If You Want It, Just Go For It

Soniya Mehar, Product Head – Express Logistics, Shipsy, offers budding female entrepreneurs tips to succeed in the field of technology

Tell us about your leadership style and philosophy.
Empathy and collaboration are my greatest strengths. I connect with the team at the onset of the project, asking them what they’d like to do based on their career aspirations and then giving them the liberty to take it up in their way. Observing closely but not dictating, stepping in only where they need guidance is the correct approach. It is critical from an ownership perspective, and to hone decision–making abilities.

This also gives them the opportunity to try out things differently and shine. More importantly, they should not be afraid to fail as there are no right or wrong decisions. Either you succeed or you learn; both ways help you grow with experience. I learned this from my leaders and always try to emulate these qualities while working with my team.

What prompted you to consider a career in technology?
I belonged to a non-tech background but always believed that technology is the way forward. Although I joined my previous organization as an associate in a non-technology position, I was quite involved with their processes.

While analyzing company data, I constantly came across one challenge that the organization was struggling with regularly. I knew how they could possibly leverage technology to resolve it. The next step was to present the idea to the leadership team, which paved the way for an opportunity to build a product from scratch. Thankfully, they granted me a few months to turn this into a reality. During that period, I invested most of my team learning Python, SQL, collaborating with tech teams to get the final solution up and running. The product brought immense value in facilitating the timely delivery of consignments since time is of the essence in the logistics ecosystem. This is how I coincidently transitioned into the tech space to assume a technical role at the same organization.

What do you think is the best part of being a woman in the tech industry?
Thankfully, the startup ecosystem is driving immense change in defining a workplace. The challenges and opportunities for both men and women are equal. You need to prove your mettle, and that’s all that counts, at least through my experience.

Do you feel you have had to work harder than male colleagues to advance your career?
Fortunately, my skills took precedence over everything else, so I have not seen any such challenges in advancing my career. In fact, I have been blessed with great leaders and a supportive work environment who never judge on the basis of gender.

What motivates you every day?
Technology is fast evolving, and we see newer upgraded versions every day. The way we can leverage these technologies and integrate them into the existing systems to resolve some of the most challenging cases is what excites and motivates me. Besides, I always enjoy being part of various projects because that allows building stronger relationships with customers and introduces me to different team cultures.

What is the best professional advice you have ever received?
It would be to keep running the wheel and never stop learning.

What’s next for you in terms of your career in the tech industry?
We are seeing the deployment of advanced artificial intelligence, automation, blockchain, Big Data at a massive scale. These are soon going to considerably change the way we work and live in the near future. Robot-based deliveries are already a rage in the US and the Middle East. My focus will be to evolve with these new-age technologies, leveraging them to solve supply chain and logistics problems that have been holding the industry back from realizing its full potential.

What are your thoughts on the next transformation in the tech industry?
We see rapid technology deployment throughout verticals such as agriculture, education, healthcare, etc. Still, hardly any of them caters to improving the quality of life or bringing people more opportunities, especially to the underprivileged. Things that human beings struggle with regularly, it would be great to see some development on that front. We should use technology to help humanity.

What advice would you give to women looking to break into the field of digital technology?
If you want to do it, just go for it. Don’t be on a pause listening to a thousand pieces of advice or limiting beliefs that don’t serve you. If you have the passion, you’ll develop the skills as you move and excel. The tech industry offers great opportunities for everyone, and you’ll be able to see tangible benefits of your work. Just be yourself, know your work, and be bold enough to fail; that’s enough for everyone to succeed.

Can you offer a few tips on achieving work-life balance in today’s scenario?
With teleworking in place, the lines between professional and personal lives get blurred. Hence it becomes very critical to manage times. We in our remote-work setups often tend to self-sabotage our routines by getting up late. So, the tip would be to start early to finish early. Try beginning with things that require no dependencies. For instance, I complete planning, solutioning, and designing before my team joins. It leaves me ample time to brainstorm and collaborate on other things and also log out at the right hour.

SHIPSY MEDIA CONTACT

arjun.alva@shipsy.io