“I love helping people achieve their goals and look at myself as a cog in a wheel that can help transform and accelerate not only a person’s business skills acumen as it relates to negotiation, but also, hopefully, their perspective on life and how they interact with people from all cultures.”

Prior to coming to Scotwork, Ananda spent 25 years in the healthcare space, putting her sales leadership, team management, and negotiation skills to work in pharmaceuticals (Pfizer), healthcare IT (Eclipsys), supply chain (GHX), and diagnostics (Abbott Laboratories).

Even with her wealth of experience, there is something she enjoys more than applying it in a classroom setting — and, yes, it involves enjoying a culture other than her own. While she, her husband, and two daughters live in San Francisco, he’s from New Zealand, where they also have a home and you’ll likely find them on the sea, fishing and free-diving for abalone, scallops, and lobster. “It takes us away from technology and the rapid pace of life,” she says. “Nature gives us a sense of self and peace.”