Most professionals try not to take the job home with them.
But for Reshma Chaskar Mehta’s line of work, it’s actually a healthy instinct.
As program director, partnerships and business development, at Telus Health, the 38-year-old says her day-to-day duties can’t help but influence her personal life.
“It has built a much greater awareness of prioritizing my own health and well-being. If you can’t be healthy and present with the people around you, you can’t do much either in the workplace or the family,” said Chaskar Mehta, the mother of two young children.
“For me it’s just every day finding those opportunities so we can marry the human side of health care with the great advances in technology and really bring solutions that are going to make a difference for Canadians.”
Outside of Telus she’s been pursuing health initiatives in her own time and has served on the regional advisory board of Starlight Children’s Foundation, an organization dedicated to bettering the lives of seriously ill children.
Before she joined Telus, she kicked off her career working for business services firm Accenture PLC as an analyst in the mid-2000s. She worked her way up to a manager role and in the ensuing decade helped build a business and IT strategy for a Canadian utility with more than $6 billion in annual revenue.
At Accenture Chaskar Mehta was recognized in the top 5% of analysts and consultants, receiving the distinction of being one of 10 management consultants selected in North America for Accenture’s master of business administration scholarship.
While she had the chance to travel and work in Canada, the U.S. and South America, the pursuit of an MBA also brought her to graduate business school INSEAD in France and Singapore.
Born in India and spending her early years in Africa, Chaskar Mehta said her lifetime of travel has given her a global outlook.
After moving to Telus she helped launch the telecom giant’s Babylon by Telus Health service – a mobile app offering everything from artificial-intelligence-powered symptom checking to one-on-one virtual consultations.
Birthplace: Pune, India
Where you live now: Vancouver
Highest level of education: Master of business administration (with distinction)
Currently reading: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
Currently listening to: “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran, featuring Khalid
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: A lawyer
Profession you would most like to try: An international diplomat
Toughest business or professional decision: Leaving a role managing a large team in an established business unit to take on a single contributor role in a brand new unit. I knew it would be the better path longer term, and it also taught me the important skill of leading not by formal authority but through trust and relationships
Advice you would give the younger you: Prioritize your own health and well-being – whether you’ve just landed your first job or you’re running a corporation, wellness has got to be a priority in the workplace
What’s left to do: Raise my two children to achieve their full potential, travel the world, build a lasting legacy
Join us to celebrate the 2019 Forty under 40 Awards on January 30, 2020, at the Westin Bayshore. For tickets and event information visit https://www.biv.com/forty-under-40
