No IIT, IIM: Techie, who lived in a one-bedroom home in parking lot, reveals how she went on to land jobs at Microsoft, Google: ‘All because one lady…'

Nothing can beat perseverence, not even when your life is rife with setbacks. Taking to Instagram, tech founder Aishwarya Srinivasan revealed how she overcame adversity to land plum jobs at Microsoft and Google in a viral video. Her video started with an emotional tribute to her mother, who only studied till grade 10, then quit studies to earn and support her family. She was married to Aishwarya’s father, who was 12 years her senior. Her brush with difficulties did not end here.

She also lost her 4-year-old son in a road accident. Her father, being a historian, didn’t earn enough money; her mother was the sole breadwinner. The family grew up in a small one-bedroom home inside a parking lot.

Aishwarya was determined to overcome her challenges and make it. Throughout her school and undergraduate years, she hustled, motivated by her mother’s words: “Go follow your dreams, wherever it takes you.”


She was told she was too poor to pursue studies in the US. She secured a scholarship to study at Columbia University, where she pursued an MS in Data Science. Meanwhile a new tragedy struck, and her father died. After her master's, she started at IBM, becoming a data scientist, and with her savings and salary, got her mother and her dream home in Kerala. She eventually joined Google as a data scientist and went on to become Senior AI Advisor at Microsoft. Now she is working as a co-founder at The Gen Academy in San Francisco. She thanked her mother for not giving up on her or her dreams and spent every penny she had on her education. “All because this one lady decided that my girl will not give up on her dreams... I wouldn’t have been where I am today without her.”

The video went viral on Instagram, gaining more than 129K likes. One commenter wrote, "Your mom raised a fighter, and it shows. Thank you for sharing this beautiful journey…”

Another commented, "With a support like that, everyone will get the power to run for their dream..."