Remarkable Women
Everywhere I look, I see remarkable women—intelligent, hardworking, and compassionate individuals whom I would trust to lead our companies and institutions. Yet, in my coaching practice, I discovered that many of these brilliant women have internalized doubts about their leadership abilities. They grapple with self-doubt and are often exhausted by organizational or family cultures that undervalue women's perspectives and contributions.
For many years, I battled with my own self-doubts. Through coaching, I observed these same doubts in others and learned techniques and tools to empower women to set ambitious goals that stretch beyond their comfort zones - and in doing so, to dare to live life on their own terms.
My story: An Unusual Childhood
As a child, I followed my diplomatic parents around the world, experiencing a life of constant movement and adventure. I moved to 10 schools in 15 years, living in London, Paris, Myanmar, New Delhi, and finally settling in the French Alps.
While this life was enriching and wonderful, it was also hard for the shy young girl I was. Constantly being the “new kid” trying to fit in was exhausting, and figuring out the unspoken rules in each new school took a toll.
As a young woman, I grappled with fear and struggled to rebuild my identity. I discovered that confidence is a slippery friend, often present only when things are going well. What I needed instead was to build a new and strategic relationship with my self-doubt. I learned to objectively see what I am capable of despite the fear, and to not let my inner critic hold me back from trying.
Why I coach…
My constantly changing life has also taught me to see things from different perspectives.
In trying to understand what the implicit rules were for fitting in, I learned to listen deeply and to read the subtle signals in people's body language that often told me much more than their words. Over and above my qualifications, it's these skills that allow me to truly help my clients today.
Witnessing a new thought take root and transform someone's worldview and their sense of what is possible for them, is incredibly rewarding for me.
Coaching also allows me to bring out the best in myself. During the time I spend with my clients, I have the opportunity to be a deep and empathetic listener who offers space and time for someone else’s journey.
I get to be the person I'd like to be all the time.
Why Women?
At the age of 14, I was sent to India to live with my paternal grandparents for a year. My loving and lovely grandmother was a wonderful cook and looked after both my brother and myself with love and care. She was also the result of her times. Her firm belief was that a woman’s place was at home and in the kitchen – a point of view that I could not agree with.
There were very few female figures in leadership or authority positions that I could look up to as role models and I did not have any vocabulary or ideas around a women’s rights and yet, something in me rebelled when my grandmother wanted me to “get into the kitchen” - since it was “high time I learnt to cook.” Cooking, in fact was not the issue - it was the why behind the cooking. You see, I was not told that I needed to cook because it is a great life skill, and not because cooking can be fun and creative – but because I was a girl.
The seed of dissent was sown. The culture, the movies, the books on the school reading lists, most of the history we were taught supported this mindset – one where women were either absent or subservient.
Gradually, as I explored and woke up to the world, I found people and mentors that supported my point of view - that women did not have to be limited by stereotypes and the stories they are told.
What they did for me, I now do for my clients.
As a coach, I do my best work with:
Women who have achieved incredible success but seek more from their work and life.
Women who want to work and live without paralyzing self-doubt.
Women ready to challenge their self-doubts and step into bigger roles.
Women who know the value of redefining success and living life on their own terms.
Women who want to create lives they truly love.
Women who aim to make a significant impact and create meaningful change in the world.
Women who have faced challenges or embraced new learning experiences, gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and their surroundings.