EP #132: Sujatha Sivarajah - Intrapreneur & Vice President at McKesson Canada

Sujatha Sivarajah ( @sujatha_sivarajah ) is the Vice President of Strategic Execution & Operational Excellence for McKesson Canada ( @mckessoncanada ).

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the significant impact of her parents while she was growing up, being a part of a graduating class that comprised only 10% females, building teams at multiple companies including LifeLabs and Sanofi, being a woman of colour in a male-dominated field, the importance of building a solid foundation, her fascination with history, and so much more.

Follow Sujatha:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sujatha-sivarajah-p-eng-80897a9/)   

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Sujatha Sivarajah
00:43 - Sujatha speaks on her upbringing; Jaffna, Ohio, Nigeria
02:19 - Sujatha’s dad being her mentor; advice for parents
06:08 - Being a woman of colour in a male-dominated field (Electrical Engineering)
9:52 - Her time at Ford during a recession in Canada; and then LifeLabs
17:11 - Leaving LifeLabs after 7 years to build another team; this time at Sanofi
21:10 - What is pharmaceutical manufacturing?
22:23 - Was the lack of pharmaceutical manufacturing during the pandemic true?
24:17 - What McKesson does, and what her role here is
26:13 - What Sujatha hopes to accomplish during her tenure at McKesson
27:34 - Her view on work-life balance
29:19 - Parkinson’s Law - work expands to the time allotted for it
30:35 - How she secured her roles; never saying “no”
40:24 - What she would have done in another life; anthropology or archaeology
42:13 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
44:02 - The legacy she wants to be remembered for by friends and family
45:25 - Creator Confessions
53:19 - The Wrap Up 

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan