Meet our expert: Dr Sheen Gurrib
Content creator, business coach, social entrepreneur, consultant, scientist and a champion for girls’ education.
When did you sign up for the RisingWISE programme?
I was part of the third cohort of RisingWISE in 2019 from the Cambridge side because that's where I did my PHD.
What did you thnk of it?
I loved RisingWISE, it was very interesting because I think that I was the last batch that did it before Covid as well so we still did it in person, we had the three weekends and thoroughly enjoyed it. I still remember the second weekend, I was in the process of applying for a job and I was applying to be a consultant which is super, super challenging and during the weekend I got my three rejections in one go. But everyone was so supportive and I even got an internship from one of the mentors right there and then. And we are still friends now, that’s Yelena, and I interned with her for a bit at Farm Enable, it’s her company and she’s a mentor for RisingWISE.
The RisingWISE course was really good in the sense that it was the first time I got exposed to what entrepreneurship meant. I was fully in science before that and just seeing that the translation of skills was possible was really interesting. Just generally the networking and being around women, who wanted to do the same jump was completely eye opening.
you were inspired by the people in the room?
A hundred percent. I think it was a question of you had people that were further ahead than you in the journey so you have someone who’s path you can understand but you also had people who were alongside you who were also experiencing the same troubles, then it’s kind of like that peer mentoring as well that happens. So, both of these things balancing meant that it was so much easier to tackle anything that was coming our way.
the shared experiences helped you and motivated you?
Yes, and even if it doesn’t help in the sense that you get practical tips on how to deal with things but just kind of moral support and having people around you that you know it’s not just you that’s going through this this is normal so it kind of like you know makes you a bit stronger to go through it.
That was in 2019? what are you doing now?
After my PhD I worked as a strategy consultant and I moved to Dubai for that job. I did that for one year then realised that I didn’t like the work life balance and that corporate life was just not for me. During that time I also started printing content and I started my podcast which is for women empowerment and that led to me having a You Tube channel, Instagram page and pushing out content across all these platforms.
Then the opportunity came along where I could be the CEO of a media company so this was at the right intersection of business but also content creation. So, I took that and I did that for about six months but then I thought it’s now time to do my own thing and the right idea came, the right team came so then I co-founded a tech start up which is now dealing with business intelligence. Right now, I am still doing that and I also teach at Middlesex University in Dubai and I still do my social media content.
What does that cover?
Now I am fully focused on Professional Development for women so the podcast is interview based. I have different women from different careers, from people training to be astronauts to people who are hiking, just showcasing that careers are no longer the same as it used to be and then the content also becomes a bit more practical such as tips on how to negotiate a raise, how to be more confident in leadership skills and all of that.