Nusrat Durrani

Nusrat Durrani worked literally from the ground up to get to his position as Senior Vice President and General Manager of MTV World. Growing up in India, Durrani was raised in the midst of a giant sea of culture in and outside of his own country. In 1993, Durrani recalls seeing a television network that was aptly titled Music Television, or MTV, for the first time. Immediately he was infatuated with the network, researching for the next four years about MTV and trying to find his way in to be part of it himself. This passion got him through having to basically restart his life in America and struggling his way into the company's New York-based headquarters during the harshest winter the city had seen in 100 years.

As the surprisingly mild-mannered and down-to-earth Durrani states, "finding a passion isn't a science, it's an art". By this, he means one cannot calculate how to excel in a field that they love, it must more or less express itself naturally. This is an important concept for anyone who chooses to take up any job or life for themselves, as it will be this artful passion that will get them through the almost imminent hard times that life will bring them, and ultimately a great deal of success.