Chanel’s Indian CEO Leena Nair recalls college life: ‘Dad said I have to marry…’

Nair almost did not go to high school and pursued her engineering degree in a class with 3,000 men and 18 women. During a recent fireside chat at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nair recalled that her father had placed a condition to letting her go to college.

Also read: Microsoft to permanently shut Skype from May, ending its 22-year run: Report

“My father was a big sponsor for my education. He said, ‘I will educate you but I can’t promise that you will have a career because I don’t know if my attitudes are going to change, mindset is going to change. I can’t change the world around you, but I will educate you’,” Nair recalled.

She said that her father sent her on the “promise” that she will marry a man of his choice before the age of 23. “I thought, ‘Okay, whatever, let me just sign up for this. Let me just get going on that train [to college in Jamshedpur],” she added.

Also read: Meta apologises after Instagram error floods users with violent, graphic reels

Nair said she thought two years to complete her degree is a long time to come back and “negotiate” with him.

Nair said ‘yes’ to her husband in 30 minutes

She revealed that her father did not forget and when she was working at Unilever as a management trainee, he called her on her 23rd birthday and said, “I have someone I want you to meet.”

Also read: Why did the stock market crash today? Sensex tanks over 1,000 points, Nifty down 300

She said that though she resisted, her father persisted saying, “A promise is a promise,” and that is how she met her husband, Kumar Nair. “I met her and we had coffee and I said ‘Yes’ in 30 minutes, believe it or not. We’ve been married for 30 years,” she said.

Nair was appointed the global CEO of Chanel at the end of 2021.