Leadership Profile: Sairah Anwar

Throughout March, Label Insight is profiling female leaders from across our company in honor ofWomen’s History Month. The contributions of these individuals to our industry and our company are significant and inform a perspective we hope will be valuable and inspirational to the next generation of women in technology.

Here’s a perspective from Sairah Anwar, Content Solutions Lead at Label Insight:

What attracted you to join Label Insight?

3 years ago, I decided to move to St. Louis to focus on companies that could meet my motivations for independence and purpose. From my interviews with Label Insight, it was clear that there was a lot of space for me to contribute ideas and influence the company roadmap. I have (thankfully) experienced that throughout my time here. Label Insight has a great balance of pushing each employee to take ownership and contribute meaningfully to the company vision while providing the support and mentorship to grow and learn. I also loved the founding story and purpose of Label Insight: empowering consumers with the knowledge to live better lives through better product choices. Our solutions offer a unique capability to influence the market and put more information in the hands of consumers to enhance their quality of life.

What’s the professional accomplishment of which you’re most proud?

It’s been exciting to lead the launch of our new Attribute Management Platform to help Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies tackle their pain points in item setup with retail customers. We’re building a solution to help brands streamline the process of discovering and activating on insights that address consumer need states. Using Label Insight data to inform item setup not only helps consumers more easily identify the products that address their lifestyle, dietary, or personal needs, but also helps brands improve their discoverability and content to win on the digital shelf. Yes – it’s as amazing as it sounds. What has made me most proud (and humbled), however, is being a part of the process. I remember when we had none of the pipes in place to make this a reality. Everyone really came together at our company to design and iterate on this idea, and most importantly, took ownership of making it great despite any setbacks along the way.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

1. Don’t underestimate yourself. I have had countless moments where I was either the only woman or the youngest person in the room. I had the fortune of being mentored by several strong women early in my career and their guidance gave me the confidence to speak up in those scenarios. I found that my contributions and ideas were recognized quickly and helped improve the conversation. Whatever your background, as long as you do your homework and listen to those around you, your thoughts and questions will be important to the success of your team. Never assume that any of your knowledge gaps or personal differences make you less capable in your contributions.
2. Be authentic. And take the time to reflect on who you are regularly so you can be your authentic self. Early in my career, I got so much mixed feedback around how to adapt myself to fit in and establish credibility in male-dominated careers. That discomfort only made it harder for me to successfully express myself and provide the contributions that have made me successful. Don’t feel like you need to be “less of a woman” or “one of the guys” or whatever the latest trend in reducing the value of femininity happens to be. You should feel comfortable in your beliefs and thoughts and express yourself freely. When you put in the work and are professional in your manners with others, you realize your accomplishments speak for themselves and you don’t have to change anything about yourself to gain credibility and respect.