Bushra Javed – Incredible #WomenInTechPK!

In this latest series of articles, we are publishing interviews of some incredible women who are part of the tech industry or the broader STEM fields.

In these interviews, you will find women working on solving real-world problems, breaking stereotypes and creating the next big impact on the industry. This series of interviews shows that even with the lowest rate of women participation in the labor market in Pakistan, there are still lots of smart women who are creating and using technology to work wonders.

Today, we are featuring Bushra Javed. Read on to know more about her work and get inspired.

Tell us a little about yourself, your background, your education, and your work.

I am a graduate in Software Engineering from NED University. During my school life, I was a position holder and very active participant in extra-curriculum activities. I was the monitor of my class, prefect and the highest achiever in my school.

When I entered NED university, I was so excited to learn new things. During my first summer break, I attended a workshop and developed a game “Traffic Player” on the Unity Game Engine. Before coming to NED, my cousin advised me to taste all the flavor that your university has to offer but be an expert in one thing that will uniquely identify you as an individual. Therefore, I switched towards learning Java and Android and developed two mobile applications, named “Attendance Calculator” and “Brain Stack”. During this time, I also developed a website using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and PHP.

Furthermore, I worked on WordPress and made 4 working websites. Even that didn’t satisfy my thirst, therefore, I switched again and choose to develop a hybrid application as my Final Year Project.

Apart from this, I did my internship in a startup “Brain Booster” that was incubated at The Nest I/O. After working for a month, I got the offer of becoming a Co-Founder. Moreover, I also own a blogging website Best and Beast.

What are your future plans/aspirations? What impact it will have on the community/society/your team/your project?

I was the one who wanted to do something more than academics throughout my school, college, and university life. I want to make a meaningful contribution to society and nation through my academics. And eventually, want to make a difference.

Health care is very close to my heart. I have seen my loved ones, friends, and relatives suffering from some tragic death due to poor or unorganized health care which was the very reason I started working on Brain Stack that is an application used to diagnose depression and stress.

Even as a Final year project, I have developed an application that can reduce the communication gap between a cancer patient and their doctors so that they can make an informed decision of their condition rather than depending on their doctors.

It’s my dream to help millions of people through my innovations and start a company that will be the backbone of it. To accomplish my dream, I am currently working to begin my own startup based on health care and services. I was also selected in a program organized by Shell Tameer and NED Academy, “Become your own Manager” that helped me in understanding the different perspective of the business. Additionally, I am in collaboration with the doctors of Aga Khan Hospital, who are helping my projects related to “Health Care” to become a product.

Please brag about your career accomplishments, what are the things you are really proud of?

When I was offered the position of co-founder in a startup, it was something beyond my expectation which I believe is one of the greatest accomplishment of my life. As an undergraduate student, I was able to meet the CEO of startup and companies. The best part was they were very humble and generous toward the newbies.

On the other hand, the second accomplishment is launching my own website Best and Beast. As most of the people think they will do this and that but I didn’t just dream rather I worked on it and actually made it happen. Now I am successfully running my own website.

In my academic life, I won “Best Mobile Project 2017” award in a project exhibition at NED University.

What has been your best education/career decision and why?

The best education decision of my life is to choose Software Engineering as my career path. As in most of the profession, you can only serve in one direction. For instance, if you are a doctor, you can help people in health care. If you are a civil engineer, you can ease people traveling by building bridges, roads and so on.

But as a software engineer, I can help people in all domain that is health care, financial and so on.

What’re the best lessons you’ve learned?

I have learned two important lessons in my life so far.

• Every failure in life is just an experience for the success that is yet to accomplish.
• Whenever you feel like you are down or in a dark place, you need to remember that the only way out of it is getting up.

Which woman inspires you and why?

Every woman inspires me. I am inspired by my mother and sisters as they are very unique in their own ways. I am inspired by my friends as they are all such wonderful women. I am also inspired by my teachers.

I believe every woman out there, famous or not, has inspired me in such a way that I could have never imagined. Every woman that I have encountered in my life has taught me something beautiful that I will cherish forever in my life.

Do you think Pakistan has changed as a society, in terms of accepting career-oriented women? What needs to change to help more women come forward?

Before answering the above question, I would like to mention that as a woman we should be focused on helping and supporting each other.

Pakistan has in fact changed as a society, in terms of accepting career-oriented women as more opportunities are being offered to a woman. In the software industry, a woman is encouraged to participate in more and more projects and contribute to society.

What will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?

I believe the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind me is to be able to find a stable job because as the time  passes, woman will become more prominent in every industry and the mindset of woman will evolve in becoming more career-oriented which can result in a shortage of jobs and they will have to struggle more.

If you could change one thing about the tech industry/business, what would it be?

If I could change one thing about tech industry it would be to provide more flexible working hours for employees, rather than focusing on the number of hours the employee had spent in the office, we should focus on how well the product is being delivered.

How can WomenInTechPK help you and other women?

WomenInTechPK has already helped me in launching own website. As the idea of my website came from a blog that was shared on WomenInTechPK’s facebook page. It inspired me to start my own business and I did it.

WomenInTechPK can help a lot of women through planning different workshops and seminars. Their posts on social media pages can really change life because they are always relevant and very informative.

You can follow Bushra Javed using her profiles below, and please do not hesitate in hiring her for your next project.

Bushra is the owner of a blogging website. Website Link: www.bestandbeast.com

Website Description: Best and Beast is a blogging website that provides the best tips and guidance on beauty, travel, parenting, gear, health, and fitness.
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