"At the University of Texas at Austin, I studied computer engineering, starting with hardware design before pivoting to software engineering. I truly love technology, and especially software engineering, because you're coding to solve problems - I still love solving problems. My husband's an entrepreneur who's always had his own businesses. He'd encourage me to start my own business, but I was too concerned. Sometimes women can think too hard about doing something; that's what held me back from becoming an entrepreneur."
"For women in male-dominated fields, it's important to seek out mentors who can help you from their experience, even if their journey looked different from yours. You can bounce ideas off them and ask them questions. Mentorship pushes you, but it also gives you assurance and confidence. Over the course of my career, I learned so much, which helped me when I made the leap to founder."
Shanaz Hemmati co-founded ZenBusiness with Ross Buhrdorf and serves as COO of a $1.5 billion company that helps small businesses become official, stay compliant, and manage finances. She studied computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, transitioning from hardware to software engineering and enjoying problem-solving in code. Her husband’s entrepreneurship encouraged her, but overthinking initially delayed her startup path. Mentorship played a key role in building confidence and guidance within male-dominated fields. Hemmati's 11-year tenure at HomeAway and earlier connection with Buhrdorf shaped the experience used to launch and grow ZenBusiness.
Read at Entrepreneur
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