Archana Mohan

I attribute my success to my failures. Without my failures, I wouldn't be successful. When I was young, I came from a family of overachievers, and when I showed interest in the liberal arts - psychology, economics, and literature - everybody asked what I was going to do with my life. I started off as the black sheep in the family. I initially did what my family wanted me to do and pursued computer science, but it gave me no joy and I failed miserably. But that failure only gave me clarity - it didn't take away from my self-esteem because I knew that I was failing at something that I didn't want to do. As an 18-year-old, I had that hard conversation with my family saying I've tried it your way, can we now try my way? Can I do what I like? And you'll see what I can do. My father, who was a single parent, has been my biggest mentor in my life and also my biggest critic, and he gave me that luxury of freedom. I will never say I'm a self-made woman. I am influential today because a bunch of people decided that they saw something promising in me. My life is made up of people who took chances on me - from the dean who gave me a 'mercy seat' at university despite my poor grades, to the department heads who believed in me, to my managers and mentors at Dell who sponsored my move to the U.S. The failures and the lessons learned from them, combined with the people who believed in me before I believed in myself, are what I attribute my success to.

The best career advice I've ever received came from my mentor, Ashwini Singhla, who was the CEO of the public relations consultancy where I started working. He told me: When you are interacting with peers, subordinates, superiors, and especially customers, always big ears, small mouth. Listen to understand. If you want to be a storyteller, listen - that's why the universe has given man two ears and one mouth. It's all in the listening and understanding. That's why there's a brain between our ears. This advice has shaped how I approach my work as a communicator and storyteller.

I would say, always be hungry for knowledge. Don't be hungry for the next title or the next salary jump. I think if you build your skill base, everything else will follow. I also tell people who come to me for advice: Please stand on top of a building and shout out loud about all your achievements, but ensure that it comes from a place of truth. It comes from the place of recognizing the people who've helped you move - it's never a one-man job, and communication is not a sole sport, so always recognize the team who helped bring you along. Be authentic about what you say and how you say it, so you can defend it if somebody questions it. But never be shy. In a world where there is a lot of noise, there is no shame in building your own brand, as long as it's authentic.

I think the biggest challenge, or the perceived challenge, is that people are looking at all these developments in AI and they are going down the rabbit hole of 'oh my god, is AI going to take my job away? Is there a place for communicators?' Everyone has all these AI tools and agents at their disposal, and everybody can write. But that's the perceived challenge, and to me, I see the other side of the coin - I see an opportunity there. I feel like, awesome, the agents are going to give you the first draft, the agents are going to write for you. But what the AI tool is missing is the context that lies between your ears. The AI agents are not listening to understand. The AI agents are not connecting at a human level with the people who have hired you to tell the story. The AI agents don't know the map of human beings and the worlds they operate in. All they know is what you give. That's why the prompt engineering, the context setting for what AI puts out there - that power belongs to us as storytellers. When I see a problem, I always see an opportunity. Success always comes out of adversity. Innovation comes out of adversity. If you are being pushed into a corner by whatever perceived challenge the industry you operate in sees, there's a chance and an opportunity to become a storyteller, to influence and tell people otherwise.

Authenticity is the most important value to me. I feel there is no compromise or substitute for showing up authentically. That value has got me places and will take me places, because I show up authentically and I don't have to alter or adjust myself. When you do that, you automatically attract the right people for you, versus you trying to fit in versus belonging somewhere. I also believe strongly in paying it forward - apart from my actual job, I make it a point to pay it forward every day to someone. Sharing your story vulnerably is a way of paying forward, because even if you inspire a spark somewhere in someone, I feel like you've succeeded.