Growing up in India, Tanya Singh was routinely told that being born a girl meant she was a failure, and that nothing she did would ever be good enough.

After unexpectedly losing both her parents as a child and being raised by her two sisters, both of whom have gone on to be strong, successful, and independent women in their own right, Tanya had to learn independence and resilience from an early age. Upon moving to New Zealand to pursue a degree in computer science, she had to adapt to an entirely new culture while also working part-time to support herself.

In today’s episode, Tanya talks about being pressured into studying computer science, how she stumbled into HR and reflects on how her first mentor helped her visualise what her career and long-term goals could look like as a young woman of colour. Tanya shares some of the disheartening experiences she’s had regarding inclusion, and how she overcame her initial devastation through a renewed determination to succeed.

We hear from Tanya about the lessons she’s learned as a working mother, her hard-earned self-acceptance, and why diverse individuals should be valued for their authenticity and life experience. She also shares her incisive opinions on steps that organisations can take if they are truly committed to inclusion.

For all this and much more, tune in today!

• Introducing today’s guest Tanya Singh, global head of Remuneration & Benefits for Global Powerhouse Computershare.
• How the society that Tanya was born into in India viewed her gender as a failure.
• Tanya’s painful experience losing her parents as a child and how it fostered resilience in her from an early age.
• How Tanya’s two older sisters raised her and influenced her.
• How Tanya’s first mentor Janet Ison helped her visualise what a career or a long-term goal could look like for herself.
• How Tanya’s second mentor, Michael Roony, supercharged her confidence due to his trust in her abilities.
• Tanya shares some of the mentoring she’s done.
• A brief rundown of Tanya’s career thus far.
• Some of Tanya’s experiences that have shaped her view on diversity and inclusion.
• Why Tanya believes that the biggest mistake you can make in life is having too much regret.
• Tanya’s advice to organisations that truly want to support diversity and inclusion.
• Why people from diverse backgrounds should embrace their authenticity.
• Tanya shares a book recommendation that has impacted her self-esteem and career.

“It was made very clear to me by those around me very early on, that for me, being a girl was a great disappointment. I pretty much failed at birth by being born the wrong gender.” — Tanya Singh [0:01:33]

“He was so extremely confident in my skills and he believed in me so openly that seeing his belief in me really supercharged my own confidence. Working with him, I realised that I can set myself goals and achieve things that I probably haven’t thought of before.” — Tanya Singh [0:06:54]

“I am the sum of my experiences and I strongly believe that organisations should hire people like me, not despite that, but because of that.” — Tanya Singh [0:14:38]

“We live in a society where we expect mothers to work like they don’t have a family and to parent like they don’t work. I happen to believe that having children has made me so much more confident and more productive.” — Tanya Singh [0:14:53]

“I think the advice I would give is not to myself, but to organisations out there. And the advice is this: You cannot claim to support diversity without creating an environment in your organisation that allows people from diverse backgrounds to succeed.” — Tanya Singh [0:15:07]

• Tanya Singh on LinkedIn
• Telstra
• Michelle Redfern
• Mercer
• Beca
• Nufarm
• Computershare
• The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem
• Mentor List
• Mentor List Australia