Unstoppable Woman with Shailja Saraswati

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Bingepods

Unstoppable Woman is where leadership meets inner work. Hosted by Shailja Saraswati, the show brings together founders, leaders, creators and changemakers for honest conversations about identity, reinvention, self-trust and the decisions that shape extraordinary lives. Beyond achievements and accolades, each episode explores the invisible journey behind visible success—offering practical wisdom for anyone navigating change, leadership and personal growth.

  1. 3h ago

    I Left the Uniform, Not the Dream: Life After the Indian Air Force | Priyanka Oswal

    What happens to your strength when the uniform comes off? Host Shailja Saraswati sits down with Priyanka Oswal, Indian Air Force veteran, competitive pistol shooter and mentor to women in leadership, to trace how a girl who set out to prove she was no less than any boy learned to lead herself, and then chose a new dream on her own terms. Priyanka was the fourth daughter in a family that had hoped for a son, and the first in her family to join the armed forces. She wanted to fly, missed the flying branch on medicals, and went on to serve ten years, including as a fighter controller. At 23 she was leading people from day one, coming home in tears, and teaching herself to regulate: painting, self-talk, mindfulness, and reading her own moods and energy through the month. Shailja names what she built: her own emotional regulation system, and the wisdom to work with her system instead of pushing it. Then came the moment her role became real, the ownership that followed, a carefully planned exit, a partner who respected her freedom, and a new life chasing competitive pistol shooting. In this episode: "Ladkiyan ladkon se kam nahi": the belief that became her fuel The sisters who fought for an education before her Leading people from day one at 23 Painting, mindfulness and reading your own mood and energy Work with your system, not against it The moment her role became real, and what full ownership looks like Planning an exit with a hard stop, and why leaving was harder than joining How routine carried her through a hard personal year during COVID 100 gratitude emails and the identity question after the uniform What pistol shooting teaches about control, breath and stillness Why your dreams don't have to follow anyone else's timeline What unstoppable means to Priyanka: keep walking "So your values are basically your wings, which are helping in your next flight, one after the other." — Shailja Saraswati 💬 Which dream are you still holding to someone else's timeline? Tell us in the comments. 🔁 Share this with a woman who was ever told girls are less. 🔔 Subscribe to Unstoppable Woman, hosted by Shailja Saraswati. Chapters: 00:00 Highlights: Finding Your Inner Force 01:32 Meet Priyanka Oswal — Indian Air Force Veteran 02:08 Strength, Discipline & Identity Beyond the Rank 02:46 The Dream of Joining the Armed Forces 06:07 Breaking Gender Barriers & Her Sisters’ Legacy 08:55 From Flying Dreams to Becoming a Fighter Controller 09:50 Leadership Lessons from 10 Years in the Air Force 11:34 The Difficult First Months & Finding Peace Through Painting 13:50 Leading Without Anger 15:50 Self-Awareness, Monthly Cycles & Mindfulness 18:10 A Live Airspace Incident That Changed Her Perspective 22:12 Taking Ownership & Building Trust Across Teams 24:48 Planning Her Exit from the Air Force 26:49 Marriage, Freedom & Finding a Supportive Partner 29:24 From Military Training to Competitive Shooting 32:24 Overcoming Heartbreak & Rebuilding Through Routine 35:31 Why Empathy Matters as Much as Authority 36:48 Leaving the Air Force & Writing 100 Gratitude Emails 39:31 Rediscovering Identity Beyond the Uniform 40:58 Pistol Shooting, Stillness & Letting Go of Control 42:29 Why Your Dreams Should Never Stop 43:53 Being Unstoppable & Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone 45:08 Closing Thoughts: The Inner Force Behind Her Journey #UnstoppableWoman #IndianAirForce #WomenInLeadership #ShailjaSaraswati #PriyankaOswal

  2. Nov 4

    Don't Give Yourself Away: Boundaries, Attention & Inner Freedom | Rajyogi Nikunj Ji

    We're all fighting so hard for freedom in the outside world. But if you can't decide where your attention goes inside, are you really free? Host Shailja Saraswati sits down with Rajyogi Nikunj Ji of the Brahma Kumaris for a conversation about inner freedom: the attention we hand over to our phones, the parts of ourselves we give away in relationships, and what he calls the heaviest shackle of all, the shackle of "I". It begins with a confession. As a child, Rajyogi Nikunj Ji felt that nobody liked him and nobody loved him, and he was desperate for attention. From there, they explore who we are beneath every role, how technology has started consuming us, and why our children's habits start with us. As Shailja puts it: walk the talk. Then the conversation turns to women. Women hear two messages at once: be unstoppable, and be a good mother. So do women really need empowerment, or do they need to remember the power they already have? Shailja shares why she started Unstoppable Woman in 2020, and why so many women still wait for permission from outside when it was always within. His advice for anyone who overgives: don't give yourself away so much that there's nothing of you left. Relationships have to be mutual. In this episode: • The three keys, and why the heaviest shackle is the shackle of "I" • Feeling unloved as a child, and the search for peace • Who are you beneath every role? • Is technology consuming us? • It starts with parents: walk the talk • Be unstoppable, be a good mother: the double message women hear • Do women need empowerment, or permission from within? • Overgiving, boundaries and why relationships must be mutual • What AI means for our attention • Quick bites: the one thing to stop doing on your phone right now "If I am not able to decide where my attention is going inside, so what does that freedom really mean?" — Shailja Saraswati Where does your attention go first every morning? Tell us in the comments. Share this with someone who always gives more than they keep. Subscribe to Unstoppable Woman, hosted by Shailja Saraswati. Chapters: 0:00 - Highlights of the Episode 0:13 - The Three Keys Ritual: What Is Spirituality? 4:31 - What Does Freedom Really Mean? 6:33 - Three Questions of Self-Inquiry: Main Kaun? 8:25 - Nikunj Ji's Early Life: The Rebellious Atheist 10:58 - Anger at God & the Three Wise Women 13:25 - First Encounter at the Meditation Center 16:47 - Meeting His Guru & the Divine Vision 18:30 - Learning Meditation Through Exam Fear 20:34 - Who Is God? My Best Friend 21:58 - Parenting & Technology: Walk the Talk 24:17 - The Teenage Daughter: When to Let Go 25:21 - Women Empowerment: Do Women Really Need It? 28:02 - Conditioning of Women from Birth to Marriage 30:01 - Men Worship the Divine Feminine 32:06 - Women Are Shakti: Stop Blaming, Start Realizing 34:06 - Body Image: From 106 kg to Self-Worth 36:27 - Connecting with Nature & Inner Silence 39:00 - Quick Fixes: Deep Breathing & Detached Attachment 42:41 - Don't Lose Yourself in Relationships 44:44 - Rights, Self-Respect & Communication 48:22 - The Future: AI, Technology & Human Connection 52:00 - Reviving Motherhood: The Mother's Touch 55:38 - What Gen Z Needs & Letting Go of Expectations 56:25 - What Is an Unstoppable Spirit? 57:04 - Closing Thoughts #UnstoppableWoman #InnerFreedom #Boundaries #ShailjaSaraswati #RajyogiNikunj

  3. Oct 28

    Your Job Is Not Your Worth: How to Rebuild Confidence After a Setback | Arunima Jha

    Your job is not your worth. If one setback at work makes you feel like a bad person, not just a bad day, this conversation is for you. Host Shailja Saraswati sits down with lawyer Arunima Jha to talk about what happens when work becomes your identity, and how to rebuild your confidence, your voice and your self-worth after a setback. Arunima grew up a shy, lost child and was told that people like her should not even think about the college she wanted. She answered with hard work, found her voice in writing and law, and got her first real validation at a national moot court. Later she learned what it costs to treat a workplace like home: the quiet belief that you exist only while you are performing well. Shailja reads the pattern underneath it all. A job is a label, a wrapper, and you are larger than the vessel. In this episode: Why your instincts are data When a bad day starts to feel like a verdict on who you are What burnout really is, and who HR actually works for Your rights at work: getting your contract checked and asking about policies Why women are conditioned to see ambition as unfeminine and asking for money as unspiritual AI, layoffs and why leaders need inner authority under pressure Why your data is your biggest asset Arunima's definition of unstoppable "It's a label. It's a wrapper. It's not really constant. What is constant is you." — Shailja Saraswati Has a job title ever decided how you saw yourself? Tell us in the comments. Share this with someone who is rebuilding after a setback. Subscribe to Unstoppable Woman, hosted by Shailja Saraswati. Chapters: 0:00 Highlights of the Episode 1:22 Guest Intro 2:14 Three Keys: Rapid Fire Questions 5:00 Childhood & Early Years in Kolkata 8:01 From St. Xavier's to Law School 10:19 Finding Voice Through Writing 11:07 Realities of Being a Woman in Law 13:41 Standing Up to Ragging in Law School 15:52 Personal Experiences with Abuse 18:35 Workplace Lessons: You Are Not a Label 22:26 Corporate Culture & Red Flags 24:25 The Three Payslips Philosophy 26:08 Burnout vs Tiredness: HR Reality 27:30 Know Your Rights: Contracts & Labor Laws 32:09 Women, Ambition & Conditioning 33:27 POSH Cases & Fighting Stigma 38:31 AI's Impact on Women in the Workforce 43:01 Data Privacy & AI Ethics 48:18 Closing Thoughts #UnstoppableWoman #SelfWorth #WomenAtWork #ShailjaSaraswati #ArunimaJha

    Your Job Is Not Your Worth: How to Rebuild Confidence After a Setback | Arunima Jha

  4. Oct 14

    From Teaching to Healing: When Your Inner Calling Changes Your Path | Poonam Sharma

    What happens when you’ve built a life, you’re grateful for, but something within you tells you there’s more to discover? On this episode of Unstoppable Woman, Shailja Saraswati Varghese sits down with Poonam to explore her journey from 19 years of teaching to discovering a deeper calling in spiritual healing and guiding others towards clarity. Through their conversation, they unpack what it means to listen to your inner voice, understand yourself beyond the roles you play, and use tools like astrology and numerology without giving away your own power. They also explore Inner Authority, self-trust, self-love, and the idea that not every sacrifice is an act of love. Because transformation doesn’t always begin with a crisis. Sometimes, it begins with the quiet feeling that your current life is good, but your journey isn’t over. This is a conversation about finding your purpose, giving yourself permission to begin again at any age, and discovering that being yourself is what makes you unstoppable. In this episode, we explore: * Finding a new calling at any stage of life * Moving from confusion to clarity * Using spiritual tools without outsourcing your decisions * Self-love, boundaries, and why not every sacrifice is love * Inner Authority and learning to trust yourself * Why you don’t need a crisis to begin your transformation Because you can be grateful for the life you’ve built and still be ready to grow beyond it. Chapters: 0:00 Highlights of the Episode 1:36 Meet Poonam Sharma 2:37 Three Keys to Being Unstoppable 6:43 Childhood: The Shy Girl from Shimla 8:06 The 2019 Divine Calling 12:55 COVID & the Journey Within 13:43 From Interior Design to Numerology 17:39 Finding Her Guru 20:49 What Healing Really Means 24:02 Live Numerology Reading 26:38 Client Success Story 31:25 Faith, Surrender & the Sciences 34:46 Role Reversal: Poonam Interviews the Host 38:21 Decoding Transformation 40:29 Women, Identity & Self-Worth 46:10 Self-Love, Gratitude & Age 49:47 Inner Universe & Daily Routine 53:19 Intuition vs. Fear & Self-Trust 57:29 The Healing Farm Vision & Quick Bites 61:50 What Makes a Woman Unstoppable 63:33 Closing Thoughts Watch the full conversation on Unstoppable Woman. #UnstoppableWoman #Poonam #ShailjaSaraswati #InnerAuthority #WomenEmpowerment #SelfTrust #SpiritualGrowth #FindingYourPurpose #PersonalGrowth #SelfLove

    From Teaching to Healing: When Your Inner Calling Changes Your Path | Poonam Sharma

  5. Sep 30

    She Thought Good Work Would Speak for Itself. It Didn't. | Madhu Dutta

    For more than two decades, Madhu Dutta built some of India's most recognisable brands - Tanishq, Raymond, Pantaloons and more - and believed that the work itself would be the validation. Then came a harder realization: good work does not always speak for you, titles are transient, and waiting for someone else to vouch for you can carry a cost. In this episode of Unstoppable Woman, Shailja Saraswati sits with Madhu to trace the inner operating system behind that realization: a childhood shaped by storytelling and observation, rowing and resilience, the leaders who taught her what support actually looks like, and the moment she stopped treating visibility as vanity and started seeing authorship as responsibility. The conversation moves through: why Madhu learned to value the work more than the title the hidden price of believing someone will eventually notice and reward good work why women need to become their own brand ambassadors without becoming performative what losing her father young taught her about uncertainty, ownership and self-reliance the small leadership gestures from Harish Bhat that she still remembers why the butterfly became the symbol of House of MSD after 24 years of corporate life what Raymond taught her about masculinity and vulnerability Chapters: 0:00 Highlights of the Episode 2:19 The Hardest Transition 3:21 Three Key Questions 6:06 Childhood & Storytelling 8:32 Sports, Resilience & Influence 12:57 Early Career in Advertising 18:19 Leading Major Brands 21:51 Personal Branding & Cacophony 26:55 The Entrepreneurship Plunge 29:38 Resilience & Self-Reliance 34:38 Authenticity & Inner Operating System 36:27 Women in Advertising 40:22 Raymond & The Complete Man 43:59 Brand Reflections & Mentorship 48:17 Building House of MSD 53:45 Entrepreneurship Realities 56:10 Women, Visibility & Assertiveness 59:22 Inner Authority & Self-Authorship 1:01:55 Self-Promotion vs Self-Authorship 1:03:28 Navigating AI 1:10:13 Quick Bites 1:12:42 Closing Thoughts This is a conversation about invisible excellence, visibility without theatre, and the difference between the chair you are given and the authority you carry when the chair changes. #unstoppablewoman #MadhuDutta #ShailjaSaraswati #WomenInLeadership #InnerAuthority #SelfAuthorship #PersonalBranding #Leadership #Advertising #Entrepreneurship #BrandStorytelling #AIandCreativity

  6. Sep 16

    How to Build a Life That Still Feels Like Yours | Tanvi Ghate, Founder of OLAK

    How do you keep building, growing and changing without losing the feeling that your life is still yours? That became the deeper thread in my conversation with Tanvi Ghate, Founder of OLAK. Her journey moves through law, venture capital, women’s stories, Indian craft and eventually building a new lingerie brand. But underneath those milestones I kept seeing an operating system: Do. Discover. Become. Build capability before chasing confidence. Stay a student even after you earn the title. Remain a seeker even when success gives you reasons to settle. And keep asking whether the choices shaping your life are still genuinely your own. By the time we reach OLAK, the business feels less like a career pivot and more like the convergence of the woman Tanvi had been building all along. This conversation is about agency, capability, culture, curiosity — and what it takes to live and build on your own terms. Chapters: 0:00 — Intro: Living Someone Else's Success 1:56 — Meet Tanvi Ghate 3:14 — Three Keys Questions 6:06 — Childhood & Family Influences 12:25 — Law School & Exploring Every Path 15:51 — The Accident & Recovery 23:23 — First Job & Finding Herself in Bombay 27:08 — Confidence Comes From Capability 31:18 — From Law to Venture Capital 33:02 — Three Tracks: Role, Student & Seeker 35:04 — Work Is Life: No Balance Needed 36:40 — Building Sakhee: Women's Stories 38:40 — Traveling India's Textile Towns 40:54 — Celebrating Women & Emotion as Strength 45:33 — The Surrender Experiment 47:42 — Legacy at 80 49:01 — The Birth of OLAKH 50:04 — Why Lingerie? 51:07 — Building From Scratch: Factories to New York 57:06 — OLAKH Launch & Milestones 64:52 — Quick Bites: Rapid Fire 71:03 — Closing Reflections #UnstoppableWoman #ShailjaSaraswati #TanviGhate #OLAKH #InnerAuthority #Agency #SelfTrust #Leadership #WomenFounders #IndianDesign #PersonalGrowth

  7. Sep 9

    The Founder of Unstoppable Woman Wasn't Always Unstoppable | Shailja Saraswati

    For years, Shailja Saraswati has asked the questions. In this episode, for the first time, she answers them. She grew up in a household where the written word was almost a religion, and where she learned early to observe far more than she ever said out loud. That pattern followed her into her first job — where she describes freezing on stage, and crying in a washroom after feedback she took straight to heart because, at the time, her title and her identity weren't separable. Long before any of it had a name, she was already a seeker — shaped by spiritual leaders like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji, scripture, self-development books, and years spent as a psychology student reading everything she could find on the mind and behaviour. That practice ran alongside her 25 years in corporate as a second, parallel track — quietly fuelling the presence she brought to the room, long before she had a name for either. Then her father fell seriously ill, and stayed ill for nearly a decade before he died. She says plainly that during that period she didn't lean on any of it enough — that it was a lonely stretch, and she didn't have answers. What she assembled from everything she'd gathered, largely on her own, she eventually called inner authority. She also talks about a moment on a Delhi terrace in 2001 that changed how she thinks about noise, technology, and why she believes human judgment matters more, not less, as AI takes on more of the thinking for us — though she's careful not to claim she predicted any of it. What she won't tell you is that she has this figured out. Fear of failure, she says, still controls her. Her word for who she is today: still becoming — and even now, she's taking that same twin track out into the world, as self-leadership: inner work in service of outer impact. Shailja Saraswati is the founder of Unstoppable Network and host of Unstoppable Woman. New episodes regularly — subscribe so you don't miss them. #UnstoppableWoman #ShailjaSaraswati #InnerAuthority #Leadership #FounderStory #WomenInLeadership #InnerWork

    The Founder of Unstoppable Woman Wasn't Always Unstoppable | Shailja Saraswati

  8. Aug 26

    How A High-Performance Coach Learned To Cut Through Her Own Noise | Madhumita Arolker

    Madhumita Arolker is a PCC (ICF), EMCC and MCCP-credentialed high-performance leadership coach, coach educator, supervisor and mentor coach — the person other coaches go to. Her work today is about sharp focus, cut-through-the-noise clarity, and calm, decisive confidence under pressure. None of that came naturally. In this episode of Unstoppable Woman, host and founder Shailja Saraswati sits with Madhumita to trace what it actually took to build that clarity — a small-town childhood that taught her to achieve instead of ask, a corporate career in Mumbai that pushed her until her body physically broke down, and an identity collapse in Goa that forced her to rebuild from nothing. The noise she now helps leaders cut through is noise she spent years drowning in herself. 00:00 — Highlights of the Episode 0:01:16 — Welcome & Three Unstoppable Keys 0:05:08 — Childhood in Jamshedpur 0:08:24 — Growing Up Closed & Unable to Share 0:09:47 — Corporate Life in Mumbai 0:15:30 — Listening to Your Inner Voice 0:17:45 — Silent Expectations & Shutting Down 0:19:30 — Anxiety, Physical Impact & Spiritual Awakening 0:23:55 — Energy Alignment & Boundaries 0:25:31 — Moving to Goa: Identity Crisis 0:27:30 — Postpartum Struggles & Reaching Out 0:30:50 — Advice to Her Younger Self 0:33:50 — Entrepreneurship: CheerKart Venture 0:36:36 — The ₹99 Workshop That Changed Everything 0:39:30 — Becoming a Coach 0:46:30 — From Training to Coaching 0:50:00 — What Coaching Really Is 0:51:30 — Courage in Coaching Leaders 0:54:34 — What Pain Successful People Hide 0:55:14 — Why Intelligent People Stay Stuck 0:56:54 — Work-Life Balance & The Ownership Problem 1:01:00 — Culture Change & Book: From Stuck to Sparked 1:03:30 — NLP Techniques: Reframing & Zooming Out 1:04:28 — The Go-To Person Trap in Leadership 1:08:00 — Strategic Exploitation of Women 1:09:30 — Advice for the Lost & Unstoppable Spirit 1:10:37 — Closing Thoughts The conversation moves through: why a closed, studious childhood in a small town shaped a woman who never learned to ask for help how chronic stress and anxiety showed up as physical illness — cervical spondylosis, cold sweats — before it showed up as anything else what a stranger's one question — "do you feel the world is on your shoulders?" — actually unlocked losing a professional identity, a city, and a sense of self all at once after moving to Goa the ₹99 workshop that reframed self-investment as self-trust, not certification why her coaching method is built on refusing to give anyone an answer what women get praised for at work that quietly becomes a leadership trap This is a conversation about what it actually costs to carry everything alone - and how a high-performance coach learned to cut through the noise, in her own life first. Subscribe for new episodes on leadership, transformation, coaching, and the inner work behind visible success. If this conversation resonated, tell us in the comments which line stayed with you. We read every one. #UnstoppableWoman #ShailjaSaraswati #HighPerformanceCoaching #ExecutiveCoaching #PersonalTransformation #BurnoutRecovery #InnerWork #SelfAwareness #WomenInLeadership #CareerBreak #WomenEmpowerment #CoachingConversations #IdentityCrisis #Reinvention #podcastIndia

    How A High-Performance Coach Learned To Cut Through Her Own Noise | Madhumita Arolker
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Unstoppable Woman is where leadership meets inner work. Hosted by Shailja Saraswati, the show brings together founders, leaders, creators and changemakers for honest conversations about identity, reinvention, self-trust and the decisions that shape extraordinary lives. Beyond achievements and accolades, each episode explores the invisible journey behind visible success—offering practical wisdom for anyone navigating change, leadership and personal growth.

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