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The Art of Leaving a Legacy w/ Jyotsna Gupta · Something Extra

• 0:02
  Lisa Nichols: Chromosomes.
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  Lisa Nichols: Little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions
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  Lisa Nichols: that tell us who we are at birth.
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  Lisa Nichols: Most people are born with forty six chromosomes, but each year in the United
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  Lisa Nichols: States, about six thousand people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a
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  Lisa Nichols: person with Down syndrome.
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  Lisa Nichols: My name is Lisa Nichols, and for thirty years, I have been both the
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  Lisa Nichols: CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally.
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  Lisa Nichols: Aly has something extra in every sense of the word.
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  Lisa Nichols: Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have
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  Lisa Nichols: witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the
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  Lisa Nichols: While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that
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  Lisa Nichols: If you like this episode today, please go to Apple Podcasts or wherever you
• 1:16
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• 1:19
  Lisa Nichols: I'm excited to have Jyotsna Gupta on the show today.
• 1:22
  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna is a VP and the chief information officer at Bi-State
• 1:26
  Lisa Nichols: Development Agency.
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  Lisa Nichols: Well, welcome to the Something Extra podcast, Jyotsna Gupta.
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  Lisa Nichols: I am so delighted that we could find this time.
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  Lisa Nichols: I know how busy you are, and so I'm just grateful that you're, willing
• 1:40
  Lisa Nichols: to spend a few minutes here with me on the Something Extra podcast.
• 1:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: The pleasure is likewise.
• 1:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: I'm really fortunate to have this opportunity to, you know, talk to you.
• 1:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: And in a short time that we have collaborated, I've known so much
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  Jyotsna Gupta: about you.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So it's amazing to be one of your partner, and, I'm
• 2:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: blessed to have this opportunity.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So thank you.
• 2:03
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I'm excited.
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  Lisa Nichols: You are the CIO of Bi- State Development, and I'm really excited to dig
• 2:09
  Lisa Nichols: into that.
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  Lisa Nichols: But I have a few questions for you before we get into tech.
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  Lisa Nichols: Okay?
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  Lisa Nichols: I would love to talk to you a little bit about growing up.
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  Lisa Nichols: I know you that you grew up in a small town in India.
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  Lisa Nichols: I would love to know, Jyotsna, how that really shaped
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  Lisa Nichols: you, your curiosity, your, penchant for
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  Lisa Nichols: problem solving.
• 2:31
  Lisa Nichols: Tell us a little bit about that small town in India.
• 2:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I I was born in a small town called
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Muradabad.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: In India, I where I was I grew up my early
• 2:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: years.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: We were in a very modest home, and
• 2:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: but we had so many fruit trees in our yard.
• 2:56
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it was amazing that my dad
• 3:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: managed to have so many trees in the yard, but,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: nevertheless, it was always a pleasure
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  Jyotsna Gupta: looking at the trees grow different fruits, and
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  Jyotsna Gupta: how he planned it was just amazing.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: It was very seasonal, and every season, we had something.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And so his strategic planning gave me
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  Jyotsna Gupta: so much to learn from.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And while growing up, I I still remember it was,
• 3:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: I might be in middle school or high school.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: He planted a mango tree.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And I always wondered, you know, we we don't have enough
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  Jyotsna Gupta: room, enough space, or we won't be here long enough to
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  Jyotsna Gupta: see the tree bear the fruit.
• 3:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: And then he said well, I asked him, how long do you think we'll
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  Jyotsna Gupta: have mangoes?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And, like, maybe twenty years, thirty years.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna be here.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And he said, well, it may not be here here
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I I may not be here around to see the fruit, but you would
• 4:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: be, your kids would be.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And if not, you guys if you guys move out, then it would be
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  Jyotsna Gupta: for your neighbors and for the community.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So he gave me the idea of planting the seed,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: the right seed, and leaving what leaving behind the
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  Jyotsna Gupta: legacy.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So looking back, when people ask me, what do you wanna
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  Jyotsna Gupta: do?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I wanna leave something that's precious, that's treasured, and
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  Jyotsna Gupta: that's appreciated by,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: you know, the generations coming forward.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So that was my whole thing.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: But, you know, with the modest means that we had around me,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I always felt like I had to optimize.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I was very conservative about the resources we had,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: and I had to be very innovative and creative about
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  Jyotsna Gupta: the things that were available to me.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I was I'll tell you this.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I was very inquisitive about
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  Jyotsna Gupta: creating art and crafts.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So every time we would have a card cardboard or car you
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  Jyotsna Gupta: know, some packaging material thrown into trash, I would take it out.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I would recreate something.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I created so many greeting cards, the visiting cards,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: from the the waste.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So I've I had an art to create something
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  Jyotsna Gupta: out of reusable material.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So that was just in me and, you know, I I would
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  Jyotsna Gupta: sketch, I would paint, I would do different things, and I was
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  Jyotsna Gupta: very, very conservative about those things.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So that the the the resources and the availability
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  Jyotsna Gupta: of resources helped me,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: optimize and be,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: and value those resources, basically.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: so growing up, being in a modest environment,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: it I valued resources day one.
• 6:11
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: Wow.
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  Lisa Nichols: I just I love everything that you just said, because
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  Lisa Nichols: I love that that what your dad told you.
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  Lisa Nichols: That has always been one of my favorite you know I I don't know.
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  Lisa Nichols: It was an ancient proverb, really, that said that a great
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  Lisa Nichols: society is when older men plant trees that they may never
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  Lisa Nichols: sit under their shade.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know?
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  Lisa Nichols: And I just think about that.
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  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Lisa Nichols: And that's what Beautiful.
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  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
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  Lisa Nichols: It's so beautiful.
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  Lisa Nichols: It's such a an act of selflessness Yes.
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  Lisa Nichols: I think.
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  Lisa Nichols: And, you know, really thinking, like you said, about the legacy
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
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  Lisa Nichols: That you want to leave.
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  Lisa Nichols: You wanna leave something better than you found it.
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  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, as you say that, you know, we sold off
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  Jyotsna Gupta: that house.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And I speak to my some of my childhood friends
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  Jyotsna Gupta: even till date, and they talk about the
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  Jyotsna Gupta: tree giving fruit to all the neighbors and the neighborhood.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I'm like, wow.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: That is so impressive.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So it just brings back past to present
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  Jyotsna Gupta: and just adds so much memory to all that while growing
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  Jyotsna Gupta: up.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know?
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  Lisa Nichols: It's so beautiful.
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  Lisa Nichols: I love it.
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  Lisa Nichols: And I'm sure that your kids know this story too.
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  Lisa Nichols: I'm sure that that you have shared that with them.
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  Lisa Nichols: I love it.
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  Lisa Nichols: Well, you've already talked about the creativity, and I think, what
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  Lisa Nichols: you said about turning waste into art.
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  Lisa Nichols: And, I mean, isn't that what we're doing all the time with IT too,
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  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna ?
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  Lisa Nichols: We are optimizing what we have and leveraging all
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  Lisa Nichols: the tools that we've been given, right, to to make
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  Lisa Nichols: everything more efficient.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know, I just I I just love it so much.
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  Lisa Nichols: I really do.
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  Lisa Nichols: But let's talk about your career journey, and then we'll we'll get more into Bi-State
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  Lisa Nichols: .
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  Lisa Nichols: But I know that you started in QA, quality assurance, for those who are
• 8:10
  Lisa Nichols: not in IT, and you taught yourself automation scripting.
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  Lisa Nichols: What do you think gave you you taught it to yourself.
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  Lisa Nichols: So what do you think gave you the confidence to make that leap
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  Lisa Nichols: and to teach yourself something that you really didn't know anything about?
• 8:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 8:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: Well,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: there were times when the opportunities came to me.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And
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  Jyotsna Gupta: to begin with, I didn't know whether I wanted to do it or not.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And looking back, did I really want to do it?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Did I wanna do QA?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: That was the opportunity that was give handed to me, and I took it.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Being in there in the QA,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: team, I just felt like it was it wasn't
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  Jyotsna Gupta: the optimal
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  Jyotsna Gupta: use of what I could my my potential.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I could give a lot more.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And there came a point when I felt like doing the
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  Jyotsna Gupta: repeated regression
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  Jyotsna Gupta: bored me out.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I I I'm that may not be the right word word, but,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: you know, the repeated mundane steps Mhmm.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Where you have more potential to give.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And you have ideas and how you could make those processes
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  Jyotsna Gupta: more efficient.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And making them more streamlined would give you more opportunity
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  Jyotsna Gupta: to explore other avenues and upscale yourselves.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So I did find ways to automate
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  Jyotsna Gupta: the scripts and implementing those procedures,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: test scripts, into an automation one click and
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  Jyotsna Gupta: then give me the results after, like, twenty steps.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: It reduced the whole testing cycle
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  Jyotsna Gupta: from hours
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  Jyotsna Gupta: to, let's say, fifty percent.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: That was the time that I saved by automating
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  Jyotsna Gupta: our processes.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And as slowly and gradually when I started doing this, the team
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  Jyotsna Gupta: adopted that methodology.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And they were able to save so much
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  Jyotsna Gupta: time that they would learn and do new skills
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  Jyotsna Gupta: and,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: go for different opportunities.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: Or in fact, they had some personal time to spend to
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  Jyotsna Gupta: train themselves and, you know, invest in their per professional
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  Jyotsna Gupta: growth.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: So Mhmm.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: That was something that I felt like, you know, I was always
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  Jyotsna Gupta: one step.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: I wanted to give an extra step all the time.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And it was the self drive that I felt that I have the potential,
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  Jyotsna Gupta: and I wanna do it.
• 11:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 11:01
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, I love that.
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  Lisa Nichols: Well, there's a lot about what you just said that I love.
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  Lisa Nichols: You just said, I felt like I had the potential.
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  Lisa Nichols: So first of all, you believed in yourself.
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  Lisa Nichols: And I think that is so important, right, to believe in yourself.
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  Lisa Nichols: The other thing that you said at the very beginning, Jyotsna, and I want,
• 11:18
  Lisa Nichols: like, younger people, professionals to hear this.
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  Lisa Nichols: You said that was the opportunity that was presented to you, and you
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  Lisa Nichols: took it.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know?
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  Lisa Nichols: So I believe every step that we take, and I know you subscribe to
• 11:31
  Lisa Nichols: this as well, every step we take, we we
• 11:35
  Lisa Nichols: are gonna get out of it what we put into it for for for
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  Lisa Nichols: the first thing, but it prepares us for the next step.
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  Lisa Nichols: Because now you are a CIO, and I wanna get to that.
• 11:45
  Lisa Nichols: But then you moved into an ERP analyst, and I know you work
• 11:49
  Lisa Nichols: for some really iconic brands like Marcandy here in Saint Louis.
• 11:53
  Lisa Nichols: Love the Marcandy family.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know, you worked eccentric.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know what,
• 12:01
  Lisa Nichols: you know, walk us through that journey.
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  Lisa Nichols: And I think even when you started at Bi- State Development, you were an
• 12:06
  Lisa Nichols: ERP analyst, I believe.
• 12:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 12:09
  Lisa Nichols: So walk us through the journey from ERP analyst to
• 12:13
  Lisa Nichols: CIO for Bi- State.
• 12:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: Absolutely.
• 12:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: And before I do that, I'll take a step back as well.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: When I came to the country, I
• 12:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: plan to have a family.
• 12:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: So
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  Jyotsna Gupta: when I was when I had my first child, my daughter,
• 12:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: it felt like, you know, I need to do something with her
• 12:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: by her side.
• 12:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so I joined masters at
• 12:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: UMSL.
• 12:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: I did my computer science,
• 12:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: at UMSL, and it just kept my mind occupied
• 12:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: so that I could give my hundred percent to my family.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: While I was growing and invested in my family, I was invested in
• 13:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: my career as well.
• 13:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right.
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  Jyotsna Gupta: And so that was that self drive is
• 13:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: so important to have in in an individual
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  Jyotsna Gupta: that it keeps you growing.
• 13:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: So when I got an opportunity at Bi- State,
• 13:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: that was, you know, after, Centric
• 13:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: Group, which is now acquired by TKC.
• 13:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: It's called TKC now.
• 13:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: But when I came to Bi-State Agency, I was an ERP analyst,
• 13:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: three.
• 13:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: And
• 13:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: my journey started with a very rich experience of Oracle
• 13:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: development and programmer.
• 13:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I had implemented
• 13:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: I was in the warehouse supply chain management team at Sentriq,
• 13:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: so I had that rich experience of supply chain.
• 13:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: When I came to Bi-State, I was given an opportunity to
• 13:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: work in these, financial systems.
• 13:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so in the ERP team, I was supporting,
• 14:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: processes for,
• 14:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: finance, accounting, budgeting, and I learned
• 14:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: a lot in that.
• 14:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: There was one of the projects that I know was stuck
• 14:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: for three, four years, roundabout three, four years, and it
• 14:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: just felt like it was either move it or scrap it.
• 14:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: So when I got into that project, I just
• 14:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: felt like I had to do something.
• 14:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: I had to turn it around and make a impact
• 14:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: that we can do a better job.
• 14:36
  Jyotsna Gupta: We can deliver.
• 14:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: So when I started the and it was very late in
• 14:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: the project implementation that I went in
• 14:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: with a very fresh perspective.
• 14:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: I went over and beyond what
• 14:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: my scope was, what my position was, and
• 14:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: I engaged in business conversations.
• 15:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: They're understanding their problems, their roadblocks, and
• 15:05
  Jyotsna Gupta: what was taking them so long to get over that hurdle
• 15:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: of,
• 15:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: seeing across the fence and get getting them the comfort level
• 15:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: of the new system.
• 15:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: So
• 15:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: having said that, we started having more closed meetings,
• 15:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: more focused group meetings.
• 15:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: And there came a point that we had
• 15:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: a great progress.
• 15:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: And with that, within six months of me taking
• 15:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: the project, we were talking about moving into production and
• 15:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: making it a reality.
• 15:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I remember my CFO then,
• 15:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: she's retired now.
• 15:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: We were crossing paths in the parking lot, and she told me, Jyotsna,
• 15:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: I did not
• 15:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: believe that we would see this system would see a light of day.
• 15:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: And you made it happen.
• 16:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: And that was a compliment in itself.
• 16:05
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 16:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: So from start to completion, I made sure
• 16:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: the delivery was
• 16:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: a super quality, and there was a customer satisfaction involved.
• 16:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I think the whole perspective
• 16:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: of engaging with the business.
• 16:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 16:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: Partnering with them, if, you know, giving them
• 16:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: the preference of listening to them and
• 16:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: understanding their needs, it just gives a lot of meaning to
• 16:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: everything.
• 16:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: It it associates a purpose of why we are doing this.
• 16:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: And are are our business partners being heard?
• 16:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: Because many at times, I hear from different
• 16:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: engagements
• 16:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: that IT does not listen to us or does not understand.
• 16:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: They are too techie.
• 17:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: But you know what?
• 17:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: Without business needs, we won't be here.
• 17:05
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right?
• 17:06
  Lisa Nichols: That's right.
• 17:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: So we have to drive ourselves and align with
• 17:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: business needs.
• 17:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 17:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so over the period, I got promoted
• 17:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: based on my, you know,
• 17:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: progress, and I skipped a few levels,
• 17:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: became a year before, IT manager, senior
• 17:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: manager.
• 17:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: And then there came a time when last year,
• 17:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: my CIO turned in his, retirement,
• 17:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: and
• 17:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: I was just sitting on it for thinking about whether would I be
• 17:44
  Jyotsna Gupta: whether would I be able to perform the job, or
• 17:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: do I fit the bill?
• 17:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I kept thinking it took me really long time
• 17:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: to come to the reality that, you know, I have it in
• 17:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: me.
• 18:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 18:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: And
• 18:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: if I don't apply, I don't want to walk
• 18:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: out with regrets.
• 18:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
• 18:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: You always have to try,
• 18:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: and you have to give yourself
• 18:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: hundred percent to that opportunity.
• 18:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 18:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: Whether or not you get it or not, that's that's besides
• 18:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: the point.
• 18:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: But without trying, you cannot say that, you
• 18:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: know,
• 18:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: you give your hundred percent.
• 18:32
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 18:33
  Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
• 18:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: So, yeah, that opportunity came to me last year,
• 18:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: and, here I am.
• 18:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I've been in this role for one year and a month now.
• 18:45
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 18:46
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 18:47
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, well, I just oh, I just so much of
• 18:51
  Lisa Nichols: what you said,
• 18:53
  Lisa Nichols: is is good.
• 18:55
  Lisa Nichols: I love that you just said you know, you took that time
• 19:00
  Lisa Nichols: to say, is this for me or not?
• 19:01
  Lisa Nichols: Can I do this?
• 19:02
  Lisa Nichols: And then you said, yeah.
• 19:04
  Lisa Nichols: Because I don't wanna live with regrets.
• 19:06
  Lisa Nichols: You know, they say, Jyotsna, that in life, you're gonna
• 19:10
  Lisa Nichols: have disappointments.
• 19:12
  Lisa Nichols: There's always gonna be disappointments.
• 19:13
  Lisa Nichols: There's gonna be things that happen in your life that really sometimes you have
• 19:17
  Lisa Nichols: no control over, and it's disappointing.
• 19:20
  Lisa Nichols: But the thing that we don't want is to live with regret.
• 19:23
  Lisa Nichols: And regret is usually controllable by us.
• 19:27
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 19:27
  Lisa Nichols: It's like not spending your time in the way that you should have or
• 19:31
  Lisa Nichols: so I I really love that.
• 19:32
  Lisa Nichols: Well, let me ask you this because some people we have listeners
• 19:37
  Lisa Nichols: from all over the world.
• 19:38
  Lisa Nichols: So they may not even know about by Bi- State Development.
• 19:42
  Lisa Nichols: I would love for you just to give a little snippet what is Bi-
• 19:46
  Lisa Nichols: State, what is the mission, what is the culture like at Bi- State.
• 19:50
  Lisa Nichols: Just give me a little bit of that, and then I've got a lot
• 19:52
  Lisa Nichols: of other questions.
• 19:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: So Bi-State agency is, as the name suggests, Bi-State
• 19:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: , we cater to, two states, Missouri and Illinois.
• 20:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: We are a public transportation company.
• 20:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: We operate, Metrobus, Metrolink.
• 20:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: If you've ever been to Saint Louis downtown Arch, we,
• 20:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: we manage the Arch, in partnership with NPS.
• 20:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: If you ever have been to the
• 20:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: Saint Louis downtown airport that's in Cahokia, we,
• 20:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: we own that, downtown airport,
• 20:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: riverboat.
• 20:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: If you've ever been to the riverboat, we have riverboats, and then we also
• 20:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: have freightway under our, belt.
• 20:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: So anything that moves.
• 20:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: We we move people and cargo.
• 20:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: How about that?
• 20:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: I love it.
• 20:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: I love it.
• 20:47
  Lisa Nichols: I love it.
• 20:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 20:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: And we are a public entity.
• 20:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: We are go we report to the board of commissioners
• 20:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: from Illinois and Missouri Mhmm.
• 20:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: If that summarizes it.
• 20:59
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 20:59
  Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
• 21:00
  Lisa Nichols: That was great.
• 21:02
  Lisa Nichols: Well okay.
• 21:03
  Lisa Nichols: So tell me this.
• 21:04
  Lisa Nichols: What, you know, what excites you?
• 21:06
  Lisa Nichols: Because it truly is a very mission driven organization
• 21:10
  Lisa Nichols: being in the public sector.
• 21:12
  Lisa Nichols: What excites you about that?
• 21:13
  Lisa Nichols: And I know that you have, some mantras around why.
• 21:18
  Lisa Nichols: You know, like, starting with your why, the Simon Sinek, start with why.
• 21:22
  Lisa Nichols: But what excites you about the work that you're doing?
• 21:24
  Lisa Nichols: Because it is very mission driven.
• 21:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: It is very.
• 21:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so,
• 21:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: there's not even a single day where I drive
• 21:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: to work without a purpose.
• 21:36
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
• 21:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: So our purpose is to give the best
• 21:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: customer service, best public service in the region.
• 21:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: Our riders are our top most priority.
• 21:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: If you are at the bus bus stop waiting for the bus, we have
• 21:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: to make sure the bus reaches on time.
• 21:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: And there will be some challenges, you know, construction,
• 22:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: road closures, reroutes.
• 22:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: But our goal is to provide you the best
• 22:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: public service we can in the region.
• 22:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: And with that, we try our best from technology
• 22:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: and infrastructure perspective Mhmm.
• 22:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: To be there
• 22:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: at first at your doorstep.
• 22:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 22:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: So,
• 22:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: I don't know if I added the we also, have the para
• 22:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: transit,
• 22:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: division that takes care of, taking the the riders
• 22:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: from their home to the hospice care or hospitals.
• 22:36
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, so we we do a lot of public service.
• 22:40
  Lisa Nichols: We are in important one.
• 22:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 22:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: So that is the mission.
• 22:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: We are very customer centric driven, and that is my top
• 22:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: priority.
• 22:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: So with that purpose, when I walk into the office, I I want
• 22:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: my team to see that end goal.
• 22:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: What are what are we doing?
• 22:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: What are we bringing to the table?
• 22:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: We are providing quality care to our riders.
• 23:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: And that's the mission that, you know, I I just feel like we we
• 23:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: cannot lose that, picture out of our sight.
• 23:10
  Lisa Nichols: Agreed.
• 23:11
  Lisa Nichols: And it's so important for the people on your team to map what
• 23:15
  Lisa Nichols: they do every day to that bigger purpose.
• 23:18
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 23:18
  Lisa Nichols: So Right.
• 23:19
  Lisa Nichols: I love that.
• 23:20
  Lisa Nichols: What let me let me ask you one more question, and we're gonna
• 23:24
  Lisa Nichols: take a quick break.
• 23:25
  Lisa Nichols: And then I really wanna pivot into leadership.
• 23:29
  Lisa Nichols: But, you know, how are you thinking about AI right now?
• 23:33
  Lisa Nichols: Gen AI, Jyotsna, it's on the tip of everybody's tongue
• 23:37
  Lisa Nichols: and on the top of everybody's mind.
• 23:38
  Lisa Nichols: How are you thinking about AI and the potential for Bi-State ?
• 23:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: Very great question.
• 23:44
  Jyotsna Gupta: So pertinent to today's,
• 23:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: AI driven,
• 23:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: world.
• 23:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: So when I became the CIO last year,
• 23:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: the first thing that I did was we need to be responsible,
• 24:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: and we need to make people aware because this shiny
• 24:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: object is here to stay.
• 24:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right.
• 24:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it was, you know, back in those days when we had Internet.
• 24:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: That was the new buzzword.
• 24:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: And then over the years, we had IoT.
• 24:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: We had all these smart device.
• 24:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: So AI is here to stay.
• 24:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: How you navigate through AI technology is all upon us.
• 24:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: So
• 24:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: we we do need to have the business
• 24:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: driven use cases.
• 24:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: And we being in regulate like, regulations
• 24:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: and federal compliance, we have to have great
• 24:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: audit notes.
• 24:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so the very first thing I did was I implemented AI
• 24:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: note taking capability.
• 24:52
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 24:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: And that was amazing.
• 24:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: That was a super hit for our safety and audit department.
• 25:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: And being implemented in a secure environment
• 25:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: gave us the comfort level that AI is something that we can
• 25:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: explore.
• 25:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: Now that's not just the only implementation.
• 25:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: We have done, several other, implementations
• 25:15
  Jyotsna Gupta: around different, divisions.
• 25:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: We did, AI implementation for marketing to
• 25:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: create campaigns.
• 25:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: We did,
• 25:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: we are we'd implemented Copilot.
• 25:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: We have quite a bit of, implementations.
• 25:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: And as we speak, we are implementing, data loss prevention software system,
• 25:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: that is, in progress right now.
• 25:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: So AI, you have to navigate through those challenges,
• 25:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: but
• 25:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: cautiously.
• 25:49
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 25:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: And people don't have the comfort level of, whether it's
• 25:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: secure or not.
• 25:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: So you have to make sure the business is on
• 25:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: board with your decisions, and these are the tools
• 26:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: to make your processes more effective and more efficient.
• 26:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: So the the time you took, eight hours to write a
• 26:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: document
• 26:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: is now reduced to thirty minutes.
• 26:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right.
• 26:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: And you still have to humanize it.
• 26:19
  Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
• 26:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: But you you your baseline is created.
• 26:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 26:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: And then you can inject yourself into the in into the framework
• 26:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: and make it more human and like you and add your personal traits to
• 26:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: it.
• 26:34
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 26:35
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 26:35
  Lisa Nichols: I think I truly think, and I know that you subscribe to this too,
• 26:39
  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna.
• 26:39
  Lisa Nichols: I just believe that it's gonna help us be a better version
• 26:44
  Lisa Nichols: of ourselves and get work done more efficiently so that we
• 26:48
  Lisa Nichols: can focus on yeah.
• 26:49
  Lisa Nichols: It it's crazy.
• 26:50
  Lisa Nichols: I, on Saturday, I was just catching up on a a lot of work,
• 26:54
  Lisa Nichols: and I was amazed by using AI how much
• 26:59
  Lisa Nichols: faster I could go.
• 27:00
  Lisa Nichols: It's it's like your own personal assistant, truly.
• 27:03
  Lisa Nichols: It's like where everybody in your organization can have their own assistant.
• 27:07
  Lisa Nichols: Well, we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back
• 27:10
  Lisa Nichols: with Jyotsna Gupta on the Something Extra podcast.
• 27:13
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• 27:17
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• 27:18
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• 27:22
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• 27:43
  Lisa Nichols: Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with my friend, Jyotsna Gupta.
• 27:48
  Lisa Nichols: So, Jyotsna, we have been talking about so many awesome things, but
• 27:52
  Lisa Nichols: I really wanna pivot into leadership right now.
• 27:54
  Lisa Nichols: What do you believe is your leadership style?
• 28:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: Well, there are several, but I feel like I am very
• 28:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: purpose driven.
• 28:05
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 28:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: And
• 28:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: no leader can perform without their team.
• 28:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: So having that empathy
• 28:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: associated with the purpose is so important.
• 28:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: Being there with your team all the time
• 28:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: and then
• 28:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: valuing them for what they what they're doing
• 28:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: is, I feel, very critical aspect of being a leader.
• 28:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: Giving them the vision and the direction,
• 28:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: And sometimes you have to just walk them to the finish line
• 28:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: and show them this is your end product.
• 28:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: This is what you're working for.
• 28:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: And giving them that purpose really gives them the sense of achievement.
• 28:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: Wow.
• 28:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: This is what I did, and this is what my end goal is.
• 28:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: So showing sometimes the end goal gives a clarity
• 29:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: and a purpose to what you're doing.
• 29:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: It adds meaning to your day to day, processes.
• 29:07
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 29:07
  Lisa Nichols: I I fully agree with that.
• 29:10
  Lisa Nichols: Well, you know, you, you are known.
• 29:13
  Lisa Nichols: I know that you're known because I've read things about you.
• 29:16
  Lisa Nichols: You are known for leading with empathy, and I think that that is so
• 29:21
  Lisa Nichols: important.
• 29:22
  Lisa Nichols: But let me ask you this.
• 29:23
  Lisa Nichols: How important has mentorship been in your own journey?
• 29:27
  Lisa Nichols: And are there
• 29:29
  Lisa Nichols: mentors even today, Jyotsna, that you could point to that
• 29:33
  Lisa Nichols: had a tremendous impact on you.
• 29:35
  Lisa Nichols: And then I would love to hear, you know, how you are encouraging
• 29:40
  Lisa Nichols: your team.
• 29:42
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, do you have a formal mentor program mentorship program at Bi- State?
• 29:46
  Lisa Nichols: So just walk me through that.
• 29:48
  Lisa Nichols: How important has mentorship been for you?
• 29:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: That's such a great question.
• 29:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: I love that you asked me that.
• 29:56
  Jyotsna Gupta: I did well, at Bi-State, we have certain
• 30:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: departments who'd have formal mentorship.
• 30:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: IT does not.
• 30:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: And,
• 30:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: it was last year when I was at
• 30:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: Washoe completing my executive
• 30:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: leadership program,
• 30:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: and they had assigned a mentor to me.
• 30:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: And we had one session of mentorship.
• 30:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: And
• 30:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: in that one hour, I just learned
• 30:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: so much that
• 30:36
  Jyotsna Gupta: looking back, I wish I had done more of those.
• 30:40
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 30:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: And but you know what?
• 30:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: It's never it's never too late.
• 30:45
  Lisa Nichols: That's right.
• 30:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right?
• 30:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: So then I thought about, well, it doesn't have
• 30:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: to be somebody from outside agency.
• 30:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: It could be somebody whom I admire within the company.
• 30:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right?
• 30:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I did reach out to one person
• 31:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: completely outside our department,
• 31:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: and within the agency.
• 31:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I really admire her, the work that she has done, and I
• 31:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: will not take names just for keeping the anonymity.
• 31:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: But I really admire the work she has done around the agency
• 31:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: and just how the culture shift.
• 31:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know, how things change when you have
• 31:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: a mentor and how the other
• 31:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: person shows you a different way of looking at things.
• 31:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: Because you're so used to looking at some things and, evaluating
• 31:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: and assessing in one particular way that you don't you ignore
• 31:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: or you have these blind spots.
• 31:49
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 31:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: So it's it's a pleasure.
• 31:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: It was really a pleasure to have my mentor help me
• 31:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: navigate through some of those challenges.
• 31:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: I would, you know, open up and discuss my personal challenges.
• 32:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 32:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know, some difficult conversation with
• 32:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: different employees.
• 32:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I felt that, you know, I had a second opinion,
• 32:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: and I always valued it.
• 32:15
  Jyotsna Gupta: Speaking of that,
• 32:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: in my last department meeting, I I had to do
• 32:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: something, you know, with such a valuable program.
• 32:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I just feel like, you know, we do such great job all around
• 32:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: the agency.
• 32:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I had to let people come out
• 32:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: of their shells and talk about it.
• 32:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: That is this something that you would be considering if you want to learn
• 32:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: and grow and develop?
• 32:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: Do you see a role model?
• 32:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: Whether it's in the company or outside, it doesn't have to be
• 32:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: within the department.
• 32:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: It could be anybody whom you admire.
• 32:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so there was one person who spoke up in the department meeting
• 32:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: that, you know, I may not be,
• 32:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: I can be a mentor, but, you know, I would like to mentor
• 33:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: about way to live
• 33:05
  Jyotsna Gupta: and and attaching purpose to your life rather than
• 33:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: your professional goals.
• 33:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: I'm like, yeah.
• 33:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: I mean, you need to have a good
• 33:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: you should know the art of living
• 33:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: before you can go and excel in your work.
• 33:23
  Lisa Nichols: So true.
• 33:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: I loved it.
• 33:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: It is so true.
• 33:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: You have
• 33:26
  Lisa Nichols: to work on yourself, and you have to to have that foundation,
• 33:31
  Lisa Nichols: I believe, before you can even lead other
• 33:35
  Lisa Nichols: people.
• 33:35
  Lisa Nichols: It's about leading yourself.
• 33:37
  Lisa Nichols: Right, Jyotsna?
• 33:38
  Jyotsna: Absolutely.
• 33:39
  New Speaker: I really I love that.
• 33:41
  New Speaker: Well,
• 33:43
  New Speaker: how would you how would you advise a young person?
• 33:46
  New Speaker: Let's say there's somebody listening that is younger in their career,
• 33:51
  New Speaker: and they are aspiring for that top IT spot,
• 33:56
  New Speaker: like what you have.
• 33:57
  New Speaker: You're at the top of the, you know, the food chain there as
• 34:01
  New Speaker: as the they say in in IT.
• 34:04
  New Speaker: You have the CIO role.
• 34:06
  New Speaker: How would you advise them if they're aspiring for that?
• 34:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: Have that inner drive.
• 34:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: Without that inner drive,
• 34:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: you can walk the horse to the well, but you can't make a drink.
• 34:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 34:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: You have to have that drive within you that you are hungry
• 34:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: for knowledge.
• 34:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 34:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: That's the key thing.
• 34:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: Read about new technologies,
• 34:34
  Jyotsna Gupta: whether it's in your area or not.
• 34:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: Learn about what other people are doing.
• 34:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: It doesn't have to be the same industry.
• 34:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right?
• 34:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: How did this industry
• 34:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: manage through these challenges?
• 34:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: It is so important to keep yourself up to date with the technology that's
• 34:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: around the curve.
• 34:56
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 34:56
  Lisa Nichols: Uh-huh.
• 34:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: So just by reading it and being inquisitive
• 35:02
  Jyotsna Gupta: and being curious
• 35:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: takes you to that next level.
• 35:06
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 35:06
  Lisa Nichols: And if you do have a mentor, then and and there's something you don't
• 35:10
  Lisa Nichols: understand, don't be shy about asking those questions.
• 35:13
  Lisa Nichols: Tell me about this.
• 35:15
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 35:15
  Lisa Nichols: So so that brings me to another question.
• 35:18
  Lisa Nichols: And then I've got just a couple more things that, I wanna talk about,
• 35:21
  Lisa Nichols: and then we'll talk about something extra.
• 35:24
  Lisa Nichols: Is there because, you know, you're you said read, read, read, read.
• 35:28
  Lisa Nichols: Is there a book or a podcast or
• 35:32
  Lisa Nichols: a technical subscription,
• 35:35
  Lisa Nichols: don't know, that you do that you would recommend or something that's really
• 35:39
  Lisa Nichols: impacted you, like a business book or, like I said, a podcast
• 35:43
  Lisa Nichols: or maybe there's a technical subscription that you, that
• 35:47
  Lisa Nichols: you aspire to or that you get yourself and then you could pass along
• 35:52
  Lisa Nichols: to a younger person?
• 35:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: Absolutely.
• 35:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I have been listening to your podcast quite
• 35:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: a bit.
• 36:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: Oh, thank you.
• 36:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: Has been really amazing.
• 36:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I do listen to Dan Roberts' podcast
• 36:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: as well, Tech Whisperers.
• 36:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: Tech Whisperer.
• 36:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: That's very good.
• 36:15
  Jyotsna Gupta: In regards to book, I just completed
• 36:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: the book
• 36:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: of Mice and Man.
• 36:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: Have you heard of that?
• 36:25
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 36:25
  Lisa Nichols: That's a classic.
• 36:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, I was reading that book, and my daughter walked in and
• 36:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: said, you're reading a high school book?
• 36:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: I'm like, was it in your high school?
• 36:36
  Lisa Nichols: And she probably had it in her high school literature.
• 36:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: Exactly.
• 36:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: So,
• 36:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: I I just stumbled upon it, and I just got into it.
• 36:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: It's a it's a thin read.
• 36:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: Everybody should read it.
• 36:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it just
• 36:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: tells you the decision making process.
• 36:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: And there are times when you have to make a take a decision,
• 36:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: hard decisions.
• 37:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it's just a beautiful thing.
• 37:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
• 37:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: It doesn't have to be a technology related.
• 37:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: It can be how you navigate through the challenges in
• 37:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: personal and in professional lives.
• 37:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 37:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I would definitely recommend the book
• 37:16
  Jyotsna Gupta: Of Mice and Men.
• 37:17
  Lisa Nichols: Of Mice and Men.
• 37:19
  Lisa Nichols: And you may be reading with your high schooler.
• 37:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 37:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: I mean
• 37:24
  Lisa Nichols: Well, you know,
• 37:26
  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna, and I'm not gonna remember who coined this or who it's
• 37:30
  Lisa Nichols: attributed to.
• 37:32
  Lisa Nichols: I'll remember it after the podcast, I'm sure.
• 37:34
  Lisa Nichols: But there is a quote out there, and I love it.
• 37:36
  Lisa Nichols: It says you will be the same person you are today, five years from
• 37:41
  Lisa Nichols: now, except for the books you read
• 37:45
  Lisa Nichols: and the people you meet.
• 37:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: So true.
• 37:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: That's so beautiful.
• 37:49
  Lisa Nichols: It's so beautiful, isn't it?
• 37:51
  Lisa Nichols: Because, really, books can expand our
• 37:56
  Lisa Nichols: vision even for our life.
• 37:58
  Lisa Nichols: You know, this this I'm getting off topic here, but I had Horace Schultz
• 38:01
  Lisa Nichols: on the podcast a few weeks ago.
• 38:04
  Lisa Nichols: And Horst was the cofounder of the Ritz Carlton, which, you know, is
• 38:08
  Lisa Nichols: the gold standard in hotels.
• 38:10
  Lisa Nichols: The funny thing about this, Jyotsna, is he grew up in Germany,
• 38:15
  Lisa Nichols: in a small town in Germany.
• 38:16
  Lisa Nichols: He said there was no hotel.
• 38:19
  Lisa Nichols: He never been to a hotel.
• 38:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: Wow.
• 38:21
  Lisa Nichols: But when he was eleven years old, he decided he wanted to work in
• 38:26
  Lisa Nichols: the hotel industry.
• 38:26
  Lisa Nichols: I'm like, worse.
• 38:28
  Lisa Nichols: I said, how in the world do you never even been to a hotel?
• 38:31
  Lisa Nichols: He goes, I read it in a book.
• 38:35
  Lisa Nichols: When he was eleven years old, and then he goes on to cofound
• 38:39
  Lisa Nichols: the gold standard in hotel hospitality.
• 38:43
  Lisa Nichols: It just it just amazing.
• 38:44
  Lisa Nichols: But I I do love that quote.
• 38:46
  Lisa Nichols: Now I'll remember the originator after the podcast, I'm
• 38:50
  Lisa Nichols: sure.
• 38:50
  Lisa Nichols: But here, I wanna talk about this just a little bit, and then we're
• 38:53
  Lisa Nichols: gonna talk about something extra.
• 38:55
  Lisa Nichols: We kind of alluded to it in the front where you said, as a
• 38:57
  Lisa Nichols: child, you loved making crafts and art out of waste.
• 39:01
  Lisa Nichols: But I know that you enjoy, like, clay modeling and creating
• 39:05
  Lisa Nichols: art.
• 39:06
  Lisa Nichols: You know, how does that do you still do that, Jyotsna,
• 39:10
  Lisa Nichols: as a hobby?
• 39:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: I will.
• 39:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know, COVID, the pandemic time, it was a
• 39:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: blessing and curse for a lot of us.
• 39:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: Right?
• 39:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yes.
• 39:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: For me, it was a blessing that I got so much
• 39:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: time on hand
• 39:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: to
• 39:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: reflect
• 39:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: what I really wanted to do in my spare time.
• 39:36
  Jyotsna Gupta: It's like that hidden thing in you, hidden artist in you or
• 39:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: a child inside you that you wanna do.
• 39:44
  Jyotsna Gupta: You wanna hike or you wanna play a game or do things.
• 39:48
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I just rekindled my, you know, passion of
• 39:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: art during that time.
• 39:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: And I did a lot of clay modeling and bottle
• 39:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: art.
• 39:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: Actually, if had we been sitting in my office, I would have shown you
• 40:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: some of the work that I did Wow.
• 40:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: During that time.
• 40:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: So,
• 40:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: while growing up in my childhood, I did do clay modeling a
• 40:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: little bit with paper meshing and other things.
• 40:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: But it truly was after so many years that I picked up because
• 40:21
  Jyotsna Gupta: I had time, and I wanted to use the most of it.
• 40:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, guess what?
• 40:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: I involved my family, my children in doing it.
• 40:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: So it became a team activity.
• 40:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yeah.
• 40:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so we did so much and, you know,
• 40:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: really had a blast of time.
• 40:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I have not done it since last year, I would say.
• 40:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: But I enjoy doing once off painting
• 40:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: or, some embroidery at times.
• 40:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
• 40:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I do wanna keep that artist alive in me.
• 40:56
  Lisa Nichols: It's so important.
• 40:57
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 40:58
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, I that right brain, left brain.
• 41:00
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 41:01
  Lisa Nichols: You need to use both of them.
• 41:04
  Lisa Nichols: Justin, I think that you're involved in the CIO summit coming up
• 41:09
  Lisa Nichols: at the end of August.
• 41:11
  Lisa Nichols: And we do have a session on there because there are so many IT
• 41:15
  Lisa Nichols: people Mhmm.
• 41:16
  Lisa Nichols: That are artists or musicians.
• 41:20
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, there is a a total connection there.
• 41:23
  Lisa Nichols: We'll we're gonna start out that summit with something really fun that I
• 41:27
  Lisa Nichols: know that you will appreciate, but, I just I think,
• 41:31
  Lisa Nichols: you know, the ability to solve problems.
• 41:33
  Lisa Nichols: So Katie Canty,
• 41:36
  Lisa Nichols: who is the interim CIO for Panera, is a professional violinist.
• 41:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: Okay.
• 41:41
  Lisa Nichols: And she has told me before that she will be stuck in a problem
• 41:46
  Lisa Nichols: at work, and she goes and starts playing her violin, and it
• 41:50
  Lisa Nichols: gets unstuck.
• 41:52
  Lisa Nichols: So there is something there.
• 41:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: You know?
• 41:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: Definitely.
• 41:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: And this is so truly said, you know, I would be stuck in
• 41:59
  Jyotsna Gupta: a problem, and I would be thinking about it.
• 42:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: And the moment I walk on and start doodling or
• 42:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: I would sketch,
• 42:11
  Jyotsna Gupta: it just strikes me, and it comes to me right away that, you know,
• 42:15
  Jyotsna Gupta: this is how I need to take solve this problem.
• 42:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: This is this is the direction I wanna be in.
• 42:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: And there and then, you just you just take the idea and you
• 42:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: get up and run with it.
• 42:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yeah.
• 42:27
  Lisa Nichols: I just love it.
• 42:28
  Lisa Nichols: I love it.
• 42:28
  Lisa Nichols: And I love what you said about getting your family involved.
• 42:31
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 42:32
  Lisa Nichols: That's the way it doesn't have to be just a solo thing.
• 42:35
  Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
• 42:36
  Lisa Nichols: If you enjoy cut if you enjoy cooking, get your family involved.
• 42:40
  Lisa Nichols: Get them in the kitchen with you cutting up the vegetables.
• 42:41
  Lisa Nichols: You know,
• 42:43
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 42:43
  Lisa Nichols: It's just it's there's a way to do that.
• 42:45
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 42:46
  Lisa Nichols: And, to still bring you joy and to make it more of a
• 42:50
  Lisa Nichols: family affair.
• 42:51
  Lisa Nichols: So I love I love that you did that.
• 42:53
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I wanna ask you.
• 42:54
  Lisa Nichols: This is called something extra,
• 42:56
  Lisa Nichols: and this is a question that I ask every one of my guests about
• 43:01
  Lisa Nichols: what is the something extra that you believe a leader needs.
• 43:04
  Lisa Nichols: But I would also love to ask you, on top of that question, what
• 43:08
  Lisa Nichols: do you believe is your something extra or extras?
• 43:12
  Lisa Nichols: And I could surmise a few things.
• 43:15
  Lisa Nichols: You know, I think your drive is definitely one of those, your persistence,
• 43:19
  Lisa Nichols: your drive, creativity, probably.
• 43:22
  Lisa Nichols: But are there other things that you would say that are your something extras,
• 43:26
  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna?
• 43:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: That's such a great question.
• 43:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, that has really I have to put
• 43:32
  Jyotsna Gupta: effort in reflecting in my past.
• 43:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: Because many of times, you're so busy with your work that you don't
• 43:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: get time to reflect
• 43:41
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 43:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: On your attributes, your quality qualities, and how you got here.
• 43:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: Yeah.
• 43:46
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I really want to thank you for doing this because it
• 43:50
  Jyotsna Gupta: gave me an opportunity to look back and rekindle those
• 43:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: memories that, you know, I lived once upon a time.
• 43:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: So I appreciate it.
• 44:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: So, I had couple of things in my mind for,
• 44:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: you know, the something extra until this morning while
• 44:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: I was doing my yoga practice.
• 44:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: It today's well, I joined a twenty eight day transformation challenge,
• 44:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: on, subscription.
• 44:17
  Jyotsna Gupta: And today's today's practice was intuition.
• 44:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: And
• 44:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: the trainer in it told me a story,
• 44:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: which I would like to share.
• 44:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it just love from you too.
• 44:30
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it just I I connect with it so much because
• 44:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: I see it every day.
• 44:37
  Jyotsna Gupta: So this this is a monastery, bud Buddhist monastery,
• 44:42
  Jyotsna Gupta: and they are relocating a huge Buddha,
• 44:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: statue from one place to the other.
• 44:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: And during that process,
• 44:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: they one of the employees or one of the
• 44:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: monks see a crack in the huge Buddha stretch
• 45:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: statue.
• 45:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it's around the time nineteen fifty seven.
• 45:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: So
• 45:08
  Jyotsna Gupta: there is a shiny light coming out of that crack.
• 45:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 45:13
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so somebody gets curious, and they start chiseling away
• 45:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: the clay on the statue.
• 45:20
  Jyotsna Gupta: And to come to find out it's a huge statue of gold.
• 45:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so it is I don't know how many kilos of gold, but
• 45:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: it's a huge Buddha statue made out of gold.
• 45:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: So the historians did some, research and found out
• 45:41
  Jyotsna Gupta: that centuries ago, the invaders came
• 45:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: in.
• 45:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: And to protect the idol and the statue from the invaders,
• 45:52
  Jyotsna Gupta: they covered it with clay.
• 45:55
  Jyotsna Gupta: And it wasn't after centuries later that
• 46:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: they found out that it truly is a pure
• 46:04
  Jyotsna Gupta: gold statue.
• 46:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: So the takeaway is,
• 46:09
  Jyotsna Gupta: you know, we are covered with layers and layers of different things,
• 46:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: and it could be opinions, judgment,
• 46:18
  Jyotsna Gupta: situations that mask you from your
• 46:22
  Jyotsna Gupta: true potential.
• 46:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 46:24
  Jyotsna Gupta: You have that in you, and you just have to uncover
• 46:28
  Jyotsna Gupta: it.
• 46:29
  Jyotsna Gupta: You have to chisel away and find your true
• 46:33
  Jyotsna Gupta: self.
• 46:35
  Lisa Nichols: That is beautiful.
• 46:38
  Jyotsna Gupta: I I just felt it I connected with it so much today.
• 46:41
  Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
• 46:42
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 46:43
  Lisa Nichols: You have to find your true self, and and don't be don't be afraid
• 46:47
  Lisa Nichols: to show your true self.
• 46:48
  Lisa Nichols: I think in today's world, Don't say you probably would agree with this, I
• 46:52
  Lisa Nichols: think people long for authenticity.
• 46:56
  Jyotsna Gupta: Absolutely.
• 46:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: And you have to be genuine.
• 47:00
  Jyotsna Gupta: Don't be scared of taking decisions.
• 47:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: There would be times when you would make, you know, mistakes.
• 47:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: But those those are truly the opportunity for you
• 47:12
  Jyotsna Gupta: to perform better.
• 47:14
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, it it's amazing the one of the the
• 47:19
  Jyotsna Gupta: statement that the yoga trainer made was
• 47:23
  Jyotsna Gupta: we it was a funny balancing pose.
• 47:26
  Jyotsna Gupta: Okay?
• 47:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, I wanna share this because it was just funny
• 47:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: that, we are trying to balance on one leg
• 47:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: doing a warrior pose, and then he says, I hope you fall.
• 47:40
  Jyotsna Gupta: I really wish you fall because it's not the fall that matters.
• 47:44
  Jyotsna Gupta: Mhmm.
• 47:45
  Jyotsna Gupta: It's how you get up from the fall.
• 47:47
  Jyotsna Gupta: How you rise from the fall makes you the true person.
• 47:51
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so
• 47:54
  Jyotsna Gupta: don't be scared Right.
• 47:56
  Jyotsna Gupta: Of taking those decisions.
• 47:58
  Jyotsna Gupta: And even if it's, you know,
• 48:01
  Jyotsna Gupta: learn from those decisions.
• 48:03
  Jyotsna Gupta: If it didn't go right the way you wanted it to be Mhmm.
• 48:07
  Jyotsna Gupta: You will learn a better way to do it next time.
• 48:09
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 48:10
  Lisa Nichols: That is so good.
• 48:12
  Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
• 48:12
  Lisa Nichols: Jyotsna, I have absolutely loved this time with you.
• 48:16
  Lisa Nichols: Thank you so much.
• 48:17
  Lisa Nichols: It's just oh my goodness.
• 48:19
  Lisa Nichols: You've given me so much to think about, and I know you're gonna help
• 48:21
  Lisa Nichols: our listeners.
• 48:23
  Lisa Nichols: So I just appreciate you.
• 48:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: No.
• 48:25
  Jyotsna Gupta: The the pleasure is likewise.
• 48:27
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, I really thank you for this opportunity because,
• 48:31
  Jyotsna Gupta: it gave me the time to do self reflection.
• 48:35
  Jyotsna Gupta: And if we honestly do not have time to think about what we did
• 48:39
  Jyotsna Gupta: in our childhood, I had to really think down and make notes of Right.
• 48:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: Oh, really?
• 48:43
  Jyotsna Gupta: What did I do?
• 48:44
  Jyotsna Gupta: And so I I thank you for all this opportunity.
• 48:49
  Jyotsna Gupta: And, you know, it was such a pleasure talking to you, knowing
• 48:53
  Jyotsna Gupta: you, and, you know, it just gave me a reflection
• 48:57
  Jyotsna Gupta: of my past.
• 48:58
  Lisa Nichols: So Oh, very good.
• 48:59
  Lisa Nichols: Beautiful.
• 49:00
  Lisa Nichols: I cannot wait for our listeners to learn from you.
• 49:03
  Lisa Nichols: So you have an awesome rest of the day, and thank you again.
• 49:06
  Jyotsna Gupta: Thank you so much, Lisa, more to come and we'll talk later,
• 49:10
  Jyotsna Gupta: in the summit.
• 49:12
  Speaker 4: Thank you for listening to today's show something extra with Lisa Nichols
• 49:16
  Speaker 4: is a technology partners production, copyright technology partners, Inc
• 49:20
  Speaker 4: two thousand and nineteen.
• 49:21
  Speaker 4: For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi dot co
• 49:25
  Speaker 4: slash podcast.
• 49:27
  Speaker 4: Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever
• 49:31
  Speaker 4: you listen.