Wonder Twin Bahareh Mahdavi: “Shape of a Thrill-Seeking Daredevil”

Janica Kostelić is perhaps one of the greatest Olympic skiers of all time. A four-time Gold Medalist, Kostelić is known for her perseverance and determination to succeed. “It seems the more difficult the conditions, the better I do,” Kostelic once said.

Caspio has its own Janica Kostelic in Professional Services and Customer Support Director Bahareh Mahdavi. Whether speeding down black diamond slopes, sky-diving from thousands of feet in the air or leading her team to meet its goals, Bahareh is a thrill-seeking adventurer who treats each day at work as a challenge to overcome with commitment and enthusiasm. Sharing her tenth year at Caspio with Director of Product Management Dung Huynh, the two are Caspio’s Wonder Twins! We recently interviewed Bahareh, aka Wonder Twin Jayna, to learn more about her exciting life and career.

Hi Bahareh! Thanks for speaking with us today.

Thanks for having me!

How would you describe yourself?

I’d say I’m a natural thrill-seeker. I like excitement, I like speed and I like adrenaline. When I went sky-diving in Monterey a few months ago, the part that excited me the most was free-falling 15,000 feet through the air just before engaging my parachute.

Sky-diving? Wow, what else do you do in your spare time?

I hit the slopes. Skiing is a passion of mine. Like I said, I love speed and free-falling. With skiing, I get both.

Do you ever worry about getting injured?

Let me share an interesting story. A few years ago, I was skiing down a black diamond slope. The terrain was very steep and full of bumps. Now, I’ve done the run many times and I think I’m a pretty good skier. That time though, I somehow lost my balance and came tumbling down. That was the scariest moment of my life. I was spinning too fast toward two huge rocks and it was either I make it between those rocks safe or hit the rocks hard and be seriously injured. As you can see, I survived!

That must have been traumatizing.

Not really. I’ve learned that life will sometimes take you in different directions, so I live with no regrets. It’s funny because when I was younger, I wanted to be an athlete. However, my parents wanted me to either become a doctor or an engineer. I didn’t have much of a choice. I didn’t become a doctor because, well, I was afraid of blood! That left engineering as my only career option, and I studied computer engineering in college. After graduating, I moved on to complete my MBA.

Is that how you found your way to Caspio?

When I arrived in the US, I actually looked for a job as a developer. Then, I learned that Caspio was hiring support engineers. I applied and was hired for a support role. That was ten years ago, and the customer base of our low-code application development platform has grown since. Eventually, I was given an opportunity to build a team as a manager and here I am today.

What’s it like leading a team in Caspio?

It’s fulfilling to lead my team and I feel good whenever we accomplish things together. Every day is an opportunity for collaboration.

What’s your proudest accomplishment at Caspio so far?

I tend to plan things and I always think of scaling. I’d like to say that I was able to standardize certain processes that allowed my team to grow better. I’m proud of my team and they are my greatest accomplishment.

What’s the best thing about working for Caspio?

What I really like about Caspio is the diversity. Did you know that 15 different languages are spoken at Caspio? The fact that we have people from all around the world from diverse cultures working together toward the same goal is just amazing.

Any important lessons you’d like to share?

In life, persistence and patience are powerful traits. You will be able to overcome many challenges if you persevere.

Read more about the Caspio’s other Wonder Twin, Director of Product Management Dung Huynh.

Want to join the team? Check out our Careers page today!