Feel free to browse through the rest of my website while listening to my favorite song!
Hey! I’m Janani, a product enthusiast happily juggling between attending grad school, immersing myself in the ever-dynamic field of product, & experimenting with my (maybe far too) many hobbies.
My journey thus far hasn’t been a linear one, but as someone who wants to build well-crafted products, it has opened my eyes to perceive shades of grey and apply multidisciplinary approaches.
When I first started my undergrad career at UCLA, I initially thought I’d get into the field of Economic & Public Policy, but after some initial soul-searching, I found that I was increasingly drawn to building a deep understanding of consumers and markets. I got the opportunity to intern at wonderful startups and companies within marketing functions, wherein I was able to learn how to identify target audiences, build value propositions, size markets, and position products. I also picked up a minor in Digital Humanities that allowed me to take eye-opening courses in user experience and design. As my knowledge within this space grew, so did my fascination for exploring data-driven approaches to making campaign and product decisions. This prompted me to apply for graduate programs in Applied Business Analytics while completing a one-year fellowship in Marketing Analytics, where I learned how to provide actionable insights to the engineering, design, research, sales and data teams and identify customer pain points through qualitative and quantitative data. The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I realized that my passion truly lies in the intersection between the functions of business, technology and user experience, and it makes me feel like the world is my oyster. As a Master’s student, I’m excited to be taking courses such as Data Science with Python, Enterprise Risk Analytics, Database Design and Implementation, Information Structures with Python, and Quantitative and Qualitative Decision Making to supplement my knowledge with technical expertise. The inherent cross-disciplinary complexity of building a product and ensuring it fits the right customer segment and customer needs is remarkable, and I want to use my holistic lens to lead, to think, to build, and to work with others. I realized the power of learning from a diverse set of experiences in order to become stronger in an individualized area, mine being product thinking.
Projects
Fueled by passion, purpose, and progress.
01
#COLAB5 Product Demo & Showcase
02
Runner’s Tile
A safety mobile app geared towards womxn and those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community that can be used when they're on their way home, going on a run, etc. wherein users check in/out until they've reached their goal/destination. Emergency contacts/authorities are notified if failure to check in at specified time.
CURRENT PROJECT/WORK IN PROGRESS
Hobbies, Pursuits, & Pastimes
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Dance.
I started dancing at the age of four, and I’d like to think that I never stopped twirling past life after that. My training began in Indian Classical Dance forms, wherein I learned Bharathanatyam, Odissi, and predominantly Kathak. I continued learning Kathak for eight years, performing at multiple shows and winning awards, but I wanted to grow and explore as a dancer. From there, I ventured into contemporary and Bollywood dancing, and was a student at the Shiamak Davar Dance School. Apart from that, I also learned belly dancing and Arabic folk dance forms, like Dabke. After going to UCLA, two of my friends and I decided to create our very own non-competitive project dance team called ROOT[D. We explored new dance forms, challenged the status quo for South Asian dancers, and performed at exhibitions. The team is still very much a part of the UCLA dance community and has grown in size and repute, and I couldn’t be any more proud of everyone’s sheer dedication to making it what it is today.
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Music.
Coming from a family of talented singers and musicians, I found it hard to stay away from traversing the world of music. I began training in Indian Carnatic Vocals as a young child, but went on to learning and performing Western Vocals. The rhythmic aspect of percussions really interested me, and so I decided to learn the drums in 9th grade. I was part of musical bands and groups, and being the only female drummer within my music school allowed me to understand why women are discriminated against in the percussions field. Apart from that, I am a huge fan of compiling playlists and music of all genres, and I’m currently learning how to mix music. On the side, I have a growing collection of vintage and retro vinyls that I love listening to after a long and tiresome day.
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Giving Back.
When I was younger, I got into an accident and burned the majority of my lower body, which greatly impacted my life and shaped me as a person. In an effort to give back, I have signed up to be a Peer SOAR Mentor at the Phoenix Society for Burns Survivors to help others who have suffered similar trauma to cope and overcome their daily struggles, and to provide a solid support system. I’ve been thinking about how I can build an online platform for burn survivors around the world, and I hope it’s something I can get to doing very soon!
Mantras That I Stand By…
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
— Bruce Lee
“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Let the waters settle and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being.”
— Rumi
“When you are a Bear of Very Little brain, and you Think Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.”