Empowering Indian Expats: Create more Impact & Influence, beyond just making a living

E30 - From a Doer to a Thought Leader With Kshira Saagar, Chief Data Officer, Latitude Financial Services

Are you feeling stuck in your job and unable to find a way to grow.
Then this episode has got the answer you might be looking for.
From being a doer to becoming a thought leader,From a data analyst to becoming CDO at a leading financial services organisation,
Kshira Saagar demonstrates his passion to learn, his drive to apply, and his determination to help others, through his journey.
He started his career as a Data Analyst after completing his BTech in Computer Science from India.Before he moved to Australia, he was heading Presales at consulting organisation.
He had to start all over again in the new country.With right strategy and constantly striving to become his best version, he rapidly grew in his career as well as the impact he was making.
He was ranked as the #2 Analytics Leader in Australia for 2019. Also,  He has been ranked among the Top 25 Analytics Leaders in 2019, '20, & '21.
He shared her life journey in the following phases:• Data Analyst to becoming Client Engagement Manager at Mu Sigma Inc.• Becoming Head of Presales at Mu Sigma Inc.• Starting his journey all over again after moving to Australia, and becoming CDO at Latitude Financial Service
From this episode, here are the building blocks for creating the career that you want:• Showcasing what we have done• Communication• The value you are creating • Helping others• An important part of building a career• Putting people first then profits• Creating value• Comparing value and impact• Flexibility and adaptability• Building association
 Kshira Saagar coordinates: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshirasaagar/ Personal website: https://www.kshirasaagar.com/publications Twitter: https://twitter.com/kshira_saagar 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E29 - Dare to Build Unconventional Career With Ashi Singhal, Linkedin Personal Branding Expert

Are you interested in building a brand on LinkedIn?
Whether you are a new startup or a full-fledged business, a student or professional in any field, this podcast will help you build an impressive online presence on LinkedIn.
Graduating in Computer Science to becoming a Personal Branding Strategist,
From self-doubt to self-discovery,
Her journey illustrates her desire to help others build their brands, her determination to maintain a work-life balance, and her thirst for knowledge.
Originally from Rajasthan, India, Ashish Singhal currently focuses on transforming one's personality into a brand.
In her fourth year of undergrad, she grabbed four job offers alongside her side hustle.
She believes that if your work speaks, then age doesn't matter.
A special place in Ashi's heart belongs to LinkedIn since it allowed her to discover who she is and connect with some of the biggest names in the business.
Here's what you'll learn in this episode of Empowering Indian Expats
Building confidence
Branding
Inbound and cold outreach
Purpose of using LinkedIn
Networking
Mindset shift
Work-life balance
This episode features a roadmap for discovering the purpose of using Linkedin to achieve it.
Ashi Singhal coordinates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashisinghal/
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan/

E28 - First Female Senior Executive In The Family Business to Becoming an Executive Coach With Vinita Surana, Entrepreneur, Creative Director, & Performance Coach

Are you feeling stuck in your career?
Are you planning to become an entrepreneur?
Then this episode might be the answer to your questions.
 
From living in a conservative and protective family to being the first working woman in her family,
From not choosing the traditional path to owning her business,
Her journey showcases her passion to accept challenges, her purpose to mentor, and her determination to create a benchmark.
 
Vinita Surana started her career as an engineer. Soon after graduation, she moved to the US to study business.
She is currently an executive coach while continuing to serve as executive director in her family business.
She shared her life journey in the following phases:
1) Taking a non-traditional path as a student 
2) Working in her family business 
3) Creating her own business 
4) Helping others to achieve their goals and giving lifelong happiness
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
Creating fulfillment in your life
Communication
Networking 
Importance of building a brand 
Importance of having a coach
Adding value in every job 
Connecting the dots
Vinita Surana coordinates: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinitasurana/
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E27 - From Chartered Accountant to Cyber Security with Anu Kukar, Associate Partner, IBM & Keynote Speaker

Do you want to switch career?
Do you want to enter into management roles?
 
Then this episode is the answer to your questions.
 
From being a doer to entering into management roles,
From being an Executive Manager to becoming an Associate Partner at IBM,
Her journey showcases her passion to learn, her purpose to implement, and her determination to achieve.
 
Anu Kukar was born and raised in Denmark and has an Indian background. Soon after completing her graduation, she moved to Australia for her Master's.
 
She is currently working as an Associate Partner for Cybersecurity strategy, risk, and compliance in Australia and New Zealand at IBM and as a Director in Arascina.
 
Her 20 years of experience is strategically divided between Consulting and Industry which gives her the depth and breadth required to be the thought leader.
 
She has demonstrated her C to C, Chartered accountant to Cybersecurity journey in the following stages:
An Accountant at Winn Croucher Partners 
A Client Manager at Deloitte 
An Executive Manager in Risk and Compliance at Commonwealth Bank
The Director in Risk Innovation at KPMG 
The Associate Partner at IBM
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
Exploring all aspects of life
Learning something new every day
Adding value in every job 
Communication
Networking
Switching internally and externally
Mindset shift from doing to influencing other
Importance of vertical and horizontal growth
Direct exposure to the corporate world
Alignment of role and purpose
Upskilling/ upgrading and its implementation
Adopting diversity
Social eminence
 
Loved the way she explained who she is from her name:
A - Advisor 
N - Nurturing Talent 
U - Untangling Risks 
 
She has also shared a roadmap for anyone who is looking to enter into the world of Cybersecurity.
 
Anu Kukar coordinates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anukukar/
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan
 
 
 

E26 - Discovering The Purpose of Life with Chinmay Ananda, Financial Educator, Business Storyteller & Author

If you are struggling in finding the purpose of your life, 
then this episode might be the right place to tune in.
 
From being a door to door salesman to becoming the operational manager of the company,
From failing in 6 startup ideas to owing his full-fledged finance academy,
His journey showcases his hunger to learn, his passion to explore, and his drive to experiment.
 
Mr. Chinmay Ananda started his career as a civil engineer. He is currently working as a financial educator for the last 10 years, mainly focusing on startup founders, and has also developed business analytical and accounting software.
 
He shared his life journey in the following three phases:
An MBA student having a zill to own a business and lacking a proper direction
A mid-career professional working in a corporate job and lacking creativity
A financial educator having a purpose in his life 
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
Self-development 
Difference between need and want
Connecting the dots
Importance of learning every day
How to learn from your failures
Communication
Networking 
Importance of building a brand 
Being authentic
Being focused
Having a coach
Chinmay has also shared 3 questions that can help you to have a deeper introspection of yourself.
 
Chinmay Ananda coordinates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anandachinmay 
Website: http://www.financeacademy.com.au/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/faaustralia 
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E25 - Building Authority and Personal Brand with Aruna Pattam, Head of AI and Data Science, HCL

If you are battling with self-doubt,
This episode might help you to get out of that dilemma.
 
From moving to Australia to spending almost 24 years there,
From getting pregnant in the middle of the training period to becoming Head of AI and Data Science at HCL,
Her journey showcases her passion for learning and her Determination to become better.
 
Aruna Pattam was born and raised in Chennai, 
she is currently serving in HCL as Head of AI and Data Science in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East region and is a proud mother of 3.
 
Aruna unfolds her story in the following stages -
1) An ordinary girl pursuing her college 
2) A person developing an interest in computers in another country 
3) A mid-career professional switching into management 
4) A professional thriving for creating impact and building a personal brand 
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
Importance of saying NO
Switching career 
Overcoming self-doubt 
Upgrading yourself
Facing and overcoming challenges
Personal branding 
Celebrating small success
 
 
Aruna coordinates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunapattam/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PattamAruna
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_yY-2_KXa5wYrEQFmMp-Q
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 
 
 

E24 - From Attempting to End Her Life to Becoming a Global Pharma and Technology Leader, With Dr Kamala Maddali

If you think you need a degree to pursue your dream in any field, 
Then this episode might help to debunk this thinking.
 
From a rare disease since childhood to becoming a TEDx speaker,
From a suicidal attempt to becoming the founder of a company,
her journey showcases her passion for life, purpose to live, and determination to achieve.
 
Dr. Kamala is currently demonstrating her talent in multiple domains like Biology, Artificial Intelligence, Business Development, Strategic Marketing, and a lot more.
 
She shared her journey in the following 3 stages 
1) Being really tough on herself while studying in college 
2) Attempting to end her life after being bullied 
3) Becoming a change that she wants to see 
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
 
Putting the pieces of the puzzles together or connecting the dots
Focusing upon positive goals
Mindset shift
Building your inner circle
Fighting the odd battles
Communication
Networking
Living in the moment
Not being too hard on yourself
 
Dr. Kamala coordinates:
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkkmaddalihealthcollaborations
Website: https://becomingakamala.com
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E23 - Creating Your Inner Circle with Jay Hira, Executive Cyber Security Advisor, Salesforce

If you are feeling stuck in your career,
this episode may be just what you needed to listen to.
 
From a hopeless student to building a career, most professionals would envy,
Jay Hira's journey represents passion, drive, purpose, and lots of practical strategies.
 
Starting his career as a Pen Tester, Jay currently serves as the Security and Compliance Advisor at Salesforce.
 
In this episode, Jay shared his life story in three stages
An average student with big dreams
A mid-career professional putting efforts behind his big dreams
A person having a purpose in his life
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about
Networking
Building and fuelling relationships
Importance of mentoring
Continuous development
Embracing your weakness and strengths
Building your inner circle
 
He gave a piece of really important advice on how to consciously choose people for your inner circle and learn from their strengths.
 
Jay Hira coordinates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayhira/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cybersec_jay 
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E22 - Fast Tracking Your IT Career, with Prakhar Rawat, CTO, Simple.io

This is by far the most relatable episode 
I have had on the Empowering Indian Expats podcast.
He started as a typical IT professional in India and currently working as CTO in Australia.
At a very young age, Prakhar has shown the importance of both hustling and stability in his life.
At the age of 19, he started finding out his interests and building his surroundings accordingly.
While doing his side hustle with his better half, he kept on constantly growing horizontally as well as vertically.
 
He shared his life story working as 
Incident manager at HCL
Data operational manager at Intel 
Service delivery manager at Nucleus 
Head of delivery in NCML
CTO at Simple
 
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about 
Networking 
Connecting the dots 
Choosing the surroundings 
Hustling 
Finding mentors 
Building value 
Investing in yourself 
 
Prakhar Rawat coordinates: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakhar-rawat-sydney/ 
Website: https://simple.io/ 
 
Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan 

E21 - Building First of Its Kind Fintech Platform in Australia, with Anto Joseph, CEO & MD of STROPRO

This is by far the most practical and comprehensive
Career, Start-up and Business conversation
I have had on the Empowering Indian Expats podcast
At such a young age, Anto has demonstrated a very high level of competency and success both in his career as well as in running a business.
Whatever be your ask...Want to build a careerWant to be an intrapreneurWant to start a fintech company
Anto has revealed valuable strategies, best practices, and mindset required to succeed.
He shared the details in 3 stagesRole1 at Citi - Private Banking relationship managerRole2 at Citi -  Vice President, partnershipsRole3 - Founder of a fintech start-up STROPRO
In this episode of Empowering Indian Expats, you will learn about-Calculated decision making -Networking-Developing confidence -Upgrading your skills -Building a brand and influence -Collaborating for mutual benefits-Identifying business opportunity - Starting a business-Enrolling others on your vision-Growing a business -Establishing relationships -Facing and overcoming challenges
Loved his concept of being comfortable to get out of the comfort zone to build something powerful and his idea of legacy.
Anto Joseph coordinates:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anto-joseph-22871885/ Website: https://www.stropro.com/ Email: anto@stropro.com Host Ehsan coordinates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alimohammadehsan