Humans of Telecom

"My childhood entailed growing in a post civil-war era in Lebanon with no cellular network... That enticed me into the world of telecom!" Tony Jamous, Co-Founder and CEO at Oyster in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices.

In this episode, Tony walks us through his journey which started in Lebanon all the way upto Cyprus now, creating ripples in the telecom and CPaaS industry with Nexmo and now shifting focus towards creating a global talent pool via Oyster, which he strongly believes is the future competitive edge for every organization! He also shares glimpses of his tryst with playing the guitar, raising three amazing children and celebrating two birthdays every year with an open invitation to all listeners to join the celebrations in Cyprus!

"I’m passionate about marketing and building brave brands - more than a 9-5 job, it’s also an avenue to express my creativity and create business impact!" Gwen Lafage, Vice President Marketing, Global Brand and Content at Sinch in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices.

In this episode, Gwen walks us through her journey and experience of entering the world of CPaaS. A die-hard marketing aficionado, Gwen is originally from Paris, but worked all over the world, even owned an art gallery in San Francisco and is now settled in Atlanta. Beyond her profession, Gwen talks about her love for her plants, playing board games with her son and eating half a bar of dark chocolate every day!

"I never thought this could happen with me... But I now live my second life to the fullest!" In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Humans of Telecom presents the story of Pinder Takhar, Director Product Marketing at Kaleyra in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices.

In this episode, Pinder acts as a beacon of positivity as she walks us through the highs and lows of her life and her recent victory over breast cancer, the drama that entails in growing up in UK with a family having roots in India, her passion for new experiences such as community choir singing and Tai Chi Gong and, finally, her reflections on two decades in the telecom industry which has included witnessing multiple rounds of acquisitions and change of guards by industry heavyweights such as Sinch, Kaleyra and Tata Communications!

"Life is all about passion... Whether it is in sports or education, what matters to me is the legacy I leave behind for future generations!" Pablo Mlikota, Senior Vice President International Mobility at Etisalat UAE in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices.

In this episode, we uncover the various facets of Pablo (way too many to uncover in a single episode)! He is a professional martial artist who nearly made it to the Olympics, a professional goalkeeper in his youth, a motorcycle enthusiast, a private pilot (with a dream to fly his family around the US country-side) and even a radio show host! While he was born in a small town in Argentina with a family background in the agriculture industry, he chose to pave his own path by entering in the telecom space in the coveted AT&T Young Professional Leadership Programme and has now become a global citizen!

"It has been nearly two decades at Telenor Linx for me and this telecom community is now more than a family!" Maria Öbrink, Head of Sales at Telenor Linx in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices. In this episode, Maria joins us from the Nordic lands of Stockholm and walks us through her journey of transitioning from a drab job of selling Yellow Pages to entering our industry through IDT. Destiny had telecom written in her fate when she branched into a mundane life of renting storage space after being laid off Carrier1 but unexpectedly got invited to join Deutsche Telekom within an hour after quitting her job! Maria reveals how her personal life revolves around constantly maintaining the right 'tone of voice' and body language after her mother suffered a stroke and her daughter deals with an intellectual functional disorder. And finally, she talks about blowing off steam through her passion for fitness, listening to podcasts and being the undefeated arm wrestler ever since elementary school!

"I take immense pride in my rich heritage of descending from the Maasai warriors and Kikuyu people of Kenya!" Wangeci Kanjama, Director Partnerships at M-PESA Africa in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices. In this episode, Wangeci shares her interests in finance which led to her entry in Safaricom, how she has seen the company, country and continent grow through various events including taking Safaricom public in 2008, helping proliferate accessible internet in Africa through subsea cable connectivity, running the wholesale business unit at Safaricom and driving towards double-digit growth and now creating a One-M-PESA ecosystem across 8 countries in Africa! She also introduces us to her nickname 'Speedy Gonzales', how she gains life lessons while attending funerals and, finally, her experience of ranking as #1 in ROCCO's 2020 report of the most influential persons in the telecom space!

"In my youth, I studied law and dreamt of becoming a judge... but life had other plans!" Uku Tomikas, CEO & Managing Partner at Messente Communications, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices. In this episode, Uku walks us through his diverse and multi-faceted journey entailing starting as a waiter and performer, moving onto becoming a platoon commander in the army, shifting gears into running a seafood business, further becoming a high school gym instructor, and finally entering the world of CPaaS and telecom where he has climbed the ladder to the top through his dedication and hard work! He also shares his stories about his acting stint at the Estonian National Opera as well as his two near-death experiences of drowning and getting hit by a bus!

"At a point in my life, my daily work routine entailed crossing an enclosure of monkeys and working with elephants at a zoo!" Cheryl Ruck, Associate Director at Expand Group, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer at Globe Teleservices. In this episode, Cheryl walks us through her experiences of touching lives as a leading telecom recruiter, her marriage to a national sports champion, her telco veteran mother's decade-long journey of teaching children in China and, finally, her mantra of living life with lightness and joy, uplifting others through the infectious smile on her face!