Tell us a little about yourself – your early days, where you were born, your schooling, college, your major, when you moved to the US, how you landed at your current role

I was born and raised in Bengaluru. Growing up surrounded by a family of engineers, it was a given that the next generation would follow suit. I was lucky enough to go to the same engineering college as my dad, sister, uncles & cousins for a degree in Electrical and Electronics. In my final year, I interned at the Texas Instruments Digital Signal Processing lab in the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science and continued to work there for a year after my graduation. 

Subsequently, as I pursued a Master’s in Computer Engineering in the US, I also found my life partner and we settled down outside of Philadelphia. After graduating, I stayed close to my area of studies, hardware engineering, and worked in the controls division of Honeywell for a short time. When it was time to start a family, having the chance to occasionally work from home became a priority. So, I switched from hardware to software and joined an audio networking start-up called Aviom where I honed my product development skills for six years. 

A decade later, we relocated to the Bay Area in pursuit of career growth. I had a strong urge to do something in healthcare and it was the perfect time to jump in since the Affordable Care Act had just been passed and it was heralded as a new era. A chance conversation with a childhood friend opened doors for a project management role at Kaiser Permanente, a well-respected leader in the industry, and thus began the second decade of my career. At Kaiser, in my quest for understanding the business of healthcare and health plans, I intentionally sought to work on large and complex investment programs in both business and IT and grew up the career ladder simultaneously. 

After 12 years at Kaiser, I realized I had comprehensive domain knowledge that could be leveraged across other healthcare organizations so I recently joined Deloitte Consulting, as a Managing Director in Technology Operations for the Healthcare sector.

Have you drawn professional inspiration from others? Who/what inspired you to pursue your current career and why? 

Early in my career, I was inspired by colleagues who shared their backgrounds and how they pivoted to different career pathways without formal education in that field. It was clear that following one’s passion, taking risks, and persevering were key to their success. I figured if they could do it, I could too, that mindset was fundamental for me to take my chances. 

When I immigrated to the US, the first thing that hit me was how critical it was to have a job to get quality, affordable healthcare as opposed to the simplicity of walking into a doctor’s office when needed (whether you had a job or not), a model we were used to in India. The complexities of the system baffled me. I wanted to learn all about it and see how we got to where we were and be able to influence the future of care. This was the motivation behind my decision to enter the healthcare industry.

What skills do you use most often in your leadership role? How have you grown those skills? What leadership skills are you continuing to work on?

Being courageous, authentic, going in with a beginner’s mindset and finally having a bias towards action, are some skills I often use in my leadership role. Being courageous and speaking up were the hardest in my early career as they were counter to how I was raised and every feedback for improvement I received was around those two skills. I had to make an effort to cultivate them, learn by observing others who were really good at it. More recently though, on the flipside, I realized I was talking more than I should in conversations with my team, I was more focused on what I was going to say next instead of actively listening and it was not productive. So, these days I’m focused on ‘listening to understand’, instead of ‘listening to respond’. It is a continuous journey of exercising humility and learning.

What’s the biggest risk you took? Why? What were some key lessons learned? 

As I have called out previously, jumping into the healthcare industry, without any experience, after a decade in the tech industry was a huge risk that I took. Honestly, no regrets because it is what I’m passionate about and I wanted to do everything I could to succeed. The initial years were not easy, many times I wondered if I had made the right decision and there were days when I literally cried because the learning curve was huge. But I persevered and charted my own pathway. Over time, leaning on family and friends helped me get through it. I wish I had leaned on them sooner. I would have given up if it wasn’t for them.

How do you manage self-doubt? How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

When I started in healthcare, I quickly realized knowledge was power. Equipping myself with the right information, connecting the dots and the people, expressing my opinion in a way that positively impacted the outcomes, and delivering quality work ensured others noticed my contributions and once I became that go-to person for everything, it felt good and it was a natural confidence booster. There were always people who doubted my abilities or didn’t think I was good enough and the classic impostor syndrome would creep in but talking about it with others who believed in me and validating that it wasn’t me was important in overcoming self-doubt. And most importantly, not letting it linger too long was important. Such situations are inevitably stressful. Talking about it with my immediate family, channeling my energy towards hobbies, practicing yoga and meditation, and hanging out with extended family and friends has always been therapeutic and has provided a much-needed reset. The other thing that I focus on is taking control of my own narrative, changing what is in my control, and moving away from situations and people that I can’t influence. It is not easy and takes a lot of intentional effort but once you start practicing it, it becomes easier to handle the discomfort and stress.

How do you balance your career, personal life, and passions? Is there such a thing as balance?

The definition of balance can be different for every individual depending upon the phase of life and career they are in. We have to be pragmatic about what we sign up for and when. Early in my career, when I was raising a young child, having the flexibility to work from home and not working on weeknights and weekends was a priority. For a couple of years, I was content doing a 9-5 job and didn’t expect promotions. But when my daughter was a bit more independent, I challenged myself more at work, took on more stretch projects, and traveled on business. Subsequently, when I had to be there for her again, I scaled back my travel and weeknight work by switching to a role that didn’t have those requirements. For me, ultimately what matters is how my family and I are thriving every day. When I’m experiencing stress and it is impacting my health and relationship with loved ones, then I know it is time to take action. Whether it is personal life or career, we have sat down as a family to evaluate what we must do ourselves, what we must outsource (cooking, cleaning, child-care, gardening, grocery shopping, financial planning, home maintenance chores) and what we must stop doing entirely or pursue more of to reach our ideal balance.

Who was/is your role model and/or leadership mentor?

Everybody benefits from having a mentor and/or sponsor to grow as a leader. You need another leader who was there before you to give you the feedback – what you are already good at and where you have opportunities to grow, someone who encourages you to bring your best and who talks to others about your capabilities. The best mentor and sponsor connections within an organization happen organically when you start performing and delivering and get noticed. You need to recognize these moments and capitalize on them for formal relationships. I have been lucky to have many managers, both men and women who have been amazing mentors and remain so to this day. When opportunities at work did not materialize into growth opportunities, I leaned on immediate and extended family members, friends, and the Neythri network. In fact, the three people who have always been my biggest champions, critics, and sponsors are my husband, daughter, and a friend I have known since pre-k. When you reach senior leadership levels, sponsors are critical for growth, especially in a culture that promotes and recognizes based on trusted relationships.

How can women support other women in their workplaces?

I believe, that if you are a woman in a leadership position, you should leverage your position of power and be intentional about identifying other capable women to mentor and/or sponsor. Also, I have always found ways to speak up and have other women’s back when they are doing the right thing because it is what I expect other women will do for me. As women, sometimes we also tend to judge other women more negatively than we would men with similar behaviors, something we need to consciously avoid.

What’s your favorite way to relax and unwind?

Read books or watch shows related to travel, cooking and gardening

What is the most interesting or unusual job you’ve ever had?

Between my Master’s and my next professional job opportunity, I decided to take a three-month break and experience a retail job. I worked as a sales associate at one of my favorite garden stores at the time – Smith and Hawken. I learned all about gardening in the US & retail customer service and met some amazing garden enthusiasts.

If you had to eat one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Rice

Yoga & Chai or Zumba & Iced Tea?

Yoga and Chai

Who would you switch places with for a day?

Farmer

What is your favorite hobby?

Gardening

What’s the first concert you ever attended?

Elton John with Billy Joel 

What’s the next place on your travel bucket list?

Turkey

What Neythri means to you (1-2 sentences)

Neythri is my go-to place to find other women that I can relate to, my sisterhood!