Tanveer Patel is diminutive, humble, and hardly the stereotypical power-woman our culture likes to parade on magazine covers. Don’t be fooled. Patel is a shrewd business woman with an incredible eye for what constitutes success. Growing up in India, Patel looked to her father, an entrepreneur, as a major role model in her life. “My father taught me that I could do anything that I put my mind to.”
In 2003, she and her husband relocated from Chicago to Birmingham, Alabama for the business opportunities here. “It also seemed like a great place to raise a family and very close to what it’s like in India. We want our kids to grow up with good values.”

Patel is the president of Circle Source, a software development company founded in 2002. Circle Source provides access to companies pursuing Indian based technology resources. Developing custom software solutions and serving as an outsourcing link is a passion for Patel, who was encouraged to pursue a business career by her husband.

“It’s an excuse to think you cannot be a success in business if you are a woman! It’s really all about hard work. It is a challenge to juggle family needs and a professional career. Women in business often have to wear multiple hats. How do you manage all of that? Where do you devote your time in order to truly maximize your work and achieve your goals? I believe in working smart! You can do better by working smart than by just working hard.”

Apart from the challenge of serving as the president of Circle Source, Patel has a lifelong dream of developing a business school where she can help further women with an entrepreneurial vision, both here and in her home country of India. “I want to help women find the freedom to be innovative and creative. I see people as possessing intelligence and incredible potential.”

Patel lists her husband as one of her greatest supporters in business and credits his enthusiasm for her entrepreneurial drive. Most of her mentors have been men, with the exception of Susan Matlock of Birmingham’s Entrepreneurial Center. When asked for resources that have influenced her professional pursuits she was quick to mention Timothy E. Taylor, venture capitalist and author of Launch Fever, a book focusing on business startups and maintaining a familial balance in process. She also is quick to include Indira Gandhi, a former Prime Minister of India, as a great role model for women.

“It is sometimes hard to find a balance between a professional life and a personal life. Some entrepreneurs have a hard time balancing the two. There is always a compromise around the corner and great temptations to face,” Patel said. “But how do you define success? For me it is raising a family and finding the right balance between my professional life and my personal life. It’s not easy, but it can be done.”