Dare to Dream: From Healthcare Technology to Miss India MA, A Devoted Mom's Empowering Story
“Empowerment does not mean that some external force is going to come and bestow it upon us. It’s raising awareness that the power is within you to not only dare to dream, but dream big and chase them with hard work, grit and resilience!” Today’s woman dreamer, Madhurima Agrawal reminds us to try new things and challenge ourselves with our heads held high. A confident healthcare IT leader at Mass General Brigham, and Miss India Massachusetts 2019, she shares her excitement for Medtech, the three life lessons she learned from pageantry, how she deals with anxiety and stress, and how she balances her work with being a devoted mom and empowered woman! Enjoy her story below!
1) You are leading in the Healthcare Tech space, as senior Information systems leader at Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare) focused on developing and utilizing innovative and cutting-edge technologies for building clinical applications. Tell us about that. What excites you about the tech world, and what are some trends we should watch out for?
Application of cutting-edge technologies in medicine is burgeoning and it is very exciting to be at the forefront implementing these advances. I am most excited about the prospects of using artificial intelligence (AI) in personalized diagnosis and management and its huge implications for patient care. For example, AI may potentially revolutionize Radiological diagnosis as we know it with better diagnostic rates and cost savings. I also see Telehealth as a huge opportunity where cutting-edge technologies can make the life of patients and physicians much easier. Overall, I think the medicine is the latest frontier of technological innovation. Its immensely rewarding to see the impact of what we do with applications getting designed, developed and deployed with a patient centric focus.
2) You also competed in the pageant world. Tell us about that. What inspired you to do that. What are the three life lessons that being in pageants taught you?
I got married and became a mom at a very early age of 21 and there on, have been fully focused on raising my children, meeting family expectations and building my professional life. Unconsciously, during this time, I lost myself, my individuality and my dreams. In 2019, with my family’s support, I participated in the New England Beauty Pageant. This was challenging on many fronts. First, I was the oldest candidate competing with many young, newly married and highly energetic girls. Then, this required a lot of mental, physical training in a short span of time. It also needed a lot of patience and energy to get through the process of learning the walk and preparing for the multiple rounds. I decided to give it my all and make my experience and confidence my X factor and that culminated in my winning the Mrs India Massachusetts crown.
Three Lessons the Pageant World Taught Me:
Never be afraid to challenge yourself to try new things and come out of your comfort zone. You have unlimited powers if you are focused and willing to work hard.
Don’t listen to the negative chatter going on in the head when you try something very new and challenging.
Pageants are not only about external beauty, but also about your life experiences, outlook, compassion and desire for service to others.
3) You are doing some work in dealing with anxiety disorders. What inspired you to do this. How do you think anxiety affects women specifically? How do you deal with anxiety personally?
I have experienced anxieties firsthand. For a long time, I did not believe it was a real issue. I thought it was normal to be anxious. I got married at a very young age, my first son was born at 21 + and I was juggling through multiple responsibilities. Slowly, over time I realized that yes, it’s real and its crippling my life and I do need to overcome it. Once I became mindful of it, I started leaning on my family, my core group of friends, started actively exercising including running daily and started to have open discussions with everyone around me. This not only helped me but also people who interacted with me. As a young migrant to US, I feel that women like me undergo unique stressors that they need to be aware of and need help with coping as they navigate through these uncharted territories. My goal is to start a non-profit to help them.
I think women are particularly prone for anxieties as we are nurturers and have tremendous level of responsibilities. We constantly worry about immediate family, parents, work, friends often ignoring our own mental and physical wellbeing. You really cannot pour from an empty glass, so I urge women to take care of their mental and physical wellbeing as priority #1 on their To Do List!
4) You also have a passion for women empowerment. How would you define women empowerment?
Women empowerment seems like a cliché, but I strongly believe in it. To me, it means that women are not bound to societal, traditional rules and any barriers and they are free to make their choices of education, career, and for all ways of life. Empower them to be financially and intellectually independent, that they are not less than anyone in any way. They have choice and voice and do not need any validation or applaud to carve their chosen path. Empowerment does not mean that some external force is going to come and bestow it upon us. It’s really raising awareness that the power is within you to not only dare to dream, dream big and chase them with hard work, grit and resilience!
I feel the reason for women being discriminated against is because we tacitly allow it to happen. Women need to come together, support each other, lean and learn from each other and be confident. Economic and emotional independence is another key that we need to develop among women.
5) Who is an empowered woman that you admire?
I commend Sheryl Sandberg, a brilliant, successful leader of Facebook, a technology company! What I admire about her is that she draws on her own experience to empower women even during her grief! I aspire to do the same!
Thank you Madhurima for sharing your empowering story with us. We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!
WHO WE ARE
WOMEN WHO WIN IS THE GLOBAL ONLINE MEDIA PLATFORM AND NETWORKING GROUP FOR WOMEN, WHERE WE SHARE THE DREAMS OF DYNAMIC WOMEN ACROSS THE WORLD, AND THE INSPIRATIONAL SECRETS BEHIND THEIR SUCCESS.
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CO-FOUNDED BY DR. DEEPA JHAVERI, AN EXPERIENCED PODIATRIST AND LEADER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS INDIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION IN BOSTON.
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Bio: My name is Madhurima Gupta Agrawal. I live in Boston, MA. I am happily married for 26 years to my wonderful husband Pankaj and we have two very handsome, well-mannered and kind-hearted boys. I hold multiple degrees including a Master’s in computer sciences & information technology from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. For the past 17 years. I am working as a senior Information systems leader at Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare) focused on developing and utilizing innovative and cutting-edge technologies for building clinical applications. In 2019, I got a wonderful opportunity to participate in the Mrs New England Pageant.