In this episode, Deepa shares her experiences as an immigrant climbing the corporate ladder, the challenges she faced with work visas, and the importance of mentors in furthering your career. She also provides insights on advocating for yourself, getting and processing feedback, and staying current on your skill set.
We unpack a lot of valuable insights, including how to advocate for yourself to your managers, the importance of mentors in getting feedback and furthering your career, and how to articulate what you want during performance reviews. Deepa also shares tips on how to present to executive leaders, how to take career risks, and the lessons she learned from failure.
As an immigrant, Deepa faced unique challenges with work visas and the immigrant experience. She provides insights on how to overcome these challenges and stay current on your skill set, including leveraging LinkedIn and improving your writing and speaking skills.
In the episode takeaway, Deepa provides an action list for listeners to implement in their own career journeys. This episode is a must-listen for anyone facing career challenges as an immigrant or looking to further their career with the help of mentors and effective communication skills.
Deepa is an immigrant from India who came to the US for graduate school. She has traversed various industries and roles from being an engineer on the manufacturing floor to Senior Vice President. She is a Customer centric and results oriented leader spearheading organizational transformations and continuous improvement; to the next level of growth and success. Her experience and expertise span multiple areas including Customer Success, Operational Excellence, Business Process Supply Chain – Planning, Procurement, Sourcing, Logistics, Warehousing.
Deepa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepadeepa/
**********************************************************************************************
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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
If you are interested in leveraging more personal and professional development check out the podcast of my radio talk show "Life Beats with Sirisha" by clicking here
Connect with me:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sirisha (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Women Carrier and
(00:03):
Live podcast.
This is your host, Dr.
Ceria Kumanchi, a former techexecutive at Texas Instruments,
a Fortune 200 company, aspeaker, a working mom, and an
ever reader.
In this podcast, you will hearstories and practical advice for
you to achieve your career andlife goals.
I also wanna say a big thank youto our listeners for continuing
(00:25):
to support this podcast andmaking it in the top 30% of
Spotify podcasts.
If you wanna continue to supportthis indie produced show, you
can either buy me a cup of chai,I am not a coffee drinker, or
you can become a monthly orannual subscriber.
You will find more inform.
In the show notes.
I have the Deepa With Me, who isa vice president and a global
(00:47):
supply chain executive who'sworked in various organizations
Deepa and I actually connectedat the Society of Asian
Scientists and Engineers Cpro,which was doing a webinar where
she was a keynote speaker.
We connected over LinkedIn andhave had a many different chats
and some of the conversation Weare gonna carry over to today's
podcast.
So today we'll be talking aboutleadership, how she's grown into
(01:10):
these senior leadership roles,but it's also looking at it from
a different aspect because bothDPA and I are from India and
came our first generationimmigrants in the US and also
women of color.
So we will be talking about ourown experiences and how it
impacts our careers, thechallenges, and also the
positive things that you takeaway from those lived experie
(01:31):
and looking at it from thatviewpoint.
So the part, thank you for beinghere.
I'm really looking forward totoday's conversation.
Deepa (01:36):
Thank you, Sirisha.
I'm really excited and thank youfor having me as a part of your
program.
I'm looking forward to theconversation as well.
Sirisha (01:43):
Definitely.
give me some background and forthe listeners as well, and how
have you got what you're doingtoday and what do you actually
do at this point in.
Deepa (01:52):
So my background like you said, I'm a first generation
immigrant.
I was born and raised.
Pretty traditional SouthernIndian family.
I was born, raised in Bangalore,India, and I got my bachelor's
in industrial engineering thereand I came to the United States
of America almost 20 years agowhen to pursue my master's in
(02:13):
industrial engineering.
Really the reason I choseindustrial engineering was, You
know how most, most times youfollow your parents, and I was a
biggest fan of my dad.
And my dad was a mechanicalengineer and he was an
industrialist.
So I was really fascinated byoperations in manufacturing and
I always wanted to be in it.
And when I was taking up orchoosing my options for
(02:35):
engineering, not many women werein mechanical engineering.
Almost none I think.
And industrial engineering was apretty.
Newly formed course work if Icould say even that did not have
many women.
I think in my class, only lessthan 10% of us, and I'm
exaggerating, 10%, maybe lessthan 5% of us were women.
(02:56):
But I thought, okay, industrialengineering and management is
going to be in the lines ofmechanical engineering.
I could probably run my dad'sbusiness someday.
And that's why I took upindustrial engineering.
And after that, always wanted topursue my masters.
And somehow at that point,although nobody in my family
came to the United States topursue their masters, I learned
(03:19):
more about it.
And I was excited about the factthat, I could maybe go to the
United States, pursue my careerand do something different.
And that's how I came here.
And got my mass master's inMichigan Kalamazoo, Michigan,
which.
Compared to where I was raisedin a tropical country, was
extremely cold and extremelyhuge adjustment that I had to
(03:42):
make.
Which, when you are in India,you think you know cold, but you
really don't until you are in acity where it's snows six months
in a year and it's, thetemperatures are below, zero all
the time.
So it was it.
Interesting.
It was great.
It changed me as a person in avery good way.
I learned a lot and it's made methe person I am today.
(04:04):
So that's my background.
Sirisha (04:07):
as you said, when you come from the tropics to the
cold, I went to school inPittsburgh, so yes, it's quite
different.
And you realize that you cannotbuy a winter jacket in a
location that does not actuallyexperience winter.
It doesn't work It's not meantfor the weather.
Deepa (04:19):
if you don't know anybody in the US you don't know what to
expect and there is nobody toguide you.
So that was also my problem,that when I came here, I did not
know where to buy stuff.
Most of my Michigan time, and Istayed there five, six years.
I worked there as well.
I can just remember the cold andthe wet feeling of Michigan
(04:42):
Yeah,
Sirisha (04:43):
and you bring up a really good point.
I think that's the challengewhen you're a first generation
immigrant, no matter from whichplace you come, because unless
you have family or some extendedfriends that can guide you,
that's always hard.
Since we spend a lot of time onthis podcast talking about
carrier and leadership andfinances, those are not
necessarily the conversationsyou're having at home.
Even if you're hanging out withpeople, and that's the reason we
(05:03):
need forums to have thoseconversations and find advocates
and mentors to guide us throughit, cuz it's very hard to
navigate.
And why do we have to tread thesame path if somebody's already
figured out a way?
That's what I struggle with.
Why can't we get a leg up andmove forward faster.
Deepa (05:18):
Absolutely.
I think having podcasts likethis and there's so many forums
these days online that'savailable.
Google is everyone's friend andLinkedIn is really.
out there.
You could reach out to people.
When I started out, there wasnothing like that, but I'm just
so excited about this newgeneration where they can reach
out to people.
And I do my best.
(05:39):
I get so many contacts viaLinkedIn, but I, it's almost
impossible to reply to everyone.
But I do try my best to at leastgive back in some way because
ev, at least with the newgeneration, they should have
access to information.
That's the basic that we can do.
thank you.
For people like you who aredoing podcasts like this is only
gonna help spread thatinformation easily.
(06:00):
Yeah,
Sirisha (06:00):
definitely.
And for guests like you to sharethat.
it's true that there'sinformation equity problems as
well.
We talk about a lot of equityand having equitable
conversations, but if you don'thave access it's the same
challenge.
So you are currently vicepresident and a global supply
chain executor.
So how did you climb the careerladder to get where you are and
what are the challenges youfaced and how did you tackle
(06:22):
those?
Deepa (06:23):
So I think I told you a little bit about how I took up
my industrial engineeringcoursework.
I saw my dad really grow fromnothing to being an
industrialist.
All that always motivated me andsomehow, I think naturally I was
a very ambitious person evenfrom the start because I always
wanted to become, Executive runa big company that was always
(06:48):
there, even as a kid.
I came to the US with the sameintention.
Sometimes the word ambitious,nobody wants to use it.
It's not a bad word.
It's a good word.
You should be ambitious.
Ambition can be different fordifferent people.
Ambitious is actually a healthyword to use.
So I came here with the sameambition that I had in India.
And now I did not know how toget there.
(07:10):
I did not even know the path,but I was always very
intentional.
I always like to think abouteverything in threes and five,
so I'll just stick to threeimportant things that are needed
with wherever you wanna go inyour career.
One.
be very diligent about the workthat you're doing.
So you have to give results.
That's very important.
(07:32):
And as you give results andpeople start seeing that you're
excelling in your work, don'thesitate to ask for more work.
So you're doing one thing.
Don't hesitate to expand intoother regions and, asking for
extended projects, that's.
Second, you have to makeeveryone aware around you that
(07:55):
you wanna grow.
It's very difficult for peoplecoming from.
Asian countries.
I'll talk about me.
I was not told, or I was nottaught to speak out what you
want it.
That was considered not a verygood thing to do, especially for
girls.
So I was not taught that I hadto teach myself that.
I had to teach myself that it'sokay to say that I wanna grow
(08:17):
into a manager or a director ora vice president.
it took me some time.
It was not that I got in and Istarted doing all this.
I had to learn that, in America,if you wanna grow, you have to
be able to say that to yourmanager.
Last but not the least, you haveto do all this with high levels
of, integrity, right?
You cannot lose that at anypoint of time and stay honest.
(08:39):
And those three things, I alwayskept that in my mind as I went
through my different steps in mycareer.
Was it easy?
Nothing is easy.
I don't think so.
Even for people born here, Idon't think getting to any
executive level is easy.
I do think sometimes it's easierfor some than others.
So I would put myself in theothers category because I had to
(09:00):
consistently go after it, beintentional about it.
But I do wanna say and alsobeing an immigrant, I have so
many other barriers that comealong with my career, right?
I have to manage being in adifferent country.
I have to manage, nobody wantsto talk about this, but the work
visa situation is a big dealtoo.
You have to find a company thatsponsors your work visa.
(09:21):
It's one thing to be ambitious.
It's one thing to say, I wannawork.
For an aerospace industry, ifthat's your dream as an
immigrant, you can't even workin an aerospace industry because
you know you're not a citizen.
So sometimes you need to pickwhat is it that you wanna do.
it's always trying to get acompany which will sponsor you a
(09:43):
visa and then do your best thereand grow as much as you can.
So really being intentional hashelped me.
I've struggled ma mainly becauseI've been in manufacturing all
my life, and obviouslymanufacturing is not very
friendly with women and youdon't see many women leaders,
it's getting better.
Of course.
Definitely not many South Asianwomen.
(10:05):
I don't know how many SouthAsian women you've seen in
manufacturing and operations,but I have a hard time trying to
find that, trying to find aswomen with mentors and sponsors
in manufacturing and operations.
So it was definitely a path thatI was taking by myself without
understanding where I'm gonnaget, and I did not have anyone
to look up to either.
So to say that it's been,challenging is gonna be an
(10:27):
understatement.
But, I enjoyed the challenge.
I seeked out great mentors whopulled me up and pushed me
forward which was helpful aswell..
Sirisha (10:36):
there's so much to unpack in what you just said.
She touched on so many things Iwas going to take in bite size.
But let's start with a couple ofthings.
I think it goes without saying,as you've said correctly you
have to deliver the results nomatter what you're doing that's
a given and asking for theroles.
So I call it being brave at workand that's what I talked about
at SA when I gave the webinar,because we don't think to ask,
(10:58):
and as a person sitting on theother side, having the
conversation with my managementand as sitting as a manager on
the other side, I see bothaspects and everyone has so much
on there plate.
They do not know what you wantand what you are thinking.
So you have to articulate whatyou want and then they can help
you find it and, find the rightmentors and the opportunity.
So that goes without saying, andthe challenge is, The South
(11:22):
Asian and from talking to peoplefrom different parts of Asian
culture.
And it's not just Asian cultureand sense, but it does have a
high tendency to, in inculcatecertain cultural aspects of
being humble, not speaking aboutyourself, not advocating for
yourself.
And I struggle with it just likeyou did.
I had this.
Leader talked to me and heencapsulated my journey in the
(11:45):
last years and said, when youstarted, you were so quiet, then
you started to slowly flourishand now you are very vocal about
what you want.
And it's been very intentionaldecisions to want to do that
because it's very hard to do itand you don't have the right way
to do it.
You struggle with, am I beingbombastic or showing off, but am
I still delivering results?
It's a very fine line.
(12:06):
No matter which culture you'refrom.
I think it's also a hard pathfor women to tread because it is
a double-edged sword in thesense that it's if you ask and
if you don't ask, the lens thatsomeone views it through is so
different.
So I think of it is sign ofdamned if you do a damn, if you
don't.
So you're stuck in this verynarrow path and it's a very
(12:26):
perception challenge that youstruggle with.
There's so many articles.
Research shows that it's.
Fine line that you have tofigure out.
So you need so many advocateswho still understand that you
are going to do it differentlyand be there for you and allies
to speak to you in that sense.
So the other part of it is whenyou're looking at this
(12:46):
conversation and people areadvocating and help you along,
how do you leverage that?
How do you find them?
How do you get people to seethat aspect of.
Deepa (12:58):
Not easy.
You have to be again,intentional.
You, you said something verygood, very well.
You talked about articulatingit.
I think I'm an extrovert and Iam an extrovert, but.
people assume that if you're anextrovert, it must be easy for
you to talk about yourself.
Easy for you to say what youwant.
That's not true.
It's two different things.
My personality is an extrovert,meaning that I could pick up a
(13:19):
conversation with anyone.
I could go, mingle with severalpeople.
It doesn't mean that I canarticulate well what I want out
of my career.
I struggle with it.
And also I did not know anythingabout having mentors.
And this is probably true formany people.
Maybe it's better now, I don'tknow.
(13:40):
But I still think a lot of SouthAsians or Asian culture, they
don't know how to seek outmentors.
I had that problem as well.
When I st I still remember thisvery vaguely when I, in one, one
of the companies I had, I was aprogram manager and I was.
Again, the ambition is stillthere, right?
And I have not told anyone thatI'm ambitious and I wanna grow.
(14:03):
And I took up every project thatcame my way, sometimes extended
projects, and I deliveredeverything within time, great
savings and all that stuff.
And I assumed when a role openedup, they'll just automatically
consider me for that role.
And when they hired somebodyfrom outside, I was so sad.
(14:25):
again for a 24, 25 year old girlwithout having anyone to go to.
I went, I remember going backhome and crying.
That has happened too.
And then I stepped back and Ithought, okay, how do I, what do
I do?
What do I do to grow withoutunderstanding how to seek out
mentors?
I just started talking to a fewpeople and.
(14:47):
somebody told me, Hey, you knowwhat?
You should find a mentor.
And I'm, and this is reallynaive and maybe sounds silly,
but I remember asking this one.
What's, what do you mean amentor who is a mentor?
Should I go ask somebody?
Are you gonna be a mentor?
Is that how it works?
I had no clue.
Over time I have realized, Iknow how important it is to have
mentors.
So I, anyone who's listening tothis, I say, Men mentors don't
(15:10):
just happen overnight.
You have to be close to theperson.
You have to be a able to have adiscussion.
It's a two-way communication.
So slowly I started to connectwith people and I started to ha
have discussions about my careerplans.
And look, this happened with mejust a few months ago.
What do I do?
(15:30):
What's, what am I doing wrong?
And then somebody gave me honestfeedback.
They were like, nobody knowswhat your career plans are,
you're not telling anyone.
And there is a process when wedo the performance review and if
you are.
Gonna get your performancereview from your manager.
That's when you talk about whatyour plans are.
Are you gonna move, are youready to move?
(15:51):
Are you ready to make changes inyour life?
What is the next step that'sgood for you?
Have all those discussions.
So it was not an overnightthing.
It from the time I was so sadabout somebody else getting that
role.
to the time I started toarticulate it was almost a year
gap because it took me that muchtime to find people, talk to
them, understand what theprocess is and all that kind of
(16:13):
stuff.
So I think.
Finding mentors was not easy.
You have to have that strongrelationship.
And also remember, it's atwo-way communication.
And the mentors also gainedsomething from the mentees,
right?
I have so many mentees rightnow.
I always gained something fromthem.
They are 10 years younger thanme.
They know so much about theworld.
(16:35):
They see world in a differentways.
I gain from them, they gain fromme as well.
I'm, I don't think you can justgo ask somebody and they become
your mentor overnight.
I don't think that is the bestway to find mentors.
You have to be intentional.
You have to spend time and youhave to be ready to take
feedback.
I was open and that's, I think,was, I feel that's that was my
(16:57):
strength.
I was open for very strongfeedback.
I was open to change.
Not change my authentic self,but whether it is, just how I
communicate.
Slow down a little bit.
My PowerPoint presentations.
How should I communicate?
How should I present toexecutive leadership team?
So I'm just giving a fewexamples, but I was ready to
(17:19):
take tough feedback from thementors.
One, seek out your mentors.
Find who is that person who youcould confide with, who you
could be comfortable with, andthen be ready to take very open
feedback from your mentorsbecause if you're not ready for
a feedback and if you're gonnabe very defensive or if you're
gonna get upset about it, thenthere's no value in that because
(17:43):
mentors slowly become yoursponsors as well.
That's the ultimate thing.
Sirisha (17:47):
And when you talk about mentors, I did a whole season on
it because to your point, wedon't know we need it.
I have had tremendous mentorsalong the way, and some of them
have been there for many years.
and it's an investment, It's asafe space.
You are having a conversation.
You get to know each otherreally well, but it is a slowly
organic growth process.
It doesn't, like you say, flip aswitch.
(18:07):
You don't, it's not somethingyou go and ask someone saying,
be a mentor.
I've tried formal programs, butthey're quite challenging
because you don't have thatconnection and you have to find
a common ground to speak on.
Deepa (18:16):
And I've been in formal programs, meaning in many
companies where they startedmentorship programs, and I was a
mentor.
I personally I'm on it and Idon't have a problem with that,
but I personally find itchallenging because you cannot
help people with, in a two monthmentorship program or a three
month mentorship program.
My mentors, I have two or threementors.
(18:37):
I've had them for 10 years rightnow.
So it's the same people I goback to and I'm open to get
feedback from them.
So it's like you said, it's aninvestment.
Sirisha (18:46):
Yes.
And getting feedback.
Also it's hard for people togive feedback because they have
to feel comfortable that you aregoing to process it with the
right spirit.
And if you're not willing totake it, then it's not gonna get
you forward.
It's about how do you maybe tella storytelling, how do you
present, how do you stand in theroom?
What is your sort of executivepresence?
It's those things that you willnot know unless someone tells
(19:08):
you and gives you that feedbackimmediately.
especially if you're, ambitiousand want to grow.
You have to do that
Deepa (19:14):
Absolutely.
Totally.
Sirisha (19:17):
because the thing is when you're asking for the roles
that you want, when you weretalking about not getting it,
there's so many stories thatsort of, popped in.
So I was talking to a friendrecently who's also trying to
grow into her roles.
One challenge that people canhave when you're in an
organization I've heard frommany people.
We all will have sponsors, butif you only have a single
(19:37):
sponsor or a single point ofcontact that can be a hardship
because you really need to builda network because if that
sponsor moves, and I've had alot of people who I know who
sponsors have moved, they've gotstuck in their roles and the
role that, this person wastrying to get promoted into the
senior role, it didn't even showup.
There was no one to advocate forthem.
(19:59):
When the discussion came up andit became the discussion around,
were you getting projects that.
like the hill size or themountain size, and it depends
what access you have.
So it goes back to that accesswe were talking about.
To get opportunities, you haveto be given the right projects,
but you're only given the rightprojects.
You actually ask for what youwant and you have to have
clarity on what you want.
(20:19):
Also, because just asking is notenough, or at least you have to
know what you don't want and beable to draw some clear
boundaries so they can help younavigate, do some stretch roles,
for you to build that network asyou.
and it's good to start buildingthe network, not just inside
your organization because inyour case you have moved
companies, so you've obviouslybroaden that horizon.
So what do you tell someone?
(20:40):
Because you also often meetpeople not, it's not the case so
much for the people who areentering the workforce in the
last five, 10 years.
But more often than not, therehave been people who've been,
had long careers in a certainorganization, but they're kind
of thinking of moving, but it'svery hard for them.
process, how to make thatchange.
It's the risk tolerance is verylow because you've never had to
(21:02):
move either organizations oryour role or your company, but
you wanna try something new andthey get there, but then they
actually never wanna cross thefinish line.
Yeah.
How can they reframe thatconversation in their mind?
Deepa (21:13):
you have to be very clear.
When I said I was ambitious fora, from as long as I've known
it.
And I have been intentional andI've been intentional the whole
time.
Giving results, connecting withpeople.
We, you talked about sponsorsmoving out, that can happen.
I know I've heard of the termcreate your own board of
directors.
trust me, you could do all thatand everybody could leave.
(21:35):
So it's good to create thatboard of directors so that at
least you can get projects thatare, high visibility big changes
to the company.
I, and I've done all that, whichis great.
I think that's what I expectfrom my board of directors.
I have never till date, and Isay this very honestly, I have
(21:55):
never till date.
Gotten any role without aninterview.
Every job that I have gotten isbecause of an interview process
and I have spent hours oninterviews when I, so that makes
me feel good about the fact thatone, nobody has just handed me
anything.
over just like that and said,here you go.
(22:17):
I'm promoting you from one levelto another.
That has not happen.
Kudos to people who get that.
I know that happens to a fewpeople, but definitely not with
me.
To move companies, it definitelytakes a lot of courage and I
don't think it's bad to stay inthe same company.
Sometimes staying in the samecompany could also mean slower
(22:38):
growth.
But if you're giving results andif you have those board of
directors who are also in thecompany for 25, 30 years, you'll
probably see results and I'veseen that happen.
I did not wanna wait, I did notwanna wait 25, 30 years
initially for the, for manyyears, for at least 10, 12 years
of my life.
(22:59):
most of my, the changes that Imade were heavily dependent on
who's gonna gimme a work visa,right?
So when I changed industries, Iwas not intentional about
changing industries.
I was just looking for the nextbest role that fits me and my
expertise.
It so happened, it worked outfor me.
(23:20):
Today after being in fourdifferent industries, my
learning curve has been amazing.
As related to supply chain, Ihave seen so many different
system do so many differentproducts.
and have had great, I have agreat level of understanding.
I feel like I can perform betterbecause of my experience in
(23:40):
these four different industries.
So it worked out for me and itwas good.
And I, today I feel good aboutchanging industries, but again,
every change I interviewed and Ithink that's the biggest fear,
most of them.
I've actually interviewed peoplejust, offline asking them what
makes them stay for 25, 30years.
(24:03):
Some stay for 40 years in thesame company.
And the feedback I've gotten,they gimme multiple reasons
about how the company has beenso good and that they love what
they're doing and all that istrue.
But at the end they also addanother caveat, and they're
like, it's also comfort.
right?
They have never put together aresume.
(24:23):
They've never have, they'venever had to interview.
So they're just nervous.
They don't even know where tostart.
I also had that problem when Iwas moving out of a company.
First time after 13 years.
It was nerve wracking, believeit or not, Siria.
I've never used a an outsideagency to put together my
resume.
I have nothing against it.
I think actually people shoulddo it because it makes it much
(24:44):
easier.
But for me, that process ofthinking about what have I done
for the past 15 years?
putting it all down in twopages, making it impactful,
preparing for an interview.
It helped me quite a bit.
It helped me look into my pastand that I think when people
worry about how do I step out ofthis?
(25:08):
Comfort zone, and I'm I saycomfort zone, not because
they're not challenged in thework, but you do get
comfortable, right?
When you're in a company for along time, it's like family,
okay?
You know everybody.
You know who you're talking toevery day.
So it's a change.
I say start it.
There's no harm in at leaststarting your resume.
It takes at least two months toput together your resume.
(25:28):
It's a good start.
Give interviews, you'll fail ininterviews, and then you'll know
how to get better, so I think.
Don't go out there thinking youwant a job.
Just give an interview.
Just put together a resume.
It's gonna help you at leastthink about everything that
you've done in the past 20years.
If you have 20 years ofexperience, 15 years, whatever
(25:49):
that is, I think it's thecourage that you need to take
the step, step forward littlebit every day.
It's not easy though.
I understand why it's difficultfor many people giving an
interview for a vice presidentrole for three months.
is not easy, but you know if youwant it.
That's again, how much can youpush yourself?
How important is this
Sirisha (26:10):
There is a parallel here, right?
When you're practicing for theinterview and you're practicing
to ask for that next role, evenwith your management, you have
to practice.
And even if you don't choose tomove outside your company, I
think working through thatresume process will let you
pivot inside your organization.
Deepa (26:24):
Bingo.
I did practice.
I started practicing.
When I was starting to give alot of presentations to leaders,
executive leaders, and one of mymentors was an executive leader
in my previous company.
He was at a senior VP level andI used to present to him and the
C F O and all together andthat's when one of my mentorship
(26:48):
sessions, he told me how fast Ispeak and how sometimes I, am
not very clear.
When I'm saying words and hesaid, go and record yourself.
Again, being an extrovert andbeing, being there and giving a
presentation, two differentthings.
(27:09):
You could be an extrovert andvery comfortably have a
conversation in a room, but whenyou present to a room full of
leaders, you have to know howyou sound.
When you give an interview, youhave to know how you sound.
The first time I was a keynotespeaker in one of sessions in
San Diego, I practiced.
(27:30):
I wrote down the questions and Isaid it aloud multiple times.
I recorded myself hard workagain.
Hard work is, I don't like touse that word hard work because
hard work can mean different todifferent people.
but you have to put the F wordand you have to put in time for
everything.
It's not going to be easy, andespecially when you come from a
(27:52):
different country.
as an immigrant, your accent isdifferent.
Your style of speaking isdifferent.
Coming from India,
Sirisha (28:03):
You should just practice what you've done,
highlight your skills, becauseit just articulates for you if
situations change that you'reready for it.
you were talking about havinginterviewed for every single
role.
And it's the same in my case,because there are people who get
tapped on the shoulder, but it'snot as often as we think.
And I think of it as also, Istill go back to thinking in my
(28:25):
mind, it's like access, right?
You have to know people in yournetwork who are going to give
you accent, and it's not easy toget access.
It's like a ladder.
You have to be on the firstround to climb the second,
third, and fourth.
If you never get on the firsttrunk and that the opportunity
doesn't arise, you are not goingto climb up the.
and not getting so there wasthis Ellen Ochoa's first Latin
(28:46):
American astronaut from nasa,and she was the director of one
of the NASA's big institutions.
And in her story she says, Ithink she was the deputy
director, was expecting to bepromoted to the.
But she didn't get the role andthen realized the same
conversation that she didn'tarticulate what she wanted.
(29:07):
So it happens for everyone atevery single level.
If you actually have enoughconversations with senior
leaders, even their stories,you'll find that, oh, I didn't
get the first one because Ididn't know I had to ask.
So everyone has had to ask andfigure out how and it's taking
that feedback, realizing whatyou want to do, what is
important to you, like you said,integrity, but also to your
(29:27):
values and where you want to go,and being able to be clear
within that because, so that youcan be happy wherever you end up
in whatever role you mightfollow through.
Deepa (29:37):
Yeah, and the tap on the shoulder, it's now.
17 years since I've, been in acareer of global supply chain.
I don't know who these peopleare who get tapped on the
shoulder.
I'm definitely not one amongthem.
I still don't know how to nailthat.
I don't even know how to getaccess.
And initially in, as I startedout in the five, eight years of
(29:58):
my career, I'm not gonna lie Idid feel badabout not knowing
people, not being in that groupof, I don't know, what do you
call it?
The access group.
I was not a part of it.
I could see it.
Now I'm more comfortable withit.
I know that the only way out isjust continuing to do my job.
(30:20):
But don't put your head and headdown and do your job.
Do your job.
Do be very good at it.
and be comfortable to articulateit and say, Hey, you know what?
I was damn good at this.
I wanna grow.
I wanna be here.
Tell me how do I get there?
And that's what we need to beable to do.
And I think as again, the SouthAsian culture I'll talk about
(30:43):
myself.
We don't take failures verywell.
We don't like to hear you didn'tdo a good job.
I've gotten comfortable withthat.
It's okay to fail sometimes.
Failures are your biggest,lessons in life and you make
something out of each and everyfailure.
So don't be disheartened if youfail at a project and it's not
gonna take 10 steps back.
(31:05):
So go out there and raise yourhand for the toughest project
when the toughest project isannounced in the room without
worrying about failure.
it's okay to fail.
Everybody fails.
People who have gotten, I'veseen so many people who have
failed and actually have gottenpromoted because they took up a
big challenge and they were theonly ones who were ready to do
it.
So that also has worked out forme many times where I took up
(31:28):
the biggest challenge cuz, whichno one was ready to do.
And.
I did well in that and I, I wasrecognized.
So I think there's multipledifferent ways you can go about
it.
Again, tapping on the shoulderis not one that I've been in
Sirisha (31:42):
Yeah, because those skills and that experience, no
one's taking from you whetheryou get the
Deepa (31:46):
next role or
Sirisha (31:47):
you don't do a great job.
You've learned something fromit.
and people recognize that aswell.
And you were talking about, thechallenge of being on an
immigrant visa, which a lot ofthe layoff stories are evolving
around that.
I even see articles on b BBCtalking about it and everywhere
else because that is a challengethat, when you go through that
process to get to find a job isvery hard.
The experience of being animmigrant.
(32:09):
We've been talking about sort ofthe challenges.
I think the positive side of it,one of the huge positive factors
is because you have lived inmultiple cultures and have
different lived experiences,that can be a huge boom when
you're dealing with, workingwith different people, working
across cultures, say you havecustomers across the globe.
I think the nuances of figuringout and understanding, of the
(32:29):
global perspective really bringsomething to the table.
Deepa (32:32):
the globe is big.
So it's you do have to try tolearn different cultures and
that was something that I wasvery interested in.
So I did spend time with peopleall over the country, all over
the world.
In fact, as I worked in globalcompanies.
So that benefited me.
and I'm glad you touch on workvisa because nobody seems to
talk about it when somebody asksme, and I'm always very honest
(32:54):
about it when somebody asks me,what was your dream job?
My, my answer would always bewhoever gave me a job was my
dream job at that point when Igraduated, and I am sure it's
true even today since thelayoffs have happened, I've seen
multiple.
Students or multiple multiplefolks with the H one Visa asking
(33:15):
me for help.
And the unfortunate thing aboutthat is they have one month or
two months max.
I don't know how mu how many,how much time they have now, but
I think not more than twomonths.
And the H one Visa transferprocess itself is a month.
And we know that it's not easyto get a job in two months,
right?
You have to put together yourresume.
You have to apply.
(33:36):
you have to get an interview.
It's just not an easy process.
I don't think there is asolution to that yet.
I hope we have some kind of asolution for that in the future,
but that's another reason why Ithink immigrants seek out jobs,
which are more, safer, if Icould say.
And no job is safe.
I know that, but, what they willlose is big as compared to a
(34:00):
citizen who's born here or acitizen just in general, right?
And especially in amongst thelot I know about Indian
passports, I know people whocome with an Indian passport, it
takes a much longer before theybecome residents of citizens.
So they are in that situationfor a very long time.
So they have to combat that fora very long time.
(34:21):
So I do understand the problem.
taking that risk as well, right?
If you are in a comfortable job,and when I say comfortable, not
because it's comfortable,because you're not doing much
just because you have a visa.
This company sponsors your visa.
You don't wanna get out thereand look for another one because
what if that risk doesn't panout?
And if you lose a job in a year,now you're starting the process
(34:44):
again.
It's definitely challenging andwe don't talk enough about the
whole immigrant visa situation.
It's.
just worse year after year.
It's not gotten easy.
You think that it get, it'll geteasy, since I started, but I
only think it's gotten worse andso many people have gone back to
India in the past couple monthsbecause they couldn't find a
job.
Sirisha (35:04):
Yeah.
A lot of students that aregraduating, cannot even apply
for roles because, yeah.
All percentage of them are evenavailable to.
and for those who get like whenI got laid off, like I was able
to go on a spouse visa, but evento transition back to H one was
enormously hard.
the company didn't know how Deonsponsored this consulting
company and it, became verytouchy and sticky points.
(35:26):
So I think it still goes backto, I know for a fact that a lot
of people do not maketransitions because their work
visa status depends on the role.
So once you move, it restartsthe clock.
So they're very heads talkingabout, I think everyone needs to
stay current on their skillsetand their resumes.
Not that you'll get laid off orthis thing, but I think it's
(35:48):
best to be prepared.
If a role or an interview comesby or some recruiter reaches out
and you think you do not wantthe job just to go and do the
interview, it may be the right,because I've know a lot of
people who move with nointention of ever interviewing,
but actually end up in a greatrole or a different role, so
that gives you practice andkeeps you fresh.
Upskilled and you are allpositive note with the intention
(36:10):
of taking the role, not just forpractice, but I think you just
continue to expand your networkand we have to hedge our bets.
It is a risk tolerance game atsome point, right?
Even as ambitious, you're, youare hedging your risk, so you
have to see what is right foryou and you're hedging between.
Family and all your othercommitments as you're trying to
figure out what that looks like.
Deepa (36:28):
mean, You take a risk when you're leaving your country
and coming here already, right?
That was a big risk and I didnot know anybody here.
I do understand that when you'revery young, the risk that you're
taking is only on yourself.
As you grow, and you build afamily, now the risk becomes
you.
It goes on to your family too.
But again, if you don't takerisk, there is no gain.
(36:51):
I, for anyone who's listening tothis I would also recommend
everyone to have a good LinkedInprofile.
Be a lifelong learner.
It's never enough.
Learning is good at any point inyour life, right?
Don't get comfortable becauseyou have a title of a manager or
a director, or a vp.
(37:11):
Even to perform at your whateverlevel you are at, you have to
continue to learn.
And how do you learn is youdon't have to sit in a class to
learn, but you have to seek outinformation.
And that is also somethingthat's gonna set you apart from
the rest of the group.
It doesn't mean that you'reyou're never gonna get laid off
and you're not gonna getimpacted by a RIF in a company
(37:34):
that is, unfortunately, it'sunder no one's control, but at
least if.
Up to date and if you areconstantly learning, you could
reach out to different jobposters and you could reach out
to different companies and talkabout what you can do and what
you've learned over years.
So continue to learn every day.
I would highly recommend thatand keep you're LinkedIn up to
(37:56):
date.
There's no harm in doing that.
Sirisha (37:59):
And even better, they should really leverage their
LinkedIn to build that brand.
You're building your brandinside your company, start
writing articles, posting orcommenting.
Start small.
I know it's very hard to get onit because we feel the StuG of
war between work and being.
Invincible on LinkedInsometimes, but it does help to
share your expertise because ifyour situation changes or
(38:20):
somebody might tap you on theshoulder I talked about for that
opportunity.
If they see that there issomething that you're speaking
to and you could put it towardsyour expertise or learn
something new, and if you wannapivot, it's a place to gain
access to someone else who'sgoing to help you build that
network.
Yeah.
LinkedIn is so powerful.
mean, There's so many ways totake advantage of it that you.
(38:40):
totally look into
Deepa (38:41):
leveraging it as well.
Absolutely.
And I wanna double click onthat.
Writing and speaking skills arevery different skills, and I
think it's important to haveboth good writing and speaking
skills.
So anyone you know who wants togrow, please invest in your
communication, whether it'swriting or speaking.
(39:01):
That was something I alsolearned over time.
It's very important if you wannagrow, if you wanna excel.
Those two skills are veryimportant.
I didn't take a special course,but I, when I started realizing
that's important, I spent a lotof time listening reading books.
I even today spent a lot of timewriting and making sure that, my
(39:24):
sentences are coming out well,and it's making sense.
You have to be short, you haveto be concise, and you have to
also be impactful.
With say, providing an impactwith less words.
Brevity is something that we allneed to learn, and especially
when you come from South Asianculture, you tend to really
write long sentences to get tobefore you get to the point.
So brevity is very important.
Sirisha (39:45):
Yeah.
When someone gives you a letterand says, you've written a 700
word letter and says you need itin three 50, you're gonna really
think on which words you'regonna put and what is the
message.
So even before you do apresentation, any conversation
if it's a critical one, think ofwhat the output you want is.
What are you asking for and thenphrase everything around that.
it's not about taking advantageof making it a transactional,
(40:07):
but I.
Really, someone is going toappreciate you being clear on
what your ask is and how youcome across.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think we can spend hourschatting some more, but I wanted
to sum up some of the things forpeople who are listening, Deepa
and I have been sharing sort ofthe immigrant, the South Asian
experience what we are trying tosay is in the essence of
everything, you have to bereally good at what you.
(40:28):
Seek out mentors.
Be very clear on what you'rearticulating for no matter which
culture or if you are, a citizenor you are from here, make sure
you're able to articulate withyour management, even to
yourself what you want.
First, you have to understandwhat you want before you can
tell someone else what you want,and then making sure you ask for
it.
And it's okay to make mistakes,fail at everything you might
(40:48):
try, but you're always takingsomething away that you're
getting.
And.
Just taking risk, trying newthings.
Interviewing you need to bedoing.
It's going to seem completelyoverwhelming what we might have
told you.
So pick out of all of this onething that two months, then
maybe pick another piece fromone of the episodes of this one,
and then slowly make yourself agoal plan and execute.
(41:11):
Because we make all these newyear resolutions and it's very
hard because we overwhelmourselves.
We just need time for ourselvesto chill, relax, take some time
and not go crazy doing.
What advice would you give your21 year old self?
Deepa (41:26):
Oh, wow.
So what a great question.
I had just turned 21 when I cameto the US just, a few months
out.
I remember this just very clearin my head.
Landed in Kalamazoo Airport.
No clue.
I came with nothing with twobags.
Lot of dreams, two bags.
I did not know what, just thebasics of what I'm going to eat
and where am I gonna go and whoam I gonna stay with?
(41:50):
Then I still remember eating aburrito and Taco Bell.
I did not even know how to eatit.
At the end of that day, I was sostressed out.
I thought this was the end of mylife and I just, tears that
night.
I thought this was the biggestmistake I made.
So to my 21 year old self, Iwould say chill out.
(42:11):
It's all gonna work out.
Sirisha (42:12):
So true.
just go with a sense ofadventure and it'll be fine.
And what is the one word youwould use to describe yourself.
Deepa (42:17):
Passionate.
I always go after everythingwith a hundred percent passion.
So I think that would be theright word to describe.
Describe me.
Sirisha (42:24):
And that comes across so clearly.
So for those of you listening,Lippa shared so much.
Dipa, can you share yourinformation so people can get in
touch
Deepa (42:32):
the best way is via LinkedIn.
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
They can find me as Deepa D andreach out to me.
Sirisha (42:38):
This is an indie podcast, and if you really enjoy
the content, you can help mewith production by supporting
me.
You can buy me a cup of chai.
I'm not really a coffee drinker,or you can enable me by
subscribing for either a monthlyor an annual plan as well.
Thank you for doing this.
And don't forget to share thisepisode and put in this reviews
(42:59):
what you liked.
What was your key takeaway?
That's really what I wanna know.
I wanna know how this isimpacting you, and what's
inifnitessimal changes you'reseeing in your life.
You can always reach me throughInstagram by sending me a DM at
Women Carrier and Life.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
See you next.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Women Carrier and
(00:03):
Live podcast.
This is your host, Dr.
Ceria Kumanchi, a former techexecutive at Texas Instruments,
a Fortune 200 company, aspeaker, a working mom, and an
ever reader.
In this podcast, you will hearstories and practical advice for
you to achieve your career andlife goals.
I also wanna say a big thank youto our listeners for continuing
(00:25):
to support this podcast andmaking it in the top 30% of
Spotify podcasts.
If you wanna continue to supportthis indie produced show, you
can either buy me a cup of chai,I am not a coffee drinker, or
you can become a monthly orannual subscriber.
You will find more inform.
In the show notes.
I have the Deepa With Me, who isa vice president and a global
(00:47):
supply chain executive who'sworked in various organizations
Deepa and I actually connectedat the Society of Asian
Scientists and Engineers Cpro,which was doing a webinar where
she was a keynote speaker.
We connected over LinkedIn andhave had a many different chats
and some of the conversation Weare gonna carry over to today's
podcast.
So today we'll be talking aboutleadership, how she's grown into
(01:10):
these senior leadership roles,but it's also looking at it from
a different aspect because bothDPA and I are from India and
came our first generationimmigrants in the US and also
women of color.
So we will be talking about ourown experiences and how it
impacts our careers, thechallenges, and also the
positive things that you takeaway from those lived experie
(01:31):
and looking at it from thatviewpoint.
So the part, thank you for beinghere.
I'm really looking forward totoday's conversation.
Deepa (01:36):
Thank you, Sirisha.
I'm really excited and thank youfor having me as a part of your
program.
I'm looking forward to theconversation as well.
Sirisha (01:43):
Definitely.
give me some background and forthe listeners as well, and how
have you got what you're doingtoday and what do you actually
do at this point in.
Deepa (01:52):
So my background like you said, I'm a first generation
immigrant.
I was born and raised.
Pretty traditional SouthernIndian family.
I was born, raised in Bangalore,India, and I got my bachelor's
in industrial engineering thereand I came to the United States
of America almost 20 years agowhen to pursue my master's in
(02:13):
industrial engineering.
Really the reason I choseindustrial engineering was, You
know how most, most times youfollow your parents, and I was a
biggest fan of my dad.
And my dad was a mechanicalengineer and he was an
industrialist.
So I was really fascinated byoperations in manufacturing and
I always wanted to be in it.
And when I was taking up orchoosing my options for
(02:35):
engineering, not many women werein mechanical engineering.
Almost none I think.
And industrial engineering was apretty.
Newly formed course work if Icould say even that did not have
many women.
I think in my class, only lessthan 10% of us, and I'm
exaggerating, 10%, maybe lessthan 5% of us were women.
(02:56):
But I thought, okay, industrialengineering and management is
going to be in the lines ofmechanical engineering.
I could probably run my dad'sbusiness someday.
And that's why I took upindustrial engineering.
And after that, always wanted topursue my masters.
And somehow at that point,although nobody in my family
came to the United States topursue their masters, I learned
(03:19):
more about it.
And I was excited about the factthat, I could maybe go to the
United States, pursue my careerand do something different.
And that's how I came here.
And got my mass master's inMichigan Kalamazoo, Michigan,
which.
Compared to where I was raisedin a tropical country, was
extremely cold and extremelyhuge adjustment that I had to
(03:42):
make.
Which, when you are in India,you think you know cold, but you
really don't until you are in acity where it's snows six months
in a year and it's, thetemperatures are below, zero all
the time.
So it was it.
Interesting.
It was great.
It changed me as a person in avery good way.
I learned a lot and it's made methe person I am today.
(04:04):
So that's my background.
Sirisha (04:07):
as you said, when you come from the tropics to the
cold, I went to school inPittsburgh, so yes, it's quite
different.
And you realize that you cannotbuy a winter jacket in a
location that does not actuallyexperience winter.
It doesn't work It's not meantfor the weather.
Deepa (04:19):
if you don't know anybody in the US you don't know what to
expect and there is nobody toguide you.
So that was also my problem,that when I came here, I did not
know where to buy stuff.
Most of my Michigan time, and Istayed there five, six years.
I worked there as well.
I can just remember the cold andthe wet feeling of Michigan
(04:42):
Yeah,
Sirisha (04:43):
and you bring up a really good point.
I think that's the challengewhen you're a first generation
immigrant, no matter from whichplace you come, because unless
you have family or some extendedfriends that can guide you,
that's always hard.
Since we spend a lot of time onthis podcast talking about
carrier and leadership andfinances, those are not
necessarily the conversationsyou're having at home.
Even if you're hanging out withpeople, and that's the reason we
(05:03):
need forums to have thoseconversations and find advocates
and mentors to guide us throughit, cuz it's very hard to
navigate.
And why do we have to tread thesame path if somebody's already
figured out a way?
That's what I struggle with.
Why can't we get a leg up andmove forward faster.
Deepa (05:18):
Absolutely.
I think having podcasts likethis and there's so many forums
these days online that'savailable.
Google is everyone's friend andLinkedIn is really.
out there.
You could reach out to people.
When I started out, there wasnothing like that, but I'm just
so excited about this newgeneration where they can reach
out to people.
And I do my best.
(05:39):
I get so many contacts viaLinkedIn, but I, it's almost
impossible to reply to everyone.
But I do try my best to at leastgive back in some way because
ev, at least with the newgeneration, they should have
access to information.
That's the basic that we can do.
thank you.
For people like you who aredoing podcasts like this is only
gonna help spread thatinformation easily.
(06:00):
Yeah,
Sirisha (06:00):
definitely.
And for guests like you to sharethat.
it's true that there'sinformation equity problems as
well.
We talk about a lot of equityand having equitable
conversations, but if you don'thave access it's the same
challenge.
So you are currently vicepresident and a global supply
chain executor.
So how did you climb the careerladder to get where you are and
what are the challenges youfaced and how did you tackle
(06:22):
those?
Deepa (06:23):
So I think I told you a little bit about how I took up
my industrial engineeringcoursework.
I saw my dad really grow fromnothing to being an
industrialist.
All that always motivated me andsomehow, I think naturally I was
a very ambitious person evenfrom the start because I always
wanted to become, Executive runa big company that was always
(06:48):
there, even as a kid.
I came to the US with the sameintention.
Sometimes the word ambitious,nobody wants to use it.
It's not a bad word.
It's a good word.
You should be ambitious.
Ambition can be different fordifferent people.
Ambitious is actually a healthyword to use.
So I came here with the sameambition that I had in India.
And now I did not know how toget there.
(07:10):
I did not even know the path,but I was always very
intentional.
I always like to think abouteverything in threes and five,
so I'll just stick to threeimportant things that are needed
with wherever you wanna go inyour career.
One.
be very diligent about the workthat you're doing.
So you have to give results.
That's very important.
(07:32):
And as you give results andpeople start seeing that you're
excelling in your work, don'thesitate to ask for more work.
So you're doing one thing.
Don't hesitate to expand intoother regions and, asking for
extended projects, that's.
Second, you have to makeeveryone aware around you that
(07:55):
you wanna grow.
It's very difficult for peoplecoming from.
Asian countries.
I'll talk about me.
I was not told, or I was nottaught to speak out what you
want it.
That was considered not a verygood thing to do, especially for
girls.
So I was not taught that I hadto teach myself that.
I had to teach myself that it'sokay to say that I wanna grow
(08:17):
into a manager or a director ora vice president.
it took me some time.
It was not that I got in and Istarted doing all this.
I had to learn that, in America,if you wanna grow, you have to
be able to say that to yourmanager.
Last but not the least, you haveto do all this with high levels
of, integrity, right?
You cannot lose that at anypoint of time and stay honest.
(08:39):
And those three things, I alwayskept that in my mind as I went
through my different steps in mycareer.
Was it easy?
Nothing is easy.
I don't think so.
Even for people born here, Idon't think getting to any
executive level is easy.
I do think sometimes it's easierfor some than others.
So I would put myself in theothers category because I had to
(09:00):
consistently go after it, beintentional about it.
But I do wanna say and alsobeing an immigrant, I have so
many other barriers that comealong with my career, right?
I have to manage being in adifferent country.
I have to manage, nobody wantsto talk about this, but the work
visa situation is a big dealtoo.
You have to find a company thatsponsors your work visa.
(09:21):
It's one thing to be ambitious.
It's one thing to say, I wannawork.
For an aerospace industry, ifthat's your dream as an
immigrant, you can't even workin an aerospace industry because
you know you're not a citizen.
So sometimes you need to pickwhat is it that you wanna do.
it's always trying to get acompany which will sponsor you a
(09:43):
visa and then do your best thereand grow as much as you can.
So really being intentional hashelped me.
I've struggled ma mainly becauseI've been in manufacturing all
my life, and obviouslymanufacturing is not very
friendly with women and youdon't see many women leaders,
it's getting better.
Of course.
Definitely not many South Asianwomen.
(10:05):
I don't know how many SouthAsian women you've seen in
manufacturing and operations,but I have a hard time trying to
find that, trying to find aswomen with mentors and sponsors
in manufacturing and operations.
So it was definitely a path thatI was taking by myself without
understanding where I'm gonnaget, and I did not have anyone
to look up to either.
So to say that it's been,challenging is gonna be an
(10:27):
understatement.
But, I enjoyed the challenge.
I seeked out great mentors whopulled me up and pushed me
forward which was helpful aswell..
Sirisha (10:36):
there's so much to unpack in what you just said.
She touched on so many things Iwas going to take in bite size.
But let's start with a couple ofthings.
I think it goes without saying,as you've said correctly you
have to deliver the results nomatter what you're doing that's
a given and asking for theroles.
So I call it being brave at workand that's what I talked about
at SA when I gave the webinar,because we don't think to ask,
(10:58):
and as a person sitting on theother side, having the
conversation with my managementand as sitting as a manager on
the other side, I see bothaspects and everyone has so much
on there plate.
They do not know what you wantand what you are thinking.
So you have to articulate whatyou want and then they can help
you find it and, find the rightmentors and the opportunity.
So that goes without saying, andthe challenge is, The South
(11:22):
Asian and from talking to peoplefrom different parts of Asian
culture.
And it's not just Asian cultureand sense, but it does have a
high tendency to, in inculcatecertain cultural aspects of
being humble, not speaking aboutyourself, not advocating for
yourself.
And I struggle with it just likeyou did.
I had this.
Leader talked to me and heencapsulated my journey in the
(11:45):
last years and said, when youstarted, you were so quiet, then
you started to slowly flourishand now you are very vocal about
what you want.
And it's been very intentionaldecisions to want to do that
because it's very hard to do itand you don't have the right way
to do it.
You struggle with, am I beingbombastic or showing off, but am
I still delivering results?
It's a very fine line.
(12:06):
No matter which culture you'refrom.
I think it's also a hard pathfor women to tread because it is
a double-edged sword in thesense that it's if you ask and
if you don't ask, the lens thatsomeone views it through is so
different.
So I think of it is sign ofdamned if you do a damn, if you
don't.
So you're stuck in this verynarrow path and it's a very
(12:26):
perception challenge that youstruggle with.
There's so many articles.
Research shows that it's.
Fine line that you have tofigure out.
So you need so many advocateswho still understand that you
are going to do it differentlyand be there for you and allies
to speak to you in that sense.
So the other part of it is whenyou're looking at this
(12:46):
conversation and people areadvocating and help you along,
how do you leverage that?
How do you find them?
How do you get people to seethat aspect of.
Deepa (12:58):
Not easy.
You have to be again,intentional.
You, you said something verygood, very well.
You talked about articulatingit.
I think I'm an extrovert and Iam an extrovert, but.
people assume that if you're anextrovert, it must be easy for
you to talk about yourself.
Easy for you to say what youwant.
That's not true.
It's two different things.
My personality is an extrovert,meaning that I could pick up a
(13:19):
conversation with anyone.
I could go, mingle with severalpeople.
It doesn't mean that I canarticulate well what I want out
of my career.
I struggle with it.
And also I did not know anythingabout having mentors.
And this is probably true formany people.
Maybe it's better now, I don'tknow.
(13:40):
But I still think a lot of SouthAsians or Asian culture, they
don't know how to seek outmentors.
I had that problem as well.
When I st I still remember thisvery vaguely when I, in one, one
of the companies I had, I was aprogram manager and I was.
Again, the ambition is stillthere, right?
And I have not told anyone thatI'm ambitious and I wanna grow.
(14:03):
And I took up every project thatcame my way, sometimes extended
projects, and I deliveredeverything within time, great
savings and all that stuff.
And I assumed when a role openedup, they'll just automatically
consider me for that role.
And when they hired somebodyfrom outside, I was so sad.
(14:25):
again for a 24, 25 year old girlwithout having anyone to go to.
I went, I remember going backhome and crying.
That has happened too.
And then I stepped back and Ithought, okay, how do I, what do
I do?
What do I do to grow withoutunderstanding how to seek out
mentors?
I just started talking to a fewpeople and.
(14:47):
somebody told me, Hey, you knowwhat?
You should find a mentor.
And I'm, and this is reallynaive and maybe sounds silly,
but I remember asking this one.
What's, what do you mean amentor who is a mentor?
Should I go ask somebody?
Are you gonna be a mentor?
Is that how it works?
I had no clue.
Over time I have realized, Iknow how important it is to have
mentors.
So I, anyone who's listening tothis, I say, Men mentors don't
(15:10):
just happen overnight.
You have to be close to theperson.
You have to be a able to have adiscussion.
It's a two-way communication.
So slowly I started to connectwith people and I started to ha
have discussions about my careerplans.
And look, this happened with mejust a few months ago.
What do I do?
(15:30):
What's, what am I doing wrong?
And then somebody gave me honestfeedback.
They were like, nobody knowswhat your career plans are,
you're not telling anyone.
And there is a process when wedo the performance review and if
you are.
Gonna get your performancereview from your manager.
That's when you talk about whatyour plans are.
Are you gonna move, are youready to move?
(15:51):
Are you ready to make changes inyour life?
What is the next step that'sgood for you?
Have all those discussions.
So it was not an overnightthing.
It from the time I was so sadabout somebody else getting that
role.
to the time I started toarticulate it was almost a year
gap because it took me that muchtime to find people, talk to
them, understand what theprocess is and all that kind of
(16:13):
stuff.
So I think.
Finding mentors was not easy.
You have to have that strongrelationship.
And also remember, it's atwo-way communication.
And the mentors also gainedsomething from the mentees,
right?
I have so many mentees rightnow.
I always gained something fromthem.
They are 10 years younger thanme.
They know so much about theworld.
(16:35):
They see world in a differentways.
I gain from them, they gain fromme as well.
I'm, I don't think you can justgo ask somebody and they become
your mentor overnight.
I don't think that is the bestway to find mentors.
You have to be intentional.
You have to spend time and youhave to be ready to take
feedback.
I was open and that's, I think,was, I feel that's that was my
(16:57):
strength.
I was open for very strongfeedback.
I was open to change.
Not change my authentic self,but whether it is, just how I
communicate.
Slow down a little bit.
My PowerPoint presentations.
How should I communicate?
How should I present toexecutive leadership team?
So I'm just giving a fewexamples, but I was ready to
(17:19):
take tough feedback from thementors.
One, seek out your mentors.
Find who is that person who youcould confide with, who you
could be comfortable with, andthen be ready to take very open
feedback from your mentorsbecause if you're not ready for
a feedback and if you're gonnabe very defensive or if you're
gonna get upset about it, thenthere's no value in that because
(17:43):
mentors slowly become yoursponsors as well.
That's the ultimate thing.
Sirisha (17:47):
And when you talk about mentors, I did a whole season on
it because to your point, wedon't know we need it.
I have had tremendous mentorsalong the way, and some of them
have been there for many years.
and it's an investment, It's asafe space.
You are having a conversation.
You get to know each otherreally well, but it is a slowly
organic growth process.
It doesn't, like you say, flip aswitch.
(18:07):
You don't, it's not somethingyou go and ask someone saying,
be a mentor.
I've tried formal programs, butthey're quite challenging
because you don't have thatconnection and you have to find
a common ground to speak on.
Deepa (18:16):
And I've been in formal programs, meaning in many
companies where they startedmentorship programs, and I was a
mentor.
I personally I'm on it and Idon't have a problem with that,
but I personally find itchallenging because you cannot
help people with, in a two monthmentorship program or a three
month mentorship program.
My mentors, I have two or threementors.
(18:37):
I've had them for 10 years rightnow.
So it's the same people I goback to and I'm open to get
feedback from them.
So it's like you said, it's aninvestment.
Sirisha (18:46):
Yes.
And getting feedback.
Also it's hard for people togive feedback because they have
to feel comfortable that you aregoing to process it with the
right spirit.
And if you're not willing totake it, then it's not gonna get
you forward.
It's about how do you maybe tella storytelling, how do you
present, how do you stand in theroom?
What is your sort of executivepresence?
It's those things that you willnot know unless someone tells
(19:08):
you and gives you that feedbackimmediately.
especially if you're, ambitiousand want to grow.
You have to do that
Deepa (19:14):
Absolutely.
Totally.
Sirisha (19:17):
because the thing is when you're asking for the roles
that you want, when you weretalking about not getting it,
there's so many stories thatsort of, popped in.
So I was talking to a friendrecently who's also trying to
grow into her roles.
One challenge that people canhave when you're in an
organization I've heard frommany people.
We all will have sponsors, butif you only have a single
(19:37):
sponsor or a single point ofcontact that can be a hardship
because you really need to builda network because if that
sponsor moves, and I've had alot of people who I know who
sponsors have moved, they've gotstuck in their roles and the
role that, this person wastrying to get promoted into the
senior role, it didn't even showup.
There was no one to advocate forthem.
(19:59):
When the discussion came up andit became the discussion around,
were you getting projects that.
like the hill size or themountain size, and it depends
what access you have.
So it goes back to that accesswe were talking about.
To get opportunities, you haveto be given the right projects,
but you're only given the rightprojects.
You actually ask for what youwant and you have to have
clarity on what you want.
(20:19):
Also, because just asking is notenough, or at least you have to
know what you don't want and beable to draw some clear
boundaries so they can help younavigate, do some stretch roles,
for you to build that network asyou.
and it's good to start buildingthe network, not just inside
your organization because inyour case you have moved
companies, so you've obviouslybroaden that horizon.
So what do you tell someone?
(20:40):
Because you also often meetpeople not, it's not the case so
much for the people who areentering the workforce in the
last five, 10 years.
But more often than not, therehave been people who've been,
had long careers in a certainorganization, but they're kind
of thinking of moving, but it'svery hard for them.
process, how to make thatchange.
It's the risk tolerance is verylow because you've never had to
(21:02):
move either organizations oryour role or your company, but
you wanna try something new andthey get there, but then they
actually never wanna cross thefinish line.
Yeah.
How can they reframe thatconversation in their mind?
Deepa (21:13):
you have to be very clear.
When I said I was ambitious fora, from as long as I've known
it.
And I have been intentional andI've been intentional the whole
time.
Giving results, connecting withpeople.
We, you talked about sponsorsmoving out, that can happen.
I know I've heard of the termcreate your own board of
directors.
trust me, you could do all thatand everybody could leave.
(21:35):
So it's good to create thatboard of directors so that at
least you can get projects thatare, high visibility big changes
to the company.
I, and I've done all that, whichis great.
I think that's what I expectfrom my board of directors.
I have never till date, and Isay this very honestly, I have
(21:55):
never till date.
Gotten any role without aninterview.
Every job that I have gotten isbecause of an interview process
and I have spent hours oninterviews when I, so that makes
me feel good about the fact thatone, nobody has just handed me
anything.
over just like that and said,here you go.
(22:17):
I'm promoting you from one levelto another.
That has not happen.
Kudos to people who get that.
I know that happens to a fewpeople, but definitely not with
me.
To move companies, it definitelytakes a lot of courage and I
don't think it's bad to stay inthe same company.
Sometimes staying in the samecompany could also mean slower
(22:38):
growth.
But if you're giving results andif you have those board of
directors who are also in thecompany for 25, 30 years, you'll
probably see results and I'veseen that happen.
I did not wanna wait, I did notwanna wait 25, 30 years
initially for the, for manyyears, for at least 10, 12 years
of my life.
(22:59):
most of my, the changes that Imade were heavily dependent on
who's gonna gimme a work visa,right?
So when I changed industries, Iwas not intentional about
changing industries.
I was just looking for the nextbest role that fits me and my
expertise.
It so happened, it worked outfor me.
(23:20):
Today after being in fourdifferent industries, my
learning curve has been amazing.
As related to supply chain, Ihave seen so many different
system do so many differentproducts.
and have had great, I have agreat level of understanding.
I feel like I can perform betterbecause of my experience in
(23:40):
these four different industries.
So it worked out for me and itwas good.
And I, today I feel good aboutchanging industries, but again,
every change I interviewed and Ithink that's the biggest fear,
most of them.
I've actually interviewed peoplejust, offline asking them what
makes them stay for 25, 30years.
(24:03):
Some stay for 40 years in thesame company.
And the feedback I've gotten,they gimme multiple reasons
about how the company has beenso good and that they love what
they're doing and all that istrue.
But at the end they also addanother caveat, and they're
like, it's also comfort.
right?
They have never put together aresume.
(24:23):
They've never have, they'venever had to interview.
So they're just nervous.
They don't even know where tostart.
I also had that problem when Iwas moving out of a company.
First time after 13 years.
It was nerve wracking, believeit or not, Siria.
I've never used a an outsideagency to put together my
resume.
I have nothing against it.
I think actually people shoulddo it because it makes it much
(24:44):
easier.
But for me, that process ofthinking about what have I done
for the past 15 years?
putting it all down in twopages, making it impactful,
preparing for an interview.
It helped me quite a bit.
It helped me look into my pastand that I think when people
worry about how do I step out ofthis?
(25:08):
Comfort zone, and I'm I saycomfort zone, not because
they're not challenged in thework, but you do get
comfortable, right?
When you're in a company for along time, it's like family,
okay?
You know everybody.
You know who you're talking toevery day.
So it's a change.
I say start it.
There's no harm in at leaststarting your resume.
It takes at least two months toput together your resume.
(25:28):
It's a good start.
Give interviews, you'll fail ininterviews, and then you'll know
how to get better, so I think.
Don't go out there thinking youwant a job.
Just give an interview.
Just put together a resume.
It's gonna help you at leastthink about everything that
you've done in the past 20years.
If you have 20 years ofexperience, 15 years, whatever
(25:49):
that is, I think it's thecourage that you need to take
the step, step forward littlebit every day.
It's not easy though.
I understand why it's difficultfor many people giving an
interview for a vice presidentrole for three months.
is not easy, but you know if youwant it.
That's again, how much can youpush yourself?
How important is this
Sirisha (26:10):
There is a parallel here, right?
When you're practicing for theinterview and you're practicing
to ask for that next role, evenwith your management, you have
to practice.
And even if you don't choose tomove outside your company, I
think working through thatresume process will let you
pivot inside your organization.
Deepa (26:24):
Bingo.
I did practice.
I started practicing.
When I was starting to give alot of presentations to leaders,
executive leaders, and one of mymentors was an executive leader
in my previous company.
He was at a senior VP level andI used to present to him and the
C F O and all together andthat's when one of my mentorship
(26:48):
sessions, he told me how fast Ispeak and how sometimes I, am
not very clear.
When I'm saying words and hesaid, go and record yourself.
Again, being an extrovert andbeing, being there and giving a
presentation, two differentthings.
(27:09):
You could be an extrovert andvery comfortably have a
conversation in a room, but whenyou present to a room full of
leaders, you have to know howyou sound.
When you give an interview, youhave to know how you sound.
The first time I was a keynotespeaker in one of sessions in
San Diego, I practiced.
(27:30):
I wrote down the questions and Isaid it aloud multiple times.
I recorded myself hard workagain.
Hard work is, I don't like touse that word hard work because
hard work can mean different todifferent people.
but you have to put the F wordand you have to put in time for
everything.
It's not going to be easy, andespecially when you come from a
(27:52):
different country.
as an immigrant, your accent isdifferent.
Your style of speaking isdifferent.
Coming from India,
Sirisha (28:03):
You should just practice what you've done,
highlight your skills, becauseit just articulates for you if
situations change that you'reready for it.
you were talking about havinginterviewed for every single
role.
And it's the same in my case,because there are people who get
tapped on the shoulder, but it'snot as often as we think.
And I think of it as also, Istill go back to thinking in my
(28:25):
mind, it's like access, right?
You have to know people in yournetwork who are going to give
you accent, and it's not easy toget access.
It's like a ladder.
You have to be on the firstround to climb the second,
third, and fourth.
If you never get on the firsttrunk and that the opportunity
doesn't arise, you are not goingto climb up the.
and not getting so there wasthis Ellen Ochoa's first Latin
(28:46):
American astronaut from nasa,and she was the director of one
of the NASA's big institutions.
And in her story she says, Ithink she was the deputy
director, was expecting to bepromoted to the.
But she didn't get the role andthen realized the same
conversation that she didn'tarticulate what she wanted.
(29:07):
So it happens for everyone atevery single level.
If you actually have enoughconversations with senior
leaders, even their stories,you'll find that, oh, I didn't
get the first one because Ididn't know I had to ask.
So everyone has had to ask andfigure out how and it's taking
that feedback, realizing whatyou want to do, what is
important to you, like you said,integrity, but also to your
(29:27):
values and where you want to go,and being able to be clear
within that because, so that youcan be happy wherever you end up
in whatever role you mightfollow through.
Deepa (29:37):
Yeah, and the tap on the shoulder, it's now.
17 years since I've, been in acareer of global supply chain.
I don't know who these peopleare who get tapped on the
shoulder.
I'm definitely not one amongthem.
I still don't know how to nailthat.
I don't even know how to getaccess.
And initially in, as I startedout in the five, eight years of
(29:58):
my career, I'm not gonna lie Idid feel badabout not knowing
people, not being in that groupof, I don't know, what do you
call it?
The access group.
I was not a part of it.
I could see it.
Now I'm more comfortable withit.
I know that the only way out isjust continuing to do my job.
(30:20):
But don't put your head and headdown and do your job.
Do your job.
Do be very good at it.
and be comfortable to articulateit and say, Hey, you know what?
I was damn good at this.
I wanna grow.
I wanna be here.
Tell me how do I get there?
And that's what we need to beable to do.
And I think as again, the SouthAsian culture I'll talk about
(30:43):
myself.
We don't take failures verywell.
We don't like to hear you didn'tdo a good job.
I've gotten comfortable withthat.
It's okay to fail sometimes.
Failures are your biggest,lessons in life and you make
something out of each and everyfailure.
So don't be disheartened if youfail at a project and it's not
gonna take 10 steps back.
(31:05):
So go out there and raise yourhand for the toughest project
when the toughest project isannounced in the room without
worrying about failure.
it's okay to fail.
Everybody fails.
People who have gotten, I'veseen so many people who have
failed and actually have gottenpromoted because they took up a
big challenge and they were theonly ones who were ready to do
it.
So that also has worked out forme many times where I took up
(31:28):
the biggest challenge cuz, whichno one was ready to do.
And.
I did well in that and I, I wasrecognized.
So I think there's multipledifferent ways you can go about
it.
Again, tapping on the shoulderis not one that I've been in
Sirisha (31:42):
Yeah, because those skills and that experience, no
one's taking from you whetheryou get the
Deepa (31:46):
next role or
Sirisha (31:47):
you don't do a great job.
You've learned something fromit.
and people recognize that aswell.
And you were talking about, thechallenge of being on an
immigrant visa, which a lot ofthe layoff stories are evolving
around that.
I even see articles on b BBCtalking about it and everywhere
else because that is a challengethat, when you go through that
process to get to find a job isvery hard.
The experience of being animmigrant.
(32:09):
We've been talking about sort ofthe challenges.
I think the positive side of it,one of the huge positive factors
is because you have lived inmultiple cultures and have
different lived experiences,that can be a huge boom when
you're dealing with, workingwith different people, working
across cultures, say you havecustomers across the globe.
I think the nuances of figuringout and understanding, of the
(32:29):
global perspective really bringsomething to the table.
Deepa (32:32):
the globe is big.
So it's you do have to try tolearn different cultures and
that was something that I wasvery interested in.
So I did spend time with peopleall over the country, all over
the world.
In fact, as I worked in globalcompanies.
So that benefited me.
and I'm glad you touch on workvisa because nobody seems to
talk about it when somebody asksme, and I'm always very honest
(32:54):
about it when somebody asks me,what was your dream job?
My, my answer would always bewhoever gave me a job was my
dream job at that point when Igraduated, and I am sure it's
true even today since thelayoffs have happened, I've seen
multiple.
Students or multiple multiplefolks with the H one Visa asking
(33:15):
me for help.
And the unfortunate thing aboutthat is they have one month or
two months max.
I don't know how mu how many,how much time they have now, but
I think not more than twomonths.
And the H one Visa transferprocess itself is a month.
And we know that it's not easyto get a job in two months,
right?
You have to put together yourresume.
You have to apply.
(33:36):
you have to get an interview.
It's just not an easy process.
I don't think there is asolution to that yet.
I hope we have some kind of asolution for that in the future,
but that's another reason why Ithink immigrants seek out jobs,
which are more, safer, if Icould say.
And no job is safe.
I know that, but, what they willlose is big as compared to a
(34:00):
citizen who's born here or acitizen just in general, right?
And especially in amongst thelot I know about Indian
passports, I know people whocome with an Indian passport, it
takes a much longer before theybecome residents of citizens.
So they are in that situationfor a very long time.
So they have to combat that fora very long time.
(34:21):
So I do understand the problem.
taking that risk as well, right?
If you are in a comfortable job,and when I say comfortable, not
because it's comfortable,because you're not doing much
just because you have a visa.
This company sponsors your visa.
You don't wanna get out thereand look for another one because
what if that risk doesn't panout?
And if you lose a job in a year,now you're starting the process
(34:44):
again.
It's definitely challenging andwe don't talk enough about the
whole immigrant visa situation.
It's.
just worse year after year.
It's not gotten easy.
You think that it get, it'll geteasy, since I started, but I
only think it's gotten worse andso many people have gone back to
India in the past couple monthsbecause they couldn't find a
job.
Sirisha (35:04):
Yeah.
A lot of students that aregraduating, cannot even apply
for roles because, yeah.
All percentage of them are evenavailable to.
and for those who get like whenI got laid off, like I was able
to go on a spouse visa, but evento transition back to H one was
enormously hard.
the company didn't know how Deonsponsored this consulting
company and it, became verytouchy and sticky points.
(35:26):
So I think it still goes backto, I know for a fact that a lot
of people do not maketransitions because their work
visa status depends on the role.
So once you move, it restartsthe clock.
So they're very heads talkingabout, I think everyone needs to
stay current on their skillsetand their resumes.
Not that you'll get laid off orthis thing, but I think it's
(35:48):
best to be prepared.
If a role or an interview comesby or some recruiter reaches out
and you think you do not wantthe job just to go and do the
interview, it may be the right,because I've know a lot of
people who move with nointention of ever interviewing,
but actually end up in a greatrole or a different role, so
that gives you practice andkeeps you fresh.
Upskilled and you are allpositive note with the intention
(36:10):
of taking the role, not just forpractice, but I think you just
continue to expand your networkand we have to hedge our bets.
It is a risk tolerance game atsome point, right?
Even as ambitious, you're, youare hedging your risk, so you
have to see what is right foryou and you're hedging between.
Family and all your othercommitments as you're trying to
figure out what that looks like.
Deepa (36:28):
mean, You take a risk when you're leaving your country
and coming here already, right?
That was a big risk and I didnot know anybody here.
I do understand that when you'revery young, the risk that you're
taking is only on yourself.
As you grow, and you build afamily, now the risk becomes
you.
It goes on to your family too.
But again, if you don't takerisk, there is no gain.
(36:51):
I, for anyone who's listening tothis I would also recommend
everyone to have a good LinkedInprofile.
Be a lifelong learner.
It's never enough.
Learning is good at any point inyour life, right?
Don't get comfortable becauseyou have a title of a manager or
a director, or a vp.
(37:11):
Even to perform at your whateverlevel you are at, you have to
continue to learn.
And how do you learn is youdon't have to sit in a class to
learn, but you have to seek outinformation.
And that is also somethingthat's gonna set you apart from
the rest of the group.
It doesn't mean that you'reyou're never gonna get laid off
and you're not gonna getimpacted by a RIF in a company
(37:34):
that is, unfortunately, it'sunder no one's control, but at
least if.
Up to date and if you areconstantly learning, you could
reach out to different jobposters and you could reach out
to different companies and talkabout what you can do and what
you've learned over years.
So continue to learn every day.
I would highly recommend thatand keep you're LinkedIn up to
(37:56):
date.
There's no harm in doing that.
Sirisha (37:59):
And even better, they should really leverage their
LinkedIn to build that brand.
You're building your brandinside your company, start
writing articles, posting orcommenting.
Start small.
I know it's very hard to get onit because we feel the StuG of
war between work and being.
Invincible on LinkedInsometimes, but it does help to
share your expertise because ifyour situation changes or
(38:20):
somebody might tap you on theshoulder I talked about for that
opportunity.
If they see that there issomething that you're speaking
to and you could put it towardsyour expertise or learn
something new, and if you wannapivot, it's a place to gain
access to someone else who'sgoing to help you build that
network.
Yeah.
LinkedIn is so powerful.
mean, There's so many ways totake advantage of it that you.
(38:40):
totally look into
Deepa (38:41):
leveraging it as well.
Absolutely.
And I wanna double click onthat.
Writing and speaking skills arevery different skills, and I
think it's important to haveboth good writing and speaking
skills.
So anyone you know who wants togrow, please invest in your
communication, whether it'swriting or speaking.
(39:01):
That was something I alsolearned over time.
It's very important if you wannagrow, if you wanna excel.
Those two skills are veryimportant.
I didn't take a special course,but I, when I started realizing
that's important, I spent a lotof time listening reading books.
I even today spent a lot of timewriting and making sure that, my
(39:24):
sentences are coming out well,and it's making sense.
You have to be short, you haveto be concise, and you have to
also be impactful.
With say, providing an impactwith less words.
Brevity is something that we allneed to learn, and especially
when you come from South Asianculture, you tend to really
write long sentences to get tobefore you get to the point.
So brevity is very important.
Sirisha (39:45):
Yeah.
When someone gives you a letterand says, you've written a 700
word letter and says you need itin three 50, you're gonna really
think on which words you'regonna put and what is the
message.
So even before you do apresentation, any conversation
if it's a critical one, think ofwhat the output you want is.
What are you asking for and thenphrase everything around that.
it's not about taking advantageof making it a transactional,
(40:07):
but I.
Really, someone is going toappreciate you being clear on
what your ask is and how youcome across.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think we can spend hourschatting some more, but I wanted
to sum up some of the things forpeople who are listening, Deepa
and I have been sharing sort ofthe immigrant, the South Asian
experience what we are trying tosay is in the essence of
everything, you have to bereally good at what you.
(40:28):
Seek out mentors.
Be very clear on what you'rearticulating for no matter which
culture or if you are, a citizenor you are from here, make sure
you're able to articulate withyour management, even to
yourself what you want.
First, you have to understandwhat you want before you can
tell someone else what you want,and then making sure you ask for
it.
And it's okay to make mistakes,fail at everything you might
(40:48):
try, but you're always takingsomething away that you're
getting.
And.
Just taking risk, trying newthings.
Interviewing you need to bedoing.
It's going to seem completelyoverwhelming what we might have
told you.
So pick out of all of this onething that two months, then
maybe pick another piece fromone of the episodes of this one,
and then slowly make yourself agoal plan and execute.
(41:11):
Because we make all these newyear resolutions and it's very
hard because we overwhelmourselves.
We just need time for ourselvesto chill, relax, take some time
and not go crazy doing.
What advice would you give your21 year old self?
Deepa (41:26):
Oh, wow.
So what a great question.
I had just turned 21 when I cameto the US just, a few months
out.
I remember this just very clearin my head.
Landed in Kalamazoo Airport.
No clue.
I came with nothing with twobags.
Lot of dreams, two bags.
I did not know what, just thebasics of what I'm going to eat
and where am I gonna go and whoam I gonna stay with?
(41:50):
Then I still remember eating aburrito and Taco Bell.
I did not even know how to eatit.
At the end of that day, I was sostressed out.
I thought this was the end of mylife and I just, tears that
night.
I thought this was the biggestmistake I made.
So to my 21 year old self, Iwould say chill out.
(42:11):
It's all gonna work out.
Sirisha (42:12):
So true.
just go with a sense ofadventure and it'll be fine.
And what is the one word youwould use to describe yourself.
Deepa (42:17):
Passionate.
I always go after everythingwith a hundred percent passion.
So I think that would be theright word to describe.
Describe me.
Sirisha (42:24):
And that comes across so clearly.
So for those of you listening,Lippa shared so much.
Dipa, can you share yourinformation so people can get in
touch
Deepa (42:32):
the best way is via LinkedIn.
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
They can find me as Deepa D andreach out to me.
Sirisha (42:38):
This is an indie podcast, and if you really enjoy
the content, you can help mewith production by supporting
me.
You can buy me a cup of chai.
I'm not really a coffee drinker,or you can enable me by
subscribing for either a monthlyor an annual plan as well.
Thank you for doing this.
And don't forget to share thisepisode and put in this reviews
(42:59):
what you liked.
What was your key takeaway?
That's really what I wanna know.
I wanna know how this isimpacting you, and what's
inifnitessimal changes you'reseeing in your life.
You can always reach me throughInstagram by sending me a DM at
Women Carrier and Life.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
See you next.
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