Reflections on my Entrepreneurial Journey

Taking a stroll down my memory lane with an intention to connect the dots!

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” ~ Steve Jobs

August 2013 - Coaching and Training is my inner calling. I had reached a point where it was now or never for me. After working in Telecom s/w industry for more than a decade, I finally gathered courage to quit my job to pursue my passion. Though, I had prepared myself in whatever way, I could, yet, it was one of the most difficult decisions of my life.While doing the required certifications, I conducted more than thirty workshops at Mahindra Comviva where I was working as a Senior Manager.

November 2013 - My vision was to create a platform where we thoughtfully engage to bring about transformation in individuals and organizations. I am glad that I could take the leap of faith and started my venture – Thoughtful Engagement.

December 2013 - It was followed by launching my first book – “Life Mantras by a Life Coach” , one of its kinds - a designer self-help book that aimed to appeal even the reluctant readers.

https://www.facebook.com/Life-Mantras-by-a-Life-Coach-551908401570159/

Both the milestones that I had set for myself in that year were achieved and I was determined to continue moving forward at an accelerated pace. But I had no idea what was in store for me so that I could evolve as a person and not just as an entrepreneur.

January 2014 - As they say, it's darkest before the dawn. This was the first week of Jan when I was struck by the devastating news of my mother’s cancer having relapsed again. And this time, it was diagnosed in the 4th stage with life expectancy of a few weeks only.

March 2014 - Next three months was the most traumatic phase of my life with every day hospital visits, and finally she left her body on 15th of March. I found it quite difficult to cope up with grief and pain of mom’s loss besides the pressure of no work, limited finances and constant questioning from internal and external world.

Every day, I used to fall down and had to realign myself to my purpose. The good part is that I always respected my decision, no matter what obstacles I faced. With a spiritual perspective, mom's blessings from the heaven and rock solid support from my family, I could bounce back in no time!

April 2014 - I managed to get my first training assignment in a month, and could successfully deliver the same. I focused on exceeding the expectations of my clients by delivering high impact training and coaching programs, and doors of opportunities started opening for me.

However, being the first generation entrepreneur in my family, I learnt my lessons the hard way. I had my share of setbacks and failures though I tried to cling to the learnings, constantly releasing the disempowering emotions. After all, the challenges and struggles that we undergo are important to make us the person that we are meant to become.

July 2014 - I conducted my first session for scientists at CSIR on communication skills, and got overwhelming feedback from the participants. I will always be thankful to Dr. Saxena, Director at CSIR:HRDC for providing me the opportunities to train hundreds of leading scientists and technical officers on soft skills from more than twenty cities of India. They have been instrumental in my growth as a trainer.

September 2014 - With a mission to bring transformation on this planet through transformation in the womb, I got empanelled as a Holistic Pregnancy Coach with three renowned maternity clinics, and became the pioneer in India in this domain.

October 2015 - I will always be grateful to Ankur Lal, CEO Infozech s/w for believing in me and giving me the first opportunity to coach which was to coach some first time managers that was followed by their supervisors. My work was hugely appreciated there, as they saw transformation in their employees.

July 2016 - I got to be associated with another company as an Executive Coach, this was a big breakthrough for me.

March 2017 - After doing all the courses at Landmark and completing the criteria, became an Introduction Leader with Landmark Worldwide. Also, in the same month, got Tripple Crown award at Toastmasters International for completing three tracks in public speaking and leadership in one year.

May 2017 - With an intention to further break my barriers, and see another side of me, I participated in Mrs India, and was accoladed for good nature and good work as "Mrs Charity India 2017".

https://lifeofhappinessweb.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/mrs-india-charity-she-is-india-2017/

November 2017 - My joy knew no bounds when my book was published with Hay House India after an evaluation process of about four months. A brilliant Foreword has been put by Rita Gangwani, designated as one of the top ten thinkers of the country. More than four years of research and relentless efforts have gone into it.

January 2018 - I was delighted to be honoured with the "Woman of the Spirit" award at Heart and Soul Women Rising Club.

By crossing twenty industries benchmark in less than four years, there are many who relate to me as a successful trainer, coach and an author. Somehow, I don't look at these successes as an accomplishment. I have taken the first few steps in my journey, and still have a long way to go.

I aspire to inspire people in every area of life whether it's work, relationships or health & well-being. I want to continue supporting organizations in building a high trust and high performance culture. As a Holistic Pregnancy Coach, want to keep empowering pregnant parents to address their and their baby’s psychological and spiritual dimension besides physical and intellectual as they nourish their unborn. By enabling and empowering faculties and students, I want to do my bit to alter the future of the nation.

My work is worship and my ideology is to adopt a holistic approach to well-being and leadership that promotes mind, body and spirit unification.

What ultimately matters is the lives that we touch and the legacy, we leave behind. I want to continue making a difference and make this world a better place in my own special ways. And that’s what I pray and work for every single day.

To live life with boundless joy and immense fulfillment in service to humanity, is the quest that I embark on!