Redefining Leadership

A journey of a fearless finance leader transforming lives through her passion for youth education, mental health, and empowerment.

Can you tell us about your educational background and how it prepared you for your role as Head of Finance in a cybersecurity company?

I started my career at Deloitte right after my MBA in Finance. As an aspiring MBA student, the goal was always to get into a Big 4, and I was one of the fortunate students to be able to land my job even before my final exams were over through campus placements. I did spend time with Deloitte and Ernst & Young after that, but soon got introduced to the world of startups after my move to the US. There was no looking back after, I really got addicted to the chaos of a startup. Even though I started in an accounting position, I worked extra hours with our VP of Finance to learn more about FP&A, strategy and so on. I helped out on his projects since I was always curious about how decision making happened in the backend for any company, especially at such an early stage. My career grew from there through start up consulting where I started touching all aspects of Finance and not just accounting. From consulting, went on to heading finance teams in many organizations and being part of amazing Finance teams. Today I head the finance department at Obsidian Security. We are a cyber security solution that combines application posture with identity and data security to prevent all types of SaaS breaches. Our lead investor, Greylock, recruited me for Obsidian, and I really connected with our CEOs vision and our product capabilities, especially now where SaaS security is very vulnerable across all verticals.

What inspired you to pursue a career in finance, and what drew you to the tech industry specifically?

My parents were both in taxation, so I guess it was always in the DNA. Growing up, I don’t remember wanting to pursue anything other than an MBA. There was a natural inclination towards business and I chose my undergraduation with a major in accounting plus taxation. As soon as I joined my MBA, I knew I had to work at Deloitte and remember being very adamant to make that happen. The introduction to the tech industry was not at all planned. Growing up in Kochi, a small town in the south of India, not even in my wildest dreams I thought I would end up in the US. I never thought I would ever work or live outside of India. When I did move, I happened to be in Silicon Valley and ended up working at a startup consulting company that had a major focus on the tech industry. This was the first time I was truly exposed to the tech industry in depth. The more experience I started getting, the more I started getting intrigued by the innovation, especially in the SaaS industry. It’s always great to see how tech evolves and new solutions are able to fuel the system. Even in the Finance and Accounting industry where new tech adoption is usually very low, has experienced a big shift in the last decade or so, where more finance leaders are being open to more cloud base solutions. I feel fortunate that I ended up in the heart and birthplace of brilliant technologies that the world experiences today, and work with amazing people, whom I have learned so much from.

NON-PROFIT INVOLVEMENT

Can you tell us more about the mission of the non-profit you work on and the impact they aim to achieve?

Blossom Projects is a California based 501(c)(3) non-profit that works with Dalit and tribal youth in India. Our mission is to empower youth and their families in economically and socially marginalized communities through education, core skill building, leadership, and employment.

Unfortunately the caste system still prevails in the social structure, even though it’s not fully addressed in the mass settling. The tribal communities are very much impacted by this. It would be great to see a caste free society, but that change is not going to happen overnight. One detail we all forget is that the most affected are the children among all this. And this is where Blossom Projects focuses on. We support youth from tribal communities by giving them a second chance to education and a healthy living. Our institute in India provides a residential program for students to graduate high school and provides them a path towards a job and/or higher education. These are teenage students at an average age of 16 years or so, who are in the delicate part of their lives. Most of the students who come join our program are victims of sexual assaults, physical/mental abuse, or come from extreme poverty. They are pretty much lost on their path forward, without a hope ahead. These kids deserve a second chance at a quality life, education, care and support. We have staff who are experienced in handling such students who come from traumatic backgrounds. This is where we see our unique value, by giving them access to education, shelter, and three meals a day. We have seen so much success working closely with the youth. 85% of students who join our program settle down with a job or higher education. Apart from their exam curriculum, we engage them in creative arts, sports etc. which contributes immensely in their healing. Believe it or not, the majority of our students when they join the institute, are malnutritioned. Sometimes the help they need is as simple as a nutritious meal and a safe place to sleep at night. It’s just $3.5 a day per student, that’s all it takes to give them the life they deserve. That’s cheaper than buying a grande cafe latte!

You can always learn more about us at www.blossomprojects.org, where you can also sign up for our newsletters.

What motivated you to be involved with a non-profit focused on equality, youth education, and mental health?

Children at their primary developing age are so vulnerable and dependent on their caregivers. The quality of their lives are purely dedicated based on what’s being handed to them by these caregivers, and the rest of their lives are just a manifestation of these early developing years. If we can build a stronger foundation for the youth in a society, it positively impacts their families, and then influences a community, which then influences the larger society. We have seen this trickle effect with the students we have worked with. This is the change that motivates me. The students we work with come from so much trauma and being able to advocate for them and give them a chance for a good quality life and a safe secure future is what we strive for. I come from a culture where mental health is not discussed openly, and we want to empower the next generation to be able to grow up with tools that help them tackle the adversities of life head strong. I also very much believe that education is an asset that no one can take away from you. When I came to the US, all I had in my tool box was my education which helped me build my life here. I want our students to have the same tools handy which will help them build the future with.

Are there any particular success stories from your non-profit work that stand out to you?

There are so many, I don’t even know where to start. One particular story that moved me was one of our students named Parvathy, a lovely 16 year old. Her father had passed away when she was very young. She grew up with three siblings, with a mentally challenged mother at home. Their house was not safe or secure for a child to grow up in and was sent to her mother’s sister house, where she unfortunately went through a sexual assault from a family member. She complained to the family and was threatened to keep quiet, until one night where she took matters into her own hands and ran to the police station at 10pm in the night asking for help. She managed to get the assaulter in jail, but still had to go through emotional torture from her family. She decided to join Blossom Projects in hope of a better future and today she is completing her 12th grade through our residential program. She says that the biggest relief for her is that she gets a safe place to sleep at night. I think as Blossom Projects, we have found our success, if we are able to make girls like Parvathy feel like they have a safe place to call home. Parvathy aspires to be a Civil Service Officer when she grows up and we are all here to support her to achieve all her dreams.

PERSONAL JOURNEY

Your personal journey saw a few low points, especially during the early years of your move from India to the US. Can you share some insights into your experience with this and how it has influenced your personal and professional life?

As I had mentioned earlier, I would have never imagined a life outside of India. The only reason I moved was because my ex-husband lived here in California. I was part of an arranged marriage at the age of 23, and this was always an expected life event growing up for me. I was always raised to be a perfect wife or a suitable bride, and never to be a strong individual with a sense of self worth. Unfortunately this is true for many many women from my culture. Arranged marriages are very normalized. Explained in layman terms, imagine Hinge or Tinder, but the parents are the ones who do the swiping. So at the age of 23 I was uprooted to an entirely new world, where I knew nobody, entirely dependent on my ex-husband. I didn’t even know how to go from point A to point B without freaking out. The marriage unfortunately was not a success. However it shifted my life entirely and was the biggest blessing where I discovered my true self. Life is a perfect teacher when you hit rock bottom with a financial crunch, being seen as a burden by who you thought were your “loved ones”, and then you have to restart your life from scratch from a place of low self esteem. The whole experience exposed me to the importance of mental health, the idea of self worth, gratitude for small things in life, power of detachment, power of positive thinking and rewiring your reality. I still would not change any experience from my past, no matter how painful it was, since it made me who I am today. It gave me so much resilience both in my personal or professional life. It was a great journey from being a naive immigrant Indian girl, who didn’t even know what a Greencard was, to being a proud American citizen today. I am eternally grateful to this country for helping me experience freedom and have an agency over my own life. It is unfortunate that the experience as a young, ambitious, “husband-less” girl in India would be very different, compared to the US. Hopefully the change happens from the youth today, so that more women feel empowered to thrive in spite of any adversities or challenges.

How do you balance the demands of being a finance leader in a high-stakes industry with your commitment to non-profit work?

This is actually something I have thought about myself quite a bit. Yes, both these roles I do are very demanding, but I feel very equally driven. I am someone who believes that if it’s something you enjoy doing, it does not feel like a drag or a “job” you need to do. I love my corporate role and how much I get to learn each day by working with amazingly talented people; and I love the joy I get to experience by supporting the students and the staff at the non-profit. Both the roles have its own impact in leaving a mark in the world.

PERSONAL STYLE, VALUE AND JUGGLING ROLES

With so many roles to juggle, how would you describe your personal style and value system?

There are three things I would describe as my value system or approach to life, One is having a gratitude mindset. I wake up everyday seeing life as a blessing and as an opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. Our lives are nothing but manifestations of our thinking. So we can either be thankful that we have an opportunity to make a difference in our lives or blame circumstances for when something goes wrong. The choice is yours. Number two is having a helping mindset. I believe that we were all placed in this world to help each other and grow together. This was something I learned from my grandmother who was the most selfless and generous person I have ever seen in my life.

Number three is to live life intentionally. I believe in spending time really questioning what goals one should set for their lives, and what are the tradeoffs and non-negotiables that come along with it. This really helps make life more intentional, but at the same time being humble about the fact that there will always be circumstances that are outside your control, but the question is whether we have the tools to handle such situations when it presents itself.

Can you share any tips or strategies you use to manage stress and maintain a healthy work life balance?

Self care is a huge part of being able to have that healthy balance which gives you the space to be much more productive in everything you do. One habit that has been part of my life is meditation and yoga. Everyday, for the past 15 years, the first thing I do after I wake up is to meditate. I cannot stress enough on the power of meditation and how it has positively impacted me over these years. How you breath and how you are able to be mindful, has a huge impact on how your brain functions. Throughout my life, this has been a very powerful tool that has helped me get through stressful days.

INSPIRATION AND ADVICE

Who or what inspires you the most in your work, both in finance and in your non-profit activities? How do you prioritize your various responsibilities?

I am someone who is always very curious and always hungry to learn new things. I like to approach my career with a student mindset, so that I am able to learn as much as I can from every opportunity that’s thrown at me. The competition I have is always with myself where I try to see how I can improve my life a bit today compared to the version I was yesterday. Few of us in the industry are working on a CFO collective forum to create a repository of resources and material which aspiring students across the world can access. I am really excited to launch this, especially for students who cannot afford to take expensive PG programs. And when it comes to the non-profit, I am constantly trying to strategize on how to create a self-sustaining model for the non-profit that can be replicated all over the world so that we can reach many more children across the globe who are struggling with access to basic education and wellbeing. It’s not always easy to prioritize, whether it’s a corporate setting or a non-profit. Having clarity on the battles you need to fight first is very critical, and this comes from really defining what your north star metrics are for success and then working from there.

What advice would you give to young professionals who aspire to have a multi-faceted career like yours?

I would say that sometimes we get in our own way from achieving things. I really like the quote, “the best time to start was yesterday, the next best time is now”. And to know where you are headed, it’s important to know what success means to you. It’s not always easy to define an intentional living, but you can always take baby steps towards it. I also think that there are no right or wrong choices, it’s all about the trade offs you are ready to tolerate in life. Once you are self aware about that, decision making also gets easier. And to be honest, I also do not think it’s healthy to chase after the concept of “having it all”. I think everyone’s life is so different, and it’s all about ruthless prioritization based on what works specifically for your own life and circumstances. This removes a lot of pressure that we create for ourselves, in our personal lives and careers.

FUTURE PLANS AND ASPIRATIONS

What are your future aspirations for your non-profit organization and your philanthropic journey?

There is no shortage of big plans. If I had a magic wand, I think I would want to achieve two things where a lot of my passion lies. One would be for Blossom Projects to help 1000 more children in the next 5 years pass high school and help them get a job, or help them with an opportunity for higher education. Number two would be to create a community for women who have gone through a similar journey as me to find a safe place to rebuild their life. I have heard stories, even in this day and age, about a lot of women who are living an oppressed life without a voice or choosing to end their lives because they never got access to mental health help. I would love to create a positive impact in the world by giving such women a path to a new hopeful life and any help they would need to rebuild a confident living for themselves.

Are there any new initiatives or projects you’re particularly excited about in the coming months?

Absolutely! We are very excited for Blossom Project’s annual fundraiser gala. This year we are hosting the event at The Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto on September 14th, 2024. We have Fiona Ma, CPA, California Treasurer, coming as our distinguished guest for the evening to show her support. It will be a great evening of networking, inspiration and entertainment. There are so many upcoming projects we are planning for the students, so this fundraiser would be a huge value add in making a lot of dreams come true. The event and ticket details are on our website.

https://www.blossomprojects.org/events-news

TEAM CREDITS:

MODEL: CHITHRA RAJAGOPALAN

DESIGNER: SUZANNE HANLEY
@ATELIERDESMODISTES

PRODUCER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR: IRYNA VOSKERICIAN
@IRYNAVOSKERICIAN

PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL MOORE
@MBMOOREPHOTO

HAIR AND MAKEUP ARTIST: EKATERINA RYCHKOVA
@KATYA.RICH.MAKEUP

STYLIST: TINA BHARDWAJ
@IAMLADYTIN