Growing up in New York as a second generation Indian American, Deepika Catty was the only minority in her high school and the first in her family to attend college. Although she faced challenges, it also fuels her desire to give back to other minority students, her community and eventually at Bristol Myers Squibb as the PAN STEM lead. As the PAN STEM Lead, Deepika can inspire, mentor and provide support to at risk and low-income individuals seeking STEM careers by helping set them up for a successful first year in school. She also speaks to the power of kindness. An act of kindness goes a long way, either in the board room or a smile in the office, it’s a simple yet powerful tool to being an inclusive leader. Deepika shares her story of failure to triumph. Applying to medical school twice and not getting in, she still triumphed by securing a career which combined her love of science, research and business. “Failure is hard to accept especially when it is not normalized in our day to day,” Deepika states. She attributes her parents stressing the importance of hard work, dedication, and motivation to get through obstacles of failure. She also leaned on her mentors to gain the framework to map out what was the root cause of failing to learn from it. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in March 2023
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