Hema has been a pioneer of innovation for the last 25 years, starting her career at McKinsey after university. She then transitioned to an unexpected role with one of Australia's leading female figures, Julia Ross, before entering the tech industry in 1999. Throughout this time, Hema deliberately pushed her boundaries, taking planned career breaks after exiting roles and exploring entrepreneurship by creating and selling 2 businesses.
In her latest position, Hema served as the Portfolio Company Head of
Mindbody APAC at Vista Equity Partners. Here, she played a pivotal role in transforming a nascent brand and revenue stream into the second-largest contributor behind North America in terms of brand recognition, revenue generation, and consumer engagement. She attributes the success of this achievement solely to the dedicated teams in the APAC region, along with the broader global team, who embraced a growth mindset underscored by humility.
Hema is currently embarking on her most thrilling endeavour yet by
spearheading the launch of Ponti Health, Australia's inaugural evidence-based umbrella of menopause care. Additionally, she serves on the board of Smiling Mind, a Melbourne-based mental fitness app that has consistently ranked among the top three mental health apps worldwide. Furthermore, she maintains her involvement in the wellness ecosystem through ongoing investments in several local fitness and wellness brands.
Héma supports several initiatives, focussed on creating equitable opportunity and actionable dialogue for issues across Gender Equity and Environmental Conservation. She is also an active member of several grass-root organisations and food drives in the inner-city community of Sydney, Australia, where she now resides with her family, including her precious dogs, Schnitzel and Coco.
With her limited spare time, Héma continues her lifelong quest to finish reading Ulysses, to stop killing her plants and to watch Netflix whilst not being on two phones and a laptop (at least sometimes).
She continues to live by the motto ‘We live in deeds, not in our years’ and loves surrounding herself with the next generation of thinkers and doérs.