Interview with Anu Krishna | Mind Coach | NLP Trainer | Mental Health Advocate | Speaker | Author | Co-Founder at Unfear Changemakers LLP and Soulful Exploration LLP
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 yet another passionate Entrepreneur and Leader Anu Krishna for an exclusive interview with us. But before we learn more, let’s know a little bit about her.
Anu is a Mind Coach, NLP Trainer, Consultant, Author, Speaker and Leader. She is the Co-founder of The Soulful Exploration and Unfear Changemakers.
More about her role, certifications and affiliations:
– NLP Trainer (National Federation of Neuro Linguistic Programming, NFNLP, USA)
– NLP Master Practitioner (NFNLP, USA)
– Energy Work Specialist (Institute for Inner Studies, Manila)
– Diploma holder in Art Therapy (CPD) and Law of Attraction Practitioner (Global Sciences Foundation)
– Creative Writer (The Writers Bureau, UK)
– Karnataka Chairperson for Coaching (All Ladies League, Women Economic Forum)
– President of Harmony Circle (A Mental Health Indo-Nigeria Initiative)
– Executive Member of Indian Association of Adolescent Health (M.I.A.A.H)
– Member of Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI)
Awards
– Exceptional Women of Excellence at the Global Annual Conference of Women
– Shikshaka Ratna Award (Economic Forum 2018)
She also actively contributes articles and journals to various Indian and International Research Journals. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Anu:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey, please;
I was born and raised in Mumbai, the Land of Dreams and I dreamed; BIG and continue to do so.
Belonging to an ordinary middle-class family, what was passed to me as a value system by my elders was: Be good, be there for others, study well, serve others.”
I did harbor the dream of becoming a journalist as learning languages and expressing through writing is my soul gift; but as they say, life usually has other plans which were revealed to me as I started growing up.
I studied in RA Podar College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai and was pursuing my CA as astuteness with numbers went down well with me.
But through the course, I used to fret, and I did know that my heart wanted to walk down another path. But not before the travails of this course not only taught me to NEVER GIVE UP but also, gave me a glimpse of what my life would be like many years later.
What made you passionate about ‘Coaching’?
The glimpse that I mentioned previously was that:
while travelling by the suburban local trains in the ladies compartment, women would come up and sit in front of me, share their life and say: thank you for listening; I feel better. At age 20, I couldn’t make much of this and never gave it a second thought.”
This still happens to me, just that now I am conscious of the role of a Mind Coach and being better equipped and possibly more mature than way back then, there is a better interaction and maybe a resolution even if it’s a random chat with someone I don’t know.
I never chose Coaching, it chose me. As cliche as this may sound, this is what it is! In the late 2000s, I had a huge setback that shattered core belief systems leading to a huge mental health dip. What started as visits to psychologists, gave way to a firm resolution to take charge of my life.”
I relied heavily on NLP besides the work of Rumi, Paulo Coelho, Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins and Osho. These amazing people would go on to hold my hand as I questioned life and its meaning. That’s when I promised myself: No one should ever have to go through mental health or any challenges alone ever again.
The belief that, “You can teach people to do anything, but when you teach them to create a mindset to support it, they are gifted with a chance at perseverance, adaptability and resilience!”
With years of working with people through coaching and training, I eased into a space of living her higher purpose of making a difference and impacting people to create the life that they want free of fears, liberating themselves to realize their Inner Strength!
‘The Soulful Exploration’ and ‘Unfear Changemakers’ are such unique names; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
What prompted me to start Soulful Exploration LLP?
To enable people to have a deeper understanding of themselves and live the moment through various art forms that have been curated so people have a complete mind, body and soul alignment through larger-than-life experiences leading to inner transformation.
The company also wants to grow a community of Soulful Explorers who are people of a similar mind space and energy where love, support and care for other souls increase the collective consciousness of the planet.”
This is done through curated Wellness Retreats infusing Ancient Wisdom in Mind Sciences and also involving experts in the field of Conscious Art and Music keeping in mind Holistic Wellness.
What prompted me to start Unfear Changemakers LLP?
To enable people to work on what they are stuck with to what they truly want from life, so they find their potential and lead an extraordinary life. The company also is involved in a large-scale movement of reaching out to people to share their stories of how they un-feared themselves and stood out despite all the odds against them and urging others to do the same.
This is done through one-on-one coaching, group coaching and/or training sessions keeping in mind a Holistic and well-rounded approach.”
You formalized both the companies during the heat of the Pandemic. What made you have the courage to do this?
I have been some sort of ‘rebel’ from a very early age. If I was asked or told that something would not happen, my mind would instantly be challenged to dig deeper and actually find a way out.
Things of course were absolutely fine as a Solopreneur, but the formalization as partnerships put that extra bit to have a clear roadmap in the Mental Health and Wellness industry and when better than the Pandemic when scores of people were going through challenges with their health; physical and mental, job-related insecurities, youth challenges with isolation from their peers, marriage breakdowns and many more.
Uncertainties from the Pandemic clearly brought out the fragilities of the mind and human lives and with both the companies aiming to make a difference and nudge people to take massive action, so that time was right and we (all the business partners) are truly happy that we believed in ourselves and lived our Higher Purpose in all authenticity.”
Holistic Wellness and a Conscious Life is what the world needs to internalize right at this moment to lead a meaningful life and that’s exactly what we offer.
What is the roadmap for your business ventures?
The world is a beautiful place if each of us creates that reality within ourselves and starts living it.
It will be our humble attempt to create a safe space where people can share, experience and change their mindsets to lead a better quality of life.
Curating wellness experiences across the world at exotic and humble locales by infusing Mind Sciences with Ancient Wisdom from across the world is our niche. Our global collaboration partners who are aligned to the concept also have stepped in where we have created Confluences and White tie Gala events to further the business and its purpose.
Our clear roadmap is building a conscious community where people are connected through our retreats, programs and workshops and share that platform to not only share their transformative experiences but also feel the interconnection between other members thereby leading conscious and fulfilling lives.
Our aim (Unfear Changemakers LLP and Soulful Exploration LLP) is to reach out to 1 million people by 2025 as they take charge of their Mental Health and Holistic Wellness.”
How do you integrate/blend your coaching with your wealth of knowledge in form of experience to give them something that they remember for the rest of their lives?
Human beings and their lives are never in isolation. The mind communicates with the body and vice versa all the time. So, in addition to coaching, I integrate the sessions with some experiences that include healing modalities, hypnosis, wellness experiences that curated to make them sensory-rich where the mind and bodywork in beautiful tandem for a transformative experience in every area of their lives, better relationships, meaningful work, improved health and more.
Every modality is infused with Chakra healing, 5 elements integration that gives the participant an experience for a lifetime with raised levels of consciousness where they are part of the Global Community as well as being a contributor to this beautiful world.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Challenges are a path to growth and progress. It keeps us alive and in the moment. Life shows us what we want to see and when we instil the belief system of challenges bringing us overall growth, somehow for me personally, it fuels me from within to keep moving. Stagnation is harmful, To be in momentum aids that growth and this is what keeps me on my toes.
Also, I like hearing failure stories from people and what they did to overcome those failures. These not only inspire me to keep moving but also, makes me resilient in the face of challenges.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
The Divine, my wonderful family and a few close friends. I know they believe me no matter what. Even on days, when I question myself or second guess myself, just for them to say: I believe you, no matter what…this again pushes me back to the belief that I just answered in the previous question.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
1) Being in Gratitude every moment
2) Being in the NOW
3) Positive reframing
4) Books by Paulo Coelho, Osho and Tony Robbins
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
We are all energy, and everything starts from us; every thought, every feeling and every action that emanates from us carries an energy that impacts not only us but also everyone around us and all the people in the world.
This puts the responsibility on me to be conscious of what I put out into the world; so being positive spreads that energy just about anywhere. Of course, as a human, I do have my ride on the roller coaster of emotions that can take the rug off my feet. But when I remind myself of the responsibility to the planet, I step up and take charge.
To enable this, I practice Zen Buddhism principles of being in the NOW and the Sufi art of being in Love every moment. Also being an NLP Trainer, the tools that I have learned and that I teach are something that I always am armed with to be at my optimum best.
Please share with us, how do you motivate your clients?
By creating a sacred bubble for them to share, be silent where they feel safe. Here is where I would like to add, coaching is not about me as a Coach, it is about the person/s in front of me.
I exist as a Coach because of them, so earning their trust is something that actually can motivate them to feel at ease.”
And of course, observe, watch…as a Coach it isn’t just the tools and techniques as much as what observing the clients can do. The key to a ‘successful session’ is to observe the client as they are constantly giving out signals and signs subconsciously and being with them can fuel them towards their outcomes
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
– Lead with your Heart
– Live your Truth
– Become a Contributor
– Embrace Money as an Energy
– Network consciously with a purpose
– Value your time and that of others
– Take your business to the next level when someone in the team has begun to do what you do
– Keep upgrading your skills and constantly be open to learning
– Observe challenging times with dignified silence to respond better
What are the other things that you do to live your purpose?
My mantra in life is: Serve and Serve selflessly.
Pro-bono ways of reaching out to people are:
I also run an Indo-Nigerian initiative called Harmony Circle whose intent is to Say ‘No’ to Suicide and ‘Yes’ to Life. This is in the process of being registered as a Trust as we speak. Every life matters and every life must be celebrated.
Harmony Circle will focus on Mental Health Awareness and reach out to people and help them through their challenging times.
I am also the Mental Health Guru and columnist on Rediff.com, where I coach through videos, columns and QnA.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
Firstly, it is important to define what ‘success’ is. It can mean earning more, buying property, taking holidays abroad, creating a family, working in a farm, working in a non-profit organization, hearing a child’s giggle…
Our society has been conditioned to measure success and power through money and fame and this is what as a Mind Coach I want to change that mindset in people where they can rewire their thinking to start ‘feeling’ things and emotions more to start experiencing what really fuels them from within.”
This state of mind can actually drive so much energy into work and other places where effort is needed and it can bring about ease.
But if you truly want to know the keys to success, here goes:
> Live your higher purpose every moment (do not be flustered if you haven’t found it as yet, actually, you need to get in touch with your core values to move towards finding your higher purpose)
> Be in gratitude for everything and everyone
> Collaborate not because your revenue will be 2x, 5x BUT because that collaboration will bring something of bigger value to people/planet
> Everyday set yourself mini-goals that lead to the bigger goal and pat yourself on the back for reaching every mini goal
> Measure your efforts not against an outcome but through purposefully moving every day towards the main goal. like Tony Robbins, talks of Progress with everyday movement rather than success which is attached to the main goal.
> Live every moment meaningfully becoming aware; observe your breath, the greenery around you, a child’s laughter, the food that you are eating
> Surrender to what IS; when you resist and be in the flow, things and people that are meant to be with you, will
> Internalize that people are not ill-meaning; the situations that they are in make them who they are
> Show up every day authentically; be who you are
What about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
As a child, I was told repeatedly: Kisi ki Khushi mein shaamil ho ya na ho, par maiyyat pe zaroor logon ke paas zaroor rehna (loosely translated to: whether you are part of people’s happiness or not, but surely be with them in their sad/challenging times)…This belief has seeped in so deep that it always helps me in empathizing with the other person and watching them grow through the coaching/healing process.
The smile, the slow breath, the silence, says it’s all…words cannot even describe this!
Could you please tell us a bit more about the book that you wrote during the pandemic?
The Pandemic made me realize that people were alone during time of uncertainty and these unknowns will always be part of our lives. Thus the book ‘The Secret of Life – Decoding Happiness’was written on Mental Health and self-coaching and focuses on awareness in each area of our lives and how we are stuck with challenges and the practical tools to overcome these challenges leading to a core inner transformation.
It also won an award in the best non-fiction Category in November 2020. Also, this book will help those who fear seeing a therapist or a Mental Health expert and also those who may not be able to afford the same.
The icing on the cake for me was that I egged my daughter, Nitika Krishna, who is a budding journalist and a writer who has been training under me in Mind Sciences to take on the fiction part while I focused on the non-fictional coaching part. This blend of fact and fiction will take the readers on a personal core transformational journey and fill the gap between who they are and who they want to be.
This book is a self-coaching practical guide with a storyline and a real implication running through it with exercises at the end of each chapter. It encompasses each area of our lives and our connection with them. It is available on Amazon and Kindle.”
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Dream Big, Love your naysayers as they are your biggest motivators and most importantly, laugh a lot and love more…the world awaits your uniqueness, so show up…
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