Meet woman who lived in orphanage, forced to marry at 16, earned Rs 5 per day, now CEO of billion dollar company

Jyothi Reddy rose against the odds to become the CEO of a billion dollar software company. She was sent to an orphanage by her daily wager father at 8 who hoped it would provide her with a better life. The second of five children born in a poor family, she studied at a government school while living in the orphanage. 

She was then forced to get married at 16 and was the mother of two daughters at 18 years of age. With her financial stress increasing, she worked in farm fields for a shocking daily wage of just Rs 5. The first turning point came in her life with a central government scheme which helped her get into teaching. But the money wasn’t sufficient and she worked a tailoring job at night to make ends meet. 

Standing up for herself against the pressures of the society and her family, Jyothi earned a BA degree from the Dr BR Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and a PG degree from Kakatiya University in 1997. The degrees helped her earn more, but at Rs 398 per month, it was just not enough. 

The next turning point came when a relative visited from the US. This made her realise the opportunities abroad. Jyothi took computer courses and left for the US when she was eligible to work in the country. Only this, she had to leave her daughters behind in India. 

More struggle awaited her in the US where Jyothi had to work at a petrol pump, do a babysitter job, among other small gigs. Her first decent job was as a recruitment professional. In 2021, with savings of $40,000 she started her own business, Key Software Solutions. The company grew gradually to mark a turnover of $15 million and eventually into a billion dollar company in 2017.