Dr. Mansi Shah

I did my graduation in pharmaceutical sciences from the Maharashtra University of Technology and then went to US for higher studies, got my doctorate degree in pharmacy from Roseman University of Health Sciences and suddenly something changed my life forever. 

I wanted to pursue my dream career but destiny had something else in the cards. Being in a vulnerable age and a woman, it was hard to expect what’s coming next. My husband and his family were rich enough to bear the costs of 2-3 generations of their family. Now, being rich is a different thing but they had the typical Indian in-laws’ mind-set. They didn’t want me to have my own freedom. Meanwhile, my husband made some bad decisions in his business and we came to a certain stage that we had to sell our home in auction to recover the loss. Then he became alcoholic, abusive, and used to torture me physically and mentally. My voice was always not considered and was asked to tolerate his abuse. It was not something I could tolerate after a couple years, I was the princess of my parents and now I had become a slave to him and his family. Finally one day my husband in drunken state threw me out of his house at 2am, I decided to quit and started looking for ways to move on, but I couldn’t go back to my parents, they would have asked me to return back. After 4 years, I went back to US. But it was not easy to start there, because I had no money, nowhere to stay. I used to randomly crash on some of my friends’ homes for 2-3 weeks and then shift to another friend’s home. For 3-4 months, I had to live like that. After that, I made some money from my earnings, so I started to live on rent in an apartment on credit.

Thanks to my parents, they supported me when I took the decision to move on. Now, although it sounds like it was easy to start everything afresh here but trust me, I had to start from scratch. I used to work in a company for 2 years and they didn’t give me a single penny for that job. I lost all my savings but then suddenly got a job offer from one of the directors of a big company here offering me a good salary and I was like -Oh my God! No interview, nothing, and I just got it all of a sudden. It was not a small job for me and it was actually $15,000 per month that is almost Rs. 12 lakhs in India.

Now, after all these years, I got to know that my husband has been seeing someone, and I wished him luck. When I look back, I feel proud of myself. I took the right decision, I fought and today I am successful enough to show all those who think women cannot do anything. I did a financial planning certification here, I advise people on investments and financial strategies. Sometimes it also happens like that my patients whom I had counselled, also became my clients in my finance business.

In America, there are equal opportunities for men and women as they, but racism still exists. I came across clients who took my appointment to consult me for their mental health but when they see me, they were like no, they will not take help from a non-white person. But the struggles I had, didn’t have any impact on those racists. If people need me, I am here to help, else I have no place for them in my life who judge me on basis of my gender or color. I always wanted to devote my life to society to help others who are suffering now, like I used to suffer, long back.

For me, if US is homeland, & India is my motherland. I always look forward to trips to India for months altogether and stay with my parents as their princess, like I used to, before my marriage. For all women in the world, who think that they cannot win over their man, believe in yourself. If you can’t do it, then nobody else can. You have the capacity to do what you want, to achieve and it’s beyond anyone’s capacity to stop you. The only thing I miss about my marriage is the person I used to be before it. 

Total Work Experience : 11 Years (CVS Health)