MAHSA POORAK

March was Women’s History Month so that means it was time for area women to come together for the annual Greater Vidalia Chamber of Commerce’s ConnectHER dinner and social and Thursday night, nearly 200 ladies did just that.

Mahsa Poorak, the Chief Operating Officer of Southern Electric Co., LLC, in Alpharetta was the keynote speaker. Mahsa decided to leave her job in the Public Defenders’ Office in California to come back to Georgia several years ago to run a business started by her Iranian immigrant father after his death and take her place in a profession predominantly driven by men and it was a decision in which she is glad to have made.

“My Dad was the most influence in my life and still is,” she said. “When he died suddenly in an accident, I didn’t have time to ask him what he wanted to do with the company. For three months, I thought about it, and I think if he could, he’d say ‘Do it.’ I also knew that if I didn’t do it at the time, I’d probably never get the chance to do it again.”

Mahsa said it is an honor to serve in her father’s footsteps and be in a leadership role and working with her employees and clients and although she’s always in the minority when it comes to gender at meetings and gatherings of her colleagues, it doesn’t stop her from performing her job to the best of her ability or intimidate her.

Mahsa volunteers locally with Toombs Family Connection’s program “This Girl Can!” and she has a message to young girls who want to break the mold of stereotyping career choices for women.

“I’d tell them to ‘Just do it!’” she said. “Don’t be afraid. There is no such thing as wasted time or opportunities. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t mean what you did was wrong. Don’t be discouraged by failures; just try something else.”