Squarely in Their Corner

28 Jul 2021

A daughter of entrepreneurs helps others grow their businesses

Re: Amrita Ahuja (MBA 2007); Sarah Harden (MBA 1999)

Topics: Career-General Entrepreneurship Leadership-Leadership Style

Amrita Ahuja (MBA 2007) witnessed the hard work and challenges involved in running a small business: Her first job was working as a summer camp day counselor at her parents’ daycare center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Appointed CFO of Square, Inc. in 2018, Ahuja says joining the provider of easy-to-use online tools for payments, payroll, and loans was a natural fit, thanks to her background. “I felt the strongest purpose and calling in Square in helping that entrepreneur,” Ms. Ahuja told the Wall Street Journal, “because of where I grew up.”

Ahuja gives credit for her career direction to a “personal board of directors,” that includes Sarah Harden (MBA 1999), CEO of the Reese Witherspoon media company Hello Sunshine. The two worked together at Fox Networks Group, where Ahuja helped launch Hulu while Harden served as senior vice president overseeing strategy and business development for Fox’s entertainment and sports networks and digital properties. “She just demonstrated to me that perfect combination of badass businesswoman and mother,” said Ahuja, the mother of two young sons. “She rarely thinks about boundaries or limits and brings that to the world of storytelling now in the work that she’s currently doing.”