Women in Leadership Spotlight: Aayushee Shukla

Aayushee Shukla (MBA’27), President of the Product Management Club at HEC Paris, believes leadership is less about authority and more about creating space for others to thrive. From working in male-dominated industries to navigating the collaborative culture of HEC, her journey has reshaped how she views resilience, relationships, and the power of showing up authentically.

What moment in your career or during your MBA at HEC Paris has most shaped the leader you are today?

Starting out in manufacturing was my first real test. It was a male-dominated world and I was often the only woman in the room. I learned quickly that I had to work harder to be heard, and that experience built a kind of resilience in me that I am genuinely grateful for, but it also taught me something I did not expect.

The more I pushed to be heard, the more I realized that the leaders who actually made an impact were not the ones talking the most. They were the ones listening the most. That shifted something for me. I started to see leadership less as proving yourself, and more as creating space for others to show up fully. Making people feel heard and valued is what really drives a team forward. It's a perspective I've carried with me ever since.

How has your time at HEC Paris influenced or reshaped what leadership means to you?

HEC actually made me unlearn. Before this I had spent my career in structured environments, manufacturing, technology, places where leadership came with a title and a hierarchy. I knew how that world worked and I was comfortable in it. Then I came to HEC Paris and none of that existed in the way I was used to. Even in my roles with the Product Management Club and the MBA Council, where yes we have titles, at the end of the day we are all peers. Nobody is above anyone else. Nobody can pull rank.

Here you lead through how you show up. Through the trust you build, the way you make people feel, the genuine effort you put into understanding someone before you ask anything of them. It is a completely different muscle. One of the hardest things I have worked on this year. And that is the biggest unlearning of my MBA. Leadership is all about building relationships over ranks and titles.

Who is a woman who has inspired you during your career or MBA experience and why?

Through this MBA, I've come across some really inspiring women. Michelle Lau, Prof Yangjie Gu and Anne Bioulac, to name a few. They've made me pause and reflect on where passion and hard work can lead. They walk into rooms that are not really built for them and still own them. They are so sure of what they are doing that it naturally commands respect. What stayed with me most is how, even after achieving so much, they continue to show up with the same passion and hard work every day. Meeting them and learning from them has been one of the most inspiring parts of this whole experience, and it has changed what I believe I can grow into.

What do you wish more people understood about women's experiences in business school today?

The women I have met at HEC are some of the sharpest, most driven and most self aware people I have ever come across. They have worked incredibly hard to get here, through industries and environments that were often not built for them. They know exactly what they are doing. What I wish more people understood is not how difficult it is to be a woman in business school, rather it is how much we collectively underestimate what women bring when they are just given the space to be themselves.

If you were mentoring the next cohort of women arriving at HEC, what's the one thing you'd want them to know?

Put yourself out there. That is the only thing I would say. Go to the social events, the parties, the picnics, the conferences. Join the clubs, the professional ones and the social ones. Say yes to things before you feel ready. Show up even when you are tired or unsure or convinced everyone else has it more figured out than you do.

HEC gives back exactly what you put in and the magic of this place does not happen in the classroom. It happens in the conversations at midnight, the friendships built over failed projects, the random Wednesday that turns into a memory you will talk about for years. Being out there is what brings people and opportunities closer to you. This experience comes around once. Do not hold back.

What hobby, passion, or personal interest has helped keep you grounded during your MBA at HEC, and why is it important to you?

Cooking has been my quiet pleasure this year. I love the whole process of it, the experimenting, the creating, and then feeding people. There is something deeply satisfying about it. The campus itself has been an unexpected gift. Living somewhere that feels like a forest, watching the seasons change and now seeing everything turn fresh and green, it just makes me happy from the inside. Both these things have kept me grounded and honestly a little more grateful this year.