Page 19 - Masala Lite Issue 170 February 2025

Your career spans multiple industries and continents.
Could you tell us about your upbringing and how those
early experiences have influenced your approach to
leadership?
I grew up moving across seven diverse cities throughout four
corners of India, and the change was not merely geographic
but cultural, lingual, and philosophical, too. This had a deep
impact on me. My father was in banking at the time, while
my mother was a homemaker who was also professionally
working in the fields of education and banking. They would
always make change feel very exciting. They were also
adventurous and great at building communities wherever
they went, so as a result, my brother and I got exposed to
rich, diverse environments growing up.
When you’re constantly adjusting to new environments as
a child, you develop an innate ability to thrive in various
situations–skills that are invaluable in today’s dynamic
world and difficult to learn from textbooks.
Recently, I’ve spent the past decade in Southeast Asia
across three countries, along with my husband and son,
further expanding my worldview. It made me confident
about cultural complexity and gave me the ability to
connect cross-culturally – whether I’m working with C-suite
executives in Singapore or emerging leaders in Thailand.

A key aspect of your work is leading effectively without
compromising personal well-being. When did you first
identify this as your mission, and what inspired you to
pursue this path?
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic, while handling
employee well-being at Unilever, that I truly saw how
stress and burnout could impact leaders – and, in turn,
entire organisations. I witnessed performance coaching
sessions often shifting into well-being discussions because
that was the core issue that needed to be addressed before
anything else.

Reflecting on my own global experiences, I realised that
many corporate professionals still lack awareness of how
to achieve high performance through the tools of well-
being. This insight deeply resonated with me and inspired
me to explore the topic further. Over the past few years,
my dedication to this has only grown.
I built an online newsletter community of over 500
members, advised well-being start-ups, and delivered
professional talks on mental wellness. I also hosted a ten-
episode podcast that allowed me to dive deeper into these
issues with corporate professionals, and the conversations
only reinforced what I already felt – there’s so much more
we can do. That’s why I am dedicating time to amplifying
this message and empowering leaders with the tools they
need to thrive.
Being recognised by People Matters Magazine as one of
the top HR professionals is a significant achievement. dancer across the world, how I needed to learn how to
What has the journey to this point been like, and how do ‘follow’ in order to ‘lead,’ which then became my TED Talk. How are you building on your expertise in leadership
you continue to push boundaries and set new aspirations? I read extensively, dance, write, and speak professionally. development further?

It’s indeed been a very rewarding journey and I am very From this, I’ve had opportunities to meet leaders across By building a new way to help leaders perform better! Let
grateful for my global career. Not just in terms of the industries and the key issues holding them back. I’ve even me further explain. A few years back, during a training
awards and recognition (which are always encouraging) been an amateur theatre actor and a national finalist I organised in Singapore, our British leadership expert
but in terms of opportunities. Over the years, I’ve worked for a beauty pageant in India, all while also working on introduced breathwork techniques to a room full of senior
with leaders across continents, collaborated with brilliant leadership development in my day jobs at Unilever and leaders. The impact was incredible! But the irony wasn’t
colleagues, and led impactful business transformation Coca-Cola. And lastly, being naturally curious about how lost on me. Here was a Western expert advocating practices
initiatives across companies like Unilever and Coca-Cola. I people thrive holistically has helped me. that have been woven into our culture for ages, and it was
especially value my consulting experience, where I worked fascinating.
with CXOs across industries like IT, Media, Telecom, and From Unilever to Coca-Cola, and even the TEDx stage, Sometimes we need to see our heritage through a different
your career trajectory is incredibly diverse. Which
FMCG. This allowed me to merge my entrepreneurial pivotal moments or decisions do you consider to be lens to truly appreciate its power. These are not just
mindset with the ability to scale initiatives, which has most instrumental in shaping your journey? feel-good, they are powerful tools for decision-making,
been incredible. As for the future, I have always pushed the emotional regulation, and peak performance in the
boundaries to pick up projects that will allow opportunities I can think of three points that, in hindsight, challenged corporate world. This moment sparked the realisation that
for growth – my leadership and wellness platform INNERGY. me and shaped me. First, moving into a global role: I’d we’re sitting on a goldmine of Eastern wisdom that could
CLUB™ is an example of that, which is aimed at helping worked across the U.S. and the UK before, but stepping revolutionise how we approach leadership and performance.
leaders tap into their ‘inner energy’ to thrive. into a role that spanned Southeast Asia was an entirely Over the last few years, I have had an opportunity to
new challenge. On paper, we often group SEA as one region, speak and interact with thousands of people on this
Having spoken on prominent stages like TEDx, The but in reality, it couldn’t be more diverse. The 11+ countries topic – whether it’s via my newsletter, podcast, keynote
Economist, the Corporate Innovation Summit, and UN differ drastically in language, culture, talent dynamics, speaking, or working closely with Southeast Asian leaders
Youth Speak, you’ve reached over 200,000 people across religion, demographics, and even histories. Navigating in the corporate world. I see a gap in how heavily Western
nine countries. How did this journey unfold, and where do these complexities required a whole new level of leadership leadership models dominate corporate spaces and also as
you draw your insights from when preparing to address agility and cultural sensitivity. Secondly, being invited potential tools for mental well-being. I think there is another
leadership, growth, and wellness? to deliver a TEDx Talk: I had no idea that my effort to way to approach it, and I want to bridge that gap. Fast
My strength is pattern recognition across these various learn jazz dance would culminate in a leadership TED Talk forward a few years later, I am creating INNERGY.CLUB™,
facets of life, then simplifying these insights to empower which resonated so much with people. It was definitely a which empowers and elevates leadership performance
people. For example, I enjoy jazz dancing, and my TED turning point that helped amplify my voice to larger stages. by blending science, spirituality, and energy modalities.
Talk was a culmination of my creative pursuits: dancing, Finally, leading wellbeing in Unilever: Coincidentally, around The name plays on ‘inner energy’ reflecting our unique
leadership, writing, and speaking. I’d written an article this time, I started leading wellbeing for Southeast Asia. approach that blends ancient Eastern wisdom with modern
about leadership lessons from my experience as a jazz Little did I know how critical this area would become. leadership practices.