In This Episode:
Living Authentically—Unapologetically You
From her progressive upbringing in India to her work as a leader in IT for a fortune 100 manufacturer of heavy equipment, Rakshan Syed has always challenged cultural and gender biases and has a passion for empowering women.
As Director of Digital Integration Services, she works with 160+ dealers around the world on how the organization and dealers talk to each other with information and data. And she is the perfect blend of technical and managerial skills needed to get the job done right. She is as fascinating as she is educated. Her educational journey includes a degree in law, a diploma in interior design and a masters in management information systems and many more credentials rooted in agile business.
Rakshan is also the author of the book Embolden Women: Unapologetically Me where she inspires women to excel without compromising themselves. She not only provides the tools and techniques to build self-confidence, but leads by example. In this interview, you’ll find that Rakshan is 100% unapologetically herself and is so full of passion, confidence and courage. She talks about how traditional Indian families don’t allow you to just be who you are, but credits her parents for always being supportive and teaching her to speak her mind. Her dad always told her, “If you want to do something your heart believes in, just do it.” Since she was a little girl, she has been challenging gender biases and learning how to live life on her own terms.
She’s not only an inspiration to women of color working in a male-dominated STEM field, but to women everywhere no matter their situation. We hope you enjoy this story of Rakshan’s resilience, determination and success. Give the full episode a listen to hear her positivity and enthusiasm pour out with every question asked.
“I strongly believe in optimism and positivity. I even tell my kids, there are going to be a lot of negative people out there, but always look for the positive and always give the benefit of the doubt. And that’s how I lead too.”
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About Rakshan Syed
Rakshan Syed is the Director of Digital Integration Services at a fortune 100 manufacturer of heavy equipment with extensive experience in Information Technology, specifically program, project and team leadership, software development and deployment, and vendor management. Her hands-on leadership experience includes various vendor software implementations, and in-house custom software development and deployment using traditional waterfall and Agile methodologies. Although her experience and credentials go deep (Certified Agile Leader, Certified ScrumMaster, and Certified Business Agility and Software Scaling Coach to name just a few), she has a fascinating background and journey of varying disciplines. Rakshan has a bachelor’s degree in law and is a trained attorney. She also has a diploma in interior design, rooted in her interest in architecture, construction, scoping and estimating projects. Rakshan moved from India to the United States in the late 90’s where she pursued a masters in management information systems and then shortly after began her career at a fortune 100 manufacturer of heavy equipment.
Rakshan is also passionate about advocating for women and is the author or Embolden Women: Unapologetically Me. Her book shares tools and techniques for work-life balance, self-efficacy, confidence and courage to empower and uplift women everywhere. She is a mom to a 15-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son and an inspiration to many. She recently was a featured speaker at That’s What She Said Peoria, an event where everyday women share their extraordinary stories. To learn more about Rakshan’s mission to reach women globally, visit her website emboldenwomen.com or follow her on LinkedIn.