Yes We Can

I love that I get to talk to all these amazing women for 30 minutes every week. So it's always such a treat. So let's dive right in for the audience. I have found technology in the tech sector to be energizing. Kind of full of smart people, people who are creative and innovative. I found myself gravitating towards the younger the startup type of companies because I just love the energy and the creativity and sometimes, you know, even more the chaotic. Not taking a risk really limits your opportunities. Yes, you might fail, but also you might have some amazing door that opens that you have no clue about from your safe place you're sitting in now. Tech changes all the time. It may feel like you have to start over. And I think that it's because things are always changing, we're always learning. I mean, if it makes you feel better, we're all, you know, we're at square one. We're all, there's always something new to learn. Put yourself out there, like, don't be afraid, don't be afraid of tech, don't be afraid of, you know, maybe not having having the right background, et cetera. It's a pretty open minded space. I'm not waiting really to be given a seat at the table. So most of the time I'm coming in there with my own chair. Because learning it while you're doing it is the best way to learn. If you want to learn and you're curious and you dedicate time to doing it, you'll figure it out. I encourage people to kind of take the jump just because if you now enter the cloud industry with even just a tiny bit of knowledge and you will build at that just very slowly even, you will still be at the fourth front of like, you will be one of those people who really kind of understands the industry. In just a couple of years, don't feel too much like I'm an other because I don't know that word. Because you say words that other people don't know either. You don't need to know everything in order to succeed. I was just so inspired by the fact that we could build something ourselves and other people were paying for that. And it really just set off this fire in me where I was like, wow, like I really want to learn more about this. The reality of what I look for when I hire is if someone has a curiosity about the problems we are solving and then they have the technical skills to follow those curiosities. I think by changing our hiring profile and making diversity at the heart of it, we can change the world and bring diversity everywhere. But it's a long process, but we need everybody to contribute to it. Good relationships build great products. And so that's probably the number one lesson. You need to be really intentional about building relationships, trusting relationships with your team. The more that you trust, the more honest you can be with somebody, and the more accepted that honesty is going to be. We have a new product we're rolling out in beta, and I'm in every single session because I'm obsessed with hearing their feedback, getting a sense of how they're reacting to it. I think when I reflect back on what makes me proud is when I can really market a tool or a product that has a true kind of positive impact in people's lives. The fund's mission is essentially to position South Asian women as key stakeholders and investors in the fund and really to include them in the venture eco system. We're taking things that otherwise were inaccessible, impossible to afford, or even just literally to get your foot in the door to get access to, and saying, well, let's make this something that even somebody who's just getting started, solo entrepreneur can afford and have access to. I think the opportunity we have, in particular as women, is to continue to lift each other up. And I see that happening on a regular basis all the time. Just because you've heard no once doesn't mean the next answer won't be a yes. Do you have competition? How will you grow? Do you have a business plan? Can you pitch? Can you present? And so when you give this kind of tutelage to very young girls, the results are astounding. Even as a senior manager, actually, what I started to care more about is elevating others and really helping others grow. My team or mentees, we all have that most resourceful, most resilient inner self. How do you connect with that in times of uncertainty and struggle to figure out what that next step is? Where could you go? What are you interested in? And make sure that people know that if you don't tell people what you aspire to, they won't know how they can help you. As soon as you jump into a tech company, you really can find your community there. It can be someone who's on your team or not, and you can also start building new creative ideas. I'm very optimistic that tech will sort of come onto embracing this broader responsibility that we have in the world, whether we ask for it or not. We're in a position where we have power and influence, and with that comes responsibility. Progress is better than perfection. And I think sometimes we are so under the light to act a certain way, look a certain way, do things a certain way, outperform a certain way, do it all on your own. I think asking for help is a really big thing, and it's hard to do. I did want to say, because I know there are hopefully people listening and thinking about how they might do this for themselves. And there's a lot of organizations and meetups that exist so specifically for this purpose. And, you know, as painful as it might be for you, I think taking advantage of those opportunities and trying to meet fine people in that way, that's really where you find those best opportunities.