After years of molding herself to be accepted, Amrita Singh found her voice again, first through motherhood, then through spiritual awakening and purpose-led entrepreneurship. In this episode, she shares how reclaiming her truth transformed her life, her business, and her path as a soulful leader.
What happens when you trade seeking approval for aligning to your purpose?
In this powerful episode, Amrita Singh shares her journey from a life of people-pleasing and cultural adaptation to reclaiming her voice through motherhood, spirituality, and purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
We explore how Amrita’s interfaith upbringing, spiritual mentorship, and inner awakening not only reshaped her identity, but laid the foundation for her success as a business leader, coach, and founder of Back to Source Coaching. Her story is a testament to the transformational power of inner work, and the courage it takes to live a purpose-led life.
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⏰ Timestamps:
🔗 Connect with Amrita:
🌐 Website: www.backtosource.in
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amritaasingh
The Deep Coach Podcast:
Episode 12: The Soul-Aligned Leader: How Amrita Went From People Pleaser to Purpose-Led Entrepreneur with Amrita Singh
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Amrita, it is so good to be here with you. you mentioned to me that. of the earliest seeds of, you can call it awakening or insight, actually happened when you were a little girl a result of your mom who was an English literature teacher, she would read you Shakespeare as a child
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: you remember her quoting you to thine own self be true. can you share a little bit more about the impact that quote had in your mom had on your life in that
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah, sure. Um, so I mean, as, like I say, as far back as I can remember, my mom would always, I, I don't remember anything else, so Shakespeare that she said to us, except this one line, uh, to thine own self be true, uh, and it shall follow and all of the rest of that as well. But, um. I, I think that the seed that it sowed, um, within me is, you know, what does it mean to be true to myself?
Because that part, she didn't tell me, she just kept saying to thine self be [00:01:00] true. And I think that's really what, um, um, maybe, and as I look at it now, is from where that seed of my lifelong quest of figuring out who am I really? Uh, I think it was sewn then. I didn't realize it at all at that point in time.
Uh, because if I look at my life, uh, it's like pre motherhood and post motherhood and pre motherhood. It was everything about people pleasing, uh, adapting, adjusting, having fun, making friends, heartbreak, all of that pre motherhood. And then post motherhood was when I started. Questioning this piece of, is this what life is really all about?
Kind of peace, uh, and more about that. I'm happy to share, but I think the seed started then when I was a little girl and blossomed, uh, when I became a mother.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: It is
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: I,
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: an appropriate quote, [00:02:00] it seems like both for you but also for your mom. From the standpoint of you both married into an interfaith marriage.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Can you first describe what you know of, of your mom and dad coming together and the impact that had on both sides of the family?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah. Um,
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: And I
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: so
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: sorry to jump in here. For anybody that's unaware of Indian culture and customs, what it means to enter into interfaith marriage,
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: yes. Yeah. So, uh. I mean, I know that you are now aware of it, uh, of what Indian interfaith marriage is all about, but, uh, my parents, um, got married, my. Dad Hindu, my mother Muslim, uh, and they got married to each other. They also came from fairly very different economic backgrounds, uh, and which was also another piece.
And so, uh, my mom, uh, my father was the complete let's have fun kind of guy. And my mother was this quiet, disciplinarian, uh, piece of it, [00:03:00] uh, in our whole upbringing. Uh, and yet I think, um. The, the piece is that neither of them imposed any of their, uh, culture or any of their religious understanding, if they had any on us as we were growing up as children, and they, you know.
And my, I remember my mom, uh, making us even write in our forms when we would apply to school, uh, that our religion is humanitarianism. And that's pretty much, uh, how we grew up. And that probably was the first spelling I learned as well. Uh, and that's, that's, so she just grew, you know, raised us, both my brother and me to be this really good human beings.
Uh, and she did it with the song and with stories and. It had nothing to do with any form of religion, uh, that, um, they both had been born into. Uh, and she was very, very particular about that. And so I would say, like, I grew up then saying [00:04:00] I'm, I'm an Indian, humanitarianism is my religion and I'm an Indian.
Uh, and I would say it with great pride, not knowing anything else other than that.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Were there any Hindu or Muslim, Uh, customs that you all, that your family did growing up?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Uh, well, I think the, the only thing that we did was eat the food from both, both sides, uh, and, you know, the celebrations of, of all festivals, not just Hindu and Muslim, but, uh. All celebrations of all of all festivals and definitely the food, and that continues to have its impact. My mom was a great cook and, uh, she, uh, it, uh, we were all our foodies in our family and that's the only piece that I really got from that I.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah. Yeah. And then you married yourself into, uh, with a, to a husband also of a different cast and of a different faith.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah, I, I got married to a Hindu, but of a different cast. Uh, and I think that's when I, [00:05:00] um, that's when I really felt that, oh, I know I was Muslim and Hindu and I started experiencing the impact of having been born into multi multicultural family. Um, only when I got married. Uh, into that family because, uh, into another family, which, uh, was, I would say quite traditional, um, Hindu, uh, Raj put, uh, family, uh, and, um, which is, uh, from the north of India, uh, as I knew it.
I mean, I, I didn't know much about it at all at that point in time and everything that I learned, um, about any kind of ritualistic kind of, um, religion or being even exposed to what. Hindu rituals are all came, uh, from, uh, my in-laws side of the family. And I was like, I told you this people pleasing person.
So I was like, so in love with this man, and I wanted my in-laws to like just [00:06:00] accept me and love me and, you know, include me in their family. So I basically did everything, uh, that, um, would support that, uh, without really questioning it or without um, even resisting it. Uh, and that, you know, appalled my mother greatly from the way she had raised me to be this independent woman, uh, thinking and financially independent.
But it pleased my mother-in-law greatly. And I think somewhere between that, I, um. I don't, I think that, who am I piece of it got a little blurred or even, uh, set aside for a bit, um, after I got married because just being accepted, uh, and loved in that family, uh, was my single pointed focus almost.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: What do you remember of that time period of a, of adapting yourself for others?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: I think right from, um, the clothes, right from the, I say from an [00:07:00] external, the clothes that I wore, uh, different, uh, I've never had to think about what I would wear when I was not married, but I had to think about that aspect. Some, you know, cultural, um, things that were expected of a woman to do, a married woman, uh, to, you know, when.
Uh, there were elders who came into the room, you automatically stood up, uh, not to give your space. I mean, my mom taught me that if there was an elder or a, you know, somebody needing a space, you'd get up and give it to them. But here it was known because I'm the daughter-in-law of the house, there was certain expectations from me of how I should behave, um, and show up.
Uh, and, you know, um, and so those were parts of it. The other was, I remember very clearly was when I, uh. I had my child and like the right to name my child was not mine at all. It was like I've given birth to this new, uh, generation in the family and keeping the lineage [00:08:00] going, and that was son. So, uh, my mother-in-law named my son, uh, very different from the name that I wanted to give him.
And I said, okay, that's also fine. It's part of the whole adapting piece of it. Uh, and yeah, I, I mean, I could go on with so many of those aspects and examples from there, but, uh, there were, there were a lot at, uh, uh, physical, mental, um, even, you know, uh, which God to pray to. And you know, how to, a lot of those aspects.
And, and I know when I think about it now that it was only from a space of, uh, love because I see my mother-in-law was also married into that family. Uh, and hers was also, uh, multicultural in the sense that not Hindu, Muslim, but again, two different kinds of Hindus. Uh, and she got married into the RBO family and she had done everything to create that space.
For her in that family and in that society, and so she wanted [00:09:00] her daughter-in-law also to get that same space. I know that it came from a space of love for sure, but at that time, I mean, it felt like, what the hell is happening to me? I'm like losing who I am completely.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Were, were you aware of that? Did it feel like you were losing a part of yourself or in the moment you were kind of owning the, the changes?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: I was owning the changes, yes. But I had my mom who was very strong influence and a constant reminder to me that, you know, I didn't raise you to do this. I didn't raise you this manner. And she would keep trying to show me the mirror, but I refuse to see it. Uh, at that point in time, I was like, no. It's like I'm doing a lot of love and it's, it's fine.
You know, it's perfectly okay for me to mold, bend, adapt, change, uh, and it's fine. It's, it, it's not a bother. And, uh, I, I actually believe that, I think at some level that it was perfectly okay to do that, uh, and didn't realize the impact that it was having on me.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: [00:10:00] How did the birth of your son begin to change things for you?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: I, I like to call it that, uh, it was, um, hormones that, uh, played up in my favor and suddenly I found my voice again. You know, uh, in terms of, uh, uh, I think it's also from this space of, you know, having given birth to a little baby and just that, uh, it, the sense of. Being there, that sense of responsibility, uh, for this little light little life that I brought into this world.
And just this sense of I have to be there for my little baby and for to be there for him, I need to be there for myself as well. Uh, and I think somewhere in that space, uh, I reconnected with this whole uncovering or rediscovering. Of what does it mean to thine own self be true? And [00:11:00] so I started asserting myself, uh, in terms of what was, okay, okay, fine, you got to name the child, but hey, this is how I'm going to raise him.
Uh, this is what's, okay. This is what's not okay. And it did create, of course, a lot of friction, uh, angst, um, upheaval, uh, in all of that. And, uh, that was part of the. Uh, process, I think of embracing motherhood and embracing myself once again.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah, I like to say the the mama bear comes out and
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah. If you, if you ask my husband, it was more like a lioness that's suddenly began to roar.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: the I love that. I love that. Yeah, exactly. You know, and you're like, this is, this is now my territory of sorts. You know?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah. Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: I am the one in charge here.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Some ways. Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah. Yeah. And, and what, what did your relationship internally to [00:12:00] yourself, how did that start to shift your, your relationship to spirituality?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: So I think that, um, um, you know, around that time when I had my first child, I was. Battling with all of these, uh, aspects of, you know, uh, adjusting and what's okay, what's not okay, what I'll stand for, what I won't stand for. And it's important to say also, uh, that my husband, he, uh, took a very neutral stand.
He was not like, he said, you do exactly as you want to, and I'm not going to like speak for you neither will I speak against you. So it's your li you can decide. Uh, and just left me to do that. And, uh, then I felt that, you know, oh, I'm left, left alone with this kind of peace. But I see the wisdom in that again, in hindsight, of course not, not at that point.
And so I felt this lot of friction and lots of aspects that I didn't deal with in some way. [00:13:00] Sorry about that. So I felt this little friction that I couldn't deal with. Uh, at multiple levels.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah, it's okay. We'll cut that out.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah. I have no idea. I've shared with everyone put all notifications off, but it still is. Anyways, I know where I was. Um, the into spirituality piece,
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: you
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: right.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: were, you were saying that your, your husband was neutral about it all.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah, my husband was completely, you know, you figure it out your battle, uh, you fight it whichever way you want to or deal with it whichever way you want to. And I'm neither will be against you, nor will I be for you. It's like yours too, yours to deal with. And, um, so I felt alone then, but I see the wisdom in it right now.
But the piece, um, the, the, the thing is that. I was looking for ways in [00:14:00] which, I mean, I knew that this is not the kind of life that I wanted, and this is not what I want to settle for. And, um, I, at that time in my life, uh, met with, um, my spiritual, uh, mentor, who I call ma, uh, was my Guruji. And, uh, I went, uh, I met her just because, um, I went to.
Attend a course and I felt this magnetic pull towards her, uh, which is another long story. But, uh, I, uh, used to go to her with, you know, how do I deal with my mother-in-law? How do I deal with, uh, you know, this person who's saying this to me, or how do I deal with my boss? I was working at that time and for everything that I would ask her, she would not, you know, she would not offer me a, any kind of advice, so to speak, but would share something.
That had like a spiritual dimension to it. Uh, and, uh, I didn't, um, know it then as again, spiritual dimension to it. But this whole thing of she would keep saying she is what [00:15:00] she is, he is what she is. Bring a sense of acceptance and bring a sense of glad acceptance. Uh, and I would say, yeah, okay. But it's difficult to expect.
I mean, she has these expectations and I would go back and forth with her on it, but she would always bring like a spiritual. Um, response, uh, to everything that I offered her or went to her as a problem with some kind of a spiritual solution. Uh, and, um, I, because I had this great sense of faith in her, uh, I would try that out, whatever way of accepting and bringing a sense of compassion and forgiveness.
Um. Not in a hundred percent kind of way, but a little bit. I would keep trying and I would meet with little success. Uh, so then I would feel like going back to her with something else the next time. And that's how my, I think, relationship with spirituality, uh, to solve some kind of [00:16:00] surface level problems that I was facing with dealing with life.
And here was someone offering me a spiritual kind of solution to look inward. Uh, and that's how I think the journey began.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Hmm. What were some of the practices that you began to incorporate, books that you began.
to read that really supported you during that time?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: So there's only one book that I have read since then and continue to read now and continue to study, which is about, uh, and, uh, each time that I have read it, each verse that I have been taught, uh, always has found different meaning. And I think it's, um, not that the book has changed or what's written there has changed, but, uh, I think I, each time would read it, would read it with a new lens, uh, with a difference in the way that I was approaching it from my life.
So Nita has been, uh, the scripture, the manual, the book, uh, that my ma taught us and continues to teach me. [00:17:00] Uh, and, uh, the one that I go back to time and time again. For anything in, in terms of practices, I think, uh, you know, from a very simple kind of practice of one of the first practices she would ask us to do is just to witness.
Uh, and I didn't know what witnessing meant and, uh, but just to witness and just see it for what it is without giving it any ju name, labeling it, judging it, just, okay. Tree is a tree. The mic is a mic. Computer screen, computer screen from inanimate things to things that were more closer, uh, home. And that was one of the first few practices that, uh, uh, that, that she, uh, brought into my life and I another was that there is this sense of God.
I always believed that there was God I never knew. Where I thought he lived high up on the mountain in some place and would punish me if I did something wrong and would shower me with blessings if I did something right. [00:18:00] Uh, and uh, and so she taught me the, uh, I would say the art of prayer, which, uh, in, in our custom we call Puja, uh, which I never had no idea about at all.
I never grew up with it, and she taught that to me. Uh, and that instilled this faith, love, and devotion within me. And even though it seems like idle worship, it's really the, the understanding that I'm like invoking those qualities of those different deities into me. And that was a, that, that continues to be a very powerful practice that I still follow, uh, very religious.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Beautiful. For those that are unfamiliar with the Bhava Gita, what are the essential teachings or what is the essential teaching that it teaches?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Um, I would say that the most essential teaching, uh, that it teaches is that each one of us, um, is born in, into this life for a [00:19:00] deeper and higher purpose. And, uh, our responsibility is to discover that purpose and then to live it. And, uh, then the pita gives you, um, step by step almost manual of how to live that life.
And I like to call it, I mean, it's in the pita there, it talks about three parts, but it's not an either or kind of path. They're like just three different parts with which you begin your journey and eventually those parts. Merge together. So there's the path of knowledge, which is I want to know more about life, learn more about life, understand more about life, which is called Ian yo.
And then there is the knowledge of practice or action, uh, which is you do certain actions in alignment with who you see yourself as. Uh, and that's karma, yolk or the path of action. And there is, uh, my most favorite, which is called b the yo, which is the path of [00:20:00] love and devotion. Uh, and you know, being able to bring devotion and sacredness in everything that you do and everything, it becomes an offering then of love.
And that's really essentially the, I would say, the broad understanding of the public kipa.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah. Wonderful. So then the birth of your son was not only the beginning of your spiritual journey, but it was also the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey around that
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yes.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: as
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Can you talk a little bit about the little company and how that emerged and Yeah.
we can, we can talk a little bit about that whole journey.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah, sure. Um, so again, it was, um, I think, uh, like this, like my spiritual journey came to me as something that I needed and so I grew into it and my entrepreneurial journey also, I like to see as something that I needed. And then I grew it, uh, kind of piece, uh, because I was doing a corporate job, um, working first in a bank and then [00:21:00] with an export house in a job that I absolutely loved.
I loved everything about my job. There's nothing that I didn't enjoy. The friends, uh, the work, the targets, the deadlines, uh, you know, the meetings, the travel. Everything about it I absolutely loved. Uh, and it was, you know, in the exports of home furnishings, so it got me to travel all around India and travel around the world and take Indian product across the world.
I loved it. And, uh, when I had my son, my first child when he was born, um, I just expected like somebody, either my mother-in-law or my mother with whom now I had great relationships with, will come down to take care of them, uh, my son and nobody did. And they said, it's your responsibility, your child, you have to take care of it yourself.
Uh, and so we started a daycare business, uh, called the Little Company. And when I say we, it was me and my best friend, still is my best friend today. And we started it [00:22:00] out of our own need for a little lock, uh, that we start a little company. The kids can go to the little company so the parents can go back to their big company.
And, uh, we just basically grew it from there, uh, you know, one center at a time. And then we grew it to 16 centers over a 14 year period. We ran it, uh, for many organizations as in-house centers. We ran our own community centers and we just grew it as an extension of us. Um, had 180 women working with us and it was just, um.
It was a big playground for our own kids who grew up there and then for many of the other children, uh, that came there. And even till today, some of those, uh, relationships, uh, still are very, very alive in my life. I.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Sometimes when, when stories like these are shared, it, it shares, you know, the highlights. Like, you know, we went from, we started the company and then we got 16 locations and then, you know, we sold it and [00:23:00] it sounds like everything was, was wonderful. Can you speak a little bit about some of the challenges of, of being an entrepreneur and, and starting your own thing?
What were some of those early challenges that you experienced?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: So I would say the first was, um, that I thought I'm building this business so that I could be more with my children and spend more time with my children. Uh. I had my son then, and then my daughter was also born three years later. But that was not true at all. I, I, I did, I did not get to spend time with my children.
They were around me as I was building it, the centers, but I didn't get to spend time with my children. So the reason why I actually started the business, uh, was not happening at all. The other was, we were the first daycare center to open in India. Uh, we had seen it, I'd seen it in my overseas trips and travels.
People would just come back to work. And so there weren't, um, people who were, uh, they were, [00:24:00] concept was great. People want, it's a great idea, but people were not ready to give their most important asset, uh, to us, to people who've never, ever done anything in this space other than having their own kids there.
So I remember myself, uh, you know, standing at signals, giving out flyers, inviting people in to experience the center, having different kinds of events. And then when we started getting children, we didn't, couldn't find the right caregivers. Uh, other than we thought two of us can manage, and then we got another, some, you know, help from home.
Uh, our domestic help came home from home and we started building it very organically. But then now when you had to grow to scale, how do you find the right people and then bring them into this space and have that same kind of love from them? So, uh, again, I, I recall us going in the local train in Bombay and, you know, for.
If you have to travel in a local train in Bombay once in your life to realize how crowded it [00:25:00] is. But that's where the people who came to work came from. And so I had to go to them and find those people and entice them to come and work for us almost. And then build that sense of culture almost. But to treat others like you want to be treated is used to be our only culture statement, uh, to everyone.
And yeah. And, um. Uh, the highlight of it was that we had these 180 women. We started from 11 uh, people, and those 11 people continued to the day we sold the business.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: How long? Yeah, I was
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: how long did you have that singular location before you began to expand?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Oh, we had it for six years. We had it for six years. Uh, and we. We didn't even think that we can expand it to another business, uh, to another location. Uh, we were like just so happy in that space, growing it over there. But geographically, the place where I lived, I had to travel an hour and a half every day with my babies [00:26:00] in the car to go to that center that we had built, which was our first center, which was doing well.
It was thriving. All of it was good. And, um. Without it like taking it to a corporate space. So I said, okay, let me find a corporate that is close to my house. So I, I don't have to travel all the way. And that's how we found our first corporate, uh, daycare center, which was just from the piece of saying, let's build it close to my house.
And when the corporate center took off, and it was great success, then we said, oh, this corporate center is a, is a, is a great place. People come because there's already a demand for it. Uh, and, uh, you know, we can expand into it. The corporate is willing to make the capital investment with us as well. So it seemed very good from a cashflow perspective as well, and so that's how we started.
Then this model of community centers that we built, our own and corporate centers that we then started marketing out to.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: How many corporate centers, how many community centers did you have at the.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Now this is, uh, 2012, so [00:27:00] I may not be completely right with it, but I think that it was like maybe five or six were the independent community centers, or maybe lesser, but they were more corporate, uh, centers between two cities, then Bombay, uh, and Delhi. And another quick story around that, since you asked about the speed bumps on the road is uh, there was a time when.
We had these two centers, one community and one corporate center. And my, uh, friend, um, uh, you know, her husband moved from India to London and she said, what do I do? So I said, you have to go where your husband is. And that's also how we've been raised as Indians, we just follow your husband wherever he goes.
And if he's going to London, you go to London. And I had a choice at that time as to what do I need to do, do, should I shut this down because she's going away, or do I. Continue to build this as a business, and I chose to build it as a business. So she went away and I chose to build it as a business. And I said the first thing is that even though we had a name called The [00:28:00] Little Company, uh, my pet name is Amou, so everyone knew it as Amou and Zi Center.
Nobody knew it as the little company. So we said we need to create that separate identity from us and let it grow as a center. Uh, independent of us. And so we needed to get more people in who could run that place. So we, first thing I did was started recruiting like-minded people. Just come experiment.
See, see what you like, do what you like to do. Uh, and that's how we started growing that business. But, uh, and then there was like no stopping and then one hit you to the other and it just kept going.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: And was it all self financed, meaning the, the profits of the company or you're, you got support outside?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: a hundred percent self financed of, started from our own savings bin. Those and mine. And, uh, you know, we would wait to, at the end of the month to say, okay, we have to pay out all of this. Oh, we still have some money left. Come on, let's go and have dinner. You know, it started from there to a space of, [00:29:00] you know, Jonathan, I'm gonna take a pause because I'm getting like these six calls from home.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: I just need to
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: and I'll, I'll let, I know, I'll pick up where we, where we left off.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: me, I'm in recording that podcast. I told you I can't wait
in the top jaw, look in the drawers of my boss.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: I love that. I love that. That's such a, it happens with my wife and I all the time too.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Where's the key? I thought something happened to my father and I had calls from my husband, two calls from, uh, my daughter, not a message
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Where's the, uh, that resonates. That resonates. I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask the question again, and.
then you can take it from there. [00:30:00] So was all of this self financed or did you get financing from the outside?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: So it was 100%, uh, self-financed, completely. Um, and, uh, uh, like I was. Sharing. The thing is that we would like Bindu and myself at the end of every month, the money that we had collected through the fees, uh, we would like see, okay, now we've paid off all our salaries, paid everything else, paid everyone else.
Oh, we have a little bit of money. So it started from, uh, first was like, oh, we could go out for dinner. Oh, we can stop paying ourselves a bit. Uh oh, we can now hire a driver for the company. So we grew it that way, completely. Never, ever spent, uh. Overspent, uh, what we, other than what we had, uh, got in. Uh, yeah.
And, and then when we started this corporate center, an independent center kind of model, uh, that piece, um, the corporate center then helped us to fund more independent centers. [00:31:00] So it was started from our initial savings, uh, that we both put in equally, and then we just grew it and kept it cash flow positive.
Throughout. Uh, and in fact that was one of the reasons, um, why we were looked at, uh, when an investment fund decided to buy us. 'cause we had zero attrition. We had 180 employees, nobody left after they joined us and we had, um. Uh, cashflow positive completely. And that's the reason why, uh, the, another company saw interest in wanting to buy us.
And ironically, that was the reason why we decided to sell the business as well, because they asked us the investment bankers. Uh, they asked us, what's the ROI per child? Uh, and I remember saying, I can tell you the name of all the children across all these centers, but I cannot tell you what the ROI is per child.
Uh, and, uh, but that, that mindset of, um, looking at business as an ROI, I don't think I had them, I still don't have [00:32:00] now, but, uh, that, uh, that somehow didn't. Feel so right. Um, and there were of course multiple other issues with which we decided that, okay, it's time is up. That what we could offer the business and what the business could give us.
We started it for our children. Both our children had grown up. It had reached this zero sum game, so it would, was best to let it go, and that's how we decided to.
Okay, and I'm gonna switch it off.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: So the, the fact that an investor came in, it, it shows that you hadn't made a name for yourself because they clearly saw the little company, Hey, this, this company is, is doing something right.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: was it a [00:33:00] matter of that, that you were in So, many locations and now becoming sort of more well known
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: so so I would say that it was a combination of multiple things. Um, one was, uh, you know, when whenever we had to bid for a corporate daycare business, uh, it would be through, they would give us like a request for proposal. Then we would submit that proposal and it would get into negotiations and conversations, and eventually it would always end up in most cases.
With two of us. Uh, and they had to decide between our main competitor and us. Uh, and sometimes we would win and sometimes they would win. But this competitor was a fully funded business. And right from the first day, they were fully funded by this investor. Uh, so when they were looking at consolidating the daycare business, they said it makes sense, uh, to, uh, you know, take on competition, so to speak from the investor's point of view.
But, uh, the lady who used to run this, uh, other business [00:34:00] since we used to be waiting outside boardroom so often, she and I became friends, uh, sitting outside and, uh, so she asked me one day, is that, uh, you know, why don't we just join forces together? So I said, I don't understand, in which way, how can we join forces together?
So she said, would you be willing to sell your business? And that was the first time that I said, oh, is that even possible that I can sell a business? I had no idea about that. Uh, and I remember very distinctly where I was exactly when she said that to me and I said, uh, yeah, I'd be happy to sell the business.
I had no idea why I said it or how, you know, what made me say that I hadn't even discussed with my business partner. And then I went back to her and I said, listen, somebody wants to buy us. I'm like, done with this. Are you okay to sell it? She said she had just returned back from London and she was getting into this whole piece of your, this is our business and we are building it.
But I think that's where also this piece around friendship, uh, you know, tops everything else [00:35:00] that was out of rule amongst ourselves. Unwritten, there may many agreements that we signed. And she said, well, if you are not in then I'm not in, so it's fine. Let's sell it. And that was it. And that's how the sale proceed began.
It took over a year to finally sell the business and then a year on, we had to continue to stay there. Uh, but we eventually sold it in 2012.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: How did that feel?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: It felt very light. And very empty at the same time. Uh, yeah, it felt really liked to let it go, um, because we were, we were clear about why we were letting it go, but we had no clue what we are gonna do with it. And I remember at that time also going and having a conversation with my Guruji and Ma telling her that, you know, they're making me a really fancy offer to stay on in the business.
Uh, and you know, as an employee, as a senior [00:36:00] leadership person and making me like, quite an irresistible financial offer. And, uh, she said, if you don't make space for something, you'll never know what comes.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Hmm.
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: And, uh, unless you don't make space for it, it's not going to come. And so I just decided to let it go.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: How did you discover coaching?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: Just like this, as part of the sale of that business, uh, I was, uh, they hired a coach and they said, why don't you stay on as the Chief people's Officer for this new business? And we are hiring you a coach to help you understand what that means and help you transition into this role. And I said to them that there, no, I know I don't want to do this role.
So you are wasting your money. Yes. You know, we're anyways on this one year of, you have to be with the company after you've sold it, so why don't you, we are investing in you. And uh, so I said, fine. I had no idea what coaching was or that there could be anything like a [00:37:00] coaching business at that time. And so I met this gentleman, he was gentleman from uk and uh, we were having a conversation.
Three or four sessions. I said, I was certain even in the beginning that I don't want to do this work as this chief people's officer, but I'm now certain that I want to do the work that you are doing. So can you tell me a little bit more about what you are doing? And that's how I figured out that there is a business and there's work called coaching.
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: What was it about coaching.
in particular that drew you as a next step in your career?
amrita-a-singh_1_08-06-2025_190653: There were two things, especially with this gentleman who was coaching. One was, uh. Uh, the kind of conversations that he was.[00:38:00]
jonathan-_1_08-06-2025_093652: Well, I, I think there were two in particular that stood out. The first was with your first mentor, Peter Redding. If you can share a little bit about meeting him and, and why he in particular resonated with you at the time.
Sure.[00:39:00] [00:40:00] [00:41:00]
What was the business model of that other coaching company that that failed?[00:42:00]
It didn't work out. Yeah. So what lesson did you take from that experience?[00:43:00]
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So then Peter Redding ignited your coaching journey. You, you started working for his organization.
Got it.[00:44:00] [00:45:00]
Wow.
What, what lessons were you then applying that you had learned from the failure of within me that allowed back to source to, to grow?[00:46:00] [00:47:00]
Yeah. How and when did you meet Leon VanderPol?[00:48:00] [00:49:00]
Yes. Yes. What, what impact did the deep coaching intensive have on you?[00:50:00] [00:51:00]
Hmm. And then you brought this work to India, and what has the response in India been to this work?[00:52:00] [00:53:00]
Yeah.
There's also something else you learned in this process, and that was.
sort of, uh, the indi the human, you could say human nature or, or the nature of Indians and, and their relationship to learning, meaning an assumption that Indians only wanted to learn in person. Can you talk, can you talk a little bit about that assumption and how it evolved over time?[00:54:00] [00:55:00]
Yeah.
Yeah, so interesting how things change, huh? Perspectives point of views. You have a new passion project in soulful leadership. Can you tell us a little more about soulful leadership and what that means for you?[00:56:00] [00:57:00] [00:58:00]
Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, that is so wonderful. What do you think it is about the leaders that have the initial enthusiasm and then are, are, you know, hesitant to, to jump on board?[00:59:00]
Oh, it is so needed. It is so needed and it, and I, I do really do believe it will be adopted widely as the world continues to be disrupted and folks are, have no choice but to go within not just folks but organizations as well. Yeah.[01:00:00]
That's right. That's right. So as we wrap up here, Amrita, if you could leave listeners with one invitation, something to reflect on our practice in their own transformational journey, what might that be?
I.[01:01:00]
Uh, thank you so much, Emirates. I mean, you're, you're just such an incredible powerhouse in a humble, peaceful sort of way. And, and the gift that you are to so many people in this world is just palpable and, and you're doing incredible work out there. So thank you.