Sripriyaa Venkataraman – Founder Global Coaching Lab PVT LTD & Director Tripura Multinational PTE LTD
Tell us about yourself
I was born and brought up in Chennai in a highly value driven and traditional family, where education was of utmost importance. I graduated with a double major in MBA from USA. To further my understanding on diversity in business, I earned a certification on handling diversity within organisations from the University of California, Berkeley. My interest in writing also led me to get certified in Features Writing from the same university.
In 2002 I returned to India, but then moved to Singapore in 2004. I am now based in Gurgaon having moved back in 2009. I am still a permanent resident of Singapore where our company Tripura Multinational is headquartered.
Having spent the last decade across multiple locations in Asia, has helped me gain appreciation for the power of harnessing diversity for personal and organizational growth. During this time period, I gained my Coach Certification from Coach Training Alliance, Colarado, USA. Apart from good education, I have been trained in Classical Bharatanatyam dance for the last 25 years.
Tell us about Global Coaching Lab
Global Coaching Lab was started as a community on a social networking site, with a view to bringing together budding executive and life coaches from across the globe to help each other build a successful coaching practice. The community provided a safe environment for showcasing their skills and building business acumen.
From such humble beginnings, we formed a private limited company with a vision to develop and nourish a global, diversified network of coaching professionals who could empower and expand individuals, teams and organisations through the power of coaching. A decade back coaching was said to be an evolving profession, but it is still evolving. I wanted to move away from this mediocre thinking to possibilities thinking, and take executive and life coaching to the next level, thus came Global Coaching Lab.
What drove you to become an entrepreneur?
Though it may sound clichéd, I must say it just happened. Following a very successful corporate career in sales leadership, in 2009 my husband, Venkataraman Subramanyan, started his own company – Tripura Multinational – with a vision of influencing and transforming millions of lives. He told me without my support it would be difficult for him to scale the business. Together with him I started working towards his vision that today it stands as OUR vision. It’s my passion and commitment to use what I have been blessed with for the benefit of others and that it suddenly ticked the entrepreneur in me, which gave birth to Global Coaching Lab.
As an entrepreneur, one can get carried away by ideas and opportunities that come our way. But it is only with clarity, focus, accountability, commitment and systemic thinking that we can move forward towards our GOALS.
What has been your biggest challenge to achieving your success?
Challenges are part of gaining success and without which one cannot move forward. I love challenges and I keep facing them in every level. “Selling Coaching” by itself has been the biggest challenge. I believe that every human being should run their own marathon and I always believed in my own strength, weakness and my own way of thinking which has helped me a lot in overcoming challenges. Bringing together a network of highly trusted, diversified coaching professionals, to address multiple organizational challenges, under the roof of Global Coaching Lab, is a challenge, yet a unique strength that adds value to our business.
What has been your greatest achievement?
I have only taken a few steps in this journey. There is a long way to go before I can say I have achieved. The very fact that our visionary model of excellence is getting executed and I am improvising in this journey is an achievement in itself.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Using the Power of THREE:
1. A big influence for me has been my husband and business partner who has always pushed me to proactively and consciously define who I am
2. My family and my sister have also played a key role in developing the confidence in me to
Think Big and Achieve Big
3. My spiritual gurus who have helped me stay grounded
How do you balance work and home life?
I have learnt that there is nothing like work life balance and personal life balance separately. It is just life balance. Any balance requires a healthy mind and body. Be it exercising, eating healthily, meditating and spending quality time with family – all of these components have been a guiding force for me to maintain a balance and focus on professional accomplishment.
What advice do you have for women starting out on their own?
The most important advice that I can give from my experience is FOCUS. As an entrepreneur, one can get carried away by ideas and opportunities that come our way. But it is only with clarity, focus, accountability, commitment and systemic thinking that we can move forward towards our GOALS.
I would also like to quote Albert Einstein here, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift”. So do not forget to harness your INTUITION.
Can you recommend any organisation or networking groups that have helped you on your journey?
I have learned from similar coaching networks on how they scaled their business. To state one, MindSpan in China has set an example to create a network of top class coaching professionals to address the coaching needs of multinationals.
If you could ask for be thing to help propel your business what would it be?
I would say that when more and more organizations recognize the power of what we have, it would propel my business.
What does the future hold for you?
The future definitely holds a multitude of opportunities:
– World class organizations choosing us as their trusted talent development partner
– Expanding the company to having people who are the best in their field and who believe in excellence being part of Global Coaching Lab
