Land ahoy: A Performance Coach who Dared to Take the Less Traveled Path
Those who dare to take the less traveled path are adventurous souls who often do not know what lies ahead. But that is exactly what spurs them on to greater heights. It helps them lend new meaning to not only their own lives but to those of around them as well. Shilpa Kulshrestha, a performance coach who reinvented herself after sixteen dreary years of corporate life, is one such adventurous soul. In this warm conversation with HerMoneyTalks, Shilpa reveals her intriguing story of risk-taking and confidence.
Shilpa had always dreamt of enabling growth around her. The founder of Scintillate Coaching, she is also the bestselling author of the book ‘Play It Full’. She has worked with startups and several top companies alike, including organizations like Deloitte, Tech Mahindra, and Westpac. Today, Shilpa is a career strategist, coach, and a wonder woman, all in one.
An epiphany that was waiting to happen
Shilpa's entrepreneurial story began with an epiphany that was waiting to happen. “I walked into office each day, not feeling great about myself. Though I was working with leadership teams and achieved results consistently, I never felt the results belonged to me. Frankly, I felt undervalued, chained, and uneasy with my job,” recollects the founder of Scintillate Coaching. Despite having put on a brave face for 16 years, her position at her company became redundant.
Though I was working with leadership teams and achieved results consistently, I never felt the results belonged to me. Frankly, I felt undervalued, chained, and uneasy with my job.
Counter-intuitively, for the first time, she felt an unknown joy, a liberation, as if her dreams came knocking on her door without warning. It was that day when she dared to take the less traveled path. It was that day when she decided to let go of the baggage of her years of corporate experience.
“I took the road less travelled, that of impact, meaning and fulfilment. I decided to enable people around me and walk the path to their power zone, a place where they met their dreams,” smiles Shilpa.
Facing an unknown, hostile world
“My ‘why’ was very clear, but my ‘how’s were not. And that’s what I had to figure out initially,” chuckles the daring performance coach.
Entrepreneurship was an unknown world to Shilpa as no one in her family ever had a business. “There were no rules and no limits apart from the ones I created for myself. I started modeling myself after successful people and began to read a lot of books about entrepreneurship, mind-set, and sales. In fact, I read 2 books a week and became a learning junkie,” chuckles Shilpa.
I started modeling myself after successful people and began to read a lot of books about entrepreneurship, mind-set, and sales. In fact, I read 2 books a week and became a learning junkie!
To take the less traveled path is one thing; to stay on it, quite another. “In the initial 3-4 months, I was living my passion, true, but was not making any money. Soon, I realized that making a business financially sustainable was the biggest task,” reveals Shilpa.
Her husband was her business partner too, as they both were on a similar journey. There came a point when they had only $500 left in their bank account. Shilpa was completely aware that she was eating into her savings.
Playing on a hunch, becoming a game-changer
At this point, Shilpa played on a hunch. She went to a free session, where they were selling a very interesting program. “I called my partner and told him that this program seemed to be really good, but he reminded me twice that we just cannot afford it as we had only $500 left in our bank,” reminisces the adventurous entrepreneur.
But in Shilpa’s mind, this was exactly what they needed. She bravely fished out $15,000 for the program using her credit card. The very next month, though, she had to borrow money from a friend to pay her card bill.
I called my partner and told him that this program seemed to be really good, but he reminded me twice that we just cannot afford it as we had only $500 left in our bank.
Remarkably, the investment in that program turned out to be a game changer for their business. The investment came back multi-fold, and Shilpa’s business started booming by leaps and bounds. Her coaching company was declared a finalist by Sydney Local Business Awards in the very first year.
“We went all in, with integrity in our heart, and impacted thousands of people across the globe!” The gleam on Shilpa's face said it all. Her decision to take the less traveled path had begun to pay off in spades.
Money lessons from a performance coach
The Scintillate Coaching founder opines that women more often tend to take a backseat as far as finances are concerned. Making money and managing it gives a woman the confidence to be self-sustainable.
“Whether married or unmarried, you need to play it full in life and when you do it, you create everything - family, health, achievements, and of course, money. Life is a roller coaster ride and it is our responsibility to be on top of our finances. We need to ensure that we are always future ready,” states Shilpa firmly.
She feels women do not chase money but big dreams and tiny joys. And that brings in all the balance needed in business. “To be true, women can be successful at anything they set their heart to. Just get the right coach to help you walk the path and get started!” gleams Shilpa.
Her pithy words of advice for fellow women entrepreneurs:
(1) The power of investing for your development is huge.
(2) If you fail to make it financially sustainable, your vision will collapse one day.
(3) Follow your passion, invest in the best, serve with complete commitment, create results, and money will flow in abundance.
Super achiever Shilpa aims to impact 1 million people and help them beat the average game by "stepping into their power zone". Moreover, she envisions to help people in corporate careers to transition to entrepreneurship. Shilpa is also involved in coaching newbie and existing coaches to create financially sustainable businesses.
