In Her Ellement

What would a career pivot reveal about your greatest strength? 

Zoe Samuel is a Venture Partner at Starshot Capital, where she supports climate-focused startups. Zoe traveled a unique path to get here, moving from a career as a writer and producer to becoming a co-founder at Anthropocene, Google’s largest internal climate solutions community. Today, she supports and invests in early-stage founders, helping them build startups aimed at reducing global emissions.

In this episode, Zoe shares her perspective on how any job can be a “climate job,” and on the unique opportunities women can find in climate. She also reflects on some of the lessons that have served her well during her career in both the entertainment and tech sectors.

Links:

Zoe Samuel on LinkedIn

A growing climate tech market

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

People want to feel supported and safe at work – and inspired to innovate. What can people working at large corporations do to create this kind of environment?

Saskia Mureau is the Director of Customer Digital at the Port of Rotterdam where she is harnessing digital systems to reduce emissions. She is passionate about creating inclusive workplaces where psychological safety and collaboration drive meaningful change.

In this episode, Kamila sits down with Suchi to talk about why she chose to work at large corporations rather than startups. Saskia also reflects on her personal experiences, including navigating IVF while at work, and discusses how organizations can foster environments where employees feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work.

Links:

Saskia Mureau on Linkedin

WHO infertility research

BCG 2024 report on psychological safety in the workplace

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

Join us for this special episode from Season 3 with Molly He, CEO and Co-founder of Element Biosciences.

Many expert women decide to take the plunge into entrepreneurship - but what are the realities of this decision? For Molly He, it was never her dream, but something she saw as a means of pushing the groundbreaking scientific work she was doing forward.

Molly grew up in an economically disadvantaged village in rural China. She studied hard while at the same time developing her skills as a professional sprinter. At the end of high school, she decided to take a leap of faith and move to the US. In retrospect, Molly acknowledges that this was a courageous thing to do and that she used this courage and optimism throughout her career. 

Links:

Molly He on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

Join us for this throwback episode from Season 3 with Jaimee Michaud, Head of Portfolio Digital at Advent International, a global private equity firm. 

Making career decisions driven by fear can lead us astray. Instead, we need to be courageous and persistent, seizing new opportunities as they arise. This is the wisdom shared by today's guest, Jaimee Michaud.

Jaimee's journey began when she moved from Seoul to the United States as a high school student, boldly embracing a new culture and language. She built a successful career in investment banking before transitioning to Shutterfly, where a trusted general manager saw her potential for a data-focused role. Despite her lack of coding skills, he believed her experience and attitude would ensure her success.

Jaimee acknowledges that balancing career and personal commitments is challenging and rarely goes as planned. She emphasizes that making small, mindful decisions daily is more impactful than striving for perfection.

Links:

Jamiee Michaud on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

Jumana Alnahdi on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

Young professionals are increasingly seeking meaning in their careers—but what does that look like in practice? 

Pia Heidenmark Cook, former Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA, believes finding purpose in any type of work is possible. However, she acknowledges that working in fields as impactful as sustainability can sometimes lead to burnout.

In this episode, Suchi sits down with Pia to discuss staying positive and motivated in her field. They also explore how leaders can support their teams in finding meaning at work while maintaining a healthy balance with life at home.

Pia advises a diverse range of organizations—from healthcare to hospitality— on sustainability. In 2024, she co-authored Embedding Sustainability: How to Drive Organizational Transformation, a practical guide on integrating sustainability into an organization’s core operations.

Links:

Pia Heidenmark Cook on LinkedIn

Embedding Sustainability: How to Drive Organizational Transformation

Why young people worldwide want and need ‘meaningful work’

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

Jumana Alnahdi on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Jumana Alnahdi is a student and BCG X Co-op. She is originally from Bahrain—a small island in the Middle East.  She came to the U.S. to study at Northeastern University, and while navigating a new culture far from home, Jumana leaned on the power of women’s communities and support systems to overcome challenges and find belonging. Jumana is passionate about highlighting the impact of young women in innovation.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

So many women in their early careers have an aversion to risk. How can they harness their confidence and begin building their risk profile?

In this episode, Suchi sits down with Mythili Sankaran, CEO and co-founder of Neythri.org, a global community of professional South Asian women and the founding managing partner of the Neythri Futures Fund, a unique venture fund for and by South Asian women. 

In this conversation, Mythili shares her insight on the challenges women face in venture capital, how taking incremental risks is critical to success, and how cultural nuances affect the careers of South Asian Women.

Links:

Mythili Sankaran on LinkedIn

Neythri Futures Fund Website

Neythri.org

Neythri Inaugural Gala Celebration & Member Summit

Is marriage killing women's careers? World Bank report shows many South Asians pay 'marriage penalty'

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

In this episode of In Her Element, hosts Suchi Srinivasan and Kamila Rakimova kick off season four by reflecting on the key themes and discussions from season three. They dive into issues shaping the workplace today, including economic volatility, the impact of AI on jobs, return-to-office mandates, and the status of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. 

Throughout the episode, they provide tricks and tips to help early-career women overcome some of the challenges that branch off from these issues, including the importance of continuous learning and self-evaluation and how to avoid professional and personal burnout.

They also share personal anecdotes and insights about how some of these issues have bubbled up in their own lives and careers.

LINKS

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

Navigating Silicon Valley with Autotech Ventures Ivy Nguyen

Clearing Space for Yourself with BCG’s Adi Zolotov

Being Courageous with Element Bioscience’s Molly He

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

In the last season of In Her Ellement, we took a deep dive into the world of AI. We also looked at the role of women in venture capital, startups, and entrepreneurship. On this season we’re shaking things up again. 

As we launch Season 4, we want to reflect on the current work environment. There are so many topics affecting this context in the news: tech layoffs, DEI, and return to the office mandates. The list goes on.

This season we’ll be bringing you guests who will dive into these and other important issues with us. All the while we’ll be staying true to our roots and talking about imposter syndrome, reskilling and upskilling, and how to balance caring responsibilities with the demands of work. 

We’ll also continue to cover top-of-mind tech developments as we go along. A lot continues to happen in software, AI, and design - it’s going to be an exciting season. And, as always we’ll be asking our guests about a time when they felt in their element

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in business, technology, and digital innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

In this special episode, we’re taking you back to Season 2 for Corin Line’s conversation with Dr. Sophie Chung, Founder and CEO of Qunomedical an organization that helps patients navigate often complicated healthcare systems to get the treatment they need. 

Sophie may have started on the path to cardiology, but she decided to pivot into management consulting. In this role, she soon realized that she could create a digital solution for many of the problems that patients and hospitals face when allocating appropriate care and services. Sophie is candid about the challenges women face in becoming entrepreneurs and has a solid support network around her helping her to survive and thrive.

Sophie's parents emigrated from Cambodia in the 80s to start a new life. She’s often asked if her parents were also entrepreneurs, and in a way, she says, they were. The most important thing she learned from them was hard work and determination, no matter what the circumstances.

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in business, technology, and digital innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

How do you find the right career path with so many options available? According to Hayete Gallot, Corporate Vice President of Commercial Solution Areas at Microsoft, the key is experimentation—trying new things, figuring out what excites you, and identifying what doesn’t.

In the final episode of Season 3, Hayete reflects on her eclectic career journey. She shares how her passion led her to frequently switch roles, gaining experience across diverse areas such as engineering, product management, marketing, sales, and business planning.

Where does Hayete find the confidence to continually explore new paths? She credits her mom as a major source of inspiration. After becoming a widow at 32, she worked full-time while raising four young children. Her advice to Hayete was simple but powerful: always strive to be independent because life can be unpredictable.

Hayete has a resourceful approach to balancing work and family life. When she became a mom, she developed a strict calendar management system to ensure she dedicated time to her children. This structure not only helped her be present with her family but also boosted her productivity within the time she allocated for work.

About In Her Ellement: 

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in business, technology, and digital innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

Mentioned in this episode:

CEO Moments of Truth

Before we hear from our guest on this week’s episode of In Her Ellement, I want to take a moment to highlight a fantastic new video series from BCG that I think you will really enjoy.