Every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day across the world to promote women’s rights and honour their achievements across the political, economic, social and cultural spheres.
This day is a reminder of the grit and determination of women all across the world.
There is no force more powerful than a woman’s determination to rise.
Every life begins with a woman. Respect and encourage every woman for what she is. Women, are always respected, loved and appreciated.
Theme for today’s International Women’s Day 2024 is…
“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”
In Our Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 Series in this Episode we are introducing before you a very dynamic and visionary woman who believes in hard work and because of her good work, she is very popular in Mumbai. Yes, we are talking about UK based Global Entrepreneur Abhha Sandill
Rapid Transformation Therapist and Holistic Life Coach founder of Achieve with Abhha We hope her Story will Inspire you.
Let’s have a look at her successful journey…
Hi Thank you! I am so glad to be talking to you today as a representative of women’s voices from such diverse backgrounds.
You know sometimes we are living day to day almost on autopilot but there is no joy in life. We can feel something is missing but we cannot pinpoint what it is. And for some people often small things seem to agitate them or overwhelm them and it feels like they are stuck in a rut. There is never enough time to do all things or to pursue a passion, and they are always chasing a to-do list. I help such people going through overwhelm or disconnection, to declutter their minds, re-prioritise things so that align with their core values and key goals in life and enable them to live a life of peace, fulfilment and deep satisfaction. As a Rapid Transformation Therapist, I work with my clients using simple but profoundly impactful tools and techniques to help them reconnect to their inner selves and create sustainable, long-lasting, life-changing results. And it’s amazing to see how working on any one area of their lives, like health, career, relationship or income creates deep meaningful shits in other areas of life as well over time. Essentially, I help people, especially women, to beat procrastination, imposter syndrome or poor self-image, and get back into the driver’s seat of their own life.
Hello Mumbai News
What Inspired to start your Business.
I already had a background and training in Child Development and Educational Research, researching in schools about the role of leadership in facilitating inclusive education. After a career gap from education, in 2019 I decided to train as a therapist because I wanted to get back to working with children and empower them to become more resilient, teach them mindfulness and help them adopt a growth mindset from an early age. I strongly believe that with a growth mindset, learning becomes a habit and children become life-long learners and experience life more fully and holistically. You know, as I pursued my therapy training, I realised that rapid transformation therapy is such an empowering and impactful process that I can help many more people, and not just children. I can help people not only deal with day-to-day overwhelm or anxiety but even help them with any trauma that they may have experienced in their childhood or younger years. Healing the deeper wounds transforms people so beautifully and believe me, we all carry something from the past, that holds us back from living our lives fully today. Some people are more affected by it and need professional support to get past it.
This awareness that I can help many more people was really the turning point for me. At the same time, I wanted work that would allow me to take care of my daughter’s schedule who was just 6yrs old at that time. So instead of finding work with an organization, I decided to set up my own business so that I could reach and support more people while fulfilling my motherly duties. I believe with unshakable conviction that each and every individual has the right to achieve their full potential. You know people’s circumstances and situations may be challenging or difficult, but the circumstances do not really matter in the grand scheme of things. As human beings, we all have the capacity to rise above our circumstances. Yesterday only I watched the movie ’12th Fail’, which is based on a real-life story. ‘Super 30’ is another example. Ultimately it is the deep desire to attain a result that triumphs all. There is a way to train the brain to override those challenges and find a solution. As Wayne Dyer said, when we change the way we look at things the things we look at change. So essentially, the barriers to achieving our full potential often lie within us. Our thoughts influence our feelings, our feelings influence our actions and our actions influence our outcomes. So if we can find a safe, helpful and robust way to change our thoughts we can change our outcomes and what we achieve in our lives. I feel honoured to hold space for people who know they can do and be so much more in life and take them through their journey of self-discovery and self-empowerment. Because at the end of the day, suffering is a choice. We have to constantly keep asking ourselves – what am I choosing for myself today?
What Challenges have you faced as a Woman Entrepreneur and how did you overcome them.
As a woman establishing my own business in a non-traditional field relating to matters of the mind, I think the biggest challenge I have faced is people feeling open enough to invest in themselves to release their suffering. In our South Asian or Indian culture, we often feel if we cry our hearts out to a friend that’s enough. But we fail to understand that while it is good to have an outlet and talking things out loud, if the situation is still persistent and causing us pain and ongoing struggle, we need to seek professional help. I feel quite privileged that the younger generation is more keen to take care of their mental health and stay in their power. Once they have talked to me and they understand how I can support them, they readily invest in their own therapy and coaching to become a better and empowered version of themselves. In today’s competitive world stress is a constant part of our lives. It’s all about recognizing and seeking the right kind of support for yourself. I have worked with Indian students from IIT in India and University students in the UK, who choose to make a payment themselves for their sessions. Imagine if they are so self-aware about their own mental health and well-being today, what great empowering leaders they are going to become in the future.
Another thing is the enigma of social media. Facebook and Instagram are the fastest-growing advertisement platforms where you can reach out to a vast number of people across the globe. But to get online and be out there in the public eye, I also had to conquer a lot of my own visibility fears, be open to being vulnerable, make mistakes, and yet keep showing up consistently. There are always concerns about cultural stigma, thinking about ‘what people might say’ and fear of negative feedback are but natural you know. The start-up and growing phase was quite challenging. To address these challenges, I’ve been building a supportive network, educating myself about online safety measures, and starting small to gradually build my presence on social media platforms. Cultivating authenticity and seeking professional guidance has also been instrumental in overcoming these fears and effectively leveraging social media to promote my business. With a thriving business, it becomes easier and easier to invest in the right kind of social media strategy for your business. It has been quite liberating and empowering for me as well to embrace my authenticity in a holistic manner and in a way practice what I preach every step of the way.
Work-life balance can be actually more challenging when you are running your own business. However, I am constantly learning and implementing techniques and up-levelling my skills to ensure I can chunk my work and meet my priorities around my family and my clients in a balanced manner. In fact, when I find time, I also volunteer for a local NGO, One Vision to support their cause of bringing communities together. It is really fulfilling to give back to the local community and I make time for it when I can. It all comes back to priorities. As women we sometimes tend to keep giving – that’s where we need to find balance – to know where to set boundaries between competing priorities also.
Tell Something about your Brand and how people can benefit from it.
I call my company ‘Achieve with Abhha’ because, as I said earlier, I truly believe everyone has the right to achieve their full potential, no matter what. And achievement can mean different things to different people. So it’s all about what people who approach me need support with. A lot of clients come to me with social anxiety or general anxiety and depression. Another set of clients come to me for relationship issues – often single women who are going through a difficult breakup, or are looking for a suitable partner out of their own will or sometimes due to societal pressures or worries about getting late for marriage as per our Indian norms. With my background in Child Development, I have also worked with children who are facing exam-related anxiety or just need a confidence boost, or improving their sports efficiency, or sometimes dealing with health and behavioural issues due to being overweight.
As I said I work with what clients come to me with. But more specifically I chose to work with clients who are fully committed to their transformation. Any issue that they come to me with can take about 1 to 3 sessions to resolve. When we get into therapy, it works like taking off the layers of an onion. When we work on one aspect, other deeper issues may surface. The target of the therapy and coaching sessions is to investigate the symptoms and triggers manifesting as behaviours, identify the root cause or the deep-seated thoughts and beliefs that are leading to those behaviours, and reframe the thought process using the powers of hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and neurolinguistic programming to more aligned process of thinking, that is empowering and transforming. Change in thinking brings about the change in feelings and emotions and when the emotions are uplifted and vibrating at a higher frequency, outcomes begin to shift and you show up differently in the world. You become more self-aware. For example, the same situation that was triggering you earlier to go into a panic attack, because your mind was perceiving some harm, may not even be noticeable now because your fear has been transformed now – into an empowering belief that ‘I can deal with anything that life throws at me’, ‘I am safe, I am secure’, ‘I am capable and I can take care of myself’. And its called a rapid transformation because any new thought or behaviour pattern takes about 21 days to become a habit. There are tools to support you through this journey. So each session comes with 21 to 28 days of support.
Where Does your Inspiration come from.
A lot of my decisions in life have been guided by my brother who has had mental health challenges from an early age. Even though I was the younger sister, I became his caretaker or the older sibling in the relationship when I was 5 or 6 years of age. But his condition inspired me to take up child development or pursue inclusive education studies for my thesis during my higher studies. I always felt that there were many places in his life where things could have shifted favourably but lack of awareness and not enough guidance allowed things to go out of hand, and lead him to lead a life of a dependent at the age of 47. I do believe that every life has a purpose and he has served his purpose in life in a myriad of ways. That’s a topic for another story.
In addition, my parents have been the biggest inspiration in my life. Despite their circumstances, they gave their full attention to what they were doing in their careers. My dad retired as an Executive Civil Engineer with the the New Delhi Municipal Council and my mum was a Secondary School Hindi Teacher at a Delhi State School. They both devoted their lives to public service and never allowed their personal circumstances to come in the way standard of their work output. They were both highly regarded within their work communities and even today people aged 73+ people come to seek their advice and expertise. My father has recently written a book on numerology and my mother is pursuing her interests in spiritual and business pursuits that allow her time for herself yet keep her gainfully busy. Their unconditional love and relentless belief in me always kept me going through the ups and downs of life. I struggled as I was changing careers and getting back into work after a break but they always stood by me no matter what.
My alma mater Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi and all my lecturers at the Department of Child Development and during my Department of Education were truly inspiring in their own ways and their teachings continue to influence and guide me even today.
Do you feel that in India there are enough structures and facilities put in place to assist women to expand their Startup Journey?
As a global entrepreneur based in the UK, I recognize the strides India has made in supporting women in entrepreneurship, yet there are still significant challenges. My conversations with colleagues reveal that access to finance is still a barrier despite initiatives like Stand-Up India and targeted venture capital funds. While there are supportive organizations and networks, the ecosystem could be more inclusive, providing tailored mentorship and resources. While more and more women are integrated into the workforce as employees and leaders, I feel that cultural and social barriers, alongside family responsibilities, still impact women’s entrepreneurial journey. Broader societal change is happening. Yesterday only I was listening to a Young Tech Entrepreneur from South India at an International Women’s Day Event organized by One Vision, a charity based in Hertfordshire, UK. She was sharing about the gender gap in the technical sector and that only 10% of tech companies have women as their CEOs. The solutions will come through collaboration between the government, private sector, as well as civil society but times are changing and I am hopeful.
How you balance your professional and personal life .& can you share some tips for women Entrepreneurs to maintain balance between work and family life.
Balancing professional and personal life is a continual challenge for women entrepreneurs, but it’s essential for overall well-being and success. Personally, I prioritize setting boundaries and establishing a clear separation between work and family time.
This involves allocating specific hours for work
dedicating quality time to family and self-care, and
being present in the moment for both aspects of my life.
Additionally, effective time management and delegation are crucial. As my work has grown, I find ways of outsourcing tasks where possible and surrounding myself with a reliable support system, including family, friends, and colleagues, helps alleviate some of the workload.
Regularly reassessing priorities and being flexible in adjusting schedules when necessary is also key.
Finally, practising self-compassion and recognizing that it’s okay not to have everything perfectly balanced all the time is essential.
Women entrepreneurs should prioritize their well-being and happiness, as it ultimately contributes to their success in both their professional and personal lives.
My most important learning has been that it all starts with me – If I am happy I can keep people around me happy. But if I am stressed – then everything seems to go for a toss. So keeping myself happy is my biggest priority
What advice would you give to someone who are aspiring Women Entrepreneur
I want to tell them ‘You can do it’! ‘It’s within your reach’!
if you can think it, you can do it. period. Because what you are seeking, is seeking you.
To be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to believe in yourself. Trust your gut. Don’t second-guess yourself. if you are passionate about something, just go for it. It is definitely worth educating yourself about entrepreneurship and your chosen industry.
Go out there and network with people. If you hit a roadblock ask yourself – if this CAN happen what would I need to do for it? do not give up. Remember there is always a solution available. You just have to approach the issue from a different angle, a different perspective.
And even if you fail, just know that every failure is a learning opportunity. Never say never.
Most of all prioritizing self-care – if you take care of yourself, others will learn to take care of you – you have the capability to create the life you want. You have to give to yourself what you seek from others.
Now this is gold dust – if you think people do not care for you- ask yourself where are you not caring for yourself, if you think people don’t support you – ask yourself where you are not supporting yourself. Because everything we are seeking from others is often what we are not giving ourselves. It requires deep thought but it’s life-changing for those who can grasp this. If you follow this for three months your life will be completely transformed! Remember to send me my cheque for this one! 🙂
Stay focused on your goals by reviewing them regularly. Put it in your diary. Make an appointment with yourself.
And just be adaptable and resilient in the face of challenges, and don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed. Make sure you Celebrate your achievements along the way. I have a whole ‘setting yourself up for success’ workshop around this.
With determination, perseverance, and support, you can definitely turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.
What Women Inspire you.
About four years back, when I was going through a rough phase and was struggling to understand which direction to take in life, I used to listen to Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey’s journey from adversity to success and her commitment to using her platform for positive change inspires me to be resilient and use my voice for good. Through her story, she shares how each one of us is a miracle on this earth by just being born. We do not need to wait for any other miracles! because we are the miracle.
My rapid transformation therapy mentor Marisa Peer’s dedication to empowering others and her innovative approaches to therapy and coaching inspire me to constantly strive for personal and professional growth. Like her, I learn so much from every client and grow as a therapist every single day.
As an Indian woman, Indra Nooyi’s trailblazing career as a female leader in the corporate world inspires me to break barriers and pursue excellence in my own endeavours.
Last but not least, my mum is my biggest inspiration. Her boundless love, strength, and sacrifice, inspire me to embrace compassion, resilience, and the importance of nurturing relationships in both my personal and professional life. At 73+, she makes every day count despite being a full-time carer for my brother, with my dad’s support. If that doesn’t inspire you what will? She is truly awesome.
Each of these women embodies qualities that motivate me to strive for greatness and make a positive impact in the world.
What’is your Future plans for 2024? Where do you see yourself after 1year.
You know, Steve Jobs said, ‘People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that actually do.’ I am super excited to be one such crazy person!! My mission is to help and support at least 1 million people in the next 1 year to help them ACHIEVE their full potential!! And I not holding back! To achieve my mission, I intend to reach people through my one-on-one and group programs, talks, articles, books, and appearances on different platforms through different media. And I believe it is very much achievable. Many have done it in less than a year so, a year is a long time! This year, I have already been a compere for a Health and Wellbeing Conference at the House of Parliament, London, I delivered a speech and a transformation session to a theatre full of people at the World Coaching Summit in Birmingham, I have two of my book launches lined up, one within this month and one later in the year. Do follow me on social media and you will surely hear about it soon. I am grateful to be able to change one life at a time, and I know that when you put your mind to something, the sky is the limit. I am grateful that I have something of value to offer, and people who are open and willing to receive, receive more than they could ever pay for. For what price can you put on mental peace or a feeling of fulfilment that comes from knowing yourself better, doing what you love and loving what you do? It’s priceless.
What are 3 Key things that you have learned as an Entrepreneur in 2023.
As an entrepreneur in 2023, I’ve learned three key things:
- Adaptability is essential – whether it is about learning to use social media more effectively or finding ways to create and deliver more value for money for the client. Just like the client needs are changing rapidly with changing times, so is the demand for innovation and evolution in delivery and form, so that outcomes can reflect clients’ expectations. I feel being flexible and open to change has been essential in staying competitive and resilient. Adaptability here is also about not attaching yourself to outcomes. Knowing when and what to expect, and if it does not get the expected outcome, then moving on, It is a skill that needs practising. Now that I have learnt this lesson last year, I feel that it will surely take me a long way. As we have always heard in Gita, ‘Karm kar phal ki chinta mat kar’. As simple as it sounds, it can be tricky to practice sometimes.
- Also you know, with increasing demand and awareness around mental health and well-being, I have realized that working collaboratively with other service providers and stakeholders is the way to go. Collaboration allows space for meaningful dialogues to take place and deliver a high-quality service to the clients.
- The human connection will never lose its value, However, I learnt that one way of reaching out to more and more people is through automation and correct messaging so that you reach your ‘ideal’ clients.
Where our readers can find you and keep in touch with you..
I believe in everyone who is reading right now. I believe you have the power to choose and change the direction of your life as you desire. If you feel you are committed enough and I can support you please feel free to write to me at abhha@achievewithabhha.com
or follow me on facebook
follow me on insta
or book an appointment here:
and show up in the world in their full authentic feminine power. It was such a beautiful and empowering journey. This year I am honoured to be shortlisted as a finalist for She Inspire Awards curated by the Inspiring Indian Women group, as a remarkable mentor. Staying in faith. Leaving the rest to God for things to unfold under grace and in a perfect manner.
Rapid Fire:
Favorite places: Maldives, Visiting Kashmir is top on my list and it may change!
Actor: Aamir Khan, always! Huge fan and I always admire multifaceted actors like Farhan Akhtar.
Actress: Sridevi, Sadna is my all-time favourite movie.
Person: My daughter – she is my inspiration to show up in my full power and she is also inspiring me with the way she sees and communicates things with such simplicity, clarity and gravitas – despite just being 11yrs of age.
Food: Chhole Bhature any day! Dilli ka asar!
Favorite Quote?
Since my journey as a therapist began, I always share this Quote from my Mentor Marisa Peer – there is always a solution available. That’s what helps me find transformational results for my clients no matter what!
My all-time Favourite Quote is but of course – from Gandhiji – Be the change you want to see in the world. I deeply and wholeheartedly believe that, when we commit to changing ourselves positively, everything around us changes beautifully and effortlessly, under grace and in perfect manner.
What if you were given the power to change one thing from the world what would you change?
Thank you for asking that. That is the question I ask my clients in relation to their own life. The most important question of all!
As a thriving entrepreneur and advocate for women’s empowerment, if I could change one thing in the world, it would be to ensure that every girl in the world has access to quality education. I believe that education is the cornerstone of progress, prosperity, and equality, yet millions of girls around the globe are still denied this fundamental right.
If we think prudently investing in girls’ education is not just a moral imperative; it’s a strategic investment with far-reaching benefits. As they say, educating a girl is educating a whole family. In essence, we are not just educating a girl but preparing a whole family to lead healthier, more informed and structured lives. Not to forget the economic contribution they will make as part of the workforce or as entrepreneurs.
Come to think of it, by promoting education for every girl, we can break the cycle of poverty, reduce inequality, and unleash the full potential of half of the world’s population. When girls are educated, they become catalysts for positive change, driving progress in their societies and beyond.As an entrepreneur, I recognize the transformative power of education firsthand. That’s why I am committed to supporting initiatives that expand access to education for girls, whether through scholarships, mentorship programs, or advocacy efforts. By working together to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to learn and thrive, I have no doubts that we can create a brighter, more inclusive future for all.
