Divya Parekh On Success, Growth, and Why She Enjoys Helping People Succeed!

While it might sound trite in this day and age, my motivation for the work I do is to help people achieve their highest level of success. As I look back on my life, that has always been my main focus. It has guided me in the different phases of my professional life, culminating in what I do now in guiding others to get their unique message out to their audience. There are several components to working with professional men and women that I have incorporated and refined in my career, and as I look back on to where it all started, I am proud to say it began with my parents.

I am blessed that I was brought up by loving parents in India who were liberal-minded as they raised my sister and I. India is a country of varied cultures that encompass different religions, traditions, and ways of looking at life. My parents taught their two daughters that there was no closed door to us. With adherence to education, discipline, and tenacity, all avenues for a career for the two of us were available. Age, gender, social status, and any other potential roadblocks didn’t exist for us. In addition to my parents being my biggest cheerleaders, growing up in such a land of diversity helped me to see the value at a young age of the power of mediation with others. I learned that everyone could achieve success in whatever we were doing.

If India was a land of diversity when I was growing up, then moving to America to pursue my education was entering a true melting pot. It seems my formative years at home prepared me to adapt quickly to my new surroundings. After all, people are people, no matter their heritage, religion, gender, or socio-economic background. As I went to school and formed relationships with students, colleagues, and professors, it didn’t take me long to transition to a feeling that I belonged in America. I was soon arguing the merits between the Yankees and the Mets, even though baseball looked like some weird form of cricket only a short time before!   

As I went through my studies, and then in my early work in academia, followed by biopharmaceutical companies, I realized how much I enjoyed understanding the process of what it took to take a project from an idea or a concept to fruition. Whether it was working with grad students in a university or other scientists in a company, I realized that “how” you went about a project was as important as the result. Furthermore, I came to understand that to achieve success in anything in this world, that no man or woman is an island. Rarely does anyone accomplish great work on their own; there are always other people involved. I realized that any success I had came as a result of developing good relationships with people that I worked with, for, or who reported to me. I came to treasure those connections, and I had an epiphany that I was enjoying enhancing those relationships and helping those on my team more than doing the actual projects. That understanding caused me to exit the corporate world and strike out on my own as a professional coach.

Working at the international level with leaders, achievers, and entrepreneurs, I came to fully grasp that relationships were the key to any success a person achieved. I’m not only talking about how one interacts with people, but with everything important to one’s career and life. This leap to my thinking and understanding powered several of my books including, The Entrepreneur’s Garden – The Nine Essential Relationships to Cultivate Your Wildly Successful Business and Expert to Influencer – How to Position Yourself for Meaningful Impact. I was able to provide my services many times in the academia, corporate, and entrepreneurial worlds on how to seed, grow, and sustain profitable relationships.

It was satisfying to help transform a high-achieving individual into forming high-performing, cohesive teams. They saw how they could increase their productivity and success in their field. My work with them encouraged them to aspire to be influencers in their industry or to the audience they were building while driving impact. This led me to further expanding my horizons where I coached individuals to become influencers through authority positioning and get their message out to people via books, media exposure, speaking, and more. We all have something to say. Sometimes, we only need the proper guidance and inspiration to shout what we know out to others who could benefit from our knowledge. In our closely connected world, I have been able to help thought leaders bridge the gap between wanting to have a positive effect on others and to do it!

I do encourage all those I work with to be generous in how they help others. We need to pay it forward with our efforts and talents. I have done this all my life, and it is one of my values I do try to instill in others. When we reach out to connect and help others, we are furthering our personal legacy through those efforts. Life is too short, and the world is too big to be selfish with our time and talents. By looking to help others, we are multiplying the impact we have on our businesses, community, country, and world. While that might seem an ambitious concept, I truly believe in it and will continue working with people and use it as my guiding endgame.

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What’s your vision for 2021?

  Something that I stress in my work with clients is that there is no actual separation between one’s career and personal life. The truth is that it all comes under the heading of “life.” I try to live this principle as my business is centered around my lifestyle. I believe we have to approach what we do holistically, and I want to do better at that for myself in 2020. I want to reach out and help more people in the coming year. I want to help guide others to the next level of achievement that they want. I also want them to see that their career is a part of their lifestyle.

         I do plan on running more retreats and bring such likeminded people together. I believe in the synergy that is created when people come together and learn from each other. I facilitate these events, and I always go away from them learning something new. I desire to help many other women get their message out to their audience and to be on a positive trajectory for their career.

What’s your greatest personal achievement?

         The impact that I have had on others! Even though I have been doing this for a while now, I am surprised when my clients tell me that I inspire them to help others. Clients share with me how they are very effective in their leadership role as an entrepreneur or in their company’s hierarchy. I love hearing stories of how teams came together to accomplish one or more goals.

         I also become delighted when clients share with me how my book helped them write and produce their own book, reaching a good-sized audience with it and became a bestseller. They share with me those that they have helped in one way or another. While all the credit goes to them for how they aided others, they do tell me it was working with me that put them in the position to do so.

Who was your first or most memorable client?

         I had to laugh at this question because I am always reminding others to savor their successes, but it is not something I often think about. While it wasn’t my first client, I do remember fondly an idea that I had that became successful. Part of what I do is to help people to get their message out there. One of the most efficient ways is by writing a book. Even though I make the process as smooth and easy as possible for others, it is an intimidating task for a newcomer.

         While brainstorming, I came up with the idea of producing an anthology of related stories, but each person in the book only had to come up with one chapter. It allowed them to see that it wasn’t that hard to do with the process my company utilizes, and they had the joy of being published in their first book. This led to clients to taking that step forward of writing an entire book and putting it in the mix of getting their message out. Several bestsellers resulted from this idea and greatly benefitted some of my clients.

Describe a challenge or conflict you’ve faced and how you dealt with it.

         I broke my shoulder. There is nothing that brings you a touch of humility and a better understanding of human nature than when you become debilitated. The pain involved during the healing process was intense, and I couldn’t even sleep in a bed for a long time. I lived on a chair as I tried to maneuver and do many tasks that I took for granted – like eating, dressing myself, typing on my laptop, etc. There were definite times of depression and hopelessness wrapped up in those days.

         Guess what, though? I started to reach out to people. One thing about those that like to help others; they don’t necessarily reach out when they need help. That was me. I didn’t want to feel like I was a burden to others. I figured I would get by, and there might have been one or two pity-parties in that time. However, I was astounded when I found out how much people wanted to help me when I asked for it. They went out of their way to make me feel at ease that they were lending a hand. Here I was, an expert on relationships when I discovered something new about their dynamic. It is okay to ask for help. Most people are more than happy to do so when asked. After all, if you don’t ask for help at times, others probably will not realize you need it.  

What’s your biggest strength and weakness?

         Strength can be a weakness in situations and vice versa. I have learned this the hard way and share it with my clients. One of my biggest strengths is caring about people. My motivation is helping others. This has led to watching many of my clients achieve what they never thought they could. I put 100% of myself into the work I do with others. I have seen plenty of positive transformations occurring in others through my work.

         On the flip side of the coin, that has also led to some of my clients taking advantage of me, which turns it into one of my biggest weaknesses. What I have done with both this strength and weakness is to learn how to set boundaries. That could mean monitoring the time I spend with a client, not continually taking on more work beyond the original parameters of our agreement, and other precautions so that I don’t feel used. One thing about being an entrepreneur is that our daily life is our laboratory, and we will discover new ways of making what we do even better for future clients.

How do you balance work and life?

         As I tell my clients, you have to know and be in touch with your core values and use them to guide your life. Whatever these non-negotiable values are for you, they can’t only be for your career. They have to be for all facets of your life, or else they don’t count as values.

         For example, I am a big believer in being on time. I think other people’s time is as important as mine, and I respect that. However, if I am always on time for work-related activities, I should be for anything involving my family also. If not, then I am not being true to myself and other people. In most of what I do, I encourage others to figure out their core values. I tell my clients that those values will become the compass that will guide them always, especially when it comes to difficult decisions. As soon as we are unfaithful to what we believe, the train is off the tracks and there is going to be a big crash.

How do you support other entrepreneurs?

         I certainly support entrepreneurs through my work. Many of my clients are entrepreneurs who are looking for guidance as they start out, or to increase their effectiveness as they progress. In addition to what I do for clients, I give away knowledge through articles, my website, books, speeches, radio show, pro bono coaching, etc.

         Financially, the profits from my books go to KIVA.org.  Scholarships go to female entrepreneurs and I do all I can for them.

Tell us one truth about you and one false thing about you that some people still believe?

         One truth about me is that I will go out of my way to help someone. That is at the very core of my being and was nurtured at a very young age from my parents. I also believe that it separates me from others that do my kind of work. I give each client my full attention and encourage us to have excellent communication so that I know how to help them best.

         As for the false concept, some people think I should never have left the security of the corporate world. They don’t grasp the fact that I can do what I want now in helping others. It is a very fulfilling switch in my career that I don’t regret.

How do you celebrate your successes?

         I believe that joy is multiplied when shared. For that reason, I always try to celebrate my successes with friends and/or family. I also believe in mindfully cherishing the success and celebrating in the moment. What I also usually do is donate something to someone else – whether it is time, money, knowledge, success, etc. For me, that is a great way to celebrate!

If you had to start all over what would you have done differently and Why?

         I would have better clarity of direction and focus on what I wanted to do in coaching others. I did what many entrepreneurs do in the beginning – I tried to be something for everybody instead of focusing on what I did best. I became the proverbial “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

         As I teach my clients, we are much more effective when we figure out our niche and work that lane hard. It is great to branch out later as you become more experienced, but without working on some specific strengths in the beginning of your business, you run into the issue of being too much of a generalist and not attracting the people you want as clients. I certainly did that, and it took longer than I would have liked to find the place where my superpowers best worked.

What four questions do you wish we had asked you?

         As a great deal of what I advocate for is all about a person getting their message out, I would have liked to be asked:

   1. How do you get your message out?  By setting up a platform utilizing various media so that people can interact with me and what I do, and at the end, I can get my ideas out.

   2. Why write a book? A book is the easiest foundation from which you can base your entire platform around. It can be the basis for social media, websites, speeches, other books, etc.

   3. How do I write my books? I have professionals who make the process easy with the sole intention of expressing my ideas with my voice.

   4. Is it hard to get published? No, and you can even achieve bestseller status.

Who is your biggest mentor and Why?

         My father was and continues to be my biggest mentor. His wisdom and encouragement have always been important on all facets of my journey to where I am today and where I am going tomorrow.

What’s your favourite quote?

         “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

What is your favorite word and Why?

         Freedom – it indicates letting go of inhibitions and being present in the moment. This is key for anything we want to accomplish in our life.

What makes you happy?

         Working with good people and having an impact on their lives and their careers gives me much happiness. There is a definite bonus when you work with a group of people and you watch them uplift and encourage others.

What is the one thing you want readers to leave with after reading/knowing your message?

         Very simply – get your message out there; the time is now.

In your opinion,what attributes would complete your ideal Stellar woman?

My ideal Stellar woman is someone who:
Embraces her perfect imperfections
Walks through the fears, failures, and challenges to claim her power
Braves the spotlight and becomes the trusted leader
Sets and achieves bold and audacious goals
Commits to touch lives and drive an impact with grace and authenticity
Lives and leaves a legacy

What would you love to add to your life to achieve the next level of being a stellar woman?

I would love to touch ten million lives in the next ten years. It’s about heightening human connections using the power of storytelling.

I would love to add more inspiration, influence, and impact to your life. My heart yearns to help you who hasn’t yet acknowledged the impact you can have. It’s about helping you unlock your genius, magnify your message, and become the impactful influencer you are meant to be. It’s about reaching more people so that your transformation can change someone’s story.

What advice would you give any woman aspiring for a stellar life?

I wanted to master my connection to the inner potential and gain oneness with it to impact others. In my quest, I experienced massive failure.

I craved Yoda — especially those who were mission-driven, compassionate, or had experienced failure like me. The ones who had overcome failures and built a wildly thriving business while unpacking influence.

Once I found my Yoda, I could connect with my experiences and view them as the fertile ground of opportunities. It changed my business… and my life.

I’d strongly encourage you to find your Yoda, connect with your mission, and drive an impact. REMEMBER, as you learn and grow, you CAN be a YODA for someone else!

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Divya Parekh, ACC, CPC, LL, MS

Business Growth Strategist and Authority Positioning Advisor.

Visit https://www.divyaparekh.com/ to learn more about her work.