Bindu Chowritmootoo

I attribute my success to my relationships. I take my relationships very, very seriously, and because of that, no matter what I launch, whatever workshop, whatever events I go through, whatever gala I'm planning, I'll send out messages and people will say, I'll be there, you're doing it, I'll be there. I think that is huge for me because I have contacts all across the U.S. and internationally as well. I think people really value relationships, and the trust factor comes in there, and that's when you really understand who your network is. Your network can really build you to the next level.

One of my mentors, who I worked with for 7 years at her company, always said 'never say never.' What that means is that we get set in our ways and think that we're only good at one type of role. Every year, she would promote me and put me in a different role, and I'm like, Steph, I don't want to do this. And she's like, no, never say never, you might turn this whole thing around. She used to put me in different departments and increase their productivity and their ROI and all those things. Because of that, I'm like a chameleon. I can go into any industry now. I've been asked to come into banking, I've been asked to come into IT to speak, and they all are very relevant to each other. I'm not stressed or uncomfortable with going outside of the healthcare company, because never say never. You just begin to learn and adapt to your environment.

I would say never stop learning. It doesn't matter how old you are, constantly reinvent yourself. Educate your mind just as much as you physically invest in yourself. You have to also invest in yourself mentally and emotionally, and I think that comes about when you're not the smartest person in the room. Surround yourself by people who are much smarter, more advanced, more set in their professional and personal life, because for some reason, it just bleeds onto me, and all of a sudden, I'm in the right rooms, I'm at the right tables. Just never stop learning, and if you have that mentality that you constantly want to better yourself, that's when you start attracting more opportunities.

I wouldn't say challenges, but what I do see is there's an uptick of people who want to be in the coaching industry. They'll talk to me about it and ask for advice, and I'll give them advice, but they think coaching is easy, and I'm like, it's not. It's very hard to understand who your clients are, setting the expectations, and it's not volume, it's having 5 to 7 quality clients that will put you on a retainer every month to help them through their journey, and I think that's the trick. I don't think that's a challenge, but I just think that the industry's getting inundated with coaches right now. It's really saturated.