Dr. Vinita Chauhan

1. Tell us something about your childhood. What values had been instilled in you that helped you excel later in your life?

I think we all have our modest beginnings; I have certainly had mine. Growing up, we were comfortable but never outrageously wealthy. My parents were extremely hard workers and that is something they both instilled in me and my sister. We had everything we needed, but there weren’t a lot of luxuries and we didn’t miss them. Another thing our parents were very unequivocally insistent about was a good education. My father lost his father at a young age and then proceeded to educate himself and ended up getting his doctorate with a scholarship. My mother came from a family that put education above all else. Hard work and the value of education are two things that were instilled in us early in our lives.

2. What have been some of the biggest challenges in your life and how that has shaped you?

When I moved to the US, I lived on my own for the first time and so many things were new and different. Every immigrant has gone through that phase but for me that was especially hard because I was so sheltered before that. Getting a hang of the education system that was so different was also a task. After working in academic research for a while, there was a point when I realized didn’t want to be in academia. I had enrolled in an MBA program that I really enjoyed. When I went back from my maternity leave, I wasn’t willing to give up on my research position yet. There was one semester when my son was still an infant, I was taking 5 classes, working 30 hours a week in my lab, and teaching 2 online courses. It was a result of pure planning, and a lot of support from my husband; my days planned to the minute. It was a very trying time but was extremely rewarding.

3. How did you discover your passion for STEM?

I always enjoyed Biology. I found it fascinating and I was also fortunate enough to have some great Biology teachers. One of my teachers ended up mentoring me and helped me explore various opportunities. That was a big turning point for me. She tried to nurture my interests and talked to me about my options going forward. Studies have shown that school-going girls, lose interest in STEM at an early age, more so than boys, if not nurtured and supported appropriately. Girls take it harder when they make mistakes, and we need to show them to learn from it and continue moving forward.

4. What were the biggest leadership shifts in the past year?

We have all been trying to do our best juggling work and our family’s health. And we’re all in this together. There have been times my sons walked into the room while I was in meetings and no one batted an eyelid. Leaders understand that we are all managing things at home too and allow us the flexibility to do so. People step up to the challenge they are presented if we give them an opportunity to do so and the pandemic has clearly tested all of us.

5. Could you tell us something about how to manage remote teams?

I personally like to have video calls with my team members and know what is happening in their lives even outside of work. Our physical and mental health and well-being makes everything else possible, being mindful of that is important. It is also important to empower our teams to feel confident enough to come up with the best solutions. It is very fulfilling for me to see my team members come up with better ways of doing things and prove me wrong. A manager’s number one priority is to ensure that everyone is working to the best of their ability.

6. How important do you think is Diversity and Inclusion for corporates?

We are resistant to change but change is the only constant. Look at what the last year has taught us. Diversity, inclusion, and equity are considered buzzwords in corporate world, but they are important in every facet of life. There is a story about 4 people looking at a box as a problem but from different angles. So, it is a different problem for each of them, that results in different solution. Being inclusive fosters creativity and innovation.

Valuing our employees empowers them to be better performers. I have been fortunate to have leaders, both male and female, who have shown faith in me. I am particularly proud of working with Premier. Our leaders ensure that everyone is given a seat at the table and is heard and that makes everyone, in turn, want to do a better job.  

7. How would you describe an ideal technology partner?

The number one thing would be for them to understand our business. They must have the capability and resources to fulfill our business needs. Another important thing is clear communication. However, one thing that the pandemic reinforced was that the highest priority should be the ability to transform. Even if we don’t have an immediate need, we must have the capability to learn and adapt.

8. As someone from the healthcare industry, what message would you like to give to our readers especially about vaccination?

India is at a stage right now where US was sometime ago. We’ve had over a year to prepare for this and yet we aren’t adequately organized. On top of it, there is a debate about the vaccines raging on. The technology that these vaccines are based on has been widely researched. I would request people not to be skeptical of them. It will not make you immune from the infection, but it will ensure that you don’t die from COVID. Complications from COVID can have severe, adverse, long-term effects.

Please wear your masks, social distance if you step out of your homes and make the right decision for yourself and your families and get the vaccine when you are eligible.

About Dr. Chauhan –

Vinita Chauhan-Ramprasath was born and raised in India and spent most of her childhood in Mumbai. She graduated with her B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Mumbai and then received her M.Sc. in Biochemistry. Vinita moved to the United States in August 2000 and received her Doctorate in Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology. She got married in 2006 and moved to Charlotte where she worked as a research faculty at University of North Carolina at Charlotte before getting her MBA and joining Premier Inc. Currently Vinita works as a Director of ITS Operations where she manages the GAVS-Premier partnership as well as a part of the integration management office within Premier. Vinita lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband Ram and her two sons Neel and Nikhil and their dog Dakota.

Vijayalakshmi Rajesh

In this hyper-connected digital age, one may misconceive a ‘challenge’ to be a deadlock and associate it with negativity. To me a challenge always implies an opportunity. Opportunity to explore newer ways of reaching success. I strongly believe that without challenges life would be mundane. The rapid improvements and progress we see today were challenges overcome by someone.

To solve any problem, we need to accept its existence and understand its dynamics. Only then can we come up with solutions. When I started my career as a marketing professional, I was the only lady in my team and a fresher too. I had to overcome many challenges. I always had the attitude to keep fighting. At times, I had no support as I was the only one swimming against the tide. But I never gave up!

I salute my mother for raising me to never shy away from challenges. I would like to share my memories of the wonderful days I spent with her. My mother had a charming personality. I admired her patience. She was a multitasker. To me, no one could match her skills at embroidery and knitting. Her zeal and enthusiasm towards life inspire me even today. I remember during my school days, I often found her immersed in her handiwork, which she also taught many women who subsequently started their businesses. After school, I would look at the work she had done that day. While she was busy in the kitchen, I would hold the cloth in my hand and closely examine the artwork. While the front side was beautiful, the backside attracted me more because it would reveal the effort put in to create the masterpiece. For my wedding, my mother gifted me a beautifully embroidered handkerchief. I immediately flipped it to look at the techniques used to keep the backside neat. My mother said something beautiful then. She said, “I noticed how you always check the work behind before looking at the actual finished product on the front. This goes on to show that you are a person who will view challenges first and learn through them. Never give up your attitude to fight and your eye for detail.”

My mother’s values have led me onto a successful path in CSR. I get immense satisfaction whenever I complete projects. I remember a child, about 6 years old, from the school where I built a library. She came to me with a flower in her hand which she had picked on her way to school and told me, “Ma’am we are grateful for all these books. I am going to read all the books and become a doctor one day.” I could feel my mother patting me on my back and my eyes welling up because only I knew the challenges I had to face in delivering the project. But these little things mean a lot to me.

I have recently noticed an interesting paradigm, especially among the younger generation. Some are not only fighting their own problems, but they are also trying to resolve the problems faced by others.

To quote an example. I read about Jayalakshmi from Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, India, in a leading daily. She was selected to visit NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in the US after winning a competition. Through her plea for financial support, she secured excess funding. She then channelized the surplus funds to build public toilets in her village. She also convinced her fellow villagers who were hesitant about the idea to build toilets. To me, this is extraordinary because she has challenged the status quo and won the battle for many!

To everyone out there I would say – Challenges are just as difficult as we perceive them to be. We can overcome them if we view them as opportunities. Explore the world of endless possibilities with a fighting spirit. Today we have a vaccine for COVID, created in the shortest span of time by scientists. No vaccine has been readied from scratch in less than a year. The days of “It has always been done this way” are long gone!

About the Author –

Vijayalakshmi comes with 20 years of Marketing and Academic experience. She is the Founder and Managing Trustee at ZRII TRUST. ZRII was formed as a platform to deliver high-impact social projects through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

Her work includes raising awareness about modern-day issues that women and children face. She is actively involved in ensuring safer and improved workspaces for women. Some of her trophy programs are under women empowerment which includes a year-long training program for women of southern Tamil Nadu, a driver training program for women to drive app-based cabs, and placement of women in factories.

Vijayalakshmi is an ombudsperson at GAVS and guides GAVS in our endeavor to be a gender-balanced and respectful workplace.