Introvert’s journey to Harvard, Skydiving & Helicopter flying
Story published on Women Who Win website
1) Why Women Empowerment is Important to You?
I see a lot of women giving up on their dreams after getting married or having kids. I often hear them saying that they don’t have time to fuel their passion. I am a workaholic who works for over 14 hours a day but when I’m with my daughter, I make sure that we spend some quality time together. Apart from the long work hours and fruitful family time, I do take out some time for my passions too. That ‘me’ time is what keeps me going! I do things that truly make me happy, whether it is a long walk at the beach or jumping off the plane, 30 minutes meditation at home in the morning or a weight training session at the gym.
By sharing my story, I would like to inspire women who want to be both, a great leader at work and a fully engaged parent at home, and show them how a woman can have it all!
2) You describe yourself as shy and introverted. How did you overcome your shyness and put yourself out there, at Harvard and at work?
One of my main goals at Harvard was to create a solid network group but it wasn’t very easy for an introvert like me. During the very early stages I realized that if I have to grow professionally, I have to get out of my comfort zone and start striking up conversations with other students and professors.
Engaging in any conversations with my professors was tough because I was coming back to school after 12 years. I had very little confidence and the technology had evolved so much that I was very afraid to speak up or share my thoughts on any of the advanced topics that were being discussed in the class. To overcome this problem, I started reading a lot. I made sure that I was fully equipped with knowledge and was completely prepared to talk about the topics that were to be discussed in class. Once I saw that my ideas were appreciated and recognized in class, I grew more confident.
Another very important lesson that I learned was that there is no right or wrong answer. It was all about sharing different perspectives. And with this learning, I no longer had the fear of being judged and I started to open up more, even with the students.
The biggest change occurred when I started a part-time job of assisting a professor for one of the most demanding courses at Harvard. And, most of my students are CEOs and CTOs of big companies. Having a 1:1 project discussion with them on an everyday basis really helped me in professionally and personally.
In my personal life, I’m still an introvert and like to keep my circle small but at my workplace, I’m known to be a talkative, bold and courageous women who is not afraid to speak her mind.
3) You felt comfortable sitting in the back of the class, not taking too much attention. Your professor then congratulated you in front of everyone on being the best product manager in the class. What is your advice to introverted students?
I would encourage students to get out of their comfort zone and try engaging into conversations with people of diverse backgrounds and culture. As most jobs these days require collaboration with the cross-functional teams, I don’t think there’s any escape for people hiding behind their cubicles.
4) Tell us about how you got to Harvard. What were the challenges you faced along the way? What were the challenges you faced there?
In 2013, I lost my job when my visa status changed. It was very frustrating to sit at home and do nothing. This started affecting my health. So finally, I decided to pursue advanced studies and make use of my time here in the United States which is known to be the land of opportunities.
After the decision was made, the biggest road block was, where we would get the funding for my education. Having a young daughter, it was tough to not think about her future and to invest thousands of dollars on my studies while I already had a master's degree from India. It was a lot of money at stake! But we decided to take that risk with the hope that we would get our reward soon and that I would find a well-deserving job when I had a work permit. Enrolling into this degree program at Harvard was just the beginning of my journey! During my first semester, I got hit hard by reality when I ‘failed’ and got a ‘C’ grade in my course. The education system and the academic culture both are entirely different than what I had experienced back in India. And because it was “Harvard” that I was enrolled into, scoring an 84% meant nothing and the passing grade was 96%.
I didn’t lose hope and enrolled for two more courses in the next semester. By creating a continuous feedback loop with the professors, I kept track of my grades and maintained my standing in the class.
As time passed, the courses got more demanding as did my daughter at home! They both needed equal attention. And by this time, the societal pressure also increased. People started asking me why I used to get back home so late and how long would this go on. Being an empath, it wasn’t easy to not listen to those harsh words and criticism, but I didn’t lose focus on my goal and kept going.
With all my hard work and dedication, I was able to ace 9 out of 11 courses towards my degree and made it to the Dean’s academic list. I was not only rewarded as the best project manager twice but the business proposals that I wrote were also selected as one of the best in the class. Harvard has been the life-changing experience for me. An experience that was totally worth all the hustle and something that I wouldn’t trade-off for anything else. It’s the best thing that happened to me!
5) Why do you like working in tech? What part of tech are you most passionate about?
I’m passionate about the science behind the technology. I’ve a very curious mind and I love playing around with the systems/data architecture. Understanding how the current technology works and finding out solutions to make it better is my forte. I also learned sky diving only because I wanted to know how one drives the canopy and controls it against the wind. The whole science and functioning behind it caught my attention.
6) You emphasize the importance of building a personal brand. What are the most important steps to take in building your personal brand, especially for someone more introverted?
Know Your Audience – Before you start building a brand, the first thing you need to know is your target audience and of course the end goal of the project. What are you trying to achieve from this? Are you looking for a new job and trying to attract employers? Or is it just a platform to share your content with the industry experts? Depending on what you want out of it will help you design the system that you are trying to build.
Build Your Online Presence – Create a website and store all your work portfolio that can showcase your talent. Register a domain for at least 5-10 years so that you don’t have to worry about renewing this every year or losing the domain name to somebody else, which I feel is very important for your unique brand. If you don’t want to go big or do not have the budget for the website then you can simply start with a simple blog on WordPress.
Highlight your Strengths & Accomplishments – A personal brand should be all about you and your achievements. Make sure you highlight your strengths in bold and you also have a mission or a vision statement on your website.
Create Credibility through Content/Blogs - The shared content should be crisp, and the message should be very clear.
Use your Network to market yourself – Make sure all your content is shareable on the social media plug-ins. Also, never hesitate to ask your network to share your posts or refer you to a friend!
7) What does it feel like flying a helicopter? How did you get the courage to fly and skydive?
Helicopter flying and Skydiving both are extreme aerial sports but the experience is very different. Skydiving was very easy for me even when I jumped off the plane solo and helicopter flying still feels terrifying even after completing 8 lessons of one hour each! In skydiving, the adrenaline is merely for 90 seconds but when you fly a helicopter you have your blood rushing for as long as you are there up in the air. And flying controls are so sensitive that even a tiniest mistake or any additional pressure on the collective pitch control lever can cause a flip over that can result in a very serious accident. So, you have to be very careful & alert.
I was born & raised in a small town in India and although I come from a very liberal family, I never really had any big dreams in life. I wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid but I never took academics very seriously. When I joined Harvard, I found my true potential. I realized that nothing is impossible in this world if you do it with full determination. All you need to do is put all your heart and soul into it and believe in yourself!
