I started this series with saying I am a Type A. I am sort of excited when I realized that I am inching towards a good balance of all personality types. I am fine-tuning the action orientation and intensity in my own way, and not through hustle-culture intensity. I am cultivating Type B’s steadiness and openness with consistency and vulnerability. I am tending towards classic Type C traits of being analytical, reflective, ready. While also navigating the emotional world of Type D where I am being sensitive, intuitive, and often navigating inner storms before stepping out. I am revelling in my new personality – a thoughtful, emotionally intelligent founder who learns through introspection and observation, and now steps forward to lead with authenticity, care, and intention. All this growth, I realize came from transitions I hadn’t fully processed. Roles changing. Identities shifting. Life asking me to adapt faster than I could make sense of things. And this is probably a rite of passage. And, sometimes, just putting yourself out there – even if imperfectly – is enough to change the energy within and outside.
This may be against the grain and traditional expectations, but this is a balance most people seek actively. And hopefully this is something that can work in high growth settings too. I am coming from a place where I want to use what I have and believe in to my advantage. Here are some thoughts have taken shape over the last couple of years.
A lot of founders sacrifice everything to get to the top, fast. If there is one thing I would manifest, it would be to experience a sense of lightness. Before the weight of expectations crush one’s spirit, it is important to be in a sense of lightness and flow. Money talks, results talk, usage metrics talk and the constant chatter can drown out your own voice. Taking it seriously doesn’t mean losing your lightness. It means respecting the thing you’re trying to build enough to not squeeze the life out of it. Being light to me means nimbleness, sprints of reflection, quick action, and the ability to laugh at oneself even when things get messy. This is really not something that comes easily to me, but I witness it often with my husband who is the most resilient human I know, and I read about it in an incredible book called Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas. One line that stayed with me is, “Humor is a rebellious act of gentle defiance”. So, you don’t have to resist everything with armour. Sometimes, a well-timed laugh is the most radical thing in the room where you’re expected to be robotic, performative, or burdened. Choosing humour is a quiet revolt. It is how we reclaim our humanity in systems that often forget it.
I have always been someone with varied interests. I have worked across four careers now from finance to entrepreneurship, and thrive in learning new skills. In traditional organizations, this behaviour of “not picking a lane” is not seen as something favourable to career progression. This concept used to seem like a flaw and a weakness but has now got a momentum – a portfolio of careers. I am loving being curious, building a palette of skills, and priding myself as resourceful and adaptable. This is the entire point of this book called Range by David Epstein. My journey of self-growth has also been quite an experience in being curious about myself. One of my best 2025 read, Tiny Experiments by Anne- Laure Le Cunff gives a master framework of keeping goals light, tiny, and time-bound. To constantly being in a pursuit of curiosity about oneself and what makes one tick. This model serves well for me.
Another great learning that the book speaks about it is learning in public, by which one need not fear the steps taken in the limelight, as long as it is in pursuit of a larger goal. One can publicly document learning (level and quantity within predetermined boundaries, of course) as a commitment device.
So here I am – being vulnerable, being public, and documenting my startup journey. Not because I finally have answers, but because I want to tap into the power of community for answers. Not because I am so self-important, but because I believe that I can share something valuable. It may not be a unique journey or a perfect one but perhaps it might be the very thing someone else needs and hope it sticks. I am hoping someone reads this and it helps them to see that it is okay for anything to not be perfect. From my end I promise radical transparency and authenticity.
So here’s:
To learning out loud!
To connecting with people who resonate with this in-between space!
To letting things take shape in motion, not waiting for a perfect plan.
To new beginnings!