Her Story
About Chanchal
My career path has been quite a journey. I started with a communications degree and worked for CNN in audience research, but I always had an entrepreneurial spirit from my maternal line. I went back to get my MBA and a master's in healthcare administration, then worked in hospital finance. Consultants recognized my talent for coaching and leadership development and recruited me to work for a think tank in Washington, D.C., doing leadership development for healthcare organizations - that's where this part of my career kicked off. For the past 20 years, I've worked in leadership development, and I've been an executive coach for 16 years. I'm a facilitator and executive coach for the Graduate School of Business at Stanford and also have my own practice. I facilitate women's groups on power, influence, and identity. My big focus lately has been on women's anger and how important it is for us to embrace that emotion in order to access our power. I published my memoir last year, Unearthed: The Lies We Carry and The Truths They Bury, which tells the backstory of my journey through spiritual and sexual abuse and why I do the work I do. I had a yoga studio for 6 years, and now I'm focusing on speaking and just completed my keynote. I'm designing programs based on principles of anti-racism to create learning experiences that don't happen at the expense of women of color.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Chanchal
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say two things. First, my own growth and willingness to just kind of climb out of places where I didn't want to be in. And second, my children. When my children were born, it was kind of like I had to have a different perspective on life and look at what I wanted to pass down. I said, okay, if there's things about my life right now that I don't like, then it's my responsibility to change them, because they're going to be taking this and running from there. So yeah, even more than my own will, I think it was my children. They were a huge wake-up call for me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You gotta think of it as the long haul - it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's one of those things where you just have to keep going, and as long as you continue to keep going, even though you're gonna have a lot of ups and downs, you will get there. Clarity will emerge, and then it'll be hazy again, and then clarity will emerge, and it'll be hazy again, but it's a thrilling journey if you can kind of be in the process, be happy with the pursuit of what you're looking for, in addition to having those aspiring goals.
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