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 Neha Wahi for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Author, Leader, Teacher Trainer, Parent Coach, ED Consultant, Career Guidance Expert and Change Enabler. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Neha:
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
I see myself as a lifelong traveller, on the constant journey of learning, growth and evolution. In the past few years, I found myself playing various roles and donning multiple hats to find a way to my purpose & calling.
After being certified from the prestigious Dale Carnegie, I started my career as an expert on ‘communication & cross–cultural etiquettes’, training senior corporate leaders on how to meet/greet/engage with- colleagues/ clients & associates across different continents, with elan & panache.
After working with varied industries from Chemical to FMCG, Tele-com to Hospitality, Chemical to Banking and many more I drifted to working with the student -teacher Community, to fulfil my subdued longing to bring my ‘first love’- my education & training into Psychology- to action.
Ever since then, there has been no looking back. I have now worked with 2500 plus schools across the globe, hundreds of colleges, institutes, NGOs, hospitals, hotels, banks and corporates. As a Psychologist, Author, Parent Coach, Teacher Trainer, Career Guidance Expert, Corporate Coach and Vibration Catalyst, I must say my journey so far has been extremely fulfilling and motivating.
How did you discover your passion?
Over the years, one thing that always remained constant in my personal and professional life was the deep desire to ‘serve others through my knowledge’. To make a small difference in someone’s life enabling them to rethink, restructure and relive a life of meaning and purpose.
I always had a keen interest in people & processes. Psychology allowed me to work closely at a mental-emotional-social and physiological level with those in need. I found a natural calling in guiding students to map their passion and talents with apt career choices.
As an enabler, helping Teachers plan & perform better at School, was hugely satisfying. Helping disillusioned parents cope with the new-gen-parenting challenges and seeing the parent-child relationship flourish was rewarding in every way.
Receiving training from giants like Princeton, Yale, Coaching Academy, UK and Dr. Richard Bandler- the co-creator of NLP, was my biggest blessing.
What do you consider your biggest achievements?
Out of the many others, receiving the ‘Shiksha Gaurav Samman’, ‘Women Transforming the Nation Award & the ‘National Women Pride Award’ means the most to me.
Being a TED-India Mentor, being a part of the leadership of Woman With Wings and now on the journey of my second book are all accomplishments close to my heart.
Being interviewed by Forbes India, Indian Express and TOI for my work, have felt nothing less than pride & honour.
My Book PowerComm, From a Speaker to an Influencer, won the Tagore Commemorative Award 2023 and the most recommended book of 2023 by NE8x.
I won the Writer of the Month, in Nov 2023 at the NE8x Writers Global
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I would rather say “I am EXTREMELY GRATEFUL for the challenges” that came by in my life. They not only gave me a holistic understanding of self but also helped me discover the infinite power of our subconscious minds, through which are born- the splendid qualities of strength, grit, determination and willpower.
In my opinion, the ups & downs- of challenges, bring with them a promise of hope & change, rather than a flat line of a dull – monotonous life which often makes you revisit the status quo- “are you living or merely existing?’. As a woman, I strongly believe, “We women are like tea bags, our innate flavor and strength, best emerge best in boiling water.”
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My children have and always will be the biggest source of motivation in my life. I have had the honour of raising the two most beautiful girls, as a single mother and a dual parent.
My children’s unconditional love along with their unwavering faith in me and my abilities to give them the life they deserve, have indeed added to my mental and physical stamina to go out and face the world each day.
If my children were my heart, my parents and sister, were my spine; who ensured, no matter what, my head is always held high and I remain unstoppable like a force of nature.
The third and immensely important source of motivation for me was my promise to myself, a vow of ‘self -growth’. As a rule, I had planned to plough back 30% to 50% of all my earnings (big or small) into learning, upskilling and upgrading myself. This led me to grow as a professional and tangibly mark the small spurts of growth that came in my path.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
These are not mere strategies but mantras that I live by:
1. Self-Awareness & Self-Acceptance
2. Empathy & Compassion – for self & others
3. Constant- focused- mapped- Self-Work
4. Forgiveness & Gratitude- as a habit
5. Unaltering Faith & Unfailing Prayer
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
> Planning ahead in time.
> Frequently reviewing & improvising on the plans.
> Celebrating every milestone: even a small success.
> Keeping oneself motivated and on point, at each step.
> Being open to learn, relearn & unlearn along the way.
> Converting negative self-talk to positive affirmations.
> Finding ways to strengthen self-belief and keep walking towards the goal.
> Giving gratitude for the journey and its outcome.
> Learning from both; success & failure & restarting all over again.
What advice would you give to our readers?
“Your soul knows it all and you always know the answers you seek outside.”
Thanks to the perpetual chaos we live in, we have forgotten to connect with our ownsleves. We have time for everyone except our ownsleves. We listen to, tend to and gratify everyone else’s expectations of us, forgetting what we most need as a human and as an individual.
My suggestion to everybody is to make a conscious effort to stop, for a few minutes each day and hear that tiny inner voice, that has sadly been lost and muted in the external chatter. Once you have explored what you exactly need to do and why, you’ll naturally be able to unravel the ‘how’. We were created to be limitless just like the vast Universe, all that held us up were are own limiting beliefs. Change them, drop them and you are free to soar.
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
Different interactions have led to different types of gratification. As a Trainer, facilitating learning to enhance people’s professional journey’s and see them climb up the ladder is a wonderful takeaway.
As a Career Guidance Expert, helping and seeing students follow their dreams passionately and confidently, overcoming societal taboos and familial judgments, is deeply gratifying. Their success feels no less than my own.
As a Vibration Catalyst, being able to work at the ground level with people, understanding their pain points, their struggles, their challenges and teaching them on how they can better their lives and build a dream life for themselves brings to me a heart full of gratitude for my own work.
As an Author of ‘PowerComm’, seeing readers drop their stage phobias and public speaking inhibitions and become confident orators and influencers feels like my mission is nearly achieved!
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.
