Her Story
About Renuka
I began my career as a mainframe developer back in 2001 or 2002. After having kids, I decided to transition to a quality analyst role in the insurance industry, which I felt would provide better balance. Around 2009-2010, when agile transformation was starting up, my company trained us on Scrum Masters, and I worked in that capacity for 6 years. From there, I moved into project management without formal training, learning by observing what my husband did and watching how project managers operated in different environments. I've worked across incredibly diverse industries - from Toyota and American Advisory Group to Weedmaps when cannabis was becoming legal in California. I then joined Cognizant, a service-based company, where my clients included DirecTV and AT&T. At TerraData, which was highly technical, I was trained in Safe Agile and rose to become a release train engineer, a role I held for 4-5 years working with companies like Sabbalife and TerraData. After that, I moved to a mortgage company, and currently I'm working for Crescento.ai, an AI-based company that sells artificial intelligence and agentic AI solutions to various companies and partners. Throughout my 20-plus years in IT and program management, I've worn many different hats - from developer to QA to Scrum Master to project manager to RTE - and I continue to adapt and grow in this ever-evolving field.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Renuka
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to dedication and family balance. These two elements have been the foundation of everything I've achieved throughout my career. The dedication to continuously prove myself and work hard, combined with maintaining a healthy balance with my family, has allowed me to navigate through 20-plus years in this industry and wear multiple hats successfully.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that right now the industry is changing, but it's still often male-dominated based on perception rather than talent. Even when a woman is doing as well as a man, they often prefer the man because they think men are more dominating and better leaders. My advice is that we should thrive and work for our community and for the upcoming roles and responsibilities. We should try and try, and put in our efforts to show that we are better off than male-dominated people. Don't think of yourself as low or down - you are at the top, you can achieve anything. Never think somebody is better off than you. You are the best. Be yourself, and you will achieve it. What I've learned through my 20 to 25 years of experience is that you have to continuously prove yourself to leadership, and how you see yourself is what matters most. If you can see yourself at a certain level, you can achieve it.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges I face is the continuous need to prove ourselves to leadership as women in this field. The leadership mindset needs to change to recognize that men and women are the same. I've experienced situations where I do the same thing as a male colleague, but in a smaller and better way, yet they prefer his approach simply because of who he is. Even recently in my current company, I'm a senior project manager with a peer at a middle level, but when my team was dissolved and I was given a month to look around in the company, that person was rehired because he's a man, while I was put in the background because I speak up and try to get things out. The challenge is that we have to continuously prove ourselves to leadership, and sometimes you feel depressed by these situations. However, I believe that people talk about you because you are good - if you're not good, nobody talks about you.
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