Rocket.women: meet our Lead Generation Specialist, Harshita!

For Women's Day, Rocket.Chat has decided to pass the mic to some of our women employees — or Rocket.women, as we call it! We chose seven women, from Engineering to People, to interview and get to know them better by listening to their stories and experiences and giving them a platform during March. Our interviewee of the week is Harshita Rathore, our Indian Lead Generation Specialist!

Some main facts about her are the following:

1. She currently lives in Maharashtra, but was born in Rajasthan;
2. Her description of herself is “free bird”, and she has a tattoo related to it;
3. She prefers having her own space, and usually doesn’t like working physically with other people;
4. She prefers tea over coffee;
5. Her favorite thing about working with us is our flexibility and culture. According to her, “You can balance your personal and professional life, and you don’t have to work in a specific time zone”.

On to the questions now!

Q: Tell us a little about your Rocketeer career

A: Rocket.Chat hired me for the APAC region in 2021, for an SDR role. It was a new market with so many specific challenges and a language barrier, and the team was very supportive — I only had one year of experience, so I was at a very junior level, but they believed in me.

My team was really supportive even with the timezone barrier, and they were always ready to answer questions. It took me some time to understand the product and the process, but since I joined, I’ve improved my skills and the way I work, and this was only possible due to the incredible team I have. I was afraid of not hitting the target initially, but I was able to hit 95% of it in the end. Then, in December, they decided to move me to EMEA due to my skills and high performance in APAC.

Q: What is your proudest achievement while working at Rocket.Chat?

A: There are two of them: the first was about the APAC since it was so difficult to understand the market & different people as they are not too tech savvy, but I was able to do it smoothly.?

The second was when the company decided to move me to another region (EMEA) and gave me the support to do well in this region too just like APAC. It was an opportunity to explore another region.

Q: Did you have to overcome any barriers, being a woman?

A: I listen mostly to my heart and my instincts. I never had any issues personally, but we live in a society where people always say something behind your back. During my Masters, some people in my family weren’t very supportive of me living in another city to study — I faced a challenge to convince my parents. There were some cases where society, in general, hasn’t supported me, but my family did.

Q: Which fellow Rocketeer (woman) inspires you the most? Why?

A: Kathe, my manager. She is the only one who always supports me and appreciates her team. I like her approach: she regularly brings to the top management what we need, and she’s really open. I have a personal bond with her: we sometimes share personal things, and she always has something to say. She has a family and kids, but she can still manage everything. I love her.

Q: What about a woman who inspires you, alive or dead?

A: For most of the girls, it’s the mom, and for me as well. She has supported me in my career and personal decisions, and always says; “Don’t listen to other people, you can take your own decision. Live the life that you want, and don’t allow people to control your life.”. I actually love my mother so much, and she really inspires me. I want to give all the happiness to my mother.

March is almost over, but we are not done yet: next week, we will meet our two final Rocket.Women interviewees! Stay tuned for the next articles.