Her Story
About Ayushi
I've had a very circuitous, non-traditional path. I grew up in Maryland and had a very traditional pre-med journey and medical journey. I went to medical school, but I changed and pivoted careers in my third year of school when I was offered a position at McKinsey and just took it. The field was different, but the underlying theme was kind of the same in the sense that I was very much in the healthcare field. Instead of being laser-focused on medicine and patient care and provider care, it was more of healthcare analytics work in the payer world, in the provider world. My industry shifted, but my skills and my pre-med and med training was helpful to gain me credibility. A big component of this work is working with ambiguity, being comfortable navigating the ambiguity, being comfortable making decisions in a very short period of time, even if those are based on imperfect information. The typical day is very much an iterative type of day where you recognize that the goals and the dynamics could change at any minute, so you have to be prepared for that. I've been in my field for the last three and a half years.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ayushi
01What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I challenge, and this is something I struggle with myself, is when I was in medicine, there was so much structure. You knew how to pass this exam, to be able to get to the next exam, you had to move through the curriculum in a particular order. You were taught things in a very particular order, but I think here you never know what's coming. You never know what piece of this really big map you're going to be involved in, and in what capacity. So I think the challenge can be, I am a little bit of a Type A personality, where I like to have things laid out in my brain, and sometimes I do find it frustrating sometimes when I can't quite pinpoint where on the map I am, and what tools I'm going to need. But I think when I look back, I've completed a project, and I look back on that journey, I think it is very gratifying, because you recognize that you didn't start with a lot of information, but you made this beautiful creation that then could be utilized in some way. So I think it's two things, it's more challenging, but at the same time, it can be more rewarding.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think right off the bat, I want to say there's some appreciation or recognition of having some boundaries when it comes to, okay, it's the weekend now, maybe we don't need to discuss the project. It's late hours, maybe we take a longer break. I truly think that recognizing when there should be space to attend your personal life is a big value of mine. I think the reality of this industry is just that because of the ambiguity, the long hours are expected, and that's okay, but I've worked with several different leaders throughout my career, and some of them have prioritized giving more space at the end of the day, logging off after a certain time frame, and we still end up making a very, we still end up accomplishing what we set out to accomplish. So I really appreciate that. Support system is huge. Number 2 is the synergy energy of the people around you, how people respond to feedback, how open they are to challenging assumptions. I think that's really important. Because I think the most beautiful part about working in a team is the diversity. The diversity of ideas, and diversity of backgrounds. And so, I think respecting that and being patient enough to maneuver that is a strong value of the work culture.
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