work experience specializing in labour law in apparel manufacturing and currently works as General Manager of Sustainable Business at MAS KREEDA the division at MAS Holdings that serves Nike.

“I never thought I would stay in one organization for such a long time since my previous jobs were all short stints. But MAS had just formed the ACTIVE division and it was a very challenging opportunity for me. For me working is about being happy and I kept moving from place to place because I wasn’t but at MAS it was different. I have been happy for a large part of my time here mainly because I get to work in an area that I am passionate about.”

Recognizing her passion and years of work in sustainable business, Eranthi was recently conferred with the “Women Super Achiever Award” at the World Women Leadership Congress 2017 held in India. The Award is conferred to Outstanding Women Professionals who have the vision, flair, acumen and professionalism to demonstrate their excellent leadership and management skills in an organization / institutions or towards society at large, thus making changes and achieving results. The broad parameters used for selecting the award recipients are Leadership, Ethics, Business Acumen, Social Impact, Charisma, Visionary Approach and a Change-Agent. The entire program is chaired and directed by Dr. R. L. Bhatia, Founder and Editor-in-Chief – World CSR Day | World Sustainability. The jury consists of senior leaders, researchers and academics including some prominent names. About 100 women leaders from Asia, Pacific and the Middle East were recognized for their contributions.

“What I love best about this award is that one does not need to nominate yourself for it. Instead you are recognized for your contribution to make this world a better place. As a working mother and having a young family to take care of, it is a battle even for me to juggle career and home. Support from family is therefore essential and I am truly blessed with a wonderful husband and supportive parents. I must also mention the support from the leadership at MAS who constantly strive to be an empathetic employer.”

At MAS Kreeda Eranthi is today responsible for ensuring that social and environmental sustainability are integrated into the core business values. She has been involved heavily with the MAS Women Go Beyond Progamme (WGB), which is a signature women’s empowerment programme. A strong advocate of working women and Eranthi has been instrumental in promoting advancement of women in their careers through mentoring and giving leadership. But more so by living the life she advocates for.

By Nishu Hassim

Photo Credit: Soul Captures (Suren Nimalan)

Whether you’re stuck in traffic or you’ve had a bad start to your day, the Morning Fix hosted by Dom and Asanka would surely turn that frown upside down. Their sense of humour is undeniably a positive fix for your morning and I must say that it was an absolute pleasure to interview the merry combo. Tune in to Yes FM 101.0 from 7am to 10am to get your ‘Morning Fix’!!

What led to the collaboration of Dom and Asanka?

We met in late 2008 which was when we started acting in Pusswedilla together. It was the team at Yes FM which brought us together. We first began with the Evening Show and thereafter went on to do the ‘Morning Fix’ from August 2015.

What is life like for a radio personality?

We wouldn’t consider ourselves as regular radio personalities because have several things we do apart from radio. The radio industry is small, yet it is cut-throat and competitive. However, we try to keep it real, mellow, light and not too over the top.

It’s a known fact that you’ll get on very well but are there times that you’ll don’t?

Of course there are! In any partnership you get disagreements but it has never led to a fight or argument. Although we are friends, we have very different views on a lot of things. We would say we complement each other.

What do you’ll get up to apart from the ‘Morning Fix’?

There are a lot of things we get up to that cannot be mentioned publicly!!

Asanka: I love to drive and travel whereas Dominic is the complete opposite – hates driving or being on the road. If we plan a trip, we would come to a compromise where I would drive and Dominic would get to sleep the entire way. Once we get to our hotel, Dominic would find his spot in front of the TV!!

We also do a lot of things together because we have a large circle of mutual friends.

On an off day, however, we’d prefer to be at home or someplace quiet where we don’t have to deal with the public or be social as that is what our job entails us to do anyway.

Work wise, what do you’ll do besides radio?

Asanka: I sing and produce music as a solo artist. I am also a part of ‘Glory’, an existing band, asked me to join them and lead the frontline. I also do a lot of compering and voice over work.

Dominic: I started my own arts trust called ‘Identities Inc.’ with a group of friends. It is a theatre group, for lack of a better word! We create a lot of productions and do corporate work – like corporate training and theatre based work. When I’m not working on radio, I’m at home writing scripts. I am also involved in compering work. I used to be a Quiz Master and a Pub Crawl host but not anymore. Now, most of my work revolves around drama and radio.

Most memorable moment on the show?

The most memorable moment was our Second Anniversary. We celebrated our partnership of two years on radio together on 2^nd February 2017. Although no one really celebrates a second anniversary on such a large scale, we decided to do it nonetheless and we were overwhelmed by the fact that our fans made a huge deal about it – sending wishes, cards, text messages and calls! It made us realize how many people listen to our show and how much they care about our combination. By far, the best day we’ve had!!!

30^th December 2016 was also fun. It was this one time we partied for two days straight.

Our producers and boss also make it memorable.

Top 5 favourite songs of all time?

Asanka: I listen to music from the 50s onwards and sing English and Sinhalese songs from every single decade up until now, so it’s tough for me to choose a few favourites.

Dominic: This is a very tough question – this is like asking an actor what his favourite movie is!

Do you feel that ‘Dom and Asanka’ is here to stay?

We realised that – last month, after our second anniversary – that it’s something fun and something to look forward to. We never know where life will take us but we’re certainly not the type of people who would pack up and leave and join somewhere else. We’re happy where we are and we’ve built so much of credibility and would never want to betray our fans.

For the record, we love coming to work for the show. There are times we’re sick or tired or have had long nights and barely any sleep but we still show up for work. Even in the middle of all the fun, we would always remind each other that we have the Show in the morning and call it a night. We have given the Show priority. When we first started, the management wasn’t really sure about how this would go or last and thus, was very weary. Yet, now they have so much faith in us that it worries us sometimes because we don’t have as much faith in ourselves at times.

The management has been very helpful. Nowhere has there been this much faith and support.

We do our very best for the show and are very committed.