The pace and lifestile in manufacturing and engineering is different from what you find in academic research. So is the culture. Namely, they have been male dominated spaces, historically.
This week on Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD, I will be takling with my guest, Sirisha Kuchimanchi, about how, as a woman in these spaces, you can own your career, pivoting and growing as your path meanders and evolves.
What we covered during our conversation about the place of women in engineering and manufacturing:
Don’t miss out on this great conversation!
Reach out to me or to Sirisha using the links below if you have any feedback or any questions for us.
Also, I’d love to get to know you better. If you have a minute, please fill out the listener survey in this link.
Sirisha hosts the Podcast “Women, Career & Life” and the Radio Show “Life Beats with Sirisha”. Her podcast is listed in the top 30% of Spotify podcasts. Her mission is to provide practical ideas and resources for women to further their career & life goals as they strive toward financial independence.
Sirisha is a former Global Engineering & Manufacturing Executive from Texas Instruments, a Fortune 200 company. She co-chaired the Tech & Manufacturing Women’s ERG which supported over 500 employees across 3 continents and 8 countries. Sirisha is an immigrant from India and earned her doctorate in Materials Science & Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Sirisha’s aim is to promote gender equality by empowering more women to take control of their careers and finances.
Thank you, Sirisha Kuchimanchi
If you enjoyed this conversation with Sirisha, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on LinkedIn:
**********************************************************************************************
You can subscribe to my Substack Newsletter by clicking here.
I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. I work with Universities on Organizations to transition students to the corporate world and building successful leadership pipelines ensuring a healthy financial future.
If you're interested in coordinating or working with me on keynotes, workshops, or on a one on one basis, you can go to my website www.sirishakuchimanchi.com
If you are interested in leveraging more personal and professional development check out the podcast of my radio talk show "Life Beats with Sirisha" by clicking here
Connect with me:
All: https://solo.to/sirishak
Instagram: womencareerandlife
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirishakuchimanchi/
#womencareerandlife ...
The pace and lifestile in manufacturing and engineering is different from what you find in academic research. So is the culture. Namely, they have been male dominated spaces, historically.
This week on Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD, I will be takling with my guest, Sirisha Kuchimanchi, about how, as a woman in these spaces, you can own your career, pivoting and growing as your path meanders and evolves.
What we covered during our conversation about the place of women in engineering and manufacturing:
Don’t miss out on this great conversation!
Reach out to me or to Sirisha using the links below if you have any feedback or any questions for us.
Also, I’d love to get to know you better. If you have a minute, please fill out the listener survey in this link.
Sirisha hosts the Podcast “Women, Career & Life” and the Radio Show “Life Beats with Sirisha”. Her podcast is listed in the top 30% of Spotify podcasts. Her mission is to provide practical ideas and resources for women to further their career & life goals as they strive toward financial independence.
Sirisha is a former Global Engineering & Manufacturing Executive from Texas Instruments, a Fortune 200 company. She co-chaired the Tech & Manufacturing Women’s ERG which supported over 500 employees across 3 continents and 8 countries. Sirisha is an immigrant from India and earned her doctorate in Materials Science & Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Sirisha’s aim is to promote gender equality by empowering more women to take control of their careers and finances.
Thank you, Sirisha Kuchimanchi
If you enjoyed this conversation with Sirisha, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on LinkedIn:
**********************************************************************************************
You can subscribe to my Substack Newsletter by clicking here.
I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. I work with Universities on Organizations to transition students to the corporate world and building successful leadership pipelines ensuring a healthy financial future.
If you're interested in coordinating or working with me on keynotes, workshops, or on a one on one basis, you can go to my website www.sirishakuchimanchi.com
If you are interested in leveraging more personal and professional development check out the podcast of my radio talk show "Life Beats with Sirisha" by clicking here
Connect with me:
All: https://solo.to/sirishak
Instagram: womencareerandlife
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirishakuchimanchi/
#womencareerandlife ...
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:00:00]:
Research shows that women, if there's a job opening and there are 5 things, unless all five boxes are ticked, often women don't apply, but men, you know, how one networks, and they usually apply. So when women are tapped for opportunities, they need to take that opportunity. Don't hesitate to take the job because of you're not sure you can do it or confident. The way I look at it is if someone taps you on the shoulder, you obviously have the skills. They think you can do it. means they're already vested in it. They're gonna support you. I think it's asking for when I say asking for help, I don't mean to asking for someone to all your problem. I mean, a lot of the times I did and people I work with, and then this is my expectation when I work with someone is. I will show you how to do it once, but I expect to do the work yourself and come to me for help. It is not hand holding and then asking a lot of questions.
David Mendes [00:00:56]:
Welcome to this new episode of Beyond the TSYS with Papa PhD. Day, I have the great, great pleasure of having with me, Sirisha Gucci Manch. Saricia is the founder of Sajita, a global community for South Asian women for career and financial empowerment. She hosts the podcast, women, career, and life, and the radio show, live beats with Suresha. Suresha is a former Global Engineering And Manufacturing executive from Texas Instruments, a Fortune 200 company. She co chair the tech and manufacturing women's ERG with which supported over 500 employees, accorded across 3 continents and 8 countries. Sarisha is an immigrants from India and earn her doctorate in material science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her aim is to promote gender equality by empowering more women to take control of their careers and finances. Welcome to Beyond the thesis with Papa PhD's edition.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:01:57]:
Thank you, David. Thanks for having me here, and I'm really excited to chat. And this is my first LinkedIn live where I'm sitting on the other side of
David Mendes [00:02:04]:
the mic. Oh, there we go. That's always the first time. And, I I hope it's gonna be, it's I'm gonna be as good a host as you are on your on your life.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:02:12]:
Oh, I'm sure. It'd be wonderful.
David Mendes [00:02:14]:
Tricia. So I did, just present you fairly quickly. can you share a little bit more about you, about your, you know, your journey, your PhD, and and then how you came to to be in this admission that you are today of empowering women, in in being independent financially and and successful in a space that I think, you know, traditionally has been very much, male dominated, let's say, like, engineering and manufacturing.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:02:50]:
Yeah. That's true. And there's quite a few of us. So I'm originally from India. I came to the u I studied physics in India, my bachelor's in master's in physics, and I came to graduate school to the US. to CMU. And I finished my masters and I started working in early 2000. And I've had sort of, meandering path around it. So I got laid out from my first job less than a year into it. So it it was a sort of transformational experience. Now when I look back going through it, obviously not. It was hard at that point. But as people are going through layoffs now and there's so much conversation around it, And, you know, at that point, people didn't talk about it. There was no LinkedIn. So now it's much more accepted in a way. And I just want people to know who who are listening to this or who may listen to the recording that as hard as it may be And depending on which stage you are, it it will work out well. It it will be a pivotal point, and it gives you time to think. So Try to realize that the layout has nothing to do with you. It's it's it's the other external circumstances that define it. And for you to look for support, in LinkedIn through podcasts and other mediums to have people to support you.
David Mendes [00:04:02]:
Yeah. There's much less, I feel that there's less taboo around it now than there might have had when it happened to you.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:04:10]:
Absolutely. So, actually, yes, that was my first podcast episode was talking about the layouts.
David Mendes [00:04:14]:
Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. That's
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:04:15]:
what we started with. And so I I worked for a few years, and then I quit work to be a stay at home mom. So I stayed home for 3 years with my kids. So I had taken a break from my PhD when I started working. And at that point, I chose to go back to graduate school and finish up my thesis when I when I was staying home. So I finished up my thesis and then a few years later went back to work for TI. And most of my time, I started working in development you know, and, working with client services, working for vendors, for companies, and then moved into essentially largely the factories into manufacturing and engineering. So it's it's been a wonderful journey. There's a lot to learn. I think semiconductors now are in the spotlight because global landscape, you know, the supply chain constraints. I think last year kind of made people think, oh, that is this thing that, you know, chips other than potato chips. There are the chips that matter to us. So it's it's got a spotlight and the US has, you know, this chip back and this humongous investment in semiconductor industry. That's a lot of companies building factories and stuff. So it's it's a wonderful area to work in because if you think about it, it's products such everything in our lives. Like, there's nobody who doesn't have a semiconductor technology touching their life at any point of time.
David Mendes [00:05:34]:
Yeah. Today, it's through any any little thing that you might have, that's not just mechanical, but that's even just electrical and electronics. It's it's it's there. And then now, every everyone has one of these, in their pockets.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:05:48]:
Exactly. There
David Mendes [00:05:49]:
we go.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:05:49]:
That one. Yeah.
David Mendes [00:05:50]:
Oh, yeah. So so, Suresha, One of the things that you'd in you mentioned in passing has a lot to do with what we are talking about today, which is how women can can navigate, career transitions and entering these domains, which are not traditionally you know, which traditionally have more or more associated to men. and the first thing that you mentioned was I took I stopped my PhD I I became a mom. I was a stay home mom, and then I went back to my PhD. And this question of parenthood, is one of the big ones for women, young women in whichever career journey, but let's say your graduate school, it's 5 to
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:06:36]:
7
David Mendes [00:06:37]:
years in this age that might be the age that you want to start a family. Can you talk a little bit about how that went? you know, how did you negotiate and navigate interrupting and then resuming? Cause I'm I'm really really curious about, you know, what tips and advice you can give to to other young women out there.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:06:59]:
Yeah. So when I I finished my masters and I'd started my works. So I've done a lot of the research when I was there. But when I found my first, job, I moved because my husband had moved. And I started working. I realized I had to take a break because I couldn't continue my thesis work at that point. So when I, you know, this was about 5, 6 years later, all thesis, all PhD programs have sort of a time try to pass these exams and the exams also have a time when the timer kicks off and it expires. So it was something that I saw the back of my mind wanting to finish, and I knew that the timer was gonna kick off. So I ended up, my department, you know, my adviser, first of all, and the department, administration, the head of the department. They were very nice. So I asked them if I could extend it and, you know, under these circumstances and had to get permissions And since I lived in Dallas and not in in Pittsburgh, there were a couple of classes I still had to take. So I was able to get showed them the classes that I wanted to take and get permission to take them in a different city so that it was transferable. So these were all predetermined. to take, like, 2 weeks during the classes. So I took them and finished those. And my adviser, I just had to work out some of the you know, economics of, you know, funding and stuff. But at that point, I'd work. So I didn't I didn't have that many credits left to take in the university. So it was that made it a bit simpler for me to do. And it's interesting because when I was doing that so I actually started my PhD program a little before I became a stay at home mom. I was actually I had a two year old at home. I was I was expecting my second one, and I was working and taking classes. So it was, like, My plate was, like, way overwhelming at that point. So I was like, okay. We need and we kind of decided that I would probably take a break when when I had kids. So this at this point, it was like, okay. It's it's time to take a break. You cannot stretch. I mean, doing 2 things itself is hard, and this is kind of like 3 and 4 things on it. So it was a bit much to take on. And so I I was able to work it out. So if anyone's listening, right, I think is I think Oftentimes, we think we can't do it, but we should reach out and ask the people. So I was able to work out that I would travel. I think I only travel two, three times because I have to go for my, preliminary presentation. And then I had to go for my utmost, my defense, and then my graduation. And a lot of it was through email and things. And I was collaborating with some other students I hadn't met on some theoretical calculations, so reaching out through email and phone calls. So especially with technology, the waiters now, I'm talking about a long time ago. You know, a lot of it can be done virtually and stuff. but it also helps to build the connections because I already had connections with my adviser, with the people who are on my committee, and things. I'd met them I knew them and I was a grad student, and I kept in touch intermittently. It had helped to kind of smoothen that thing a bit. So No matter what, I think those personal connections are important and, you know, not hesitating to ask for help when you need it.
David Mendes [00:10:08]:
Of course, personal personal relations are very important. It's something I try to share all the time and developing your network, close network, but also wider network is so, so important, especially for later on for 5 years from now. If you start working on it right away when you start to PHC, then you have a whole, you know, garden of of of relationships. that that you can that can be mentors that can, you know, that can be sounding boards or that can eventually be interested in hiring you in the future. But, but here, we're still talking about during the PHE. I I have a another question. So you had a a two year old. you start the program, what was your motivation to, to go into the program what were you seeing? You know, when I get my degree, I will I will what? Was it teaching or were you already looking into industry?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:11:01]:
So I was already in the industry. So I come up a a line, a family line of academics. My father was a faculty. My father's a faculty. My other grandfather was the teacher. So I come from a line of teachers in in a way, and my sister also was actually graduating with her PhD at the same time and She was an equity. She was interested in the academic field. And I did consider it. It it was at the back of my mind. I had worked in industry, but when I graduated, I wanted to I I did consider I I looked for some faculty positions, but really, I think industry called to my heart because I'd already worked. I kind of like the fact that I could see the product so quickly. and, you know, see that I could, touch it and feel it kind of different from a research aspect because research is kind of long and, It's it's a different type of journey. It's a different mindset. And I liked it because, actually, it's interesting you asked her because when I went back, I got called back but I wanted after my break to see if I wanted to return to TI. And the hiring manager asked me, hey. You've just gotten your PhD. Why are you coming back to work here? Why are you not going into academia? But I think just my mindset, teaching, you know, preparing classes. I think it also intimidated me a little bit. I don't know if I was able to do that. I I preferred working in the industry, so I decided to go back to what I was doing. Which
David Mendes [00:12:20]:
is totally natural to to go through those years and start to see what being a a professor is and thinking, you know what? This is not actually what I want to do. It's totally natural. The interesting thing is that their what they said what they said to you, what they told you was. So you did a PhD, and now you're coming back. And it this shows that people on the other side, so outside of university are still, not seeing that there's a huge pool of PhDs that come out each year and that only 20% become professors and maybe
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:12:51]:
40, 50%
David Mendes [00:12:52]:
stay around academia it's still the the public outside still also still has this idea of, oh, you start a PhD, you become a professor, and it's an impossibility. at least today.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:13:05]:
Yeah. And that's true because I think most of us who get PhDs, maybe not most. A large percentage of people who get these do not work in the field that they are in. Right? I think it's a toolkit. It's a mind it's a mindset. It's a way of thinking If you ask me what I use for my PhD on a regular basis, it's kind of hard for me to explain. But I think in some ways, maybe the sort of the technical adaptability, the way to pull things together. Maybe that comes from it. It's it's hard for me to differentiate which step of the journey, what I still I picked up. but it it definitely helps. And you're right. People go because PhD programs are obviously a narrow focus. That's the whole point of it. Right? you you can go into academia and even academics that I know, like, friends and colleagues who have, you know, gone into academia, some state of course, Some have, you know, pivoted and expanded the scope of research into something completely interdisciplinary and new. So they do use all those skills together. And even when you go into industry, some still stay that, you know, that they keep in their focus area, but you just take these girls and For me, my carriers had a lot of pivots, a lot of different, groups I moved in. That's kind of what looking back interest me. I like the change of it. So it's it's helped me, like and I and PFC for me also was very personal. I wanted to get it for my own reasons, I guess, maybe to prove it for myself. So that was part the journey as well.
David Mendes [00:14:30]:
Of course. And so now I have another question that I'll keep for after, but now you you just mentioned that you don't you don't you don't exactly use the skills that you developed in your PhD today. What's your can you describe your position, what you do, and what's your day to day? in in the industry that you're in?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:14:48]:
Yeah. So I was a TI. I actually just left my job a few months ago. But I was there on and off for about 15 to 17 years. I worked for another company, which was a vendor called Applied Materials, and then I worked at PI for so many years. And I didn't use the technological aspect. Like, I worked on magnetic materials. I didn't use that because this was semiconductor stuff. But on a daily basis, so so I'll give you 2, 3 different job descriptions because this is for people who, you know, might decide to pursue different things. So I worked in that factory in in engineering roles, for a lot of time. And when you're working on manufacturing role, manufacturing in any factories, especially these factories, which are $1,000,000,000 investments have equipment that are in the millions. you know, they're producing, any operations, like, doesn't matter whether you make a car or you make a little widget. They are turning 24 by 7. Right? They have personnel, people who operate on a shift basis and engineering, which tends to operate on a non shift basis. So in that, I would, a large part of my engineering was looking at, data, looking at how the operations are running, like, chats and stuff. making sure that they're running. So there's always a sustainability aspect when when you do these roles, which is making sure everything is running properly and you're trying to optimize the process. is a troubleshooting aspect, which is where the problem solving comes in, which is kind of fun, sometimes challenging, where you're trying to solve the problem yourself, up to a point, but oftentimes you work in teams or groups or there'll be a lot of meetings as well trying to solve the problem. Maybe maybe this this technology is not yielding and producing what you wanted to and you needed to get better or something went wrong and you're trying to fix it. And sometimes there's development as well. You know, you're making changes proactively. There's some reactive part of it, and then there's some proactive change you're trying to drive. either for getting more yield, you know, reduced costs because it's in operations, or you're taking on new technology and you're, you know, changing or transforming the folio. So there's all of these pieces happening. So that's what I did largely in my engineering role. Then about a few years later, I moved into quality, which The role was a bit different as well.
David Mendes [00:16:56]:
It it it looks me that in the engineering role, actually, is that the is that the the job name, like engineer, or is there if people wanna look.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:17:04]:
Yeah. So I, yeah, I was called a yield engineer in in a factory. Usually, semiconductor companies have process engineers which work on the process side. Then they have equipment engineers who actually work on the equipment. You know, there's pbd tools as photography tools. So there's like a lot of different tools. Then the yield engineering and product engineering are are the groups which look at the line health and they're looking at it more, because process and equipment are focused on one part of the equipment or the process itself. These people are looking at the whole line health. So there's different things. And I think for people in engineering, and this is true of every job, engineering is every company may or may not have engineering, but there's always you know, HR, IT, facilities. Those functions exist. Non technical functions exist in every organization. because you need them F And O, you know, finance and operations. These are things that exist in every organization that you do So when I moved to, quality, quality is, oftentimes one of the adjacent organizations that support these kind of factories. So I worked with internal customers, which was the engineering, you know, because now I was sitting in a sort of adjacent organization to solve the problems. We worked with our internal customers also end up being oftentimes, in in a lot of organizations, your business partners, and things. And then I worked with external customers as well because I had a huge portfolio of, like, external customers that we produce products for. So I would work on those. A lot of it was collaboration. A lot of it was trying to understand each ones, solving the internal problem, solving the external problems, and also proactive and reactive. Right? there's always gonna be a reactive part no matter what job function you have. But as much as it to move to it proactively was what my aim was because I tend to lean on the technical aspect, but I also tend to lean a lot on relationship building. And relationship building is not to say I wanna be nice to you. It's it's by solving the problem. Like, here is what we are working on, you know, and, bringing people in stakeholders into the discussion because you need them because oftentimes in these kind of roles, equality, and things, you own a part of the problem and you can't actually go fix it yourself because the engineer still has to work on it. So it's leaning into that and leveraging that so that and and I think what is important is when you have these kind of roles is to make sure the other person understands your active and what the customers are saying because oftentimes, we might just go and say fix this, but we don't tell them why and what and not necessarily the how, but I think once you start showing them what that means. I think then it's, you know, it kind of brings people in. And I would do a lot of the proactive building before. because when a reactive situation hits, in my mind, you're under too much stress to do a good job.
David Mendes [00:19:52]:
Yeah. It it makes subtle sense what you say, and it it feels to me like, building relationships, like I said, is not being nice. It's bringing value, bringing value with creativity and solving problems for other people. It it it makes total sense. And and then that's how organically your your your network grows. now this makes me think of something else because you mentioned 15 ish years of of working in that space, or or 17. And you did mention the importance of asking for help, and and, you know, and I kind of see that as getting mentorship in in graduate school as a woman, and actually, we have in us, here, saying that, you know, I definitely agree on the importance of networking and asking for help when you need it, especially for women in STEM. And so in in all those years. You know, you had that first conversation with where where they said, so you went to do PhD, and now you're coming back to work. How you know, how was that, for you? How how did those conversations go? How did you make the case of, yes, I'm a woman. Yes. I'm actually an an immigrant coming from India, but, yes, I have a place in in this team and in this organization. How did that go for you?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:21:13]:
I think and this may be I'm gonna play the dichotomous role. Okay? I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. I think oftentimes, women who pursue stem carriers, we often are the minority, right? Like, I interview I do a radio show, so I interview this lady who'd studied mechanical engineers. She was 1 out of 70 kids in her class. So I think in sometimes you you don't think about I didn't think about it so much at work. I know I talked about women in empowerment, but when you're living that experience, sometimes you're not thinking about Right? It's just it's just the norm. You're used to this thing. I think when you notice it, and there are all women in the room, that's when I noticed it. When I ended up in meetings when I had all women was then you kind of, like, think about it because usually through school, college, university, you don't tend to have that many. There's always like a It's always like that, you know, 30, 30 percent of bucket that seems to hit. But almost every organization, and if they don't have it, they have, you know, employee resource groups and, areas around them. And the thing is women need women to support, but you need the men to support them as well. you need allies. You know, you need advisors. And I had incredible, mentors both women and men who you know, challenged, who pushed, who said, why are you not doing this? So this is the thing. When you have managers who can be what you might consider tough on you. There's 2 aspects to it. Sometimes they are tough, and maybe it's not the most best relationship, but oftentimes when they're tough, they may be challenging you because they think you're capable of doing more, and that's kind of how I tend to look at it and something to unwrap. Right? They may not say, okay, why did you do this and they may push you? Because there sometimes when they've pushed you and they've come and offered or had conversations about certain opportunities with you and your hesitant. I tell especially the women because research shows that women if there's a job opening and there are 5 things unless all five boxes are ticked, often women don't apply, but men, you know, have one networks and they usually apply. So when women are tapped for opportunities, they need to take that opportunity. unless there is some extenuating, you know, other circumstances. Don't hesitate to talk take the job because of you're not sure you can do it or conference. The way I look at it is if someone taps you on the shoulder, you obviously have the skills. They think you can do it, which means they're already vested in it. They're gonna support you. So I think it's asking for when I say asking for help, I don't mean to asking for someone to solve your problem. I mean, a lot of the times, I did and people I work with, and then this is my expectation when I work with someone is, I will show you how to do it once, but I expect you to do the work you're self and come to me for help. It is not hand holding. Right? And then asking a lot of questions. I think no matter which stage you are in your career, especially when you're new, you have to ask questions. A lot of questions. Take notes and ask questions because People want to know that you're hearing them and then you come back and follow-up on the conversation. That's how you're going to learn. And there'll be meetings where you'll know nothing, and it's okay to ask the question. maybe you wanna think about how you want to frame it so you come out, you know, your presence and your, sort of personal brand comes out a certain way. but think about it and maybe prep in the beginning for every meeting to see what is the outcome you want. Because like I said, I was when I got laid off, actually, when I returned to work, I I got a call, you know, to come back for one of the roles. And then when I came back, I came back the second time. And on hindsight, I realized there must have been something in the interactions I had that kind of helped happen that happened. Right? So you never know where you're sewing those seats. because when I went back to work one of the times, the call I got was not from somebody I affected. I didn't even know they knew who I was really in the organization. I used to sit in their meetings. They used to be the team leader and, you know, participate, but I was very quiet then. And you never know what seeds you're showing and what people are taking away. So it is important to ask questions. It's important to engage And I know a lot of us tend to be introverts. So maybe, you know, find 1 or 2 people. had, like, 1 or 2 engineers who really helped me learn the stuff. You know, I would ask questions and find the right people. Not everyone wants to answer Some people are not willing to engage. So you have to find the right connections to do this.
David Mendes [00:25:42]:
And the people who champion you, even where you're not there anymore, and then you get a call.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:25:48]:
Exactly. And those are the people, and you're never going to know who they are, not necessarily. I mean, you can cultivate them. and you can do your due diligence. And sometimes you'll find out who they are and sometimes you may not know. And you'll be surprised by who will do it all Yeah.
David Mendes [00:26:02]:
No. For sure. And, I guess, I guess, what you're saying is we check once you're in an organization, whichever professional interactions you have within the organization, try to always bring some value to the table. And and because you're those are the seeds that you that you're, that you're sowing and that eventually will will if fruit be it like like what happened to you or being tapped for a promotion or or or, you know, or or for being invited into another department because they feel that you're a great, you know, there'll be you'll be a great addition to their team. it makes total total sense to me. So we have mentioned this part of of about kind of mentorship and and which is interesting because the way you put it is be you didn't you didn't say go get a mentor what you kind of said, and I'm gonna distill it in a few words, is BMT. And and why I'm saying that is ask the questions. know, be be on the on the floor. Try to to to solve, solve problems, but, you know, ask from your superior, from your from the person who knows more and and interact with them in that way. And by acting as M and T, I feel like organically mentors will come out of the woodwork and and kind of take that that mental.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:27:26]:
Yeah. That's partly true. You will see, mentorship is is so many things. Right? And I urge everyone to get a mentor. you have to so mentorship can be an infinitesimal meetup. We think of it as this grand thing with a title and everything, which which which you will have. Like, I have mentors who I've had for years now, and it started with, seeing them in one of these forums. I I I a lot of it was also through my women's ERG forums. So I met somebody. I'd gotten a role and asked them, you know, if I could talk to them to get some help and insight on how I should you know, step into these kind of roles. They weren't in my organization. They were very many levels up, but, you know, that started that way. And once we established mentorships are also a lot of trust. Right? You you are opening up to someone. You have to maintain confidentiality, you know, and it it not all of them gel the first time. So it's it's, you know, your different personality. So I've had some mentors for 7, 8 years now, and we have moved on and stuff. And we we've talked about it, but there might be the person you might have an interaction only 2 times, but they might give you something. Sometimes it might be someone who's you know, newer than you or junior to you, especially with the way technology is changing now, in the end of mentoring you. Like, I lean into people to show me social media because I have no idea about it. So now I'm getting mentored by people young people, like my niece, to show me how do I do social media and what to do about it.
David Mendes [00:28:55]:
So -- And you're getting mentorship from her?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:28:58]:
Exactly. Everybody needs a mentor because I I've done a whole season talking about mentorship and how to establish a relationship. and do that. And I realized that when I talk to people, oftentimes you've had it, maybe when we were in school, then when decade went by, and we didn't even think about it, And and the reason is it gives you someone to talk to who might look at where you can aspire to and give you some guidance. And and the other thing I would take you to even a step for further is to build a board of advisors or a board of directors, like, like, a company bills. And they can be in your career. They can be in your financial life. They can be there. And these are people who will come. Some will stay on it. Some just like a board will stay and, you know, will exit it. at a different point. And for you to leverage, who would you call for certain questions? Because I've been pivoting and, you know, for different things I called different people, some are sounding boards. So I would say take some time and establish it because life will just happen and blow by, and it's very hard. We're all constrained for time. So we have to think about how to do it.
David Mendes [00:30:06]:
So what I'll do also now that you say this is, I'll ask for some link of episodes, from your series on mentorship. Because this is something that interests me a lot, and I know there's a little interest the the beyond the thesis audience. Now thinking about this this experience of being helped, being mentored by other people to and finding kind of your the your way to be present in the organization that you were in that that you developed throughout the years. Thinking of women who are now entering their their first positions in an organization, what would you say were because you mentioned you said someone Like, you know, someone tells you, oh, why why are you not doing this or that? What were things at the beginning that you were not doing that you learned? from these people, and that helped you grow your career, grow your confidence, and grow your your, your independence in a way. professionally.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:31:03]:
And, yeah, it's it's been a journey. Right? I think when you come as an immigrant or when you come cultural differences, the cultures that that I come from, you know, you don't, I guess, talk about yourself.
David Mendes [00:31:17]:
And
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:31:17]:
it's very different in the US. You have to speak about yourself, which is very hard to do it in a sort of tasteful way, especially for women, there's it's it's even more harder because you know, you you can be there's this cartoon that that I have someone sent me. And these two women are talking I I'll come back to your question, but the reason I wanna state this is there are 2 women, you know, typing on their computer facing away from each other. And one asks, what's the difference between aggressive and assertive and the other one without looking back as gender. So and and it is something that women struggle with. you know, and even we may do the judging ourselves, so I'm going to start the women. So it's very care. It's very hard. You walk a very fine line between being vocal and not vocal and being hurt. So there's all this background noise that happens. But the way I'd say for someone, if if I were to do it now again, right, and this is what I would tell someone, when you're stepping into a job, there's so many things. you know, you know, take some time, figure out what the job is. But in the 1st few weeks, I would meet with the manager, find out how the organization is set up, meet the team members, you know, figure out what they are, what do they do, Learn from them. You know, maybe they have training documents. Find out what your role is about and get as much absorption as you can. Spend time learning it And the reason I say take notes is because sometimes you'll meet people who'll have these conversations, but they may not have taken notes and they, you know, often come back for the same thing. you kind of start to lose a credible, then people will lose interest in having that conversation because you're you're coming back to the same thing. And set up a one on one with your boss. every 2 weeks, at least, if not once a week. And find out what it is and follow-up that conversation. Take notes of what you have done. And performance reviews happen in every organization once a year, maybe twice a year, like, on 6 months. But, really, if you're having a carrier conversation and start them early, Right? If if you're listening to this, you're already ahead of the curve. Most of us don't realize till 5 years in what we want to do. But if you're listening to something like this podcast, and on on his other rep on papa PhDs, David's other episodes, start thinking about what you want to do. And you could change your mind at any point of time. It doesn't mean you have to stick to the whole but find out what do they have? Do they have technical pathways? Do they have managerial pathways? There are certain projects or I like this group. A lot of organizations now have rotation programs because You know? So they move them in different groups and you get experience and start doing projects diving into things. learning from it, engaging in meetings. And if you don't know, and you're not don't wanna speak up in the meeting when you don't know anything, meet with the people who are organizing it or something outside of it. Learn a little bit, do some research, and step in and ask questions. When you ask questions try to see if you can have a solution because it's not always about stating a problem. People can state it, but they want someone who can also help provide a way to think. And it's okay to have a different way of thinking about That's what drives innovative solutions.
David Mendes [00:34:19]:
Mhmm. Of course. It's interesting because all that you've just said in the last couple of minutes could also totally apply to going through grad school completely, you know, take part in meetings, talk with the people who are organizing them try to make yourself useful in other groups, etcetera. But, but, coming back to our context, it's just interesting to me because it was just you know, I was just making these connections. But, it's, it feels to me like a lot of what you're saying revolves around, in the end, human relationships and and conversations productive conversations, not just, chewing the fat, but taking when your vocal, when you raise your voice, you know, being sure that you're, like you said, bringing a solution and and helping someone even if they're not your direct colleague or or they're not in your department. because it it's interesting. You also mentioned mentioned the rotations, which I think is a is cool model for onboarding people. but it it looks, from what I've, you know, heard in other conversations that modern organizations are actually pretty open to you evolving within the organization, not only linearly, but also, you know, horizontally, you know, changing groups or changing, changing, responsibilities, depending on your interests on, like you said, the solutions that you bring and and kind of the the color you bring to your interactions, is that something that you that you experienced this kind of flexibility of of designing a career path within an organization?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:36:08]:
Yes. So I'll start back. Actually, I'll I'll lean into mentorship. So When I first found a mentor, it was through a formal program. Like, you know, one of the ERG diversity initiatives had a mentoring program. So I was able to find one And she introduced me to this concept called informational interviews, this mentor I had. So so you're absolutely right. Whatever you were talking about could be done done during your thesis. Right? Especially when people are doing a PhD, I didn't do it as much, but maybe on hindsight, maybe it also was the transition from country to country. My adviser was nice about sending us to conferences and, you know, putting us in, like, the society of managing all of these Sigma side, these these technical organizations. So people should be part of the professional organization. It's society women engineers, mechanical, whatever it is. Start being active in them. Take a leadership role because it gives you access to people. it gives you access to opportunities or projects or ideas. I mean, even if you're technical, you still need access. if you think, oh, I don't wanna do the personal side, it sounds very non, you know, sort of not sticky enough. You still need access. Otherwise, you're not gonna get the project you wanna work on. So she so the way she did it is she introduced me to the first person, and she made me prepare a slide on what who I was and what I did. And when I met the first person, I would talk to them. So this is I did this for a year after I came back to work when I was a stay at home mom. because I knew I wanted to transition to another role in the company and that I'm that I'm rotation programs and all didn't really exist. you know, this origination program, I think most companies have done it sort of only in the last few years, just as a cultural shift. So I had to kind of, you know, figure out what I wanted to do. So I would meet with somebody. I would send and I always send people a calendar invite. I never send them an email because we get hundreds of emails, and we never see them.
David Mendes [00:37:52]:
Mhmm. It's true. So I
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:37:53]:
would put a I would put a calendar invite for 30 minutes and say, hey. This is who I am. I wanna talk to you about this. Sometimes you may have job openings, which I may or may not, but I would still wanted to talk and maybe 30 minutes an hour before I would send them a slide or a resume and then go and talk to them and say, hey. This is who I am. Ask them about their role. What are their organization do. So I would talk to I was an engineering or talk to planning, marketing, or got systems, application. You know, everybody, sales, you know, all sorts of groups because I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I wanted to find out what the roles were. And every time I ended a conversation, depending on how it went, you know, if it went really well, I would ask 2 things. 1 is if they needed help, do I know on because sometimes they may not understand how a factory works. It could be something simple. Right? Or, you know, you could have them with a connection or something. And then the second thing I would ask is if they suggest who else I talked to. So that's how you kind of build on it. So then they would give me the next person. And if it went well, I would ask if they will give me an introduction. So they may introduce me to somebody. And sort of then by the time you have the 3rd conversation, say, I'm with marketing, you know, some of the lingo now. And so you can leverage that lingo to have a conversation. And by then, I had a grid map of, you know, which roles I wanted to do and which roles I didn't want to do. So it kinda help me focus on it. So that's sort of a skill if a rotation program does not exist in your organization, or even if you wanna pivot your career, you wanna change industries, whatever. I think that that technique that, you know, Spanish moment showed me, I think can be leveraged in any forum. If you're coming back to work after a break, You could do that because the landscape has changed. You need to sort of reenergize your connections. Start doing that and figuring out what you wanna do.
David Mendes [00:39:35]:
I love it. yeah, informational informational interviews, I think, are key, in in actually making sense of your career journey and slaying laying the the the foundations for what's the next chapter because there's always a next chapter. And, if you know the terrain, it's much easier to navigate than just say, okay. Now I'm leaving, and now I have to scramble and find, you know, get, you know, find my bearings, etcetera. So I I really really like it, but I I also like the your approach of kind of then treating those that data kind of as a as a scientist, right, of having a grid and having a which is, it's very it's very, on on character for a PhD to do to do that, to do that, to take that approach. But, yeah, I, so I think this is, for me, one of the nuggets of of these conversations that I want people to take home is having a structured way and, you know, informational interviews are a structured way of having conversations that are that are, that have a sense that have a kind of an an objective, although they're not transactional, I think that is key for anyone But in particular, and and even more for women who want to to, to be very strategic and and to build their career in a very intent, in a very, you know, thought, thought through way.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:41:08]:
Yeah. And and you're right. I think that I like that that you picked the word transactional because you know, when I've had conversations, when I I did a LinkedIn live called expanding your network, I realized that people's hesitancy on networking is the transactional basis, and it's not about being transactional. Actually, completely the opposite. It's about building a relationship. Either you have a comment that, okay, we are both podcasters and, you know, we both obviously are interested in the PhD part of it. So that is something that connects us. Right? So you'll always find a common ground somewhere, or maybe you haven't found it, and that's what you're exploring. and almost everybody's willing to help you. So you have to kind of think about how to leverage because you have to give back. Even for a mentor, mentee relationship, you have to give back to your mentor. It could be suggesting something that they have not seen, maybe a technology. Like, to my mentor, I'm sharing, you know, this is, hey. This is this thing I saw. I thought this might be of interest to you. You know, maybe there are these roles that I think you would be great for. So there are things you can do. about it as well.
David Mendes [00:42:07]:
Yeah. Felicia, we we're reaching the end of the interview. before we we go on and and try to to have a a little sum up and, last, take home message for for people watching or for the listeners. Can you please share where people can find you. I have for people who are watching, I have some context going going, here at the bottom of the screen. But for those who are gonna be just listening in the podcast, if if they wanna learn a little bit more about you, if they have some specific questions they want to ask you, How is the best way to reach out to you?
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:42:43]:
Yeah. So I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. That's really the best place reach me, you know, connect with me on that. I do spend some time on Instagram. Those sort of are my two platforms of women carrier and life. But, like David said, you know, I have a podcast women carrier in life. So take a listen. Some of the topics that we talked about, I do talk about it there. I talk about a lot around women and leaders. ship and things. But it's interesting I find, though my podcast is called the men carrier in life, about 30% of the listeners, at least through Spotify says that are men listening to because because the topics, you know, still apply to them. I mean, it's still about leadership and feedback and conversations with your boss and whatever else might might be the way to go forward. So LinkedIn is is, I guess, my sweet spot to end up listening to me.
David Mendes [00:43:32]:
Excellent. No. And it may it makes total sense that that 30% of men listen. And because if you if you we go back to the beginning of our conversation, at a certain point, you mentioned that, you know, in the culture where I come from, it's not well, perceived to talk about yourself. right, in the same way, people in the in the the job market are not all you know, Americans or Canadians. I come from Portugal. People come from all over the world from cultures where I don't know, re the relationship with authority is difficult or, you know, not so easy talking talking about yourself also. There's a lot of cultures where it's from the pond. And, and you can be a man coming from such a culture and kind of identify and be interested in in hearing these conversations that are happening on, women career and life on your podcast. I it makes total sense to me.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:44:32]:
Yeah. Exactly. And you you bring up the cultural aspect, right, because there is, you know, when I talk to people from Latin America, cut from different parts. There's a lot of overlap on how people show up. So, you know, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and stuff. And, you know, some structures are very hierarchical also. Right? So you you're not going to bypass the hierarchy. Well, in the US culture, you you can't tend to bypass the high hierarchy because there's open to So I always urge people to, you know, have a conversation or call skip level, you know, one level up your boss and meet with them as well. So from a cultural context, I that's why to address that. I wanna I sort of started Sahita, which is like the South Asian community for women because for career and finances because as women, at least in my personal experience in conversations, I have, we manage our carriers, you know, we may be doing great, but Sometimes we don't always manage our finances. And I think it's important to sync them up because we need to have that sort of financial independence. It's not about you know, changing the dynamics at home so much, but you need to be aware, right, because life happens. And just like I talked about proactive and reactive at work. You cannot you have to be proactive. You can't when life happens, it's too reactive and too stressful to make changes then. Yes.
David Mendes [00:45:54]:
it's true. It's better to be prepared and proactive than, yeah, than scrambling, kind of like I said, too, for careers than just scrambling at the last minute to figure out what's the next step. I I totally totally agree. Tanisha, looking back back at our conversation, and and it's funny. I I I'm kind of really actually going to kind of rewind in a certain way, it fit we we ended up in, talking about informational interviews and how they were key and and and, you know, instrumental in having you figure out where you wanted to go and taking the right decisions and and then to be able to change, your career path into something that you'd liked better where you'd you'd show up, you know, in a in a more productive way, let's say, because when we were doing what we like, we're we're we're better at what we do. and it feels to me like, again, like, re rewinding a little bit all of our conversation. If there's one line, even going going until the the the the the informational interview, There's one, kind of silver lining to me. There's one line. 1, I don't you know, one thread that that I've that I think goes through everything, which is communicating and and having productive conversations with people around you. So if you are, you know, when you're an immigrant, when you are, just being a woman, you can tend to, isolate yourself or not speak up, and it feels like you're, you know, allowing yourself to have a voice and then practicing also how to and and this is where we go back to informational interviews, practicing this voice practicing, learning, new lingo, etcetera, etcetera, I think it kind of it's a threat that goes through the whole, the whole conversation that we had. Well and, of course, conversations means not only your voice, but it means the the people you're talking with. And this is where where we go back to mentorship, and, and kind of, this kind of mentee mentor relationship where you need to be able to ask questions when you need to to ask questions, being open to learn even from people who are younger or you know, who are who don't have a degree. If you do have a degree, so it really it really feels to me like it's interesting that we are both podcasters, but it feels to me that a lot a lot of, a big part of, navigating career is finding your voice and nurturing your voice and and your voice in the professional setting, right, and and, kind of shaping it to a way that works for you But that also that works for people listening to you, be they managers, be they people on the on the factory floor, I don't know if you have a last reflection on that and the and the last word for young researchers who are considering doing the leap to industry and who are maybe a little bit afraid of it.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:49:11]:
you said it's so beautiful. I I mean, I it's it's hard to add to what you just said, but I I I mean, just to reinforce the message, right, whether you're an academia whether you venture out to be an entrepreneur, whether you work in industry because, you know, I did research, then I was in industry. I'm, you know, on my pathway to an entrepreneurship journey. you have to find that voice, and it doesn't mean the same that someone else shows up. Right? And it it's an evolving journey. Who I am today wasn't how I spoke 5 years ago. So and won't be probably 5 years from now. And finding that and and being intentional about the conversations when people think of networking, you know, sort of being relationship building. I do want to reiterate, especially because we are talking to a largely sort of technical population if they're doing PHG in whichever field. It is about leaning into your technical knowledge. not giving up the core of who you are. It's not about, you know, having, like, hang out with your buddies and happy. Oh, that's not what we are meaning. We are meaning technical relationships. could be other things. It is important because you all have to solve problems collectively. It rarely is a problem solved on your own. either to understand it, to reach it. So I would say start asking questions, building those, and I I keep going back to that and and looking for mentors at different points because I had one in grad school through the graduate school program and I remember I I wish I remember the lady's name, ma'am, because I would love to thank her again. She worked on the Hubble Teslas scope in NASA, which I thought was the coolest thing then. And I still think is so You know, I've had a lot of people along the way who have helped us question. And my questions to her at that point were nontechnical. I asked her about how do you manage family? How do you manage kids? you know, how what do I do with both of us at PhDs? How do we find jobs? because that's another thing that people wonder. Right? How do you both find? Because it's it narrows your scope. So asking people questions, you never know where the answer will come from.
David Mendes [00:51:03]:
Thank you. It's Risha. This has been great. I it's it's been really a pleasure having this conversation with you. I I really like the where we went with the conversation. And, I think it's gonna be, helpful to a lot of people out there. Be they, women, or not? And, yeah, I I I wanna commend you for all the work you're you're putting into having these platforms and and, you know, including radio podcast and this community. So, yeah, for for anyone listening, find, Sarisha, if you if you're interested in in asking some more questions on LinkedIn. and, and, yeah, you and even if it's just to thank her for this hour, almost that that we spent here talking about this. So, Satisha, thank you so much. for having accepted my invitation and for having been on beyond the thesis with Papa PhD.
Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:51:58]:
Thank you, David. This has been a fantastic conversation. and I'm always game to connect with people. So reach out to me if they wanna have questions too.
David Mendes [00:52:07]:
Thank you for listening to another episode of Beyond the thesis with Papa HD. If this conversation has helped you somehow, if you know someone who has a great story to share on the show, or if you yourself have a story you'd like to share with me on beyond the thesis. Send me a note to listener@papaphd.com. I'm always happy to connect with listeners like you. If you want to support me in creating the podcast in any other way, you can go to pop upphd.comforward/support and choose whichever way works best for you. I am David Mendez. See you next week.