Today we’d like to introduce you to Anika Patel.
Anika, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I always wanted what I “do” to fall neatly into a bucket. “Accountant.” “Doctor. So clean and simple. But my career path has been anything but. A little column A, a little column B. My mom is constantly asking me ‘so what should I tell people you do again?” That used to frustrate me but now it excites me. I don’t want to fit into a neat and tidy box. It’s such an exciting time to be alive and there are so many interesting things you can do, I think it’s becoming increasingly more common to find the ‘slash’ in a job title: consultant/entrepreneur/maker.
I started my corporate career as a software testing account manager. Sexy, I know! I had zero ideas about tech and was baffled that software even needed to be tested. Don’t you just plug and play? It was a humble beginning to the corporate world making daily cold calls to CEO’s and Heads of Tech asking for meetings to discuss the benefits of testing their large IT systems.
I gathered some foundational skills that serve me well even today, but I soon discovered that my true passion lay in helping people untangle the mess in their minds. I had an insatiable appetite to learn as much about the mind-body connection as possible and it led me down the path of exploring many alternative healing modalities. In parallel to working in Corporate and eventually moving into strategic consulting I studied and got trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Time Line Therapy, Hypnotherapy, face reading… if it was left of field, I took it.
I also studied Design Thinking which has been integral to everything I do today. A way of looking at the world and a holistic approach to solving problems. Instead of focusing so much on the problem, it’s flipped so that you start with the end in mind and work backwards. The mind is very creative when you give it a different starting point, it’s amazing what kind of ideas and solutions emerge when you take this simple approach.
Timing and luck definitely have played a part in my story. But I’m also a big believer in making your own luck. When I was 26 years old I had a pipe dream to move to the US and live and work there. I didn’t know how but I just knew it would happen for me. I can remember dancing to Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” at the staff Christmas party and feeling an electric bolt run through my body and the intense thought “I need to move to New York.” I had no reason to move there and no job prospects. But the intensity of the feeling was enough to get my ass moving and take massive action. Five months later, with a one-way ticket, I landed in the Big Apple with a suitcase, no job, and no visa.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The thing I’ve learned so far is that often the path can be murky. But if you get tingles in your body when you do something you love, following the ‘universe’s breadcrumbs’ as I call them, can unveil the path for you. You don’t need to know the whole journey ahead. Just like a car at night with the headlights on, you just need to see a few yards ahead, and then the next few and then the next few. If you can stay present with the feeling and continue to take focused action, the path magically unfolds before you. I followed this ‘recipe’ when I landed in New York, jobless and homeless and it served me well.
Be willing to unknow what you already know. It sounds weird, but often our preconceptions about people and the world trip us up and stop the magic from truly happening. Adopting a ‘beginners’ mind as much as possible in situations can serve you well. When we put aside our judgment and opinions, it makes room for bigger, brighter ideas to emerge.
Going from full-time employment to freelance freaked me out. It’s a lot to go from the reliability of a bi-monthly salary to very lumpy cashflow! I had a preconceived idea that real entrepreneurs quit their jobs and throw themselves into their business. But actually, I think that is totally mixed up. I am all for burning the boats and jumping right in but not at the expense of your mental health. I was panic-stricken for the first 6 months about how I was going to pay rent and buy more than cans of beans for dinner. In hindsight, I wish I’d eased up on my expectations of myself to totally “make it” in the first year and instead made it acceptable to have alternate forms of income. My advice would be to ensure you have enough reserves to cover yourself for at least 6 months if you do make the full-on leap to self-employment or figure out a way to work part-time before making the complete leap over to freelance or starting your own venture. It’s ok to wear multiple hats.
Please tell us about The Concoterie and Mother’s Feast.
Today, I call myself a strategic consultant – I help individuals and businesses figure out better ways of doing things. That may look like one-one coaching to help someone move from feeling stuck to being able to make compelling decisions and changes in their life. It can be workshops that are designed to help people think in new ways and come up with solutions to challenges. I also speak and I write. Right now, the passion project I am most excited about is my first book – a memoir on my epic fails and breakthroughs which will be coming out in the new year and Mother’s Feast – an intimate dinner series for mothers to expand themselves beyond the title of ‘mom.’ It’s early days, but I’m so passionate about the idea of recreating the concept of the village for parents, especially mothers. It can be so lonely fumbling your way through motherhood (and entrepreneurship) without the support of like-minded people and community. I wanted to create a way for women to reconnect to their whole selves instead of feeling suffocated and overwhelmed by the physical and emotional demands of motherhood.
There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
I don’t have a mentor per se, but I have found the entrepreneurial community to be incredibly supportive and helpful in my professional and personal development. Surrounding yourself with equally passionate people is invaluable. You are the sum total of the five closest people in your environment, so choosing your tribe carefully matters!
Co-working spaces are great. Sometimes they can become siloed and it just feels like your working in invisible cubicles where nobody talks to each other. But a lot of co-working spaces offer networking and learning sessions. Going to a couple a month with the intention to learn and connect with people (not sell yourself) has been really helpful and I’ve walked away with people who have become great friends and mentors for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.anika-patel.com, www.theconcoterie.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @anipatel
- Other: @mothersfeast
Image Credit:
Kristyna Archer
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