Today we’d like to introduce you to Bindi Zaveri
Hi Bindi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my professional journey about 12 years ago in 2012. I had gotten married and moved to US from India in 2008. I attended UNLV for my bachelor’s (in Finance and minor in Accounting).
My start was a bit bumpy; Even though I had my Bachelor’s in Marketing from India, when I moved to US, little did I know that not all my credits would transfer over and I had to basically re-do my entire Bachelor’s. It was devastating back then, I felt that was the end and I would fall behind in the race. But, looking back I think it was the best thing that happened in my journey so far. My college led me to meeting so many new people. some life long connections and friendships and some very valuable lessons.
It was that same college and classes I dreaded going to led me to my first internship at MGM resorts. And then I never looked back. 3 companies, 8 positions/promotions and 12 years later here I am doing what I absolutely love. Currently, I am Director for Robotics Automation and reporting at Aristocrat technologies ( a Gaming Industry).
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I love hiking and trails, and I can validate that all beautiful sceneries was led by rough terrains. I feel wherever I am today is because of the rough terrains I hiked and the bumpy roads I travelled.
From a new country to a new culture, from a new education system to a new degree and from a new working culture to a new friends. Everything had its fair share of challenges. But there was one thing that kept me going, I was determined to make it work for me and several other girls like me who were struggling to get that 1 opportunity. Hailing from a small town in India and belonging to a conservative family where girls had never stepped out to work, the one thing I knew was, it was not going to be easy. The social, economical challenges seemed manageable once I over came my own mental and psychological barriers. I had no option but to move forward for me and several other girls like me. I am so grateful to the all mighty for being my constant source of motivation and energy!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the Director of Data, Reporting and Robotics at Aristocrat. My day to day involves helping teams making dashboards and meaningful reports. I work with tools like Power BI, SQL, Big Query etc.
The thing that I am the most proud of is that over the years I have build a reputation amongst my industry peers of someone who is hardworking and always open to learn. And being the first female in my family to have a job. All the females in my family and extended family have been home makers. So to break that shackle and create my own identity and to inspire the next generation of girls in my family gives me something to be proud of!
Growing up I was never into IT kind of field as I felt I was too dumb for that. But my professional journey introduced me to coding and data mining and I absolutely fell in love with it. I am a data nerd and LOVE data! Leave me in a room with data/numbers and I can spend hours making sense of it.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Without a doubt I can say this lady’s name- Lara DeGuzman! God must have been extra kind to me the day we crossed our paths. To give you some background, Lara had just returned back from maternity right after I was hired after my internship. I did not report into her, but she was in my department and we worked on 1 project that’s it. We both moved on with our journeys and did not connect post that. After about 3-4 years, I get a text from her checking on me. Weird! right? I am like why is she texting out of the blue after years. She texted me asking what would it take for me to work for her as she is setting up a new department and need reliable and hard working people. This all seemed like a scam to me. I was going through a bad day at work and was frustrated so I told her gave her some $ that I ‘wished’ I was making. I genuinely was not interested nor I thought she would offer me that. Next morning , 1 week before Christmas, I get a call from this random lady asking me where should they send me this offer letter from Lara!
That was my Christmas miracle. That changed my life forever. For the first time in my career, I felt so empowered to decide my worth, because she validated it. That leap of faith she took with me, I will always be indebted to her for it. That confidence to negotiate the salary, that respectful attitude when you disagree with someone, that zeal to always to better than yesterday is what she gave me!
She has always taken me as her shadow wherever she has gone since. And I never ever had to ask what is my package or what will my title be or what company will it be. She is , as I say, my ‘mama bear’. And that is why I value relationships even more because you never know you will tap you on your shoulder and change your life! She did not have to remember that 1 me out of 50 people she worked with after 3-4 years. She did not have to give me what I asked for and negotiate with me. This taught me that you need to be a good person first to be a good professional.
