At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate women entrepreneur – Sonika Nakkala for an exclusive interview with us. She is a Business Coach, Trainer, Image Consultant, Certified Life Coach, Leader, Change Maker and Entrepreneur. She is the Founder of Aureate Image Management. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, her background and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Sonika:
Talk us through your background and your journey, please;
I have pursued my Bachelor’s degree from CVR College of Engineering in Hyderabad and contributed my part to one of the finest IT companies in the world, Tata Consultancy Services for 2 years.
Being a continuous learner and good self-analyzer, I was able to question my skills and strengths whether or not are in sync with my goals and that’s where my journey has started.”
I did pursue Image Consulting and Soft Skills Training course from Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI), Hyderabad, after my IT contribution, and been a freelance trainer for two years for an NGO called Naandi Foundation, which is specifically designed for girls and its mission is to make “Poverty History” and, as a sustainable-oriented passionate human, I was inclined to pursue Post Graduate Diploma from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on Environment and Sustainable Development.
Currently working as a Soft Skills Trainer for an NGO called Nirmaan Organization, which works on promoting social innovations, volunteering spirit, active citizenship and social leadership among the youth of the nation.
As an ethical vegan, my passion is to bring awareness to Veganism, which involves thinking beyond our own self and trying to minimize the damage that we cause to the environment and our fellow non-human beings on this planet, through Vegan and Sustainable Fashion as this will be the future.”
I have also had an opportunity to be one of the participants of Indian Leadership Academy (ILA) for the certification programme to be an International Trainer and Coach and the experience was eye-opening, myth-busting which helped me in unlearning and relearning, the philosophy which I am always passionate about in leading human lives in a better manner
Hence I want to see myself as an Emotional Well-Being Coach, Cognitive Coach and Sustainable Lifestyle Coach
What made you passionate about ‘Coaching’?
I always believe in the fact that “We humans have solutions for anything in this universe. We only need the right questions to analyze problems” and that’s where coaching comes into the picture.
The purpose of coaching is to unlock a client’s potential to maximize their own performance by finding possibilities. It is about listening to clients rather than coach teaching or telling. It is a process of “co-creating solution together by building partnership with the client”, to evoke awareness and to make them realize that they have solutions within them, not elsewhere or not from the coach.
Coaching is all about “Listening, Acknowledging, Questioning” and is never about “Helping, Advising, Giving solutions, Judging, Being superior, Controlling”. Unfortunately most of the people, in the current market, who call themselves coaches are not following this principle.”
This I have unlearned from ILA and now I believe I can bring awareness on “What is coaching” to respective coaches who in general “help clients or give solutions to them”. My passion in coaching lies in the fact that I love to interact with people, to experience their experiences, to work with people who show a willingness to bring certain changes in their mindset and their life.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
The most fundamental parameter for a person to be a human is to be kind, to be open-minded and to have a deep introspection within in order to make better decisions by unlearning and relearning and by being self-aware of behaviour and communication and this is what drives me.
I also believe that we all humans all over the world are the same but the only difference is we vibrate differently for different situations.”
This fundamental thought has been sowed in my mind very deep that what all matters at the end is our experiences, our learnings and our unconditional love. This very fact helps me every second to lead my life as challenging and as simple as I can.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
When I was pursuing a Soft Skills Training course from ICBI, I got to know how Soft Skills are neglected in every person’s life. The importance of communication, teamwork, leadership skills, the impact of body language, interpersonal relations and problem-solving skills, was never given during my college under-graduation too.
The concept of goal setting was actually embedded in my life during this course and this is how I understood how I can control my life as I can analyze where I am going and also in which direction I am going.”
Also, one of the biggest motivators, other than goal-setting, will always be my past experiences and my previous day performances. Motivation for me revolves around how to improve NOW.
To consider a person as a source of motivation, then late Telugu actress Savithri is one kind human I always and always look up to as the first thought in my head. My parents’ leading their lives motivates me to have a balance in personal and professional life.”
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
1) Being open-minded
2) Being a good listener (which the whole world is looking for)
3) Being ethical and accountable
4) Being empathic
5) Being kind to animals (especially farm animals)
6) Being patient
7) Being able to accept anything coming into life
8) Being able to unlearn and relearn
Please share with us, how do you motivate your clients?
As a good listener, I tend to be genuine with my clients in whatever they are sharing or want to share with me. Without listening, there is no communication and connection. To motivate clients is to know personally what they can get motivation from by asking the right questions through coaching. Through questioning, I can understand the client’s responses that are coming from them. Hence a motivation source for them will have to come from them.
At times, clients themselves asks for suggestion or advice for a temporary situations and there I motivate my clients by explaining the scenario i.e by rephrasing what they said and make them believe that they have power to solve their problems and also give assurance that I will be there to empower, to support, to guide, to listen all the time.
Enhancing confidence within themselves by showcasing their strengths and uniqueness in them and also guidance on how they can utilize those strengths to achieve their goals is one of the strategies that always work.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
When I follow a simple principle of “We cannot change everything and everyone in this world, even if it happens so, there would still be one new person with a different mindset which you might not even meet that person anytime, because you die at the end and the generation comes in and the universe goes on”, it makes me realize that how small we humans are and thus being kind to anyone I meet (human and non-human) is enough and indeed is needed.
The relationships I have with my friends, family, colleagues, clients, mentors, trainers and coaches matters to me and this also is the reason to be positive and motivated
Also, when I receive honest feedback from a few of my students and clients that I was the best person they have ever met, this is more than being successful for me.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
In my opinion, to be honest, success is subjective to every individual.
However, when there are certain areas that will drive anyone to achieve success, according to them, then they can be the following:
(a) Accepting & Loving oneself
(b) Responsibility and accountability for one actions
(c) Standing up for oneself
(d) Positive Attitude
(e) Taking massive action (execution) with consistency and self-belief
(f) Possessing a continuous learning attitude
(g) Not comparing one’s success to someone else’s
(h) Being kind and genuine
(i) Providing value to society
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Career is the driving factor, as a whole package, which defines our life course with the elements of healthy finance, healthy relationships and a healthy lifestyle. In order to make decisions for a successful career, one must know their IKIGAI which is all about “Passion, Mission, Vocation and Profession” and this cannot be done overnight. It needs a consistent introspection on below four actions
– What they love (Passion)
– What the world needs so that they can provide value (Mission)
– What are they good at (Vocation)
– What they can be paid for (Profession)
Before branding and marketing (digital and social media), one needs to know what value they can provide to the world, i.e what is the need of the society they are fulfilling and what are the gaps they are filling. Because providing value will always lead to getting money.
Hence I would suggest students work on their IKIGAI and know how best versions they can be. There is so much to be shared, but this conversation limits how much I can communicate on this platform. Students and young professionals regularly reach out to me on LinkedIn with their specific queries.
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.
