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Spotlight

Suneera Madhani

IPN Spotlight: Suneera Madhani (CEO/Founder of Fattmerchant)

After almost three years of corporate culture Suneera Madhani knew it was time she took her learnings and applied them to her real passion of entrepreneurship. With a background in business, advertising, and sales, Suneera established herself in a merchant services career and quickly realized that business owners are frustrated with their providers, due to a lack of transparency and never-ending gimmicks. She decided to found her company, Fattmerchant, with the promise to establish a transparent, subscription-based merchant services model that offers financial and strategic value to the everyday business owner. Since the launch of the company in mid 2014, Suneera has been recognized for her vast achievements and strength in business plans through various mediums including Forbes, Fast Company, Tech Crunch, Huffington Post, and has been recognized by Merchant Maverick as a 5 star merchant services provider.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Being able to think outside of the box is a skill that has continuously driven me throughout my career. This is the skill that allowed me to grow my vision for Fattmerchant and a new way of merchant services. Before Fattmerchant, there was no such thing as subscription-based merchant services. We are the first provider to offer 0% markup processing with no ancillary fees or contract. Without my ability to think outside the box, Fattmerchant would have never come to be.

My innate ability to lead a team has also been an invaluable skill throughout my career. At the end of 2014, Fattmerchant had only 2 full time employees. Today, we are a team of 18 and still growing. Being able to effectively lead the company and aid each individual in growing in their position, makes Fattmerchant a strong, united team.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
At the end of every day, week, or year, you will wish you had done something differently. Mistakes are inevitable when you are starting a business from scratch and working to get it off the ground. When I really think about it, however, I would not change any one of those mistakes. Last year we had 2,000% growth as a company and that was enormous. Now, we’re coming in 2016 and we need to keep up that momentum and continue to grow.

What is next for you in your career?
As Fattmerchant continues to grow and scale, I will maintain my position as CEO of the company. We will be raising a Series A round shortly and I will be at the forefront of this next step for our company. In the coming year, we will continue to build out our marketing, sales, and technology departments to meet the growing demand for our business model and technology.

I am also looking forward to increasing my involvement in the Orlando community, particularly through working with other local startups. Through the inception, implementation, and success of Fattmerchant, I have learned many business lessons and am eager to share this knowledge with other up and coming businesses.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I am an avid reader and read at least 2 books a month, one on my kindle and one through my audible account. Some of my favorite books I’ve recently read have been “Girl Boss” by Sophia Amoruso, “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh, and “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. By constantly reading books like these, either on my couch at home or listening on my drive to and from work, I am able to continue my education and constantly improve in my professional life. Each book teaches me something new and shows me a way that I can be better in my position and a better leader for Fattmerchant.

What advice would you offer to others?
The advice I would give would be to set realistic, actionable goals. If you feel passionate about something, you should 100% go for it! But that doesn’t mean you need to quit your job today. Find the customer demand for your idea or product and you will have the validation you need to take that running leap towards changing an industry.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Start up business plans
• Fundraising
• Professionals interested in payment technologies

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Spotlight

Laila Assanie

IPN Spotlight: Laila Assanie (Business Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)

Laila is a Business Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In this capacity, she briefs the Bank’s president on regional economic conditions, oversees the publication of various economic updates for the Dallas Fed website and writes the Eleventh District Beige Book— the Bank’s survey of regional economic conditions. Laila conducts research on economic issues and produces articles for bank publications. She is actively involved in performing outreach for the Dallas Fed through media interviews (newspaper, TV and radio) and numerous speaking engagements at a broad variety of events, including business group meetings and conferences. Her work also involves communicating with corporate executives in the construction and real estate industry when conducting survey research. Laila holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Several skills come to mind, but few are notable. Critical thinking or in other words the ability to work with disparate data and anecdotal information, evaluate and understand it, connect it and then formulate conclusions, including forward-looking views or outlook.

Being able to effectively communicate through multiple mediums is another key skill. This entails not only providing perspectives and clarity to economic data, which can be overwhelming for many people to process, but also being able to tailor your message so that it is easily understood by a wide variety of audiences.

Leading company wide initiatives, managing multiple large projects simultaneously, and developing and maintaining professional ties with both my colleagues in other functional areas of the Bank and those outside of my organization have been valuable to my career growth as well.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Use mistakes as teachable moments as much as possible. Often when pressed for time, we tend to fix others’ mistakes ourselves. But it is important to take out the time to meet and review together what needs to be fixed and give others the opportunity to come up with the solution and rectify things.

What is next for you in your career?
Continue to leverage my strengths, acquire new technical skills and further enhance my expertise in economic research, particularly in the construction and real estate sector. I am also looking forward to sharing my knowledge and expertise by increasing my involvement in the larger DFW community.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Learning comes in various forms. I am a member of some professional organizations, including the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Association of Business Economics and when possible attend their monthly meetings to connect with others in the profession. I regularly read research articles and attend economic forums and conferences to keep up with current market trends. Throughout my career I have taken both technical and leadership courses offered at various institutes and universities, such as the Wharton School of Business and the Center of Creative Leadership. Additionally, being a frequent speaker at industry meetings, I get the opportunity to interact with and learn from other experts in the field.

What advice would you offer to others?
Build a deep network and invest in these relationships throughout your career. For example, a great way to meet people in other areas (within and outside) of your organization is to get involved in volunteer opportunities.

Take on new challenges and immerse yourself in new experiences, particularly early in your career, that stretch your current skills and will help you build new ones. If you see an opportunity or project that you are interested in, ask if you can be involved and emphasize on what you can contribute. It is likely that you will end up working on that project.

Trust your instincts and figure out what you value most in your career, whether it is recognition, flexibility,
independence, and/or creativity, etc.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
•Mentoring professionals interested in pursuing a career in economic research
•Conducting economic analysis

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Spotlight

Ambreen Shahabuddin

IPN Spotlight: Ambreen Shahabuddin, MS, LLP (Third year doctoral fellow in the Clinical Psychology Program at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti, Michigan)

Ambreen is currently in her third year doctoral fellow in the clinical psychology program at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti, Michigan. After receiving her Masters degree in clinical behavioral psychology from EMU in 2011, Ambreen was employed at the University of Michigan where she worked with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Specifically, she implemented behavioral interventions to reduce aberrant behavior problems such as self-injurious behaviors (SIBs). Ambreen decided to return to school after 3 years to obtain her PhD, and to continue working with children with ASD.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Effective communication
• Confidence in myself
• And the desire to learn and become knowledgeable in my field

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Have confidence in yourself; don’t question your ability to achieve your goals.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Attend conferences/workshops, and conduct research.

What is next for you in your career?
The next step in my career is to apply for pre-doctoral internship, graduate with my PhD in 2018, and continue working with children with ASD in an outpatient facility.

What advice would you offer to others?
Continue focusing on your goals, practice self-care, and receive comfort and support from your support system.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Prepare for graduate school admissions in psychology
• Job placement within the field of psychology
• Professional development

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Dr. Henna Budhwani

IPN Spotlight: Dr. Henna Budhwani (Assistant Professor & Deputy Director, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Dr. Henna Budhwani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy and Deputy Director of the UAB Sparkman Center for Global Health (School of Public Health), holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology and an M.P.H. in Health Care Organization and Policy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Budhwani works closely with community partners in the United States and abroad that are interested in improving health outcomesof vulnerable populations through public health practice. Dr. Budhwani’s research interests include health disparities, with an emphasis on immigrant and minority health, and international health, in the areas of reproductive health and infectious disease.

What skills have helped you in your career?
My first job out of college was with a sales and marketing firm. There I learned to gracefully take no for an answer and to accept that not all rejection was personal. I learned perseverance, which is particularly important in academia. I often tell my students (who are interested in careers in international development) to learn to be likable or quirky or both. Global work is built upon relationships, so if a potential partner, such as a Ministry of Health, doesn’t like you or doesn’t find you compelling, they’re not going to work with you. However, if the partner likes you, they’re typically willing to assist in any way possible. Personal dynamics matter.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Not a thing. It’s been a great ride so far.

What is next for you in your career?
Keep doing what I’m doing – build a research portfolio, continue to teach, and work as a public health practitioner collaborating with community partners.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Since I’m working in the Dominican Republic, I’ll probably have to learn Spanish. Since, I’m constantly running research studies, I have to stay up-to-date on the current literature. I’ve also started running my work by an external colleague for feedback. What comes back may be ego-crushing, but inevitably leads to a better product.

What advice would you offer to others?
Say yes. I’ve had opportunities that I felt I was slightly less than qualified for, but I always said yes. After acceptance, I made sure I wouldn’t disappoint. Someone took a chance on me; thus, it became my responsibility to ensure I lived up to his or her expectations.

Additionally, regardless of your professional accomplishments and personal commitments, always serve the Jamat – always. Your success is not only yours; it is critical to the upward trajectory of the community, and service is also good for your personal development. Seva will make you a better person. Always give back, and do so with grace, humility, and a touch of humor.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Guidance on careers in academia
• Assistance with doctoral applications
• Possibly engaging masters or doctoral students on select studies

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Spotlight

Nabeela Alidina

IPN Spotlight: Nabeela Alidina (Sr. Vendor Manager, Amazon)

Nabeela is currently pursuing her MBA at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Expected Graduation: Spring 2016). Nabeela has over 10 years of experience in auditing, accounting and finance. Most recently, she was a Senior Associate in PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Risk Assurance practice where she lead SOX and internal audits for multi-national Professional Services firms based in the United States. Nabeela is a licensed CPA.

What skills have helped you in your career?
• Analytical skills
• Networking skills
• And taking a team first approach

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Everything happens when its supposed to happen; however, I wish I had pursued my MBA early in my career.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I read the Wall Street Journal every morning as it helps me stay abreast of the issues facing the US and world economies. I take 5 minutes to write a journal every morning/night.

What advice would you offer to others?
• Take a long-term perspective, especially when you are investing in your education
• Be introspective and strive for continuous self-improvement
• Be consistent

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Personal development
• Business school preparation
• Career development
•  & Strategy

If you would like to nominate someone to be a part of the spotlight, click Here.

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Spotlight

Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan

IPN Spotlight: Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan (Chief Technology Officer, RSA)

Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan is the Chief Technology Officer for RSA. In this role, Zulfikar is responsible for leading the development of the company’s technology strategy and will focus on bringing to market the innovations that help protect RSA customers from the growing number of advanced threats. Prior to joining RSA, Ramzan served as CTO of Elastica (acquired by BlueCoat), where he leveraged machine learning technologies and natural language processing to enable customers to more securely access and use cloud services. Before Elastica, Ramzan respectively served as Chief Scientist of both Sourcefire, (acquired by Cisco), and malware analytics company Immunet (acquired by Sourcefire). He previously served as the Technical Director of Symantec’s security technology and response division, where he was the architect for the company’s reputation-based malware detection technology. Ramzan earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

What skills have helped you in your career?
Public speaking, being able to interact with customers, media training, learning to articulate technical concepts to a broader audience, and deep subject matter exposure in relevant domains such as cybersecurity and machine learning.

What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Luck plays a more tremendous role than we can sometimes ever realize. That said, according to Louis Pasteur, “Luck favors the prepared mind”. The other influential idea I wish I had known about earlier is the work on Growth versus Fixed Mindsets by Carol Dweck (and also the related work on the importance of Grit by Angela Duckworth).

What is next for you in your career?
I have my current dream job that offers me a phenomenal opportunity for personal growth. I would like to continue to expand my knowledge base and scope of influence within my current role. I have also just been in my current role for about a year, so it is hard to think beyond it at this point.

What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Reading a ton, talking with people (e.g., at relevant conferences and other venues), and leveraging online educational resources help tremendously. I think it’s important to have a healthy mix. For example, reading and online courses might help you strengthen a particular skill, while talking with others in the field might help you better determine what particular skills or concepts are important in your industry. Forums like Twitter and LinkedIn are a great source of reading material if you follow relevant people in your industry and beyond. I strive to learn constantly. For example, if I hear someone mention a particular technical term or concept with which I’m not familiar, I will make a note of the term and spend time learning about it later (in much the same way that your grade school teacher might have told you to underline the words you didn’t know in a reading passage and look those words up subsequently).

What advice would you offer to others?
Value and cultivate relationships. Be someone who is perceived to be a “Giver” versus a “Taker”. No person is an island unto themselves and team work is incredibly important. To the extent that you are perceived as someone who is a team player and who always strives to bring his or her A game towards the goal of making the team successful, wonderful opportunities will gravitate towards you. Always look to grow personally. If you feel that your current job or role is stalling your growth, consider finding an alternative (even within the same company) or find ways to expand your current role. That said, be selective with regard to what you do. Many opportunities might present themselves to you, but you should learn to prioritize those that offer leverage and growth, since time is a very precious commodity. That said, earlier in your career, you may not always be able to cherry pick among the opportunities that come your way, so be willing to take baby steps in the right direction.

Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Career mentoring
• Interacting with media
• Applying to graduate school