When Megha Tolia moved to Dallas in 2021, it was mostly to be closer to family.
She didn’t know it then, but the move would lead to her to becoming a champion for entrepreneurial leadership, mentorship and global innovation at Southern Methodist University.
This isn’t a surprise, as Tolia knows business well.
In a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News, Tolia reflected on her move to Dallas and the community she’s built here. She also shared advice she’d give young women wanting to build a successful career in business.
Since 2023, Tolia has served as founding co-director of the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in SMU’s Cox School of Business with her husband Nirav Tolia, co-founder and former CEO of Nextdoor.
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Prior to that, Tolia was the first president and chief operating officer of Shondaland, the global television production company responsible for TV series like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and Bridgerton. Prior to that, she was vice president of e-commerce and strategy for the lifestyle unit of S.C. Johnson or brand manager at Neutrogena.
Most recently, the Spears Institute announced Tolia was appointed to also serve in the newly created role of global ambassador.
The goal is for her to forge global partnerships, strengthen mentorship opportunities for students and elevate SMU’s presence in the worldwide entrepreneurial ecosystem, officials said in the announcement.
“Megha exemplifies the global leadership and entrepreneurial mindset that define the Spears Institute,” said Todd Milbourn, dean and Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership at the business school.
“Her experience scaling creative ventures and leading at the intersection of business and culture makes her an extraordinary ambassador for our mission.”
‘Amplification of the mission’
The Tolia family lived in San Francisco before they moved to Florence, Italy, in 2019, so Nirav could spend two years serving as a visiting professor for Stanford.
When the Tolias and their three sons moved to back to the U.S. in 2021 and settled in Dallas, they only knew family.
Tolia said it took time to adjust and build authentic relationships but one of the most notable is her neighbors, Bill Spears and his wife, Candye, which led to the Tolias becoming co-founding directors at the Spears Institute.
“This speaks to the power of community in Dallas, and these friendships and relationships we were slowly building,“ Tolia said. ”I think as [Spears] got to know us and he saw kind of how passionate we were about what we do and inspiring the youth, he started to talk to us about his vision and what he wanted with the institute.”
Tolia said she and Nirav didn’t have any connections to SMU, but they believe in entrepreneurship and the idea of what the institute is trying to achieve with an attitude of “If you can see it, you can be it.”
The institute exists to catalyze the next generation of business people, and build mentorship and a network to support that, Tolia said.
“We saw this as an opportunity for us to take areas that we were passionate about — Nirav obviously has deep expertise in tech and entrepreneurship and I do from a different lens — and we wanted to do that here in Dallas and keep entrepreneurship alive and staying in North Texas. To start to put us on the map,” Tolia said.
Tolia’s new global ambassador role at the Spears Institute will help with the goal of getting SMU and Dallas on the map as she builds connections outside the day-to-day operations. She’ll largely be acting as a liaison with other organizations and universities.
“It’s really about amplification of the mission,” Tolia said. “Ultimately, we’re trying to propel the youth across all of America to keep the U.S. at the forefront of innovation and entrepreneurship and amazing companies. I really believe that bringing minds together is a one plus one equals three situation.”
‘Look as you leap’
Tolia said she likes to do things in threes and fives, a habit she said she actually shares with her husband.
So, in Tolia fashion, she shared advice for young women in three parts:
First, she said young women wanting to work in the business industry, especially recent college graduates or those starting their careers, need to have the ability to tolerate being misunderstood.
“This is something that took me some time to sort of realize,” Tolia said. “When you’re working toward something and building something meaningful — and I will say that especially as [a] female, you have to advocate for your ideas and try to be the loudest voice in the room where that’s not always the obvious — sometimes it lends itself to being misunderstood.”
The second part of her advice is to “look while you leap.”
Women often want to be fully prepared, Tolia said, but emphasized that there’s an important balance. As long as you’re 70 to 80% prepared, she encourages people to “jump in and polish as you go.”
Timing and opportunity matter, she said, and so does trusting your capabilities rather than risking something passing you by.
Finally, in order to do take the leap, Tolia recommended spending early career years “building competence to create confidence.”
“There are no shortcuts,” Tolia said. “You’ve got to put in the work and build that competence, so that as you excel and you’re trying to advance your vision or you’re trying to create more impact, you can look while you’re leaping.”
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This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
