At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Aanchal Shah for an exclusive interview with us. Aanchal is a Soft skill Trainer, Life Coach, Communication Coach, Yogini and Co-Founder at ChicMomz. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Aanchal:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
My professional journey so far has been really exciting from working as a product manager and handling international trade to being a compliance advisory in foreign exchange services, I have served in the banking industry for more than 10 years. Then my career took a completely different road and I started my entrepreneurial journey along with being a life coach and a corporate trainer.
After my MBA from IBS Mumbai, I joined the product management team at HDFC Bank Limited HQ in Mumbai, contributing to the growth of international trade and foreign exchange. Thereafter, I worked with American Express bank as a compliance advisory in Trade and foreign services handling the US, UK & Australian markets.
Currently, I am a founder of a maternity fashion label chicmomz which I started in the midst of the pandemic in 2020. The Bootstrapped has been a real hit as celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Neha Dhupia, Kishwer Merchant, Anita Hasanandani, etc. have endorsed it.
Also, I am working as a life coach & a corporate trainer and have trained professionals from various banking industry, IT sector, digital marketing companies, etc. and have a good organic reach on Instagram (50k).
How did you discover your passion as a ‘Coach’?
My corporate and personal life has made me experience the ups as well as the downsides of life. The learnings which I discover on an everyday basis about the corporate world, individuals, human mindset makes me curious to learn more.
And these learnings have made me passionate about giving knowledge and guidance to the people who are seeking it. I believe that knowledge grows within yourself when you give it to others.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Empowering everyone around me and helping them to overcome their fear, myths, stereotypical things around mental health, self love, self-awareness and love. Empowering others make me feel empowered every single day. That keeps me going and growing.
I believe in sharing Joy. I believe all people are capable of change. It is important to understand people are shaped by their experiences and circumstances.
It is impeccable to see a world in which all people have the potential to work and improve their mental and emotional health and achieve harmony. Healing themselves first and then later promoting healthier families and communities.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My life changed 360 degrees when I gave birth to my daughter Mishka. The amount of courage and potential I felt within myself was something I never did. My work makes me feel the actual freedom within.
To be honest, my actual strength, confidence, maturity, calmness and satisfaction come when I make people grow along with me. When I was in the corporate world, then also I used to feel so satisfied by imparting knowledge to my subordinates. So, my two sources of motivation are my daughter and my work.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
> Mindful living
> Always being resourceful
> Taking extreme ownership and responsibility for my actions Courage
> Ability to take risks & venture into uncharted territories.
> Loving and taking care of my own mental health
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I will say it straight that there are many factors but if you really have to have the key elements then to me these are the ones:
(a) Accepting & Loving myself.
(b) Responsibility for my actions
(c) Standing up for myself
(d) Cutting down toxic people from my life
(e) Curiosity
(f) Positive Attitude
(g) Discipline towards my own actions
What advice would you give to our readers?
We human beings are made to do mistakes but repeating them and not learning from them is our choice. We always have a choice and it is always in our hands. One needs to keep working on our goal. Even if it doesn’t happen at that time, the fruits will definitely come to you.
Make wise choices and think about your own self first. Not in a selfish manner but to make your inner self satisfied. Till the time you won’t have your hands full you will never be able to help anyone. So keep learning and growing.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Getting great feedback from those who have been inspired through my social media content, through my coaching sessions/programs amps up my energy to deliver more value to them.
Seeing shifts in them and in their journey makes it satisfying because I see their success as my success and their breakthroughs as mine. My awards and recognitions are the smiles and positivity people get through my content and coaching.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
