Brinda Nirmal

I attribute my success to my values and integrity. Throughout my career, I've kept up with the trends and maintained consistency in my learning. I kept building my skills, which is why I pursued my master's degree and then continued going to conferences and networking. I competed in case competitions and took on leadership roles at the university. When I moved from India to the United States, the biggest challenge was learning to be independent and make my own decisions, because back in India there was more micromanaging and my boss would tell me what to do. Here, I had to do everything on my own - my own learning, my own certifications, my own decisions. Over the past four years in the States, I've developed those decision-making skills and learned to trust that what I'm doing is correct. I think staying true to my values and integrity, while continuously learning and building my skills, has been the foundation of whatever success I've achieved.

Professionally, the best advice I've taken - not necessarily given, but what I've learned - is to always pause, reflect, and then answer, whatever the situation is. Whenever I receive an email, I take a moment before I respond to it. I re-read the emails two or three times so I understand them correctly and reply back appropriately. That practice of pausing and reflecting before responding has been invaluable in my professional life. Personally, the most important lesson I've learned is that no matter what the opinions of other people are, I will not let those opinions or influences get to me. I do whatever my values and integrity want me to do. I stay true to my beliefs and my values, regardless of outside pressure or influence.

I would just say to them, no matter whatever you deal with, just shut out those noises and just keep working, keep building, and keep thriving. Don't let the external voices or obstacles distract you from your path. Stay focused on your growth and development, and keep moving forward no matter what challenges come your way.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is reducing the gap between the supplier side and the employee side in procurement. Since I work in procurement analytics, a lot of people place orders and receive invoices, but when it comes to actually placing the order and getting the delivery, there's a challenging gap. Sometimes it takes a longer process to get things delivered, and when people want something within a specific time frame, they don't get it. We're trying to work through that issue. Another challenge is that many people have to physically collect their procurement credit cards from our office, but there's another campus that's far away from ours, so it's challenging and time-consuming for those employees to drive to our office just to pick up credit cards. It's annoying for them. We're trying to build an expense module via Workday where they won't need a physical card - they can just put in their information and it will automatically save as a default, so it won't be a hassle for them anymore. Not everyone has the tolerance or patience for these delays and inconveniences, so streamlining these processes is critical.

The values most important to me are, first and foremost, integrity. That's the foundation of everything I do. Communication is also critical - being able to pause, reflect, and communicate thoughtfully and clearly. And then unity and inclusivity are essential to me as well. I believe in creating environments where everyone feels included and we work together as a unified team. These values guide both my professional decisions and my personal life.