Her Story
About Mehreen
I grew up near the Pakistan and Afghanistan border in a tribal system where women weren't allowed to go to school. I was homeschooled by my father and arranged married at age 15, having my first child at 16. Despite these circumstances, I never gave up on my dream of education. I continued my studies while raising a young child and entered the workforce as a teacher aide. I earned my associate degree in business and economics, received a scholarship for teaching certifications, and became a private school principal at The City School, affiliated with Cambridge University, England, where I had 500 students and 60 teachers reporting to me. When I immigrated to the U.S. with $100, two suitcases, and two children, my educational credits weren't accepted, so I started serving coffee at McDonald's. I became the first recipient of their scholarship program and worked my way up to assistant store manager while taking 22 credits at University at Buffalo. I completed my undergrad in accounting and finance in 3 years while working full-time and raising two children who were 3 and 7 years old. I was selected for GEICO's management development program and have been there for 10 years, earning almost 9 promotions. I've worked across all sides of insurance - physical damage, liability call center, payment recovery unit, and now as a senior manager in casualty department handling litigation and bodily injury cases. I earned my MBA from University at Buffalo in workforce management and leadership during COVID in 2020. I currently manage a team of 7 supervisors and up to 50 associates across the northeastern region, holding 16 licenses across the country.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Mehreen
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my discipline and never being afraid of anything. I'm very stubborn and strong-nerved. When things come, I don't think about the past or what happened - I focus on what's in front of me, plan, and then execute it. I don't believe in blame shifting or sitting in self-pity. If life gives you something, pick it up, solve it, and finish it. I'm very disciplined about my targets and life achievements, and I'm always accepting challenges. I actually like challenges because I feel like they teach us. I'm also very adaptable to my environment - coming from a conservative background, I came to the U.S. and completely changed, got through the culture shock very quickly, and adapted. No matter where you send me, I will adapt to the situation and pick it from there and start running. You would never find me making excuses or blaming other people. My biggest theory is this: don't make Plan B. I always say I have a plan A, and that plan A has to work. When I was coming to the U.S., I was like, I'm not leaving any bridges and boats back there. I'm burning everything down, and this plan A has to work. I also take pride in my authenticity - I'm very direct, I don't like beating around the bush, and I genuinely want to help people, but at the same time, I give them the tough love and let them know what's the problem that they need to work on.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For women, they need to be financially independent. Once you are financially independent, all your 90% problems are solved, because guess what? Anything that happens, there is somewhere a connection with finances. Being a strong person and being able to make decisions for yourself means being financially independent, so that the decisions you make, you do not rely on other people. Reliance on anyone in this world - I think that you do disservice to yourself. And us women, we don't realize how much power we have, and how much we can do for others, but anything we do for others, we have to do it for ourselves first. I also tell women: why are we waiting? What are you waiting for? You are as much an able partner as your male partner is. So why not you initiate it? And unless you don't put it out there, you will never know what is there.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The world is progressing very fast right now with AI and new technology, and the economy going up and down is creating uncertainty and making people uncomfortable. The biggest challenge in our industry right now is that the prices of repairs and everything have gone up, and that is bringing a little bit of challenge for our customers. We really want to serve our customers the best, so we want to do low-cost stuff for them so they can get good premiums. From an associate's standpoint, associates are also struggling with things like daycares and other expenses. Just being authentic and genuine and helping them is important. Industry and businesses are changing very fast, and we have to keep up with it.
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