[01:27] – Monique introduces her guest, Raj Subrameyer.

[01:38] – Tell us about who you are, where you from, and what you do?

• I’m a tech career coach.
• I do speaking and writing for companies, I speak at various conferences on different topics, which includes AI, software development, and also non-tech topics like leadership, motivation, and then self-confidence.

[07:19] – When was the point that you felt like you had to change something to get out of this “inferiority syndrome” that you felt trapped within your family? 

• The trigger-event was in the 2nd year of under-grad 
• My family and me were in my room and I was again advised on what career path to take and it just didn’t feel right 

[09:13] – What made you think at that moment when you step up and speak up and prove them wrong?

•  It’s all those small moments, which actually brought me to that moment where I had the blow-up with my parents. And I think it was all a gradual transition of small wins, which gave me the confidence.

[11:38] – How did your parents react? 

• They were pretty shocked. 
• And they were taken aback and they didn’t see that comment at all. 

[14:44] – What do you think did this situation cause within your brother, watching all of that?

• My brother was oblivious, in terms of what was happening inside me, not to ay that he’s a great guy.

[21:17] – Talk to me about the decision to move to the US.

• I came to the US in 2008 to pursue my master’s in software engineering.

[38:01] – Raj shares his experiences on the intercultural differences.

[48:34] – What was the biggest thing that changed for you being an introvert?

•  I started looking for opportunities where I could get out of my comfort zone. 

[53:36] – What are you doing at that moment to overcome this fear and still introduce yourself?

• The first thing is I realized everyone was human and they started from somewhere, everyone comes out as a baby.
  
  

[57:19] – What does efficiency mean to you?

•  It would be trying to optimize processes. You can help to solve complex problems with simple solutions, and also help to finish work ahead of time.

[58:14] – Which of the three things would you do over and over again, to basically build your success up again?

• Finding your purpose. 
• Serving others to be happy in life. 
• It’s never too late to make a change.