A Story of Struggle, Revelation, and Small Steps That Made Her a Thriving Coach

Episode Highlights

Watch the Full Video Here

▶ 01:10 How Nidhi’s journey began—from chemical engineering to entrepreneurship

▶ 14:25 Bootstrapping NidSun: mistakes, patience, and learning to build without venture capital

▶ 21:40 Redefining strength, success, and identity across fitness, business, and leadership

▶ 33:05 Advice for anyone afraid to start, pivot, or walk away from comfort

THE INTERVIEW

Most stories about success end at recognition. This one begins there.

• By her mid-30s, Nidhi had done what she was told was the right way to win. She had built a profitable company from scratch.
  
  Recognition on BusinessWorld India's 40 Under 40 list.

• A global Puma deal that put her alongside Virat Kohli and Lewis Hamilton.

• Financial stability. Reputation. Success.

She'd proven everyone wrong. And then she left it all behind.

Moved to Vancouver. Went back to school. Started over in a classroom full of people half her age.

"I had a good life, a very comfortable life, very well settled. And I'm thinking, 'What am I doing with my life? This doesn't make sense.'"

But it made perfect sense.

Because somewhere between the bank rejection at 25 and the pink skirt she now wears to venture capital conferences at 40+, Nidhi learned something most people never figure out:

The thing you're most afraid to lose is the thing that controls you. And she was done being controlled.

So instead of protecting what she had earned, she chose to interrogate it.

She began pulling at the threads of her identity—first as a founder, then as a fitness entrepreneur, then as a public figure. She questioned what parts of her life were intentional, and which ones were simply inherited expectations she had outgrown.

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The Moment Comfort Becomes a Ceiling

Before she left India. Before she went back to school. Before venture capital.

Nidhi stood in front of a mirror staring at her long hair.

Through years of yoga and meditation practice, she'd been working on detachment. On understanding who she was beneath all the external markers of success.

And she realized something: her hair had become part of her identity. Part of her armor.

"A big part of my identity was my hair. I was like, if this is not there, what happens to me?"

So she cut it all off. Donated it.

This wasn't about a haircut.

This was about asking a question most people are too terrified to ask:

Who am I without the things I think define me?

• Without my hair.

• Without my company.

• Without my titles.

• Without my achievements.

• Without my country.

• Without my comfort.

  Strip it all away - then who am I?

Most people never ask this question because the answer might shatter them.

Nidhi asked it. And then she acted on the answer.

She left her thriving business in India and moved to Vancouver to study finance. To enter the most male-dominated space of her career: venture capital.

To start completely over.

Why?

Because the moment you're too comfortable to start over is the moment you stop growing.

When Leadership Stops Code-Switching

First VC conference in Vancouver.

Nidhi noticed immediately: most women in the room were dressed like the men. Navy suits. Minimal makeup. Conservative. Blending in.

She understood. She'd been them.

Twenty years earlier, in that engineering classroom with 100 boys and 20 girls, she learned the rules: don't stand out, don't be too feminine, become one of the bros.

At Cadbury, with 40 men and three women, she perfected it. "I was perceived as a bro. I sort of even liked that identity because I never wanted anyone to look down on me."

It worked. Until it didn't.

Until that bank officer looked at her perfect paperwork and still said no because she was a woman.

Now, standing in this VC conference, she had a choice:

Play the old game. Blend in. Become "one of the bros" again.

Or refuse.

She showed up in pink. Skirts. Makeup. Painted nails.

Someone questioned it: "You're all dressed in pink today at an investor conference?"

Her response?

"Yeah, because I have a vagina. I'm screaming it out loud."

"I work in finance. I have brains. But I'm also a woman and I bring in a perspective. I'm not pivoting it because you want me to be a bro."

This is the moment where everything clicked.

This is where the girl who erased herself to fit in became the leader who refuses to shrink.

Not by learning to play their game better. By refusing to play it at all.

What Leadership Actually Costs

Let's be honest about the price:

Fifteen years of bootstrapping because no bank would give her a loan.

Every mistake paid for in real money she couldn't afford to lose.

Wrong investments. Failed hires. Cash burned on ideas that went nowhere.

"I can't even put my finger on how many mistakes we made in the early days."

Then, after finally building success, having the courage to walk away from it.

Leaving her country at 39. Going back to school. Sitting in classrooms with kids half her age wondering if she'd made a terrible mistake.

Entering rooms where she's still one of the few women, one of the few people of color, still having to prove she belongs.

"At the highest level, it's predominantly white male dominated. There are not many people of color."

The rooms haven't changed that much since that engineering classroom.

But Nidhi changed.

She stopped believing she needed to shrink to fit through their doors.

And that changed everything.

The Transformation No One Expected

In 2021, a client came to Nidhi.

Overweight. Struggling. Just wanted to lose some weight.

Fast forward three years: they're working on a six-pack.

This isn't a before-and-after Instagram post. This is a complete 180-degree personality transformation that took years of consistent work.

"That's a transition I didn't see coming. This person consciously chose to do this."

How?

Not through some magic workout plan or restrictive diet.

Through the same principle that helped Nidhi go from bank rejection to pink skirts in VC:

"On and off. You don't have to be on that all the time."

If Nidhi could put a billboard in every city in India to debunk one fitness myth, that's what it would say.

Because here's what nobody tells you about sustainable transformation - whether it's fitness, career, or life:

Consistency isn't perfection. It's presence.

Her client succeeded because they learned:

• Strength training 4-5 times a week (especially post-35 - muscle is the best anti-aging strategy)

• Yoga as spiritual practice, not just physical asanas

• Dincharya - organizing your life, breathwork, the full practice

• When to push and when to rest

Most people burn out because they think transformation requires constant intensity. Constant proving. Never showing weakness.

Real leaders know their value isn't determined by how well they perform someone else's expectations.

They show up. They rest. They show up again.

As themselves.

The Mission That Actually Matters

I asked Nidhi what she'd invest in if she could build anything in health and wellness.

Her answer wasn't sexy. It won't get VC funding. It doesn't fit any startup accelerator's model.

Long-term women's health research.

Decades-long studies. Properly funded. By research institutions, not investors hunting for exits.

Why?

Because through years of running a clinical practice, she watched PCOS rates skyrocket.

Millions of women affected. And the standard treatment? Birth control pills given to teenagers.

With zero long-term research on consequences.

"We've been doing this for two decades. Those women are now approaching 40. We should have data. We don't."

The solution is still trial and error: Try this pill. Change this diet. Maybe it works. Maybe it comes back.

Perimenopause? Same story. Hormone replacement therapy research gets rolled back. Guidelines change. Women's bodies remain mysteries because nobody's funding the research that actually matters.

"If I had an opportunity to invest in anything, I would fund research that sits on a research model, not a VC business model."

Because some problems need decades of data, not monetization schemes.

This is what female leadership actually looks like.

Not just succeeding in male-dominated spaces.

Changing the entire game to serve the people those spaces have failed.

The Creator Economy Reality Check

Nidhi's monetized everything: clinical practice, brand deals, fitness programs, now VC investing.

But she's brutally honest about the creator economy in a way most "quit your 9-5" gurus won't be:

"Creator economy only works when someone is looking up to a creator. When everyone becomes one, there's little paying power. It's demand and supply."

Translation: Don't quit your job to become a creator just because everyone else is doing it.

"There's a life cycle of a product and a life cycle of a trend."

The bell curve is real. 85% of people end up average.

Think strategically before you jump.

Diversify your income, yes. But understand the economics of what you're entering.

The Question That Changes Everything

• Nidhi spent her 20s asking: "How do I become what they want?"

• She spent her 30s asking: "What does success look like on my terms?"

• She spent her 40s asking: "What am I afraid to lose?"

• That last question is the one that changes everything.

• Her hair. Her comfort. Her identity as "one of the bros." Her safe, successful life in India.

Every time she found something she was afraid to lose, she let it go.

Not recklessly. Not without thought.

But strategically. To prove to herself that she was more than any single identity marker.

Because the thing you're most afraid to lose is the thing that controls you.

And leaders aren't controlled by fear of loss.

They're propelled by it.

What This Means for You

Somewhere right now, a woman is being told no.

Maybe it’s a loan.
Maybe it’s a promotion.
Maybe it’s being questioned for how she shows up.

The message is the same: you don’t belong here.

And there’s a choice.

Spend years trying to prove yourself by fitting in.
Or do what Nidhi did—build something so grounded that their opinion stops mattering.

That path isn’t easy.
It took years of expensive mistakes, walking away from comfort, and the courage to keep showing up as herself—even when it stood out.

But here’s what it gives you:

• The freedom to be fully yourself

• The power to change systems, not just survive them

• A mission that matters more than approval

The world has changed, but not enough.
The rooms are still male-dominated. The questions are still asked. The pink skirts are still noticed.

So the decision remains: shrink to fit—or take up space.

Nidhi chose space.
Slowly. Intentionally. Over decades.

And now she’s showing other women it’s possible—not by blending in, but by becoming undeniable.

Want to hear the full conversation?

Listen to the Behind the Scenes podcast on Spotify or YouTube, where Nidhi and I dive deep into the messy, beautiful reality of being a woman leader.

If you also have an awesome journey and wants to share with the world

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Here's my question for you:

• What are you still asking permission for?

• What parts of yourself are you erasing because you think that's what success requires?

• What are you afraid to lose - and why is that controlling you?

• And what would happen if you stopped shrinking?

Reply and tell me. I read every response.

And if you know a woman who's still trying to fit in, still erasing herself, still asking permission from people who were always going to say no - send her this.

She needs to know:

The thing she's most afraid to lose might be the exact thing holding her back from becoming who she's meant to be.

What's Next for Creator IRL

This is just the beginning. Creator IRL exists to celebrate the builders, the problem-solvers, the dedicated creators who are shaping our world one person at a time.

We're not interested in the highlight reels. We want the real stories. The messy beginnings. The moment of doubt. The simple message that changed everything.

If you know someone building something meaningful — not for the gram or the algorithm, but because it matters-we want to hear from them.

Help us keep sharing real stories