Her Story
About Somya
Somya Mittal is a procurement consultant with just over four years of experience in the consulting field. She currently serves as Procurement Consultant at Enabling Procurement, a small boutique firm specializing in procurement consulting for CPG brands that are rapidly growing or recently acquired by private equity. Prior to this role, which she began in July of the previous year, she worked at Argon & Co in procurement consulting at their Chicago office, which serves as a center of excellence. Before that, she started her career at IAC Partners, a boutique consulting firm headquartered in Paris with a Chicago office, where she engaged in strategic consulting projects across various areas including automation decisions, acquisitions, and life cycle analysis studies. Her favorite project there involved a procurement maturity assessment, which sparked her interest in procurement. Somya graduated in 2022 from the Illinois Institute of Technology with three bachelor's degrees: one in Computer Science with a specialization in data science, and others in Applied Math and Statistics, which included a computer science minor. During her time at school, she was involved in several leadership activities, including participation in the Leadership Academy scholarship program, serving as president of the Order of Omega Honor Society and the American Statistical Association, and as vice president of a sorority. She also worked part-time in the admissions office and the Office of Campus Life throughout her studies.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Somya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have always been someone that ran on spite. Got three degrees because somebody told me that I couldn't. There's always been that desire to prove people wrong and live my life on my own terms. I'm going to be as independent as I can be, stand on my own two feet and be good at what I do so I don't look back with regret.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
See one, do one, teach one. If there's a supplier negotiation you've never done before, watch and really take note while someone else is leading it, do it yourself, then be the person that passes it forward to another member of your team.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
A lot of women are very afraid or coached not to show their personality because women are seen as emotional beings, too much or too talkative. Do not believe in those stereotypes and do not impose them on yourself. You can be yourself, just with a couple of boundaries. If you don't bring your whole self into the professional world, how are you going to live your life as you want to?
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Responsibility - knowing when to take responsibility and when to step back. Being proactive. Having your code of ethics or integrity to go against. Every time before you use a different tool or way of doing things, think if it serves your moral or ethical path.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.