Rafiya Sheikh

When I started out my journey at Cisco, I learned all of the networking from INE videos. I was in the process of learning still and I got a project at Jio World Center in Mumbai, India. It is a full-fledged construction site and I was the only woman network engineer on site. I faced the obvious hurdles of a male dominated work environment and physical discomfort from construction site. But all the confidence that gave me a boost to face the customer and come back home with success for Cisco and the customer was because of the INE CCIE material in R&S I read. I was nailing it everyday on site with my knowledge. I would always hear doubts on why should a woman be working on field and I shut these mouths with my performance. Even today, I am sure most of the customer guys are glad I could be a part of the enterprise networking project and make a mark.