22
Alumni News
Leela Srinivasan After leaving the School in 1991, Former Pupil Leela Srinivasan has certainly climbed the ladder of success having worked in a variety of corporate executive roles for renowned companies including LinkedIn, Lever and most recently, SurveyMonkey. Leela was appointed as SurveyMonkey’s very first Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in April 2018 and has since gone on to help customers and organisations navigate the Feedback Economy, where engagement has become integral and where consumers hold the most power. Now based in America, Leela very kindly took the time to catch up with our Development Office in a recent Q&A session.
Looking back on your school days, what would you say your favourite memories are? Were you part of any clubs or did you take part in any activities at school? I attended the High School of Dundee from L6 through to Form 6, and I have so many rich memories from those eight years. On the academic side, I recall producing a meticulously shaded to-scale map of Newport and Wormit as part of a geography project, memorizing the causes of the First World War, and discovering Anton Chekhov and E.M. Forster. In sports I loved playing hockey and tennis, although I was a little less enamoured when shivering through the opening minutes of early Saturday morning games in the frosty sunshine. My most vivid and fond memories, however, relate to music and drama. I always loved singing, playing the flute and piano and above all, studying speech and drama in a tiny classroom up in the rafters of what was then called ‘the Girls’ School.’ All that singing and acting led to multiple performances starting in the Junior School, including playing the Pied Piper opposite Richard Lawson as the Mayor of Hamelin, to Form 5 where I was Calliope in Orpheus and the Underworld, and goodness knows how many other productions in between. I continued enjoying the theatre at college as a member of the Edinburgh Footlights. Whilst I was never sufficiently talented or focused enough to pursue a career on stage, I know acting and performing gave me confidence and increased my comfort in public speaking and articulating a point of view with conviction. I strongly encourage young people everywhere to spend time on stage, as confidence is such an important attribute later in life. I’m glad to hear it’s now embraced as a Core Value at the High School. Did you make any lasting friendships and, if so, are you still in touch with old school friends today? After DHS I attended Edinburgh University, where I kept in touch with many classmates who were also there. Immediately after graduation, I moved to the United States. In an era before social media, it was a lot harder to keep in touch, but the combination of Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn have helped me reconnect with a number of classmates in the last ten years. I recently met
up with Douglas Keir and his family when they were visiting San Francisco and we realised it had been 23 years since we saw each other! I appreciate how small the world feels thanks to social media, and when I run into old friends during trips home I typically already have a sense of what’s going on in their lives through that social connection. If you had to describe your school-age self in three words, what would they be? Even in my teens I was hard-working, a multi-tasker and stressed! I did well academically, and I had a full slate of extra-curricular activities, none of which I would have traded, but in the process I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to overachieve. I sometimes wish I could tiptoe back in time, give myself a hug and tell myself that everything would be more than OK. From my current vantage point in Silicon Valley, the pressure on young people to do well in school is even greater than it was back then. Finding the right balance as a parent, and as a student, is tough. It’s one of the things I think about on a daily basis whilst raising my three girls with my husband, Joel, and juggling a demanding career at the same time. What would you say are the two best things about the High School of Dundee and what would you say to any families considering enrolling with us? Despite that self-imposed stress, I benefited enormously from the School’s commitment to both academic excellence and cultivating well-rounded humans with interests outside the classroom. Society needs leaders with intelligence, diverse interests and perspectives, and the communication skills to lead and inspire others. I’m also impressed by how the School has continued to preserve rich traditions while evolving and innovating with the times. My nephews are currently in L6 and Form 2, and my father has served on the Board of Directors for some time, so I receive regular updates on the programmes offered by the School. By balancing academics and extra-curricular opportunities, tradition and innovation, the High School of Dundee sets an incredibly high bar both then and now.
