Owl Have You Know
Change Is The Only Constant feat. Pooja Talreja ’08
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Episode notes
From the bustling streets of Dubai to the corporate offices of Houston, Pooja Talreja's journey is one of resilience, growth, and continuous learning. Her story is not just about crossing geographical boundaries but also breaking through personal and professional barriers to find one's true calling.
Pooja Talreja is the Senior Vice President of People at Ironclad Environmental Solutions, with 15 years of experience guiding global teams across the oil and gas industry and an impressive transition from accounting to HR.
In this episode, Pooja joins host Maya Pomroy ’22 to discuss growing up in Dubai, the challenges and triumphs of moving to the U.S., and her professional transitions from accounting to HR. She shares invaluable insights into leadership, the importance of lifelong learning, and how to navigate the complexities of corporate transformations.
Episode Guide:
00:39 Growing Up in Dubai
01:40 Moving to the United States for College
03:25 College Life and Career Beginnings
05:30 Discovering a Passion for HR
08:28 MBA Journey at Rice University
17:56 Current Role and Leadership Insights
27:51 Advice and Reflections
Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
How did Pooja landed in HR
12:58 [Maya Pomroy]: So, was it while you were at Rice that HR spoke to you? Or people, the idea of inspiring and leading people?13:08 [Pooja Talreja]: 100%. It was one of the early classes, Organizational Behavior with Professor Brent Smith. I went to him and I said, "How do I do this? I need to do these things we're learning in these case studies with Southwest and everything that you talk about—motivating people, leading people—but impacting the business through that." And it was very simple what he said: "Have you considered HR?" And I said, "No, I always thought my next move would be adjacent to accounting, right, finance, or maybe something in operations. HR was not even on my radar." And that's why Brent and Rice overall was such a big part of where I landed with my career because it taught me that you can be good at something and still find your calling.
Balancing compassion and compliance in HR
21:29 [Maya Pomroy]: Maya: Do you feel that, that learning and growing is one of the most important things in terms of being a strong leader?21:35 [Pooja Talreja]: One off. Yes, absolutely. But I'll, I'll give you my favorites. For me, it's compassion. The way that I define HR is not your textbook HR. Really, I think of it as a Venn diagram. You've got your policies and compliance and legal things, but then you've got the other side, which is doing what's right for the people.And when you can find what can work for both, that's where HR comes in. That's where the magic happens. That's how you build the right level of engagement and loyalty and motivate people, is when you find doing what's right for the people, but doing it in a way that's still ethical within your policy, within the laws and regulations. So that's what I love about my job, is figuring out that sweet spot.
The value of cohort experiences in the classroom
17:05: I think that's why cohorts tend to become so close, right? The professor is teaching you so many different things, but to your point, there's an equal amount of learning from the people that are sitting in that class and their experiences and failures and all of that. It's just an overall fantastic experience. And I miss it. I love being in a classroom.
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