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About Me
Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I am a die-hard Steelers fan with a love for a cheese combo from Primanti Brothers as the occasional hometown treat. (If you're unfamiliar, Primantis is a Pittsburgh relic with the notable distinction of fries inside the sandwich. Also, a perfect recipe for a heart attack.)
It is the combination of my personal and professional experiences that has shaped my leadership style today, self-described as authentic, visionary, and inclusive.
It has taken many successes and even more failures for me to:
— find my passion for growing consumer businesses via innovative marketing
— embrace my Indian-American identity, recognizing my background as an asset
— unlock and create my own opportunities to help myself and to help others
— gain the confidence to realize my strength as an empathetic, seasoned (and questionably funny) product marketing executive
— get out of my own way and change behaviors that inhibit my success
The Awkward Years
A quiet, studious kid, I spent most of my childhood immersing myself in books and aiming to please my incredibly loving, also demanding immigrant parents with straight-A report cards. Internally, I struggled with never feeling good enough and a longing to fit in. Incorrectly, I came to the conclusion as a pre-teen that having brown skin was contradictory to being smart (too much competition) or pretty (reserved for the girls that looked like Barbie).
Despite being known as “the Indian girl who always stares and never talks”, I actually had a lot to say. I just didn’t quite know how to get over my insecurities and speak up.
In middle school, yearning to find my place and coming to terms with the fact that I could not change my skin color, I pursued a range of activities from musical theater to tennis, community service to violin. While useful in high school for college applications and enjoyable given my naturally extroverted personality, those activities weren’t remotely helpful in making me feel like I truly belonged. I continued to struggle with my identity and self-confidence until a seemingly unremarkable moment. I cracked a quick-witted joke to quiet a loud-mouthed bully in 7th grade, resulting in a classroom full of laughter. It was at that moment I realized the power of humor.
Leveraging humor to diffuse tense workplace situations and build trust in relationships would serve me well throughout my professional career.
The College Years
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a screenwriter. However, I began interning at hospitals during high school, in preparation for the more “respected” route of becoming a physician. As fate should have it, after my freshman year of college at Northwestern, I interned during the summer for a prominent pediatric surgeon. After fainting at the sight of blood during the middle of a surgery. I texted my father heading into my sophomore year with a brief announcement: “I dropped Pre-Med as my major. I don’t want to be a doctor.” An uncomfortable conversation ensued, ending with the question “WELL, IF NOT PRE-MED, THEN WHAT?” I had no idea.
I fell into Economics and fell in love, surprisingly, with microeconomics. It felt tangible and I started to get excited about things like household decision making, often reflecting on why our family would spend $25 on an idli-maker but no more than $4 on a bottle of Pantene shampoo. I took Behavioral Economics with Professor Schulz and was hooked on the discipline. I geeked out on the infusion of psychology into economic principles and the refutation of traditional economic theory due to human irrationality.
I joined the Investment Banking Club on a whim. I attended the weekly meetings, sitting silently. I absorbed the information and poured over the take-home exercises but was grossly intimidated as I was convinced everyone was smarter than me. I had no chance. I still didn’t quite understand: what exactly is an investment banker? Then, I saw some figures on a slide showing what interns could be paid and thought to myself, come hell or high water, you’re going to figure this out. I sucked it up and started actively speaking up in the investment banking meetings. I asked a lot of dumb questions. I met with Finance and Economics professors after classes to ask more dumb questions. I went to the Career Office. I set up informational calls with alumni who worked in investment banking.
Little by little, I started to grow my confidence. “If other people can do this, why can’t I? I can do this.” I interned my sophomore year at a local corporate finance firm in Pittsburgh and utilized that experience to attain an internship at Barclays my junior year. Headed into senior year, I was ecstatic as I accomplished my goal of securing a full-time investment banking analyst position at JPMorgan in New York City. Partly luck, partly opportunity, partly hard work.
As Eminem would say, “You only get one shot, do not miss your opportunity to blow.”
The Corporate Years
My career path has been anything but linear. I most recently served as Head of Product Marketing on the Digital team at Endeavor – a leading sports, media and entertainment company. Endeavor Digital sits at the intersection of technology, content and celebrity talent, operating scaled businesses with the world’s best creatives at the center. From 2021-2023, I helped to launch 4 newcos. Most notably was Versity, a corporate e-learning product pairing renowned professors and top celebrities to teach early career employees critical leadership skills. Funnily enough, Endeavor is home to WME, a top talent agency representing some of the most acclaimed actors, directors and writers in the business. Including screenwriters. Weird how life works sometimes.
Working in the entertainment industry was 15 years in the making. After my first role in investment banking, I felt like I had more to offer than building excel models. Don’t get me wrong, I relished the opportunity and couldn’t have had a better position right out of college to develop my analytical skill set. I worked hard but I consistently felt like “I’m ok at this, but I’m not a rockstar at this nor do I love it.” So, what am I great at? I didn’t know.
I did know that I loved the client meetings. I had a natural inclination for pitching our services and crafting our decks to resonate with different executives. I got a secret satisfaction out of playing with color templates, perhaps more-so than updating the model with the latest LIBOR rates. I left JPMorgan in 2008, the height of the financial crisis. The next 10 years would be a series of twists and turns. I worked at a non-profit advertising agency. I applied to business school. I completed my MBA at Wharton, then moved back to Pittsburgh. I worked in Global Strategy at Heinz. I moved back to New York. I worked in Brand Development Finance at Unilever. I moved across the country to Seattle for a Finance role at Amazon.
In 2019, I finally made the decision to formally switch from Finance to Product Marketing.
It took all of those experiences for me to realize: I love obsessing over customers. I hate inefficiency. I love product development. I hate micro-management. I love the mix of creativity and analytics that a marketing career offers. I hate unnecessary office politics. I love boldness. I hate arrogance. I am exceptional at being empathetic, both as a leader and as a marketer who can put myself in the shoes of the customer. I am a great storyteller, fueled by my cultural background rather than in spite of it. I am a strong cross-functional collaborator. Most importantly though, the combination of diverse positions - each with personal wins and lessons learned - provided me with the confidence to fundamentally believe that it was ok for me to accept positive attributes about myself, to have conviction in my strengths and to adopt a growth mindset toward challenges.
I would encourage you to reflect on your journey and take some time to identify your strengths, your accomplishments, your likes/dislikes, your superpower. While imposter syndrome is very real, particularly for women and especially women of color, it also can be overcome. One approach for doing so is embracing positive self-talk and giving yourself credit.
Not all career paths have to be linear. A lattice of experiences, when crafted into a compelling story, can be just as valuable as a traditional corporate ladder climb. A true unlock comes from finding the intersection of “What You’re Great At”, “What Others Think You’re Great At,” “What You Love To Do” and “What You Can Get Paid For”.
For an additional read on the Japanese concept of Ikigai, check out this Forbes article by Denise Russo, "Navigating Career Mobility and Transition: Leveraging Principles of Ikigai In an Uncertain Job Market", Jan 2024
The Realization
On paper, my background looks solid. Strong academic institutions, notable companies, substantial accomplishments. But, I would be lying if I claimed that I have it all figured out. I do know, though, that I am currently guided by my entrepreneurial spirit. I have a deep desire to build, innovate and grow.
Thus, I decided to take a big, calculated risk and left Endeavor at the end of 2023. An incredibly difficult decision, it came with planning. I time-boxed this move to focus on providing expertise as a Fractional CMO and offering marketing consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses as I explore what's next. I’m also using this opportunity to pursue my passions of coaching and writing. I look forward to sharing the journey with you!
Now that you know a bit about me, let's talk Marketing and AI - coming up in the next post.
To get in touch, email info@nishasheila.com or book time here.
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