The Seat I Never Wanted

For most of my career, I knew exactly what I wanted.

I wanted to become a Project Manager.

I even have an old career goal sheet from around 2015–16 that reminds me of how clearly I had imagined my future. Project Manager was the goal, and eventually, perhaps, a career as a coach.

But a CXO role?

A firm no.

It wasn't because I thought I couldn't do it.

I simply couldn't see myself there.

I had never imagined myself sitting in that chair.

My career had already taught me to stretch

My journey had never been completely straightforward.

I became a Chartered Accountant while balancing marriage, motherhood and a demanding IT career. At the time, my professional role had little connection with what I was studying, and extensive work travel made the journey even more challenging.

But I persisted.

Later, after returning from my second maternity leave, I was given an opportunity to lead the implementation of a pharmacy-based application across multiple retail locations.

I had never worked as a Project Manager before.

My experience had primarily been in application support and application management.

But I took ownership.

The application went live across the stores on schedule, and that experience changed the direction of my career. I went on to pursue formal project management training and earned my PMP certification.

Years later, in another chapter of my career, I faced another unexpected turn.

I had joined as a Project Manager, but the application I was initially assigned to was being retired.

I could have viewed that as a setback.

Instead, I learned a completely new technology domain and was entrusted with leading the team.

I eventually led that team for five years and delivered multiple projects.

Looking back, I realize that many of the most important steps in my career weren't things I had planned years in advance.

They were opportunities I chose to step into.

But there was still one seat I had never considered for myself.

The CXO seat.

Then came March 2025

I attended a women-only leadership session at my company.

The CHRO from the US shared her personal journey.

She spoke about being a mother of two, travelling around the world for work, making difficult choices and building her career with the support of her family.

I was listening to her story.

And then something unexpected happened.

Her story felt familiar.

I too have two children.

I too had travelled extensively for work.

I was working in Chandigarh while my family was in Delhi.

I knew what it meant to make difficult choices while building a career.

But for the first time, I wasn't simply listening to someone else's success story.

I could see myself in that chair.

And a thought came to me:

I want to be there one day and tell my story too.

I was surprised by my own thought.

Because this was the very seat I had once rejected.

I still don't know exactly what shifted that day.

Perhaps nothing external changed.

Perhaps I simply allowed myself to imagine a possibility I had never given myself permission to imagine before.

And then my definition of the journey changed

By June 2026, Rise & Thrive was born.

And I became its Founder.

The woman who had once said a firm “No” to becoming a CXO was now building her own organisation.

That wasn't the plan I had written on my career goal sheet.

But perhaps that's the point.

Sometimes we spend years carefully planning our destination without realizing that we are still allowed to change the destination.

For me, Rise & Thrive isn't simply about starting a business.

It represents another chapter of my own transformation.

I want to use everything I have learned through my career, my experiences and my own transitions to help working women navigate theirs—to build confidence, find clarity, create balance and rediscover what is possible for them.

The lesson I carry with me

My journey has taught me that the limits we see are not always the limits that exist.

Sometimes they are simply the limits of what we have allowed ourselves to imagine.

For years, I couldn't imagine myself in that seat.

Then one day, I could.

And that single change in imagination opened a door to a completely different future.

I don't know where this journey will ultimately take me.

But I know this now:

I don't need to have the entire journey figured out before I take the next step.

I just need to be willing to imagine that the next step is possible.

Because sometimes, your biggest transformation begins not when you achieve something—

but when you finally allow yourself to believe that you could.

And perhaps that's what my Udaan really taught me.

The sky is not the limit. It is an invitation to rise.

What possibility have you never allowed yourself to imagine?

Rise & Thrive Coaching From Surviving to Thriving