Women in Leadership Spotlight: Neeharika Hemrajani

Neeharika Hemrajani (MBA ’27), President of the HEC Paris VIBE Club, shares how her entrepreneurial journey shaped her leadership and how HEC has strengthened her focus on impact, ambition, and owning her path.

What moment in your career - or during your MBA at HEC Paris - has most shaped the leader you are today?
Definitely the day I quit my job to build out my first startup idea. I went from knowing when my next pay check would hit to going door to door to businesses in my area, trying to find absolutely anyone who would be willing to pay for the little thing I'd built. I realized leadership is really not about the glamourous stuff or delegating away things, it's making the decision to do all the terrible things that need to get done to keep the ship afloat. As the founder of a tech startup, I had to be willing to get my hands dirty outside my comfort zone and wear all the hats.