Shruti Pisharody - My MBA Journey

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Um, this is a funny story uh, so I'm from you might guess an Indian family. Um, as I make more people at at my workplace and outside and I met what MPs are like, I thought this was school and something I wanted to do, and I started exploding. Um, so you say that your mom called you and said that to you? Do you have any other siblings or what's your relationship, like with your parents? It's just me. Um honestly, I never left Delhi until I was 20 and then I moved to another Indian city for a while. What did you study? Uh, college while I studied finance, Um, and three years of finance was enough to tell me that finance is not my thing. It really is the people, Um, and you know, I think so. Um, so I think that's one of the largest things I hope to take away from NCR. Um, as ironic as it sounds, despite the, uh, crazy nature of the 10 months that we have, Um, and you know, the 500 people that we meet? Um it's a really good time for self reflection. Um, just naturally doesn't come naturally to me, but I actually have begun to develop that a lot. Um, as I believe in here, I happen to know randomly that you have a partner. Um, well, outside the fence, they are long distance. My partner is very supportive, and he we got colleagues, um, and we're about the same weight, so he doesn't understand what we're doing, and we both are in it for the long haul. I would be lying if I said it's easy and that there aren't moments where I, um you know, double guess my decision to have come here and taken this time away from him. Um, I think if you have, you are lucky enough to have your partner with you or geographically close to you. Um, I think that can be a great anchor and a great reality check when you're in the bubble that is inside. Um, what I will say is that I think inside just by virtue of being a slightly more mature business school, if you will, um, you have a lot of comrades in the long distance relationship. What is one of the biggest things that you've observed or learn to well being here? Yeah, I think there's been a lot, uh, that has made me think, Um, and one of the things that has been a gradual and continuous learning for me is understanding. Um, and as simple as that sounds like it sounds, I think, um, it's life changing. Um, and yeah, I think being in this supercharged pressure cooker environment where everyone wants to learn and develop and help you develop, uh, does actually help you learn more about yourself and, uh, see yourself better. Um, And so we visited the startup ecosystem as well as the PE VC ecosystem in Israel. Um and I think not only because Israel is just such an amazing and interesting country, but the fact that you're experiencing this with a group that is so diverse and itself and it's so curious and, um, just accepting, um is what makes the experience even more rich than if I had just gone as a tourist. Um, and of course, because it's, um, in CR you have access to these things that you wouldn't have, um, if you went just as a tourist. So I think that's been, um, something that I really will cherish and would recommend I would highly recommend What was your job before? Inside what you're doing. Then you would have somewhere, uh, the customer isn't that happy with Google? Understandably So, Um, and here I was 20 year old on the phone with, you know, a small business owner in the U. S. Or in Australia who's really annoyed that thousands of dollars have gone down the drain and such like that. I've been at Google for five years, Um, in a few different capacities, Most recently I was in an operations and program management kind of prove, Um, and what I loved about this was I was managing skilled teams who helped small businesses all over the world come online optimized network presents. Um, and so I think whatever I do, even after NCR, I would really enjoy having that direct or indirect connection with the consumer. Um, with the magic touch of technology, I think that's what makes me excited. Mm. Uh, I won't be surprised if this is what you hear from everyone, but it's prioritizing its prioritizing your time and knowing what to do, because there is no way to do it all, um, and kind of implicitly within that is also, uh, having the right balance between going with the flow and being intentional about what you do because I think all of us are here to grow and to change, but also be true to yourself. So it gets to be a kind of tricky balance between the two, um, and knowing when to step out of your comfort zone and when things are just not okay anymore. Um, that's also I think, a muscle that you'll need to flex at NCR. Then hopefully I think, um, for those who end up coming here, um, that's something that you'll get to practice a lot, and I'm sure will help you a lot in life. You're very active member of the Women in Business Club at NCR. What do you think is the biggest obstacle to inside achieving a better gender balance in its student body? Yeah, I think one thing that we struggle with and I think one of the reasons we're not that far with some of our American, um, pr schools is that we are a school that has a higher average age. Um, and unfortunately, the reality is that women tend to at some more advanced ages, not be able to take out the year of their life for two years of their life or business school. I didn't see our today, Um, and I think they set a great example for a woman who might be looking to build a family, um, and is perhaps apprehensive of coming to. Um and yeah, it's not just because I love music, and that's not unique to inciarte. What was very insistent about those experiences is, um, people coming in from, you know, various backgrounds we had music in all different languages and just the spirit of the entire room throbbing with energy and everyone singing along and dancing along. Um, yeah, I would highly recommend come to our next gig. To conclude what would be your message to future and see shadows or just aspiring Indian women, or just any human being who might find something relatable in your journey? Yeah, well, I would say, um, if you are coming to in Seattle, you're considering applying. Um, try to know what you want to do it, um, but also, be prepared for your entire, um, reasoning and thought process to be completely up. I I'm a strong believer that you should come in knowing what it's going to be and what it might mean for you, not just right after the incident, but I think once, once you're here, it's kind of a long a lifelong community that you're part of, um and, uh, lifelong, uh, family that you're part of and that you have ties with. Um, not just because of what that means for others around you, but mostly about what it means for you yourself. I think you won't take away the NCR experience and the NCR value If you want to open up your mind, Um, and be receptive to everyone that's here.