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. 

How has your time at HEC Paris influenced or reshaped what leadership means to you? 
HEC Paris has exposed me to many forms of leadership, from collaborating closely with diverse teams on group projects to engaging with founders and CEOs who are building companies at a global scale. These experiences have raised my standard of excellence and reshaped my view of leadership as the ability to drive direct, measurable change for the causes and communities that matter most. As a female leader on campus, I have been especially motivated to make entrepreneurship feel more accessible and achievable for others, helping to create an environment where more MBAs feel empowered to build the companies they aspire to lead.

Who is a woman who has inspired you during your career or MBA experience, and why? 
I can't pick one so I'm going to say two - Michelle Obama and Indra Nooyi! I have this phase where I re-read their memoirs every year and just fall in love with them over and over again. They encapsulate everything about the woman I hope to be in my career and at home. These powerful women are always in the back of my head because they've fundamentally changed the narrative on what it means to be a successful woman of color. They've opened doors to rooms that were always locked away for girls like me, and hearing about their courage and discipline in doing so makes me realize that it is fundamental to my place in this world to continue doing the same in everything I do. HEC has made it possible for me to follow in Indra Nooyi's footsteps through the double degree and get a Master's at Yale, just like her, so I am basically already halfway there! 

What do you wish more people understood about women’s experiences in business school today? 
No one will hold the door open for you. When I got to the MBA I realized very quickly that this opportunity shoves you into a room with a million doors that you can choose to unlock for yourself, and behind each one is the possibility of a new path forward. Incredible women before us advocated very hard to create the opportunity for us to be here today (it wasn't till the late 20th century women were even allowed to enroll in MBAs!), and it is our responsibility to hold those doors open for ourselves, unlocking further potential for the women to follow. 

If you were mentoring the next cohort of women arriving at HEC, what’s the one thing you’d want them to know? 
Forget plan B, C, D, etc. Focus relentlessly on your Plan A. This was advice I received from an HEC alum who went on to build one of the biggest accelerator programs at Station F shortly after graduation. If you give 100% of yourself to your dream, opportunities will continue to present themselves to you and perhaps not in the way you imagined, and naturally, your plan B or C will become clearer to you as a result of devoting yourself to the thing you love. Your MBA is your opportunity to craft your career, not simply find your next job. 

What hobby, passion, or personal interest has helped keep you grounded during your MBA at HEC, and why is it important to you?
Reading and writing! I recently decided to get over the cringe of posting on LinkedIn and started a Substack blog reflecting on my lessons as an MBA student and startup founder, and all the incredible things I get to experience just by being here. It's important to me because it has taught me the value of building a personal brand and using your voice; you quite literally never know who might come across it. I've had the most incredible opportunities come through LinkedIn and publishing my first article on Substack just by forgetting about how embarrassing it feels in the moment. These are the things that have helped me stay focused on my Plan A relentlessly, by writing about it publicly.