Ep. 3 Owning Your Next Career Move with Niharika Ray
Ace of Pentacles
In this episode, Sara sits down with Niharika Ray, a friend and someone she volunteered with for several years at an educational non-profit. A few years ago, Niharika chose to leave her job as a senior software engineer at Airbnb to join that same non-profit as a full time staff member. In this episode, Sara and Niharika talk about what it's like to make a career move early in your career that is very different from what you thought you wanted at one point, and what everyone around you expects from you. Niharika talks about her decision making process, what drove her to make specific,...
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Faith, Values, and Embracing Uncertainty
Ace of Pentacles
In this episode, Sara speaks with an old colleague, Fadi, about using our values to find alignment and purpose in our careers. Fadi shares his career journey, learning to let go of fear, and surrendering to what is meant for him rather than chasing what we've been conditioned to believe we need in order to be happy. Books recommended by Fadi: The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer Fadi's podcast: Imshi Imshi Information on the heart-brain connection that was referenced by Sara is based on research from the HeartMath Institute...
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Ep 1: Meet Your Host, Sara
Ace of Pentacles
Hi! I'm Sara. In this episode, you'll hear about my background, what personal and professional influences led me to becoming a coach and starting this podcast. Justin and I talk about the way I've designed and discovered my way from a career in education to working at companies like Tesla, Amazon Square, and Instacart. Tune in to learn about who this podcast is for, and how it might be able to help someone design and discover your way to a fulfilling career. Plus: I reveal why this career strategy and wellness podcast is named after a tarot card! About Justin: As an...
info_outlineIn this episode, Sara sits down with Niharika Ray, a friend and someone she volunteered with for several years at an educational non-profit.
A few years ago, Niharika chose to leave her job as a senior software engineer at Airbnb to join that same non-profit as a full time staff member.
In this episode, Sara and Niharika talk about what it's like to make a career move early in your career that is very different from what you thought you wanted at one point, and what everyone around you expects from you. Niharika talks about her decision making process, what drove her to make specific, intentional career moves, and how she used logic to make sense of an intuitive calling.
The conversation with Niharika reminds us of how much power we hold to make decisions about our lives and our careers.
More about Niharika and her journey:
Niharika Ray is the Chief Operating Officer of Minds Matter Bay Area (MMBay), an organization that she first joined as a volunteer math instructor in 2016. Between 2016 and 2022, Niharika served in a variety of volunteer capacities, from leading the junior instruction team, to serving as volunteer co-Chief Community Officer from 2020 to 2022, a role where she oversaw mentee and volunteer recruitment and engagement, parent and guardian and mentee alumni engagement, and volunteer training – all during a global pandemic. Outside of her time as a volunteer in MMBay, Niharika was a senior software engineer at Airbnb from 2015 to 2022.
At Airbnb, she was a member of three different infrastructure teams, focusing on scaling both internal tools and airbnb.com. She holds a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University. In 2022, Niharika quit her job as a software engineer to become MMBay’s second full-time hire, where she continued to focus on scaling, but in an entirely new context.
In 2022, MMBay rebranded from "Minds Matter San Francisco" serving students in one site, to becoming a regional "Minds Matter Bay Area" organization, and in August 2024, MMBay launched its second site in San Jose, while continuing to grow and stabilize operations in the San Francisco site.
More about Minds Matter Bay Area: mindsmatterbay.org