👋 I’m Vinamrata: a leader, builder, storyteller, athlete, and dancer based in Brooklyn, NYC.
Or, in other words:👩🏽💼👷🏾♀️📖💪🏽💃🏽
Who am I and what do I stand for?
On the right: although I spent my childhood in the Middle East, I didn’t have the opportunity to go back until 2018, when I visited Jordan. Hiking this overlook and seeing the beautiful Petra gate below me, I was reminded of my roots, the beauty and resilience of human civilization, and home.
My story has always been about an outsider trying to find where she belongs. I grew up across seven very different places: Delhi in India, Jeddhah in Saudi Arabia, New Plymouth in New Zealand, and few cities in the US (Bronx, Houston, and San Francisco Bay Area). Over time, I learned how to find home in each place. However, the constant search for belonging and connection set up my life mission in two ways: 1) explore a multitude of places where I’m an outsider and make them my “home” and 2) help others make these spaces their home as well.
On the left: a highlight from the Google for Indonesia event, where we launched free wifi across Indonesia!
Finding home in tech: at Stanford, I became excited by tech’s potential to impact people’s lives at scale, especially people of color. Therefore, I studied computer science and entered the industry as a product manager. I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to do the above through my work at Google, Landis, and Propel. I’m currently taking this passion to Match, where I lead all our consumer experience teams. I’m also a product and leadership coach as well as mentor on Practica, focused on upleveling product leaders.
On the right: during COVID, I’d often take walks to Domino Park with my Kindle in tow. These days, I prefer a physical book over a screen :)
Finding home in storytelling: my mother’s stories taught me to feel, and I’m inspired by people who tell stories that can do the same. I love to write, read, and perform short fiction, flash fiction, non fiction, poetry, spoken word, etc. From Zadie Smith to Rupi Kaur to Albert Camus to Kazuo Ishiguro, every person has helped me connect with others one bit more, and I aspire to do the same to others.
On the left: hiking in Eugene, Oregon. At the time, I wasn’t comfortable jumping in the water, but it’s a challenge I’ve recently pushed past :)
Finding home in physical, mental, and intellectual strength: I know I can only do the above if I have the strength to push through all kinds of challenges. In my spare time, I love to grow my body through yoga, tennis, salsa dancing, and strength training. I feed my soul through meditation and reading Buddhist texts to become a better person. I grow myself intellectually through learning new languages (currently Spanish!) and listening to people who push my thinking. If you have any suggestions, please drop me a line!
Stay in touch!
I sometimes write and share words on my next chapter.