When Divya Varshney boarded that flight from India to Melbourne, she carried more than luggage. She carried a toddler, a head full of doubts, and a career she wasn’t sure would survive the move.
Moving from homeland to another this relocation felt both inevitable and overwhelming especially as the sole provider for her family. “It was a one-way ticket,” she said. “There was no backup plan.”
Divya initially moved to Brisbane on a two-year project assignment while working from India. However, the project was unexpectedly impacted by cost-cutting measures, and she was asked to return within just 15 days. This sudden change wasn’t aligned with her long-term career plans, so she had to quickly pivot and begin searching for a new opportunity.
The Rebuild Begins
The early days weren’t easy. “I had to start from scratch,” Divya recalls. Despite having a decade of experience in SAP and ERP systems, she found herself applying for roles and hearing little back. She questioned whether she could break into the Australian job market without local experience or a professional network.
But giving up wasn’t an option—not for herself, and not for the child she was raising in a new land.
The First Break—and First Loneliness
Eventually, a job came through: a role in a government project in a different state, with a team she didn’t know, in a location far from family. She remembers the emotional weight of those first days—not just the professional pressure, but the ache of separation from her toddler during daycare drop-offs, and the solitude of building life in a place where everything was unfamiliar. Still, she showed up. Every day.
Over time, she found her rhythm. Her deep knowledge of SAP and strong project management skills started turning heads. What she brought to the table—especially her empathy and EQ—became assets, not question marks.
The Invisible Work of Belonging
Divya’s story is full of what she calls “invisible work”—the emotional labour of being the new one, the different one, the one still learning the culture while being expected to lead. It’s the kind of effort that doesn’t show up on performance reviews but shapes the culture of a team. “You’re not just doing your job. You’re also interpreting cues, softening your accent, translating your worth,” she says.
Paying It Forward
Today, Divya isn’t just leading teams in ERP projects—she’s also mentoring other people, especially women who are navigating similar journeys. “If I can make someone else’s transition smoother, it makes mine worth it,” she says. She’s passionate about diversity in tech, not as a buzzword, but as lived experience.
“We can build great systems if the people building them all look and make a great team.”
No Backup Plan Needed
Divya arrived in Australia without a safety net—but what she built was far stronger: resilience, connection, and a clear sense of purpose.
“I didn’t need to let go of who I was professionally to belong. I just had to find my own way to bring her forward.”
Her Story, Our Systems
ERP may be about integrating systems, but Divya’s story reminds us that behind every transformation is a human being integrating life’s many moving parts: family, fear, culture, ambition.
She’s not just a consultant. She’s a quiet builder of lives and systems alike.
Connect with Divya on LinkedIn
