Spreading creative wings with new business ideas

Pratima Nagaraj – Business Success Coach, Author, Speaker, Personal Transformation Catalyst
Pratima has always been a seeker all her life and enjoys learning about consciousness, energy, healing, personal transformation and self-development. Pratima Nagaraj, also loves CREATION – in all forms – whether it’s creating a new a dish at home, a new piece of artwork, a relationship, money or something as big as a global six figure business.

“Creation is fun for me and it gets all my molecules buzzing, fills me with total enthusiasm and gives me the space to be myself!” she says. Pratima feels grateful that she’s been able to create a lifestyle and a business where she can either work from home and also travel the world, work from exotic locations, have total location independence and grow her business, create money and also contribute to changing people’s lives in the process. That’s always been her passion – To contribute towards changing this world for the better.

An Amazon bestselling author in 2015, Pratima is a graduate Engineer with a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). She started her career as a software engineer and then as a Business Analyst. She enjoys the liberty of having enough time to enjoy her personal life with her husband/family, flexible schedule, be her own boss and also have full financial freedom. Having more than 50% of her business online has helped her achieve this with ease.

Here are some more insights, shared with team ABT.

Who inspires you the most & why?
I love people who are thought leaders, influencers, creators and those who are authentic. I am a big fan of authenticity. I admire those people that walk their talk and show that there is a different way of living your life beyond all the trauma and drama that exists in this world. I admire those leaders and entrepreneurs who have created successful businesses through which they are contributing to the society, changing mindset and are catalysts to transforming people’s lives and changing the world.

People who have inspired me the most are Marie Forleo, Dr Dain Heer, Brendon Burchard, Gabby Bernstein, Danielle LaPorte, Elizabeth Gilbert and many more!

What were the circumstances that led you become an Author?
Having been a life coach, healer, therapist and working with hundreds of people through their personal transformation journey for over 7 years, I went through a huge transformation myself. One thing I love about my business is that it gives me the opportunity to work with amazing, beautiful and talented people from all around the globe. I continue to evolve physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually as I work with each client every day and with every workshop that I teach and every single private session brings in immense amount of learning and growth into my life!

Also my journey/transition from a corporate job to an entrepreneur and therapist and a coach has been interesting and adventurous. So I always knew I had a book in me wanting to be written – to share this journey of transformation with the world – hoping that would inspire more people to choose something different in their lives, to choose for themselves and not based on what their family or society tells them to be or do.

The book about Vulnerability kept talking to me and was very clear it wanted to be birthed in this world and I couldn’t ignore that voice anymore. That’s how my journey as an author began. The very first book I published in 2015 is called – Vulnerability as the Road to Change. It’s a kind of memoir/biography and it explores the power of Vulnerability in great depths.

Tell us about your latest business initiatives & ideas
I’m excited about spreading my creative wings right now with my business. I recently set up my third company in Asia and I am excited about expanding my business. I am writing my next book and there are also a couple of other books in pipeline in which I am a contributing author.

I’ve just launched my brand-new platinum business coaching program for solo-entrepreneurs called ‘Profit Mastery’ which helps them create a 6 figure business and learn how to maximize profits. I am also creating a few online video courses and training programs for personal transformation. So it’s a busy and exciting time with a lot of ideas brewing and creative juices flowing!

Could you recall any one proud moment/ milestone from the past?
Given the nature of my work, it’s hard to pick one moment/milestone! When I see people transform completely right in front of my eyes and choose something greater by interacting with me through my sessions or workshops, it’s a proud moment for me! That’s why I do what I do. There is a deep sense of satisfaction with this kind of work.

However, in terms of events, there are 2 memorable ones I recall– becoming an Amazon bestselling author in 2015 and the other was when I quit my corporate career after marriage and set up my lifestyle business from scratch, in a foreign country where I didn’t know a single soul, to become an entrepreneur that I always dreamed of! I feel proud of myself for having been able to create these in my life!

Do you feel privileged as a Woman Leader? Tell us more
Women have always played a major role in my life, as a source of inspiration to create more and choose more, especially with regards to business, and so have men – equally. Many of these wonderfully amazing men and women’s journey to becoming leaders and the person that they are, by itself is a huge inspiration. To me it’s not about being a woman leader but I feel privileged to be in a leadership role where I get to inspire people by being ME, being authentic and different, and impact people’s life in positive ways through what I do.

If you look at my personal journey – I come from a middle class, conservative family from South India and I am the only child. So as an Indian woman with this background, when I chose to quite my successful corporate job and made a drastic career switch and start my own business, it wasn’t well received or supported by people around me. I was told it’s not a smart choice and that I am wasting my education and degrees I earned so far. I received a lot of judgments. But I still trusted myself, trusted where I need to go and what will create true happiness for me. And following that knowing is what has helped me create this successful business and a lifestyle today.

That, according to me, is what leadership is. To know what you know and walk that path, lead that path, whether anyone else walks with you or not. It’s not about creating followers. Your choice to have that trust and walk the road less travelled will eventually inspire others to choose it too, for themselves. That, I believe, is the quality of a leader and I will choose that, no matter what.

If you were to do one thing differently, what would that be?
Honestly there is nothing I feel I want to do differently. I am very happy with the way I have made choices and created my life and business so far. I truly believe that people always make choices to the best of their ability based on the information and awareness they have at that moment in their life. So I never ever judge any of my choices as right or wrong. Not judging or dissecting my past is what allows me to move forward and create more. My focus is always on the present and future.

What would you like to achieve in the coming years?
One of the things I am looking at is to set up a couple of more companies around the world to expand my global business and I’d love to take my business from 6 figures to 7 figures as soon as possible!

Secondly, I believe everybody has a talent or a gift hidden within them. I would like to inspire people, especially women to become entrepreneurs, focussing on online business/lifestyle business models which allows them to create a homebased business so that they can share their talents/gifts while having location independence, financial freedom, work life balance and in the process also contribute to the society/changing people’s lives.