Her Story
About Renuka
Renuka Shahane is a technology professional with more than nine years in core tech and nearly eight years at SchoolPusion, where she oversees brand, PR, events, partnerships, integrations, social media, media relations, and developer advocacy. Her career began after earning an engineering degree in electronics and telecommunication, starting as a content executive creating user manuals and working on operating systems during Samsung's early developments. This path led her to recognize her strength at the intersection of technology and communication, allowing her to translate technical concepts for broader audiences while building processes for a growing marketing team of 35 people and initiating analyst relations for her organization. She is also a co-founder and active participant in the NAC admin community, established for Mac admins by Mac admins. Shahane credits her achievements to being in the right place at the right time, guidance from mentors, and a steadfast belief in hard work without shortcuts.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Renuka
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's so much to do with being at the right place at the right time, having a lot of right mentors, and also believing that hard work is not optimal, and sooner or later, success will follow through. I kept on believing in that and I still believe in that. I don't think that there's any shortcut to hard work.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The biggest career advice that changed my trajectory was do not fret over my failures. I used to beat myself down for things pretty hard and dwell into my mistakes. A mentor told me that it's okay to fail, and it's better to fail fast so that you can get up and do things again.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For women especially, I believe that we talk a lot about breaking the glass ceiling. Most women tend to underestimate themselves. I see a lot of women would not apply if they don't fit all of the criterions. My advice to any young woman who's trying to make it in any field, but especially in the field that I am into, which is super male-dominated, is that don't hold yourself back, and don't be afraid to be the loudest voice in the room.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that the market that I operate as a product is very competitive. There are a lot of big players, small players, mid-side players, but considering that there is so much room to grow, it's a challenge, but it can be a boon. If you're able to break through, you'll be one of the indispensable people within the organization as well as within the industry because people want authenticity, people want somebody with a unique voice, with a unique opinion, with a unique view.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Accountability is one of the most important values. I try to strive myself to be as accountable as possible in whatever I do because I feel that how you do something is how you do everything. Second is consistency, because I feel that it's very important to do what you're doing and to do it every day if you want to really make a difference. And the third one is integrity. I believe in staying loyal to organizations, to people, to thoughts, to communities that I'm a part of.
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