Vanitha Ponnarasi, Director of Engineering at BuildASign
Vanitha is Director of Engineering at BuildASign.com. With over twenty-five years of experience managing enterprise programs, and application development in the high technology sector, Vanitha is skilled in new product development, re-engineering, budgeting, financials, building teams, and resource management. She’s passionate about helping women be true to themselves while emphasizing their strengths. On a personal note, Vanitha lives in Austin with her husband and daughter and loves reading, traveling, and history.
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: I always had somebody help me at different times in my career. They showed me the ropes, took the time to advise me, pointed me in the right direction, and most importantly, they listened to me. I have been so fortunate all my life, so I want to give back what I have received by helping people.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: When you mentor people, you gain from people's experiences. Sometimes you will learn things you experience are common and happen to everyone, so you learn that you are not alone. Other times you find yourself thinking, "Oh, wow. This is a great situation; I'm learning as we are solving this together." You cannot gain all those experiences just by yourself. Those are great benefits that come from mentoring others.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: I would have said it's drive and determination, but I'm starting to realize it’s more than that; it is the satisfaction of having people I've worked with for so many years back and whom I’ve advised, reconnect with me. When we reconnect, and they say, “you were the best manager we had” or “you helped me so much,” it feels incredible. That is what propels me to succeed. Whenever I am not doing very well or feeling down, I think about those moments. Those moments build me up, and I realize this is why I work. Work needs to be rewarding. I attribute my success to that enjoyment of being able to help people.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: I'm grateful to my mother for being my earliest mentor. Early on, she would urge me to focus on my career, to follow my ambitions, and not allow excuses to come in the way. At the time, I must admit I struggled a bit. Now, when I look back to analyze what helps me succeed, I believe it's my drive that came from her. She also believed and taught me that it was important to help people when possible.
Many people have impacted me every step along the way in every place I worked. They all contributed something critical, whether it was learning a technical trade like working with databases, career growth advice, or even personal advice.
Two people, in particular, stand out. When I was an intern, my first mentor taught me how to fine-finish my documents, and to this day, when I reformat my documents to achieve that professional finish, I think about him gratefully. I say to myself, this was Chris Pinkard’s teaching. Another important mentor told me, “You need to communicate what you feel. You cannot assume people know what you want. You need to be very intentional and specific about it." Naively, I thought everyone knew when we worked hard that we would naturally like to be rewarded with a promotion or more recognition. She shared her experience of having to explicitly tell her manager, "I really like this job. I want the promotion." The manager then admitted that they had not realized that and had assumed that she was not interested in the additional responsibilities that would come with advancing her career. This was mind-boggling to me at the time, but now it is sage advice that I often share with my teams.
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: As a mentor, you are traveling a journey with your mentee, and empathy is critical. So is being able to understand what the mentee is going through in their environment. Since you are not there, you need to see it through the mentee’s eyes.
It is also important for the mentor not to try to solve the problem for the mentee. Why? Because let us say we solve the problem and perhaps even provide a great solution, but that's only one time. You need to help your mentee look at the problem with the aid of your experience and then learn to solve it for themselves. This will help them the most in their future, and that is what good mentoring is about.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: Allow yourself to be vulnerable. You are not going to help the other person by giving them textbook advice. As a mentor, you should be open to sharing situations in which you may not have succeeded, and it might not be the best light for you.
Also, don't feel like you need to know all the answers. Don't feel disappointed if you come out of the conversation without a solution. The time that you share together is the best thing you can offer.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: I benefited immensely from my experience as a mentee in Ceresa. It helped me immensely, and I enjoyed the journey. So, when I was given this opportunity to be a mentor, I jumped at it! The tools Ceresa has in place are very intentional, and they help us set a bigger picture than just “one hour of advice every month.” I also enjoy the support and opportunity to share ideas with other mentors.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.