As Batten Hour’s February 26 speaker, Netflix Vice President of Policy Ruchi Bhowmik (Law, 97) advised students to go for the interesting jobs. Bhowmik has been guided by her instincts and her desire to learn new things. While she began her career in a firm after graduating from UVA Law, her career has spanned government and business roles including staff positions for both Senator and later President Barack Obama, as well as policy leadership roles at EY (Ernst & Young), PepsiCo and now Netflix.

How does a streaming service like Netflix intersect with politics and policymaking? With the purpose of entertaining the world, what role does this type of platform play in a democracy?

Noting that there will be more than 20 major elections across the globe this year, Bhowmik said, “the whole world is going to vote and this is not lost on us…so the intersectionality is more about giving everyone an opportunity to find something that can be just a moment of Zen.” While Netflix offers educational documentaries on a range of topics, the bulk of its content is offers viewers “a place to go, maybe away from the noise, and if we want to cry, we can watch a show that's going to make us cry. If we want to laugh, we can do that.”

Bhowmik and Dean Ian Solomon have known each other since 2005, and in his introduction of her, he described her as “…wicked smart, super effective. Everybody wants her on their teams because she gets things done. She’s also fun.”

Bhowmik said she found a lot of fun in the roles she has landed over her successful career, and told students to be open and to go for the interesting over the lucrative, if they have that luxury.

“I've had jobs that I never knew existed (like) deputy cabinet secretary at the White House... and it was definitely one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. Netflix did not exist when I graduated from college. The world is going have a lot of amazing opportunities for you.”

When President Obama assumed office, Bhowmik became special assistant to the president for policy in the Office of the Chief of Staff and later moved on to deputy cabinet secretary. During her time in the White House, she worked on issues related to pandemics and to the Gulf oil spill of 2010.

“Ruchi was part of the coordinating team trying to catch the pandemics early before they become pandemics and save thousands, millions of lives,” shared Dean Solomon, who also highlighted her work on improving policies regulating the oceans.

“There are so many issues that you don't know much about because you were very young, many of you,” he said. “But also because they were crises that were solved.”

Bhowmik loved her career in government and while working with various industries across the world, she recognized how critical businesses are to the economy and to the well-being of the country. She decided to try something new by exploring things from a business angle.

“Having an opportunity to be much more market facing and work on the business (side) was just really interesting,” Bhowmik shared. “I like learning. EY’s clients were diverse and widespread. It was just a lot of fun – to use the word fun again.”

Joining Bhowmik as moderator was Meghana Annamaneni, a 3rd-year student studying economics and foreign affairs with a minor in public policy and leadership. The two shared their mutual love of Never Have I Ever, a Netflix series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher and loosely based on Kaling’s childhood experiences.

“One of the key reasons, and this isn't an exaggeration, that I joined Netflix is because of Never Have I Ever which is a show about a teenage Indian American girl dealing with a lot of hilarious dramas and romances in high school,” said Bhowmik. “It was the first time in my life that I had ever seen someone who kind of approximated me reflected on TV.  When Netflix called me and was talking to me, I was like…maybe this is the place for me.”

This instinct has driven Bhowmik throughout her career, a guiding force that is woven throughout every role she’s had.

“As you're looking at companies, you're going to find more and more that are purpose-driven, that have a mission that goes beyond just through their bottom line,” said Bhowmik. “I've been really fortunate in my career to work for purpose-driven companies.”