Sheena Devadoss

The best career advice I've received is networking. Always meet new people on your job and form lasting relationships, because it will take you far. It's not just a one-time meet and greet - you need to actually follow up on them periodically and say, hey, do you remember me? Or let's go get some coffee together. The workplace is really relationship-based, and if you have the right people on your team, not only will they be there for you, but they will push you forward into places that you yourself did not see you going into.

My advice to young women entering my industry is to be who you are. Find out your strengths and hone in on your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Don't change your personality, don't try to become something you're not. I hear a lot of females saying to just mimic a man, but there's a double standard for women - if you're too assertive and ambitious, people see that as difficult to work with, and if you're very kind, bubbly, and smiling, people take advantage of you and don't see you as a solid leader. So my passion is to encourage women to be who they are. At the end of the day, there are gonna be people who are not gonna like you, and not everyone may respect you, but when you look at yourself in the mirror, you have to love who you are. And if you can bring that confidence into a meeting, people are going to notice that, and that will automatically get people to look up to you.

The biggest challenge I see is that women try to mimic a man's characteristics and still don't really end up where they want to be. There's a double standard for women - if you're too assertive and ambitious, people see that as being difficult to work with and always wanting to go up the ladder. If you're very kind, bubbly, and smiling, people take advantage of you and they don't really see you as a solid leader. My passion is to encourage women to be who they are, find out their strengths, and hone in on their weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Don't try to become something you're not. Try to read the room and see what it is that employees need. I also give presentations at USC and Pepperdine to empower not just women, but men and young men as well, because empowering women is one thing, but you need to educate the men to become the allies for women.

The values most important to me are giving back to the community and my faith. I love animals, so volunteering at animal shelters is very important for me - supporting whatever needs they have, whether it's keeping the food and water there, cleaning the cages, or just spending time with the animals. My faith plays a huge role in everything that I do. I'm a Christian and a chaplain at my church, where I lead a Bible study. I'm also involved in a Bible study at my workplace, which is definitely a blessing. I get to lead the National Day of Prayer event at my workplace on May 1st. Those two things - animals and faith - they keep me going.