Thirty years later, that same willingness to get close to the work sits at the heart of the business she leads today: Women In Shipping and Transport Services (WISTS).

This Women's Month, Chetty's journey offers something more meaningful than a polished success story. It is a story about ambition and achievement, certainly, but also about a business that closed, lessons that had to be learned the hard way, and the courage to return to entrepreneurship with a clearer sense of purpose.

Learning the industry from the ground up

Chetty completed a BSc in 1995 and then Damelin's flagship business course, studying financial and management accounting, strategic decision-making, human resources and business management.

That mix of people insight and commercial discipline became a foundation for a career in shipping. As Kien Hung Shipping was acquired by United Ships Agency and later Hamburg Sud, Chetty kept growing with the business, building experience across operations, customer service, sales and management.

In 2009, she was headhunted by Maersk as a senior sales executive. Three years later, another opportunity took her to Sharaf Shipping, where she became its first Indian female branch manager. In 2013, her leadership was recognised when she received the Business Women's Association Corporate Category award.

The recognition mattered, but it did not make the next chapter easy. In 2014, Chetty opened Women In Shipping for the first time. The business ran for four years before closing in 2018 after the loss of its largest account. For Chetty, closing the business was a profound disappointment, but it was not the end of the vision. She returned to corporate shipping in August 2018, joining Hapag-Lloyd and taking on senior responsibilities spanning national sales, customer service, minerals and metals, and the customer service transition during the acquisition of DAL Shipping.

Those years added new depth to an already substantial career. She saw client pressures from multiple angles, led teams through change and strengthened the expertise she would later bring back into her own company. In November 2024, she left corporate life once more. By January 2025, she had brought her entrepreneurial vision back to life through WISTS.

A more personal way to move business

Today, WISTS delivers tailored end-to-end supply chain solutions. The company draws on Chetty's three decades of experience with leading global shipping lines, while offering clients something she believes has become increasingly rare: personal attention from people who understand both the cargo and the business behind it.

Chetty wants clients to feel that WISTS is in their corner, taking ownership of queries, documentation and negotiations, and developing solutions around their needs rather than pushing them through a generic process. That approach reflects the wider purpose behind the WISTS name. The business exists to keep companies moving while creating opportunity, developing talent and increasing women's participation across shipping and transport. For Chetty, Women's Month is not only about celebrating how far women have come. It is also a reminder to make the path wider for those still coming through.

Her journey has not been a straight line, but logistics rarely is. When the route changed, Chetty recalculated. She began again with more knowledge, greater resilience and a business shaped by everything the first attempt taught her.

From organising a filing room to the founder of a growing logistics business, Dheshree Chetty has spent 30 years moving cargo, businesses and boundaries. With WISTS, she is now moving her own vision forward: experience behind her, service at the centre, and a firm belief that the strongest comeback is the one that creates a better way forward for others too.