Hailing from Warangal, Jyothi Reddy’s story exemplifies what a fighting spirit and a hunger to succeed can get you.
One among five children of a daily wage labourer, Jyothi’s father sent Jyothi and her sister to an orphanage when she was 10.
She spent five years in the orphanage, after which she was married to a farmer when she was just 16, even before she could complete Class 10.
An 18-year-old Jyothi became a mother to two daughters and worked as a farm labourer by day and a tailor at night to support her family.
“I would dream of having more than enough food to feed my children. I did not want to give them the life I was leading,” she told
YourStory
.
Knowing that education was the answer, she fought against the odds to complete a BA degree, after which she became a government school teacher.
Jyothi moved to the US with a cousin’s help, working extra jobs, enrolled in a computer programme, and completed her MA.
Image courtesy Jyothi Reddy/ Facebook
She also worked as a babysitter, sales girl, gas station attendant and in motels before eventually working as a software recruiter.
When she had saved enough, she started her own venture ‘Key Software Solutions’ in 2021, which is a billion-dollar company today.