Her Story
About Cheyaram
I've spent 14 years building my career in insurance, with the last 2 years focused on technology consulting. My journey began at State Compensation Insurance Fund in California, where I worked in workers' compensation claims. I then pivoted into Social Security disability on the state side, working for the Department of Social Services. Throughout my career, I've specialized in the claims side of insurance, and later became a compliance manager where I handled all workers' compensation and vendor drug testing for DOT regulations for truck drivers. I also spent time working auto claims for State Farm. My specialized skills in workers' comp and disability led to my current role as a consultant, where I build out claim systems for state governments using the Salesforce platform. I work with a team of developers and business analysts to modernize legacy systems, many of which are still running on early 1990s or late 1980s technology. My key responsibilities involve gathering information from our clients and bringing it to life through Salesforce, developing their new programs and updating their workflows. One of my proudest achievements was reducing a backlog of 60,000 claims at State Fund by developing a system to detect double billing, which saved significant money and mitigated fraud claims.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cheyaram
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the support I've gotten from my mother, as well as leaning into mentorship to learn the things and fill in the gaps that I didn't know to reach my goals. Growing up as a child of a single mother, with a father who dealt with substance abuse, my drive has always been to do better than where I came from. I'm very ambitious and take pride in getting additional certifications in my field. I remember a lot of the obstacles that my parents went through to get me to this point today, and I try to carry their hopes and dreams with me in making my decisions, just striving to be a better version of myself every day.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think it's important to find someone who's living the life or doing exactly what it is that you want to do, and see if they have room to mentor you or guide you to get to where you're trying to go. I believe in mentorship in every aspect of my life. If you want to be a scientist, I wouldn't go ask a banker how to be a scientist. Find out what that scientist knows, and see how they can break it down in increments for you to be able to hit the goals that you're trying to hit. Everything that you're trying to reach as far as goals, if you break it down into baby steps, it's easier to obtain. Everybody's standard advice might not necessarily work for you, so find someone who's dealt with some of the same things that you're dealing with and see how they did it.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest opportunity and challenge is AI, and I think that's hitting everybody in the technology industry. It's about incorporating it into the workflows that we have. The opportunity is also in employment development and bringing everyone to the same page of understanding AI. Personally, I think AI will be a help in general. A lot of people are scared of the fact that it might replace jobs, and at that point, I think it's important for people to identify other skills that they have that will keep them able to compete with AI, as well as understand AI in a way that will help benefit them to be even better in what they currently do. But I think overall it'll be beneficial.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Transparency would be the main value in my work as well as personal life. Being clear, honest, and hardworking are all important to me.
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