Ms. Sonica Aron
Achiever's Success Story
Marching Sheep
Sonica Aron is the Founder and Managing Partner of Marching Sheep, a leading HR consulting firm in India and globally, specializing in OD consulting, Diversity and inclusion interventions, employee health and wellness and capability building. An XLRI post graduate, Sonica has worked with companies like Pepsico, Vodafone, Roche Diagnostics and AkzoNobel. She started her career with a sound understanding of business where she went route-riding with Pepsico and was part of the team that launched Pepsi 200 ml at Rs 5. She was the first lady HR Manager stationed at a factory in Upcountry UP and there the seeds to her diversity practice were born. She was heading HR for Philips Consumer Lifestyle business in India in 2012, before starting Marching Sheep in 2013.
In the past 9 years , Marching Sheep has gone from strength to strength under the leadership of Sonica. From a single woman army to a team of passionate HR consultants, It boasts of a healthy roster of Indian and global clients, across industries and geographies. It has been adjudged among the top 5 Global Brands & Leaders 2021 by Digilive, among top 25 HR firms in India by Business Connect, and among top 10 in Delhi/NCR by Silicon India. Sonica has been listed among the top 10 women entrepreneurs in 2020 by Forbes India, Among India’s Most Valued Leaders by Forbes India 2021, among Inspirational Leadership Icons by Fortune India in2021, among the top 100 digital influencers by YourStory in 2020 and most recently, as the Women Entrepreneur of the year at the 62nd National Summit on Atma Nirbhar Bharat: Vision of New India, organized by Indian Achievers Forum in 2022.
Sonica is passionate about HR, empowering people and all things in between. A mother of two, she decided to set up Marching Sheep in 2013 with a purpose of making a difference to peoples’ lives and careers, and driving respect and equality for all. As a Human Resource and D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) specialist with an experience of more than 20 years, both in the industry and consulting, she has designed one of the most evolved ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ frameworks in India with deep understanding of real issues faced by women, individuals from LGBTQ community and people with disability! Marching Sheep works with clients across industries and geographies on gender, generational, sexual orientation, disability, racial and ethnicity inclusion.
She firmly believes that change begins from the society. Hence Marching Sheep runs several non- commercial campaigns and awareness generating activities like fireside chats and panel discussions. Their campaign, Marching with pride that brought forth real challenges faced by individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, and another campaign 21 Marching, which involved bringing forth candid conversations with people with the 21 disabilities covered under RPWD act 2016 have made significant impact both on societal awareness and corporate awareness.
Seen as a thought leader, her opinions on Auntentic Leadership, Anxiety and burnout, motherhood penalty, unpaid work, generational diversity, inclusion of the LGBTQ community and many other relevant topics have been published by leading publications including Hindu, TOI, HT, Business World, The Statesman, DNA and the Tribune.
Sonica is a passionate advocator of inclusion, employee experience and emotional wellness. Having been a woman professional, Sonica has both experienced and observed gender-based bias closely. Every woman in the workspace experiences this at some time or the other. This prompted her to launch her
diversity practice. ‘Organizations need to move ahead of the curve and drive inclusive teams and mindsets, inclusive processes and mentor and coach employees to unleash their full potential’, she believes and advocates. She works on board of ‘Gender at Work India Trust’ actively delivering to the society. Sonica loves her little patch of the garden and is an avid reader.
