Welcome to another episode of "Life Beats with Sirisha"! In today's episode, we have a very special guest, Sai Lakshmi Santhanakrishnan, a tech executive with a diverse career journey. As women in leadership roles, we will be discussing how to navigate the path to executive positions and overcome the challenges we face. Sai will share her experiences and insights, offering valuable advice to help aspiring women leaders. Don't forget to call in with your questions and join the conversation! Tune in and be inspired by this empowering episode on women in leadership.
I just had an amazing conversation with Sai Lakshmi Santhanakrishnan, a tech executive, about women in leadership. We talked about breaking stereotypes, taking risks, and carving our own paths to success. Sai shared her journey from India to the Caribbean to the US and how she embraced the challenges in her career. We discussed the importance of supporting each other and paving the way for future generations of women leaders. If you want to hear more inspiring stories and valuable insights, make sure to check out the full episode on my podcast, available on all major platforms. Remember, together we can create a world of empowered women. Stay tuned for more episodes of Life Beats with Sirisha. Let's make a difference! 💪 #WomenLeadership #Inspiration #Podcast
Sailakshmi Santhanakrishnan's journey to success has been one of unexpected turns and courageous choices. Initially, she left India to pursue a career abroad and was hired by a company as a campus recruit. However, instead of directly coming to the United States, she began her professional life in the Caribbean, where the organization she worked for had operations. This seemingly humble start allowed Sailakshmi to develop a deep understanding of different roles within the tech industry. Starting from the bottom, Sailakshmi worked as a junior programmer and gradually climbed up the ladder. She never shied away from exploring different paths and taking risks. Instead of sticking to a predetermined route, she embraced the unknown, learning from every experience along the way. Sailakshmi's openness to taking the untraveled path proved to be instrumental in her success. It enabled her to seize opportunities, build connections with people, and continuously evolve professionally. Through her interactions and collaborations, she gained valuable insights, ultimately shaping her career goals. For Sailakshmi, this journey has been a th
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I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. I work with Universities on Organizations to transition students to the corporate world and building successful leadership pipelines ensuring a healthy financial future.
If you're interested in coordinating or working with me on keynotes, workshops, or on a one on one basis, you can go to my website www.sirishakuchimanchi.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Are you wondering how to grow asa woman in corporate leadership
or be an ally to these women?
You're tuned in today to LiveFeeds with Sirisha on Radio
Caravan.
104.
1 FM, 700 AM.
This is your host, Dr.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi.
I'm a former tech executive, apodcast host.
and an entrepreneur.
I host the podcast, Women,Career and Life.
(00:22):
It's a top 30 percent Spotifypodcast.
You can actually listen to it onany of your favorite podcast
platforms.
And maybe you want to check outlast interview.
It was with Jen Sargent.
She is the CEO of Wondry, whichis actually Amazon podcast.
So you can learn aboutentrepreneurship and pivoting
from engineering into media andlearn a little bit from that.
(00:43):
I also work with organizationson enabling and building
leadership pipelines and strongleaders.
So if you ever want to partner,you can check out my website.
I'm going to spell it becauseit's going to be a mouthful.
It's spelled S I R I S H A K U CH I M A N C H I.
(01:03):
So let's dive in.
I am going to open the phonelines once I finish the
introduction because youdefinitely want to call in to
talk to Sai Lakshmi SantanaKrishnan, who's joined us today.
She's a tech executive who's hada very checkered in a beautiful
way.
Career traversing various thingsand she's gonna talk and we are
gonna talk about how as womenyou navigate the path to
(01:26):
executive roles, into leadershiproles, and some of the pitfalls
we have faced and how we cansupport each other.
I'm gonna announce the phoneline number so that you can call
in and ask questions directly.
The number is 214 817 3333, sodon't hesitate to call in.
Sai, thank you for being here.
I'm so excited that we're goingto chat about this because this
(01:47):
is something very close to myheart.
Thank you for being here today.
Thanks, Arisha, for having mehere and love the opportunity
that we're doing as women forwomen.
So it's a great opportunity todo this and share, our
experiences and the barriersthat we have faced so that,
women coming after us at leastcan, I hope we've made it a
little easier for them and, theycan pick it up from where we
(02:09):
have left.
to make it better for somebodyelse.
Exactly.
I feel like we shouldn't have totread the same path again and
again.
How do you get ahead of thisplace?
Correct.
Yeah.
So can you give a briefdescription?
I know you studied computerscience and you are in tech now
as an executive.
So what's been your path to thispoint?
Like most people who wanted toleave India mine has been a
(02:31):
journey of unplanned parts.
I came here Was picked up from,as a campus recruit moved in to
technology didn't come to usdirectly.
I actually came to Caribbean.
I was there with an, anorganization that was had a
presence in the Caribbean, butthey called it near shore
operations for the U.
(02:52):
S.
and Wall Street.
So it was a very humble, simplejourney.
I started ground up.
I had worked in different rolesfrom a junior, programmer to
where I am today.
So it's been a journey ofexploring a lot of different
parts and one led to the other.
And I think what has helped meto get where I am is because I
(03:12):
was willing to take travel thepath untraveled.
Take risks not knowing orexpecting anything out of it,
but just learning from theexperience.
And I think that has actuallyhelped me and worked in my favor
to find the next opportunity tointegrate with people, to work
with people, learn from people,figure out what I want to do.
So I think it's just been awonderful journey of adventures.
(03:36):
I, the thing that I picked up islike taking risks and learning
because Those are things we haveto step out of our comfort zone
often to do that.
And you get so many rewards fromit.
I know the fear of tryingsomething new is always there
because you're wondering, Oh, amI good enough?
Am I going to fail at it?
But I see that as the best waybecause most often that So no
(03:59):
one knows how that's going towork out.
And you always learn somethingyou, even if I did this podcast
interview last night with thesteam podcaster from Australia.
And we were talking about it.
And even if.
You say you don't do well atyour job and you get demoted.
Your skills, your networkdoesn't go away.
So those things are always withyou.
And no matter besides yourtitle.
(04:19):
So definitely leading into thatrisk and learning.
So were you always lived thatway in a way?
Or did this is something thatyou developed over time?
I think I was a rebel.
So I came into tech.
I came into computer sciencejust to break the stereotype
that we all had in India growingup.
That we had to become doctors orengineers and if it was anything
(04:41):
less than you became a nurse ora, teacher.
So I think when I first cameinto this field it was just,
breaking the barriers and I wasa rebel in that sense.
I picked up computer science atthat time.
So that led into a lot of thework that I've done too.
So when I came into, from adomain expertise perspective I
am a senior leader incybersecurity, risk compliance,
(05:04):
governance, regulations.
So I've done it all fromdifferent roles that I've led.
But again, it was not a fieldthat was open to women.
So I'm talking about we'd hearabout cybersecurity now, but
before it was just informationsecurity.
It was like information, how doyou secure your information
across?
That's hardware, software,across how do you even, have
somebody, taking care of thedata center, for instance.
(05:26):
What kind of security guards doyou put?
What kind of controls do youhave there?
So I've grown up with the field,and again, there was nothing
like this when I started mycareer, as much as I'm dating
myself.
But, so I think I came in therebecause I was denied.
I was told that, hey, Girls,women cannot come into this
field.
I think that kind of also wasone of the aspects of what led
(05:48):
one into the other of me takingthe risk.
I, if you ask somebody who knowsme very well I play, I'm not a
huge risk taker from thatperspective, but I think I go by
the gut feeling that I have.
And the opportunity to learn andgrow because I did my master's
actually after working.
in the field.
(06:08):
I went and got my master's fromBoston University in security.
And because I fell in love withthe field, I, I realized what
was good for me in the sense, soit was more an exploratory path.
And I think that has led me towhere I am.
And I continue to do that.
Yeah.
And I, it.
Going back to school after yourwork for some time, it
definitely reinforces and thepath is much more crystal clear.
(06:31):
I stayed in graduate schooldirectly from school and then
went back at some point, but Ithink your takeaways and the
mindset you go in with and whatyou want out of it is very much
different, right?
Even the faculty and all know,understand when returning
students come back as I think itgives you a perspective.
What are you in love with?
Because it was one like a lot ofpeople find security to be very
(06:54):
dry in the sense, correct.
It's not coding.
It's not.
But for me, I think the yearsthat I've worked in the field
allowed me to understand becauseI've done every role.
I've done being a businessanalyst.
I've done the junior programmersrole.
I've done client relationship.
I've done vendor management.
I've going into, being on theother side of understanding
requirements.
(07:14):
So I've played around with allof software development life
cycle.
I've played in every space, butI loved what I did, and I still
continue to love what I dobecause it gives me the big
picture.
It doesn't restrict me to aparticular domain.
It's not.
And that has given me the.
to play around different domainsbecause I worked in financial
sectors, I worked in healthcare, I worked in media,
(07:36):
everywhere you need it and it'sa horizontal fact.
And I think that's what I loved,but it took me that journey to
do it.
And I would have not done it ifI hadn't raised my hands to do
the, people because you'relooked down because you were
never there for you.
You're always there's thesetears off, respect that you get
when you're in a corporate worldwhere, everybody doesn't have to
be a CEO, but you can still havethe brains to do the job,
(07:58):
correct?
Because they're all dependent asa team.
So I think my thing take awayfor anybody listening to this is
Play by your guts, play by your,your strengths.
You can't be somebody else.
Each of us come with a specialpackage, and that's who we are.
And, learn to accept that andyou will find rewards.
It may be slow, but you'lldefinitely find it very true.
(08:20):
And understanding what you canbring to the table, because,
many of you may, when you'regetting promoted into a role,
this was my experience,especially when I went into
roles where I was essentiallyreplacing my prior boss.
One of the things the hiringmanager told me was because
you're going with the mindsetthinking that you have to do it
the way they did it before,especially when you're replacing
(08:40):
someone in the sameorganization.
And in both instances, they toldme, we're not hiring you to be
them.
We're hiring you to be you anddo what you do well.
And I think that's what we cantend to forget because we are
looking at the corporatestructure and thinking we need
to mesh it.
But not always.
There are things that you willhave to accommodate around it,
(09:01):
but you still have to show up aswho you are and what you want to
do when you come into thisplace.
And if there are womenlistening, or, like I said,
allies listening to this talk,there are a couple of ways to
raise your hand.
Don't forget to raise your handand ask for the challenging
project or for that role andhave that conversation with
people.
And I know I'm making it soundvery seamless on understanding
(09:23):
what we want.
Sometimes the harder part istrying to decide what we want to
do and explore those roles, talkto people.
You can call into this call inand talk to Sai and find out
what she's working on or whatI've worked on and see what that
event looks like and find outwhere.
You have to have thoseconversations and don't restrict
yourself to your vertical, likeyour management structure, go
(09:44):
talk to other organizationswithin your company and outside,
because then you're going tolearn so much more.
And I found that the moreconversations you have, the more
lingo you learn, then you get abetter perspective.
And it opens the doors for younever know which door is going
to open.
Like today, I spoke to someone Ihad worked with 20 years ago,
and we wouldn't have thought tocross paths again.
And it was a wonderfulconversation on something
(10:05):
completely different than wherewe started.
Keeping those doors open andasking for what you want, I
think, enables even managementin some ways to understand where
to help you and support you.
I agree.
I think being, open toopportunities is one important
thing, to go the path ofuntraveled.
(10:26):
Go knowing that there isunknown, but there's always a
learning.
You could be successful.
You could, have a failure.
But the experience of travelingthat part, it's just like going
to a new country.
Correct.
We don't know everything aboutthe country, but unless we step
the foot there and many of us asimmigrants, that's what we've
done coming to us.
We had a picture of us.
We studied about us, but it'svery different living in the U.
(10:47):
S.
And I think because we took thatfirst step.
All of us have done well forourselves and in our respective
careers, and I think that iswhat I would encourage a lot of
people to do.
The other thing that I've seenis very helpful is having
mentors.
It's a great place to start, andI don't think that was
formalized from, in where westudied and we grew up, but I
(11:09):
think knowing that people Andthey come from anywhere.
It could be your kids, it couldbe your grandparents, it could
be your teachers, it could be,your peers, your tech folks.
It doesn't matter who they are,but be open to learning from
everyone and anyone.
I think mentorship and.
Learning ability to learn fromeach other is very important.
I learn every day from differentkinds of people, I, the oldest
(11:34):
lesson that I've learned to giveback is from my grandparents.
I still remember, I have animage of my, today we talk about
sustainability and how importantit is to, conserve food.
And I still remember seeing mygranddad.
Pick up single pieces of ricethat would go, fall off a cart,
which they would take from thefarmland to, to be processed.
(11:55):
I still have that image, and Ilearned so much from it.
It's just that you never knowwhen you'll connect the dots.
So always be open to learning,and from anybody.
And I think my kids, mydaughters, both my daughters,
are my biggest teachers in manyways.
Yeah, life comes full circle,right?
The role of teacher and studentis constantly changing and it's
(12:16):
changing on a daily basis.
And more so now with everythinggoing on with tech and media and
platforms that you never knowwhere you learn and what is
important to learn to keep upwith technology.
It's just so fast that it worksthrough all the processes.
Mentors, right?
For those of you who arewondering how to navigate this
path of mentorship, oftentimesyour organizations could have a
(12:41):
formal program or maybe you'repart of a community like in a
size and part of a cybersecurity community.
Maybe they have a nationalorganizations, see where they
have conferences, see who's partof that community.
Reach out on LinkedIn and stuff,but I would not ask, say, can
you be my mentor?
Because that's not really howmentorship works.
You build a relationship withsomebody and then it evolves
into this mentorship.
And it's also based a lot ontrust, you are giving to them as
(13:03):
much as you're taking away.
So it's a mutually beneficialrelationship in a way.
So I would strongly urge if youhaven't thought or you don't
have a mentor to think aboutfinding one and maybe make that
part, we are on almost close tothe fourth quarter.
It's September.
For this year, maybe if youhaven't and you were thinking of
what did you want to do, get amentor because it will help
(13:25):
clarify and they can see youfor, what we bring to the table
to help support you and alsopush you, challenge you, and
also You know, call you oncertain things so that you can
move forward.
I think you see differentperspectives, correct?
Mentorship is something thathelps you.
And you don't have to have thesame mentor for everything.
You could have a mentor forsomebody who helps you with your
(13:46):
technical skills.
Or, you want to bounce your ideaoff.
And it could be even yourspouse, for all you know.
They could act as mentors.
And you don't have to have thisframework.
formal relationship or, findingsomeone, but I think just
reaching, having that otherperson to hear you out, be there
for your growth, help you out,bounce ideas, take a stance for
you tell you that you're wrong.
(14:06):
And maybe there is a way thatyou have to, course correct.
And you could have somebody,just does that for your personal
carrier building, yournetworking, it's any skill that
you want to develop, Finddifferent people because I think
that's what has helped me a lotin the sense of resilience.
I learned that from my motherbeing resilient.
I learned what expectations youhave for, from a next generation
(14:28):
or today's generation, which wemay or may not have perspectives
about.
And that's where I see mydaughters, both my daughters
giving me, giving me a very hardtime to say, Hey mom, you suck.
You have to think differently.
This is not how things.
Work or, this is another way tothink about it.
And they're hard on me, and Ithink it takes guts for them to
(14:49):
turn around and tell me that,and for me to accept that and
move on.
I'm a, I'm learning still.
Okay.
I may not be a good with takingfeedback from my kids, I'm
learning and I'm, that'ssomething that, we all relate
to, but I think it's what.
important is to raise yourhands.
And I think there are manywonderful people around us in
our community who can reach out,especially for the next
generation.
(15:10):
It's more a request thananything else.
You don't have to, commit to thesame mistakes that we did as we
traveled our journey, learn fromit and do better than us.
And, be there for somebody who'scoming after you.
I think that cycle is veryimportant.
And that's what I tell a lot ofthe mentors that I work with.
There are like, women incybersecurity, there's a huge
(15:30):
forum, a huge community that'sbuilt.
It's all volunteer work, peoplefrom across the globe give into
it.
So we encourage next generationof women to come and take part
in cybersecurity.
That's a beautiful forum.
There's a forum here called DFWATW.
They are a big propellant of,identifying women leadership and
encouraging them through many ofthat.
(15:52):
There are many people here inDFW, women who are, including
you Suresha, come on, startingfrom Silica, from your
technology background andsemiconductors to, coming and
hosting a pod show, a podcastand, a radio show it's
Impressive and in many wayscorrect.
So you took the shot somewhereand you, somebody must have
helped you.
Somebody must have guided you.
Absolutely.
Somebody must have given youthat, that encouragement.
(16:13):
So I think just find thosepeople and I'm gonna echo D F W
A T W.
I'm part of it as well, andthere are so many forums We'll
definitely share our informationso you can connect with us on
LinkedIn, DM us, we all havecommunities we are building
constantly and thinking aboutit.
So one of the things that I amgoing to continue on that
mentorship conversation is abouttalking about personal board of
(16:34):
advisors, a personal board ofdirectors, like every company
has.
You're the CEO of your life andyour career, so make sure you're
building that, whether it's fora short term discussion, a long
term relationship, could befamily, could be friends, could
be someone you meet once, soinvest in these places because
it's a journey of learning.
That's what makes life fun,right?
Trying new things.
(16:55):
So when you're talking aboutinvesting in the younger
generation.
I think that's funny in someways because I have teenage
kids, one in college and one inhigh school and they keep you
grounded.
They keep you real.
That's one way to put it.
And there are so many other waysto describe that same
relationship.
And yeah I feel like in someways it's very different that
(17:15):
generation from how we grew upwhere, we didn't fully express
ourselves because of the way wewere brought up and what the
circumstances are at that time.
But I think it's wonderful ifyoung people can express
themselves.
It is hard to deal with it.
I have to tell you, when you'regoing through the teen years, it
is a bit of a challenge, but itgives them the opportunity to
(17:36):
learn how to You know, debatehow to convince you and it's
just you will learn so much fromit.
And, we have a little over fiveminutes.
If you have questions you'reinterested in learning, you have
a leadership question, you're,you're interested in a certain
community, you can call thisnumber.
It's 214 817 3333.
The number in the studio andyou'll go live on air is 817
(17:59):
3333.
You're listening to Life Beatswith Sirisha on Radio Caravan.
You can check out my podcast,Women, Career, and Life, which
actually talks about women,getting into leadership roles
and how do you strive forfinancial independence.
And I do partners withuniversities and organizations
and do speaking aroundleadership.
You can check out my website,sirishakunshimanshi.
(18:21):
com.
And Sai and I've been reallytalking about.
Not only our journey, howmentors have become important.
And one of the other things ismany of you may have heard about
this, the concept of sponsors,because sponsors are those
people when you're inorganizations, you may know who
your sponsors are.
In some cases, you may not knowwho your sponsors are.
They are the people who aretalking about you behind closed
(18:42):
doors.
They are the ones bringing yourname up when opportunities are
coming along.
So one of the ways for you tocontinue to build your sort of
Brand and your creative is whenyou have a manager, make sure
you're having conversations withwhat they call skip lover
managers.
One level up because those arethe people in a lot of ways
(19:02):
making decisions.
Think about it like this.
If you want to get promoted,your manager cannot hire you
into that role.
It's going to be his boss or herboss.
So make sure you are buildingand expanding that network and
go prepared for theseconversations.
See what you what they havedone, what you've accomplished.
So one of the things thatResearch has shown and you know
(19:22):
that as such women tend tostruggle with is talking about
their accomplishments.
We often feel like if you'redoing an amazing job that you're
going to be recognized for ourefforts, but reality check, it
doesn't happen.
You have to be able to speakabout it and speak out about it
and apply for jobs that youthink you may not be fully ready
for.
Don't wait to check all theboxes, just put your application
(19:43):
in because there are otherskills they're looking for other
ways that you.
bring to the table that couldreally drive that carrier.
So look and continue to build onthat inside.
What's been your experience inthis field?
I think it is very true that youhave to sell yourself.
In a way that, people becomeaware of what you bring to the
(20:03):
table, and there are many waysto do it.
Correct.
In the sense you spoke aboutsponsorship, I would also think
about raising your hand for,community services.
I think DFW is built on abeautiful community across, all
communities, just not our Asiancommunity everywhere.
I think where they give for eachother.
It could be the scouts.
(20:24):
It could be Boy Scouts, GirlScouts.
We spoke about DFW.
I run, we have a program calledweinspire.
guru where we are mentoring kidsfrom ages of about, six and
about seven and eight, to about19.
So we still work with them as athird year for them to listen to
them and mentor them.
I, I work with FISD and PISD asvolunteer when they come into
(20:48):
technology and they wantsomebody, there's a career day,
raise your hand, correct?
You just go there and you givein.
And this way you know whatskills you bring to the table.
And it may not be, your day today job, but what can you help
them with?
And those are.
Beautiful journeys to go withbecause you are giving back
because somebody before you didthat for you and you have an
opportunity to give back but atthe same time, it's also a way
(21:12):
for you to say, Hey, this iswhat I'm capable off and
somebody is watching you.
And if there is an opportunityand if that's something that
you're applying for and you'reinterested in, it gives you that
space, correct?
It gives you the safe space toplay because sometimes you're
learning on your skill and youmay be not up for doing it
within your professionalenvironment and but doing it as
a voluntary in a voluntaryenvironment, I gives you the
(21:34):
ability to fail.
And that's another concept thatI think we all have to learn
from is failure is okay.
It's you know it's okay to workthere, try it out because it
tells you what you're good at,you're not good at, maybe you
need to pervert somewhere or youneed to course correct
somewhere.
So I think those areopportunities.
I would encourage 100 percent bea part of the community.
(21:54):
I think all our successes comeas a team, correct?
And the team is changingconstantly, and we have to lean
in on to each other.
I think it is a global space,whether we like it or not, there
is the boundaries are breakingdown.
So you have to be a part of theteam.
And I truly believe in that, soI think your success is not your
success alone, because whereverwe are, we have Spouses were
(22:16):
standing by us, taking care ofour kids, encouraging us being
our, our spokespeople.
We've got friends.
I've got my best friend who wasthere for me for anything.
I can just fall back on.
I have a community who will, whowill just fall back and say,
Sai, you go to the conference.
I will take care of your kids orI'll pick up your kids.
So I think you need to buildthat community and your success
and leadership qualities allcome from this.
(22:37):
Correct.
Being that empathetic leadercomes from being that.
And that's a great way to endthis conversation.
We have 30 seconds.
So Sai, how can someone reachyou?
And first of all, I want to saythank you.
I think that's a beautiful noteto end.
So for you to be an inspirationand mentor these young people,
so how can people reach out toyou?
You can connect with me on myLinkedIn.
(22:57):
It's SailakshmiAsanthanakrishnan.
Just look me up and you shouldbe able to find me I'm in DFW.
So you should be able to find meReach out and if anybody is
interested in the weinspire.
guru program, just go check outthe website
Are you wondering how to grow asa woman in corporate leadership
or be an ally to these women?
You're tuned in today to LiveFeeds with Sirisha on Radio
Caravan.
104.
1 FM, 700 AM.
This is your host, Dr.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi.
I'm a former tech executive, apodcast host.
and an entrepreneur.
I host the podcast, Women,Career and Life.
(00:22):
It's a top 30 percent Spotifypodcast.
You can actually listen to it onany of your favorite podcast
platforms.
And maybe you want to check outlast interview.
It was with Jen Sargent.
She is the CEO of Wondry, whichis actually Amazon podcast.
So you can learn aboutentrepreneurship and pivoting
from engineering into media andlearn a little bit from that.
(00:43):
I also work with organizationson enabling and building
leadership pipelines and strongleaders.
So if you ever want to partner,you can check out my website.
I'm going to spell it becauseit's going to be a mouthful.
It's spelled S I R I S H A K U CH I M A N C H I.
(01:03):
So let's dive in.
I am going to open the phonelines once I finish the
introduction because youdefinitely want to call in to
talk to Sai Lakshmi SantanaKrishnan, who's joined us today.
She's a tech executive who's hada very checkered in a beautiful
way.
Career traversing various thingsand she's gonna talk and we are
gonna talk about how as womenyou navigate the path to
(01:26):
executive roles, into leadershiproles, and some of the pitfalls
we have faced and how we cansupport each other.
I'm gonna announce the phoneline number so that you can call
in and ask questions directly.
The number is 214 817 3333, sodon't hesitate to call in.
Sai, thank you for being here.
I'm so excited that we're goingto chat about this because this
(01:47):
is something very close to myheart.
Thank you for being here today.
Thanks, Arisha, for having mehere and love the opportunity
that we're doing as women forwomen.
So it's a great opportunity todo this and share, our
experiences and the barriersthat we have faced so that,
women coming after us at leastcan, I hope we've made it a
little easier for them and, theycan pick it up from where we
(02:09):
have left.
to make it better for somebodyelse.
Exactly.
I feel like we shouldn't have totread the same path again and
again.
How do you get ahead of thisplace?
Correct.
Yeah.
So can you give a briefdescription?
I know you studied computerscience and you are in tech now
as an executive.
So what's been your path to thispoint?
Like most people who wanted toleave India mine has been a
(02:31):
journey of unplanned parts.
I came here Was picked up from,as a campus recruit moved in to
technology didn't come to usdirectly.
I actually came to Caribbean.
I was there with an, anorganization that was had a
presence in the Caribbean, butthey called it near shore
operations for the U.
(02:52):
S.
and Wall Street.
So it was a very humble, simplejourney.
I started ground up.
I had worked in different rolesfrom a junior, programmer to
where I am today.
So it's been a journey ofexploring a lot of different
parts and one led to the other.
And I think what has helped meto get where I am is because I
(03:12):
was willing to take travel thepath untraveled.
Take risks not knowing orexpecting anything out of it,
but just learning from theexperience.
And I think that has actuallyhelped me and worked in my favor
to find the next opportunity tointegrate with people, to work
with people, learn from people,figure out what I want to do.
So I think it's just been awonderful journey of adventures.
(03:36):
I, the thing that I picked up islike taking risks and learning
because Those are things we haveto step out of our comfort zone
often to do that.
And you get so many rewards fromit.
I know the fear of tryingsomething new is always there
because you're wondering, Oh, amI good enough?
Am I going to fail at it?
But I see that as the best waybecause most often that So no
(03:59):
one knows how that's going towork out.
And you always learn somethingyou, even if I did this podcast
interview last night with thesteam podcaster from Australia.
And we were talking about it.
And even if.
You say you don't do well atyour job and you get demoted.
Your skills, your networkdoesn't go away.
So those things are always withyou.
And no matter besides yourtitle.
(04:19):
So definitely leading into thatrisk and learning.
So were you always lived thatway in a way?
Or did this is something thatyou developed over time?
I think I was a rebel.
So I came into tech.
I came into computer sciencejust to break the stereotype
that we all had in India growingup.
That we had to become doctors orengineers and if it was anything
(04:41):
less than you became a nurse ora, teacher.
So I think when I first cameinto this field it was just,
breaking the barriers and I wasa rebel in that sense.
I picked up computer science atthat time.
So that led into a lot of thework that I've done too.
So when I came into, from adomain expertise perspective I
am a senior leader incybersecurity, risk compliance,
(05:04):
governance, regulations.
So I've done it all fromdifferent roles that I've led.
But again, it was not a fieldthat was open to women.
So I'm talking about we'd hearabout cybersecurity now, but
before it was just informationsecurity.
It was like information, how doyou secure your information
across?
That's hardware, software,across how do you even, have
somebody, taking care of thedata center, for instance.
(05:26):
What kind of security guards doyou put?
What kind of controls do youhave there?
So I've grown up with the field,and again, there was nothing
like this when I started mycareer, as much as I'm dating
myself.
But, so I think I came in therebecause I was denied.
I was told that, hey, Girls,women cannot come into this
field.
I think that kind of also wasone of the aspects of what led
(05:48):
one into the other of me takingthe risk.
I, if you ask somebody who knowsme very well I play, I'm not a
huge risk taker from thatperspective, but I think I go by
the gut feeling that I have.
And the opportunity to learn andgrow because I did my master's
actually after working.
in the field.
(06:08):
I went and got my master's fromBoston University in security.
And because I fell in love withthe field, I, I realized what
was good for me in the sense, soit was more an exploratory path.
And I think that has led me towhere I am.
And I continue to do that.
Yeah.
And I, it.
Going back to school after yourwork for some time, it
definitely reinforces and thepath is much more crystal clear.
(06:31):
I stayed in graduate schooldirectly from school and then
went back at some point, but Ithink your takeaways and the
mindset you go in with and whatyou want out of it is very much
different, right?
Even the faculty and all know,understand when returning
students come back as I think itgives you a perspective.
What are you in love with?
Because it was one like a lot ofpeople find security to be very
(06:54):
dry in the sense, correct.
It's not coding.
It's not.
But for me, I think the yearsthat I've worked in the field
allowed me to understand becauseI've done every role.
I've done being a businessanalyst.
I've done the junior programmersrole.
I've done client relationship.
I've done vendor management.
I've going into, being on theother side of understanding
requirements.
(07:14):
So I've played around with allof software development life
cycle.
I've played in every space, butI loved what I did, and I still
continue to love what I dobecause it gives me the big
picture.
It doesn't restrict me to aparticular domain.
It's not.
And that has given me the.
to play around different domainsbecause I worked in financial
sectors, I worked in healthcare, I worked in media,
(07:36):
everywhere you need it and it'sa horizontal fact.
And I think that's what I loved,but it took me that journey to
do it.
And I would have not done it ifI hadn't raised my hands to do
the, people because you'relooked down because you were
never there for you.
You're always there's thesetears off, respect that you get
when you're in a corporate worldwhere, everybody doesn't have to
be a CEO, but you can still havethe brains to do the job,
(07:58):
correct?
Because they're all dependent asa team.
So I think my thing take awayfor anybody listening to this is
Play by your guts, play by your,your strengths.
You can't be somebody else.
Each of us come with a specialpackage, and that's who we are.
And, learn to accept that andyou will find rewards.
It may be slow, but you'lldefinitely find it very true.
(08:20):
And understanding what you canbring to the table, because,
many of you may, when you'regetting promoted into a role,
this was my experience,especially when I went into
roles where I was essentiallyreplacing my prior boss.
One of the things the hiringmanager told me was because
you're going with the mindsetthinking that you have to do it
the way they did it before,especially when you're replacing
(08:40):
someone in the sameorganization.
And in both instances, they toldme, we're not hiring you to be
them.
We're hiring you to be you anddo what you do well.
And I think that's what we cantend to forget because we are
looking at the corporatestructure and thinking we need
to mesh it.
But not always.
There are things that you willhave to accommodate around it,
(09:01):
but you still have to show up aswho you are and what you want to
do when you come into thisplace.
And if there are womenlistening, or, like I said,
allies listening to this talk,there are a couple of ways to
raise your hand.
Don't forget to raise your handand ask for the challenging
project or for that role andhave that conversation with
people.
And I know I'm making it soundvery seamless on understanding
(09:23):
what we want.
Sometimes the harder part istrying to decide what we want to
do and explore those roles, talkto people.
You can call into this call inand talk to Sai and find out
what she's working on or whatI've worked on and see what that
event looks like and find outwhere.
You have to have thoseconversations and don't restrict
yourself to your vertical, likeyour management structure, go
(09:44):
talk to other organizationswithin your company and outside,
because then you're going tolearn so much more.
And I found that the moreconversations you have, the more
lingo you learn, then you get abetter perspective.
And it opens the doors for younever know which door is going
to open.
Like today, I spoke to someone Ihad worked with 20 years ago,
and we wouldn't have thought tocross paths again.
And it was a wonderfulconversation on something
(10:05):
completely different than wherewe started.
Keeping those doors open andasking for what you want, I
think, enables even managementin some ways to understand where
to help you and support you.
I agree.
I think being, open toopportunities is one important
thing, to go the path ofuntraveled.
(10:26):
Go knowing that there isunknown, but there's always a
learning.
You could be successful.
You could, have a failure.
But the experience of travelingthat part, it's just like going
to a new country.
Correct.
We don't know everything aboutthe country, but unless we step
the foot there and many of us asimmigrants, that's what we've
done coming to us.
We had a picture of us.
We studied about us, but it'svery different living in the U.
(10:47):
S.
And I think because we took thatfirst step.
All of us have done well forourselves and in our respective
careers, and I think that iswhat I would encourage a lot of
people to do.
The other thing that I've seenis very helpful is having
mentors.
It's a great place to start, andI don't think that was
formalized from, in where westudied and we grew up, but I
(11:09):
think knowing that people Andthey come from anywhere.
It could be your kids, it couldbe your grandparents, it could
be your teachers, it could be,your peers, your tech folks.
It doesn't matter who they are,but be open to learning from
everyone and anyone.
I think mentorship and.
Learning ability to learn fromeach other is very important.
I learn every day from differentkinds of people, I, the oldest
(11:34):
lesson that I've learned to giveback is from my grandparents.
I still remember, I have animage of my, today we talk about
sustainability and how importantit is to, conserve food.
And I still remember seeing mygranddad.
Pick up single pieces of ricethat would go, fall off a cart,
which they would take from thefarmland to, to be processed.
(11:55):
I still have that image, and Ilearned so much from it.
It's just that you never knowwhen you'll connect the dots.
So always be open to learning,and from anybody.
And I think my kids, mydaughters, both my daughters,
are my biggest teachers in manyways.
Yeah, life comes full circle,right?
The role of teacher and studentis constantly changing and it's
(12:16):
changing on a daily basis.
And more so now with everythinggoing on with tech and media and
platforms that you never knowwhere you learn and what is
important to learn to keep upwith technology.
It's just so fast that it worksthrough all the processes.
Mentors, right?
For those of you who arewondering how to navigate this
path of mentorship, oftentimesyour organizations could have a
(12:41):
formal program or maybe you'repart of a community like in a
size and part of a cybersecurity community.
Maybe they have a nationalorganizations, see where they
have conferences, see who's partof that community.
Reach out on LinkedIn and stuff,but I would not ask, say, can
you be my mentor?
Because that's not really howmentorship works.
You build a relationship withsomebody and then it evolves
into this mentorship.
And it's also based a lot ontrust, you are giving to them as
(13:03):
much as you're taking away.
So it's a mutually beneficialrelationship in a way.
So I would strongly urge if youhaven't thought or you don't
have a mentor to think aboutfinding one and maybe make that
part, we are on almost close tothe fourth quarter.
It's September.
For this year, maybe if youhaven't and you were thinking of
what did you want to do, get amentor because it will help
(13:25):
clarify and they can see youfor, what we bring to the table
to help support you and alsopush you, challenge you, and
also You know, call you oncertain things so that you can
move forward.
I think you see differentperspectives, correct?
Mentorship is something thathelps you.
And you don't have to have thesame mentor for everything.
You could have a mentor forsomebody who helps you with your
(13:46):
technical skills.
Or, you want to bounce your ideaoff.
And it could be even yourspouse, for all you know.
They could act as mentors.
And you don't have to have thisframework.
formal relationship or, findingsomeone, but I think just
reaching, having that otherperson to hear you out, be there
for your growth, help you out,bounce ideas, take a stance for
you tell you that you're wrong.
(14:06):
And maybe there is a way thatyou have to, course correct.
And you could have somebody,just does that for your personal
carrier building, yournetworking, it's any skill that
you want to develop, Finddifferent people because I think
that's what has helped me a lotin the sense of resilience.
I learned that from my motherbeing resilient.
I learned what expectations youhave for, from a next generation
(14:28):
or today's generation, which wemay or may not have perspectives
about.
And that's where I see mydaughters, both my daughters
giving me, giving me a very hardtime to say, Hey mom, you suck.
You have to think differently.
This is not how things.
Work or, this is another way tothink about it.
And they're hard on me, and Ithink it takes guts for them to
(14:49):
turn around and tell me that,and for me to accept that and
move on.
I'm a, I'm learning still.
Okay.
I may not be a good with takingfeedback from my kids, I'm
learning and I'm, that'ssomething that, we all relate
to, but I think it's what.
important is to raise yourhands.
And I think there are manywonderful people around us in
our community who can reach out,especially for the next
generation.
(15:10):
It's more a request thananything else.
You don't have to, commit to thesame mistakes that we did as we
traveled our journey, learn fromit and do better than us.
And, be there for somebody who'scoming after you.
I think that cycle is veryimportant.
And that's what I tell a lot ofthe mentors that I work with.
There are like, women incybersecurity, there's a huge
(15:30):
forum, a huge community that'sbuilt.
It's all volunteer work, peoplefrom across the globe give into
it.
So we encourage next generationof women to come and take part
in cybersecurity.
That's a beautiful forum.
There's a forum here called DFWATW.
They are a big propellant of,identifying women leadership and
encouraging them through many ofthat.
(15:52):
There are many people here inDFW, women who are, including
you Suresha, come on, startingfrom Silica, from your
technology background andsemiconductors to, coming and
hosting a pod show, a podcastand, a radio show it's
Impressive and in many wayscorrect.
So you took the shot somewhereand you, somebody must have
helped you.
Somebody must have guided you.
Absolutely.
Somebody must have given youthat, that encouragement.
(16:13):
So I think just find thosepeople and I'm gonna echo D F W
A T W.
I'm part of it as well, andthere are so many forums We'll
definitely share our informationso you can connect with us on
LinkedIn, DM us, we all havecommunities we are building
constantly and thinking aboutit.
So one of the things that I amgoing to continue on that
mentorship conversation is abouttalking about personal board of
(16:34):
advisors, a personal board ofdirectors, like every company
has.
You're the CEO of your life andyour career, so make sure you're
building that, whether it's fora short term discussion, a long
term relationship, could befamily, could be friends, could
be someone you meet once, soinvest in these places because
it's a journey of learning.
That's what makes life fun,right?
Trying new things.
(16:55):
So when you're talking aboutinvesting in the younger
generation.
I think that's funny in someways because I have teenage
kids, one in college and one inhigh school and they keep you
grounded.
They keep you real.
That's one way to put it.
And there are so many other waysto describe that same
relationship.
And yeah I feel like in someways it's very different that
(17:15):
generation from how we grew upwhere, we didn't fully express
ourselves because of the way wewere brought up and what the
circumstances are at that time.
But I think it's wonderful ifyoung people can express
themselves.
It is hard to deal with it.
I have to tell you, when you'regoing through the teen years, it
is a bit of a challenge, but itgives them the opportunity to
(17:36):
learn how to You know, debatehow to convince you and it's
just you will learn so much fromit.
And, we have a little over fiveminutes.
If you have questions you'reinterested in learning, you have
a leadership question, you're,you're interested in a certain
community, you can call thisnumber.
It's 214 817 3333.
The number in the studio andyou'll go live on air is 817
(17:59):
3333.
You're listening to Life Beatswith Sirisha on Radio Caravan.
You can check out my podcast,Women, Career, and Life, which
actually talks about women,getting into leadership roles
and how do you strive forfinancial independence.
And I do partners withuniversities and organizations
and do speaking aroundleadership.
You can check out my website,sirishakunshimanshi.
(18:21):
com.
And Sai and I've been reallytalking about.
Not only our journey, howmentors have become important.
And one of the other things ismany of you may have heard about
this, the concept of sponsors,because sponsors are those
people when you're inorganizations, you may know who
your sponsors are.
In some cases, you may not knowwho your sponsors are.
They are the people who aretalking about you behind closed
(18:42):
doors.
They are the ones bringing yourname up when opportunities are
coming along.
So one of the ways for you tocontinue to build your sort of
Brand and your creative is whenyou have a manager, make sure
you're having conversations withwhat they call skip lover
managers.
One level up because those arethe people in a lot of ways
(19:02):
making decisions.
Think about it like this.
If you want to get promoted,your manager cannot hire you
into that role.
It's going to be his boss or herboss.
So make sure you are buildingand expanding that network and
go prepared for theseconversations.
See what you what they havedone, what you've accomplished.
So one of the things thatResearch has shown and you know
(19:22):
that as such women tend tostruggle with is talking about
their accomplishments.
We often feel like if you'redoing an amazing job that you're
going to be recognized for ourefforts, but reality check, it
doesn't happen.
You have to be able to speakabout it and speak out about it
and apply for jobs that youthink you may not be fully ready
for.
Don't wait to check all theboxes, just put your application
(19:43):
in because there are otherskills they're looking for other
ways that you.
bring to the table that couldreally drive that carrier.
So look and continue to build onthat inside.
What's been your experience inthis field?
I think it is very true that youhave to sell yourself.
In a way that, people becomeaware of what you bring to the
(20:03):
table, and there are many waysto do it.
Correct.
In the sense you spoke aboutsponsorship, I would also think
about raising your hand for,community services.
I think DFW is built on abeautiful community across, all
communities, just not our Asiancommunity everywhere.
I think where they give for eachother.
It could be the scouts.
(20:24):
It could be Boy Scouts, GirlScouts.
We spoke about DFW.
I run, we have a program calledweinspire.
guru where we are mentoring kidsfrom ages of about, six and
about seven and eight, to about19.
So we still work with them as athird year for them to listen to
them and mentor them.
I, I work with FISD and PISD asvolunteer when they come into
(20:48):
technology and they wantsomebody, there's a career day,
raise your hand, correct?
You just go there and you givein.
And this way you know whatskills you bring to the table.
And it may not be, your day today job, but what can you help
them with?
And those are.
Beautiful journeys to go withbecause you are giving back
because somebody before you didthat for you and you have an
opportunity to give back but atthe same time, it's also a way
(21:12):
for you to say, Hey, this iswhat I'm capable off and
somebody is watching you.
And if there is an opportunityand if that's something that
you're applying for and you'reinterested in, it gives you that
space, correct?
It gives you the safe space toplay because sometimes you're
learning on your skill and youmay be not up for doing it
within your professionalenvironment and but doing it as
a voluntary in a voluntaryenvironment, I gives you the
(21:34):
ability to fail.
And that's another concept thatI think we all have to learn
from is failure is okay.
It's you know it's okay to workthere, try it out because it
tells you what you're good at,you're not good at, maybe you
need to pervert somewhere or youneed to course correct
somewhere.
So I think those areopportunities.
I would encourage 100 percent bea part of the community.
(21:54):
I think all our successes comeas a team, correct?
And the team is changingconstantly, and we have to lean
in on to each other.
I think it is a global space,whether we like it or not, there
is the boundaries are breakingdown.
So you have to be a part of theteam.
And I truly believe in that, soI think your success is not your
success alone, because whereverwe are, we have Spouses were
(22:16):
standing by us, taking care ofour kids, encouraging us being
our, our spokespeople.
We've got friends.
I've got my best friend who wasthere for me for anything.
I can just fall back on.
I have a community who will, whowill just fall back and say,
Sai, you go to the conference.
I will take care of your kids orI'll pick up your kids.
So I think you need to buildthat community and your success
and leadership qualities allcome from this.
(22:37):
Correct.
Being that empathetic leadercomes from being that.
And that's a great way to endthis conversation.
We have 30 seconds.
So Sai, how can someone reachyou?
And first of all, I want to saythank you.
I think that's a beautiful noteto end.
So for you to be an inspirationand mentor these young people,
so how can people reach out toyou?
You can connect with me on myLinkedIn.
(22:57):
It's SailakshmiAsanthanakrishnan.
Just look me up and you shouldbe able to find me I'm in DFW.
So you should be able to find meReach out and if anybody is
interested in the weinspire.
guru program, just go check outthe website
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