When it comes to Divya Ananthanarayanan, there's always a fun or interesting story to hear. Born in India, Divya moved to Chicago in 2012 and was the first member of her family to come to America. Prior to joining our Sanitation team in 2015, she lived in Australia and worked for Chobani as well as Kraft Foods. Divya has two Masters degrees: the first in Food Science & Technology and a second in Industrial Engineering. When she's not hard at work, Divya and her husband enjoy traveling to new places. Her playlist of choice during her travels? Anything by the Backstreet Boys. Read on to learn more about our kind, funny creative werker, Divya Ananthanarayanan!
What long shot have you taken that really paid off?
Making a decision to move to Australia to pursue my Masters, where I had no family and friends, was really a long shot decision which gave me good exposure in food manufacturing and has also helped me to get a job in creative werks.
What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?
Dark green leafy vegetables have more calcium than a glass of milk!
What’s a role at creative werks you would like to try for a day?
Sales/Marketing: I would love to shadow Steve or Jürgen to see how they pitch creative werks to prospective clients.
Is there a documentary, album, or book that really changed the way you thought about something?
I always watch a lot of food travel documentaries, which has made me to think travel is not always to explore places and shop, but can also be to explore different cuisines.
How do you de-stress?
I like to watch comedies and listen to music. Anything melodic works, but classic Backstreet Boys is always the best.
Where did you grow up and what did you enjoy most about it?
Chennai, India - Chennai has one of the longest beaches. The city is surrounded by beaches and temples, and is filled with sculptures!
What’s the craziest call you’ve received at work?
A person did not go to work because he slept for 24 hours!
You own your own late night talk show; who do you invite as your first guest?
I would like to invite my father-in-law as my first guest so I could ask questions which I normally cannot ask at home.
Are you a traveler or a homebody?
Traveler - my husband and I love to travel, especially in America. So far we've visited Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Mackinac Island, San Francisco, Yosemite, Aspen. But my favorite was our trip to the Virgin Islands.
Who inspires you? Who do you aspire to be like?
My family inspires me the most. My grandmother is my biggest inspiration. She lived with us throughout my life in India and fed me every day while my parents worked full-time. I have never seen her exhausted or getting tired of doing household work. She used to always make the people around her happy. She was a very broad-minded person in spite of her age. Even though she did not have much schooling she had great knowledge and experience in everything.
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| Divya and her husband Yokesh on an underwater Sea Trek in the US Virgin Islands | Divya and Yokesh enjoyed some tandem cycling around Mackinac Island |