There’s wisdom to be gained from our shared journey.

We surveyed a handful of women who are part of the BI team, including employees and partners, to learn from their wisdom and the most outstanding advice they’ve received from mentors. As leaders it’s our privilege and responsibility to amplify their voices and celebrate positive shifts in their career paths with them as we journey on together.

Here is what we learned:

“Make sure your clients and employees are happy. Both matter.”

– Prathiba Ramadoss, CEO

“Keep studying – read to gain more knowledge, skills or experience while seeking opportunities.”

– Yemlibike ‘Yemli’ Fatkulin, BI Recruiter

“Don’t be afraid to ask. That is the best advice because many times we think we are not ‘worthy’ to ask for help, advice, support, etc. – and people may want to help if only they were asked.”

– Christa Santos, CKS Marketing Communications / Consultant to OSC Edge, LLC

“Work smarter, not harder – there are no blue ribbons for working the hardest. Your family will not remember you for your day job.”

– Breanna Wheeler, BI Director of Comms & Brand

“Believe in yourself. You can do it!”

– Priya Jingree, BI Administrative Assistant

“People you work with may not have the same of understanding as you, so try to work with them at their level – it will bring out the best for both groups.”

– Sunita Sarin, HR Assistant Benefits Manager, BI

“Be responsible for your own work – mistakes, accomplishments and all…”

– Jacki Sabine, HR Assistant Manager, BI

“Great leaders surround themselves with smart people and don’t delude themselves into thinking they know all the answers.”

– Miranda ‘Randi’ Gibberon, NASA GSFC Project Manager

“Hard work always pays off. Be attentive and there are always things to learn in every experience.”

– Sharmila Prajapati, Senior Accountant, BI

“You are the meaning of success – unlock your potential with every opportunity that arrives.”

– Priscilla De Leon, NASA GISS Project Administrator, AI

“The best advice I have ever gotten from a mentor, was my first mentor, Joe Bradley. Joe worked for the National Security Agency for 30+ years and advised me to always work for the “mission” first, not the money. I took his advice and found that he was right. If you focus on the mission, the money follows. By far this has had the most significant impact on my career. Focusing on the mission first has earned me and the teams I’ve led a solid reputation of performance with both our government clients and industry partners… resulting in increased revenue through organic program growth and new contract awards.”

– Phoebe Allen, EVP Mission Systems & Cyber Operations, BI

“Originally I wanted to get into medicine and be a doctor. Getting into entrepreneurship was a very pleasant surprise.”

– Prathiba Ramadoss, BI CEO

“Keep studying – read to gain more knowledge, skills or experience while seeking opportunities.”

– Yemlibike ‘Yemli’ Fatkulin, BI Recruiter

“Five years ago I left working with one of the nation’s largest universities to focus on growing and building my own business. I have built it by referral and I feel that when I need to change direction and pivot different opportunities will develop. I obtained a 5-week business certificate in Entrepreneurship by Cornell and that was a bonus I was not expecting to be fortunate to have experienced.”

– Christa Santos, CKS Marketing Communications / Consultant to OSC Edge, LLC

“After a couple of years working as a graphic designer in VA, my husband’s job moved us back to MD so I began to freelance — I thought it would be ‘on the side.’ It was at first, but it wasn’t long before I had built it up to need my full attention. 11 years and 150 small business clients later, I got restless and decided I really preferred to stay out of the running of the business itself and focus solely on creative design and brand communication. So, I re-entered the federal tech contracting realm in 2017. By taking that risk, I’m ultimately thriving because I’m in a niche where 3 key parts of my core experience come together (entrepreneurial, ownership mindset + design thinking perspectives and visual design capabilities + a niche understanding of this audience and industry).

– Breanna Wheeler, BI Director of Comms & Brand

“Yes. I joined Business Integra as a receptionist and now I am also doing admin work which I am enjoying. It keeps me busy and I feel I am contributing in the company. It has been a positive shift for me.”

– Priya Jingree, BI Administrative Assistant

“Working on multiple projects with less supervision has given a diverse knowledge in HR.”

– Sunita Sarin, HR Assistant Benefits Manager, BI

“One shift for me is that over time I’ve learned to be more positive and celebrate my own accomplishments and take pride in them.”

– Jacki Sabine, HR Assistant Manager, BI

“My plans in IT were always geared toward technology, not management but as time went on, I found myself in leadership roles more often than preferred and realized my strongest quality was solving problems. Whether it’s technology or people, I give it my all.”

– Miranda ‘Randi’ Gibberon, NASA GSFC Project Manager

“A surprising but positive change for me was changing from being an Auditor to an Accountant.”

– Sharmila Prajapati, Senior Accountant, BI

“One way my career path has shifted that was a positive surprise to me was as my current role to which turned out to be the best career move I ever made. My background is in health education so it definitely was a complete, yet, successful career switch for me!”

– Priscilla De Leon, NASA GISS Project Administrator, BI

“For over 25 years I was on the operations side of the business. Although I was encouraged throughout the years to move over to the business development side, I was never interested because I wanted to stay close to the mission and thought that was the only way to remain engaged and provide my customers the support needed. When I made the move to a more growth focused role, I found that I still used all the skills developed from being on the operations side, but growth strategy/execution was far more exciting and rewarding, with far less stress.”

– Phoebe Allen, EVP Mission Systems & Cyber Operations, BI