We were lucky to catch up with Sreshtha Tewari recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sreshtha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I am from Trinidad in the Caribbean and my parents are of East Indian decent. My parents, like all parents wanted the best for me and, while my childhood was punctuated with unfavorable things that are normal in indian culture, there were also really awesome things that shaped who I am today and my drive to contribute to the world.

1. My mother’s participation in the arts and my father’s propensity to always be learning
My mother was a Mathematics high school teacher (now retired) but was always studying the arts. She studied drama, she studied dance, she performed on stages. Her interest in the arts and theatrical performance made it seem normal for me to always be in some sort of activity. Many nights all her friends would be home by us practicing plays, or I would spend evenings playing music for her while she taught her high school kids dance. She was always involved in something and I believe through this, even though I studied and had my MBA specializing in Finance, I never stopped learning.

When I was going to high school, it was important to her that I went to a school with extra-curricular activities. I liked to sing so she chose a school with a well-known choir. I would join the choir and she would support all of my performances and participation in Music Festivals.

My father, a successful engineer by profession, was always doing other things. He wrote music, produced albums, studied videography and more.

Hence, in my adult life, even though I was very academic (I have a first degree in Chemistry and an MBA), whatever I saw that I was interested in I pursued. That’s how I first became a Zumba instructor. I had a good steady-paying job but I loved dance. So I followed that passion and became an instructor. My parents emulating that life is about learning, is also too how I became a coach. I have a passion for helping women. To develop this passion I had to go back to studying, which I didn’t even think twice about. To always be learning was normal for me because of my parents.

2. Being brought up in a tightly-knit family
We were brought up close to my maternal grandparents and my paternal family. It makes such a difference when you know people are routing for you in this world. My grandmother had a special love for me. While she was alive, through her love I somehow felt protected. I knew without a doubt how much she loved me and felt very safe because of that even in my loneliest moments.

On my father’s side, we grew up very close to our cousins. We spent every Easter and Christmas with them. Over summer holidays, there would be a rotation and we would take turns spending the night by each other. It was 8 of us and the sharing of those holidays embedded and very deep bond among us.

We maintained our closeness in our adult life and virtually talk every day over watsapp. Hence, I automatically felt I had support with anything I was doing. Whether they physically participated or not in an event I was having, I know they are cheering me on. I even say one of my cousins is my biggest fan as she is always the first to like all my posts.

In a world where as a human, we really want to feel loved and connected, the tight-knit bond of my family has provided me with a virtual safety net knowing I’m always loved and supported in all my endeavours. Hence, trying and doing new things was never scary for me…it is actually very exciting!

3. Being brought up in a family with strong figures fighting for human rights.
My paternal grandfather was well-known in his time for fighting for worker’s rights. In fact a book was written about the many things he did in order to fight for the rights of people. I remember him explaining to me human nature by describing a guy angry stuck in traffic. He said, “Sresh, it’s not that the guy is a bad person for showing his anger, it’s that he is frustrated”. This compassion stuck with me: – the propensity not to blame, but to know and understand the heart of a human. These impressions have also influenced my coaching journey and has molded my compassion and love for humans. The tagline for my business is, ‘healing through compassion”.

Sreshtha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Of course!! I’m Sreshtha Tewari, an Emotional Intelligence Coach.

I never liked the idea that a woman could not be who she wanted. Since I was small, observing matriarchal roles troubled me. I had this undeniable belief that women should not be stifled.

Unbeknownst to me, I was falling into the same trap that I feared. I wanted to please those around me, especially my family. I wanted to get married (deemed to be a major milestone in my culture) and, as archaic as it sounds, I wanted to serve my husband.

I wanted to be his well of emotional safety, I wanted to be the trampoline for his dreams. I wanted to love him with everything within me.

What I did not know, is that my own self-worth was impacting the person I would choose. That self-worth was low due to consistent mental abuse as a child. Mental abuse is common in Caribbean culture.

With that, I settled for what I thought I could get. I loved my husband, but I did not realize that he could not be the trampoline to my dreams.

Then one day, in a reiki session, my path became clear. Driven by a healthy life for my daughter, I faced the illusion of the fairy tale I was chasing. After 13 years of marriage, under extreme emotional turmoil, I filed for divorce. It was difficult and painful. I felt that I had so much love to give, how could this be my destiny?

Divorce lead me to therapy. Therapy is one of the best investments I have made in my life. It helped me understand so much about myself, my behaviours and what I deserve.

While I struggled in my personal life, I always succeeded in my career. I had a great track record with difficult clients. Additionally, I had success performing dual roles for which I won annual awards. I was particularly successful as a people manager. In this role I helped successful but demotivated individuals, pave a path to greater happiness and success. I had figured out that the key to reaching people was emotional connection. At that time, I did not have formal training, but used life experiences and my learnings from motivational books. Little did I know that all my life experiences were paving the way for something greater.

Due to wanting to help a friend get out of an abusive marriage, I decided to do a series on YouTube to raise awareness on mental and emotional abuse. In promoting the series, I realized women related to my points of view. This opened an opportunity for me to do mental health sessions at work. These sessions were met with success and flattering reviews.

Soon after that, I followed my intuition to do another YouTube series on Emotional Healing. I had this underlying belief that all emotions should be honoured and that they were there to teach us something. (I didn’t know I was going to end up being an Emotional Intelligence Coach at that time. I was being guided.)

Then, I met Eben Pagan and Annie Lalla through a webinar. I immediately fell in love with Annie. I felt I was looking at a much more evolved version of myself. She was teaching all the things I believed in that I thought no one would care to hear. I signed up for their coaching program and decided to weave together all of my knowledge and experiences to serve women like me. At the start of their program, I remember Eben saying, someone is going to fall in love before the end of the year. This intrigued me because I had been battered and bruised in love. Believe it or not, one month into their program, I recognized who my twin flame was in my life.

Through their program and working with Annie who is a Love & Relationship Coach, I realized how much our emotional blocks keep us back and how far your life can progress by doing emotional healing. I decided to help the same women I related to, intelligent, career-driven women who were having a hard time in their love life and relationships. I’m so passionate about women getting out of abusive relationships I thought it perfect to then help them find someone who truly honours them. With that I became an Emotional Intelligence Coach specializing in love and relationships.

What sets me apart is that I have lived the life of the women I am helping.. What I love about coaching is that it’s not theory you read in a book and then you step out into the world to apply it without relating to the people you want to help. I have lived and breathed every thing I am teaching. I am completed rooted in these teachings and I’m passionate about women living healthy, nourished successful lives. This is more than a job for me. It is a life mission. It is a soul purpose to help other humans on their journey. Additionally, all my spaces are filled with love and safety free from any shame, blame or make wrong. I completely honour my clients and shower them with love. My passion is helping intellectual , introverted, career-driven, divorced women over 35 like me have a most successful and fulfilling personal life.

Interestingly enough, one of my clients in my 12 week 1:1 program recently told me, that the exercises I do with her, she never saw anywhere else. She is a well-read, professional woman who has done a lot of self-development work and follow people like Dr Shefali and Vishen Lakhiani (Mindvalley). She has even invested in their courses. She told me that because of the 1:1 consultations, I was able to pick up on comments she was making, and identify that as emotional healing work which she needed. This of course she never got from reading any book or doing any group course or general meditations. This client has seen a massive transformation in her personal life and her approach to life.

My programs currently include, Meet the High Quality Guy of your Dreams, Release the Animosity toward your Ex and Stop Snapping at your Kids.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team is all about communication, trust, and believing that everyone is trying their best. Once you are hiring the right people, no human is coming to work to figure out how they could fail, or how they could get their boss angry at them. All humans are trying to survive and doing their utmost best. As such, when an employee messes up always assume positive intent. Ask with curiousity about what happened. Lovingly guide them into understanding what they could have done differently or what a different approach could have been.

Keep open lines of communication so that they know they can discuss anything with you and feel safe doing so. Once an employee trusts you and doesn’t have to second guess himself, this reduces the risk of mistakes being made. Eventually, they will learn you and there would not need to be so many discussions…but always keep the door open. It is also important to have regular 1:1 conversations with them so you build your relationship, pick up on where they need help and coach them to becoming even better employees. One trick is to understand their value system, if you know what is driving them emotionally, it is easy to genuinely motivate them.

Trust your employees! Intelligent people hate being micro-managed. Trust that they are doing their best and keep the door open for discussion.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Early in my career, my post was downgraded and I was given a year to find a post with my original position level before my salary was cut. At that time my specialty was investments. As the year approached, I was becoming desperate to find a new role and was applying for anything I faintly resonated.

I ended up getting a role managing a policy and procedure writing team, something I knew nothing about. However, I knew I loved people management, and I analytical skills were on par so I thought I could analyze any document. Completely out of investments, I endeavoured to learn everything about infomapping, procedure-writing tools and other document requirements. That ended up being one of my most successful roles. At the end of my three year tenor the team had won 9 individual annual awards. In addition, I could write a procedure with my eyes closed.

Without the pay cut, I would have never even looked for a job like that. This taught me that everything is always working in your favor. Sometimes you have to be put in uncomfortable positions in order to be guided to where you would excel and shine. It was a big learning for me and something I am eternally grateful for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.purposefullypassionate.com
• Instagram: @sreshtha22
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/zumbasreshtha
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sreshtha-b-tewari-mba-63a6844a
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/sreshtha22
• Other: Tiktok – @sreshtha229 Store – www.sreshthatewari.com