Her Story
About Amena
Amena Shahid is a Finance Analyst at Outreach, a multinational SaaS company, where she functions as a BI analyst and analytical engineer fully supporting the finance team. In this role, she identifies data bugs, cleans data, designs processes to record revenue, and handles complex tasks such as recording M&As and AI-oriented SKUs during quarter closes. She brings a technical edge from her Master's in Business Analytics, majoring in data science and data engineering, which she earned from USF after moving to the United States from Pakistan. Prior to her current position, Amena worked for five years at Telenor, a multinational telecom company in Pakistan, followed by a role in the logistics industry at PODS. Her notable achievements include winning the Quarter Champ Award multiple times in her first job, receiving the Change Champion Award for process improvements at PODS, and winning a SQL hackathon. Amena attributes her success to strong family support from her parents and husband, along with her passion for taking on challenges as a yes person who never says no without trying first. She values honesty, dedication, and being true to herself and others in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amena
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to having the right support from my family, my mom and dad, and my husband. My passion drives everything I do - I never say no to anything right away and always try it first because you won't know if you like it unless you try. I'm a yes person who loves taking on challenges and new experiences.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A friend in Pakistan told me that in order to progress in your career, you should not be afraid of change and should not be afraid of getting uncomfortable. Every time I feel too comfortable in my job, I ask for a change or something more intense because that helps me improve.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Never ever think you're less than anybody else. Know your worth and always do things to increase or improve your worth. Never forget to take a break because it's always acceptable and a good company will support that. Be passionate about your work and true to yourself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that everything is moving towards AI. While AI is great, people trust it too much and misunderstand its limitations. AI cannot think as creatively as a human yet. The opportunity is positioning yourself with changing trends, moving fast to catch opportunities, understanding limitations, and implementing safely.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being true to myself and to others, and being honest. If I'm not able to do something, I let people know. I try hard and always find a way. Being dedicated and doing everything with passion rather than half-heartedly is crucial to achieving success in both work and personal life.
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