Niharika Shukla

I attribute my success to just staying positive. I don't like to think a lot - I just believe in just doing it, like, just go get it done. I think it's about achieving small to big daily goals that you need to get done, which runs the business. Nothing is too big or nothing is too small. It could be a very small thing, but then that could result in something that probably could take a bigger shape in the days ahead, right? But you've got to get it done. You want to make sure you have your checkboxes achieved and taken care of. I like to take those as big wins - just the day-to-day challenges and just keep going.

The best career advice I've received came from my dad, who is a businessman, so I have business pretty much running in my blood. He keeps saying that it's okay to stay dumb, you know, just keep learning, just keep learning, trust yourself, and just trust the process. Just keep delivering, and all's gonna be well. Nothing's too difficult kind of a thing. And whether that's during school days, or your college, or your work, just having that strong family support kind of just eases out the whole professional, personal, everything. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the best people over a period of years, starting from just school teachers, so there's a lot of learning that comes your way.

I would say balance is so important, professionally and personally. We all want to achieve so many things, but the definition of just achieving is different. I would say go hustle, do what you want to do, but also it's extremely important to understand that balance you need to have personally as well. We women, at times, we forget - we tend to forget about ourselves. It's important that you look after yourselves. You're trying to do very, very good for your family personally, and professionally you want to achieve so many things. And in the process, you forget yourself. So I think just remember the joy you're wanting to achieve.

The biggest opportunity, the positive I'm going to go with first, is just the exposure - the exposure the technology and the company provides, both professionally and personally. Whether it's just learning about the product solutions the company has to offer to other enterprises, or just personally speaking, the vision and exposure I get through the company by representing them, by going out, talking about myself, and proudly saying I'm associated with them. The challenging part is also the technology, because every day it keeps evolving, so you have to keep up with it. There's governance, there's law, there's so much that the processes you need to keep up. And of course, we're a startup, so let's say today I think of 10 things I'm going to do, get done, and achieve, and then there are 10 other things that come up that's priority. So you know that balance is challenging, but that's why I like to work in a startup.

I would say just staying dedicated, honest, and kind. I think what I may think is honest, you may not think the same - it's very subjective. So I think just staying humble, just staying grounded. And yeah, just keep doing things. I like to keep it very simple, not very complicated.