226: Rachel Mushahwar | Making Your Vision of Impact a Reality

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Career Podcasts! "You don't have to be amazing. You don't have to put on this face like everything is great, and make it sound like it's easy. You just have to keep going. Crawling is fine, because eventually you'll get back up." - Rachel Mushahwar   Are you a female leader who feels compelled to make a broader impact? We all have visions for what we want in life, but what do we do to create them and bring them into reality? Today's Finding Brave guest has a burning desire to fulfill her mission to make the world a much better place than how she found it, but her journey hasn't been without its challenges or struggles. In this episode, she shares her remarkable story and how as an executive for the world's largest online retailer, she has set out to create high-performing work environments where all employees feel represented, respected, valued and empowered. Rachel Mushahwar is the Head of North America Partner Sales at Amazon Web Services, leading an organization that leverages Partners to accelerate growth, drive innovation, and shape the future using AWS technology.  She has 25 years of experience developing, implementing and selling technology, working at companies including Intel Corporation, PetSmart, DHL and American Express, among others. She got her start as an award-winning engineer in heavy highway construction, igniting a passion to utilize technology to make things simpler and change outcomes in a meaningful way.  From there she went on to pursue computer programming and began an enterprise IT journey that took her around the world building data centers. Along the way, she realized her skillset was better suited to solving customer problems than writing code, and she pivoted to leading billion-dollar sales and marketing organizations, developing the vision and strategy to ensure her companies' technology kept pace with evolving market and organizational demands. Rachel is deeply committed to inclusivity, diversity and equity, and believes in creating high-performing work environments where all employees feel represented, respected, valued and empowered. She is an active supporter of STEM education programs and an advocate for providing the next-up generations with opportunities to build the future we all want to live in. In this wide-ranging conversation, Rachel shares what it's really like to balance raising 4 children with having a fast-paced career, and as you'll hear, inspiration isn't enough to make your visions a reality. She is someone who boldly chose not to pursue a life that is for someone else, and in the process, is successfully manifesting her best future self. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelmushahwar/