Heidi Anugrah

My professional journey began in 5th grade when I was given a stellar opportunity to learn about leadership and building good character, which inspired me to continue with leadership in student government. I graduated early at 16 years old and moved to community college, where I worked in student leadership and life for 2 years before transferring to UNC Chapel Hill. During that time, I assessed what I was passionate about academically and learned that I really wanted to not only help people, but be a part of the most difficult times of their lives, which brought me to becoming a pre-med student. However, after speaking to doctors and clinicians, I realized there wasn't enough opportunity for leadership in the medical space as a physician. I consulted with some of the most influential women in my life at Chapel Hill and decided to pursue business, having already opened my own graphic design firm. From there, I became the founder of 4 different initiatives and broke into learning consulting, becoming a finalist in 5 case financial competitions in just 9 months where I taught myself how to do business consulting. For the past 2 years, I've been a lab manager for the Neuroscience Foundation, where I use my leadership skills around the globe to recruit students from under-deserved populations and people who wouldn't have a neuroscience community in order to contribute to practical neuroscience research. I now manage a team of about 30 people in that role. This inspired me to continue with entrepreneurship, and I've joined party hospitals as a research assistant and Build House, an entrepreneurship venture firm at the heart of Chapel Hill, where I'm the manager. This summer I'm on Wall Street as a debt capital markets intern for Independence Point Advisors, all while still managing my lab and truly incorporating all of my passions into this interdisciplinary career I'm building.