What does it mean to belong when you’ve crossed every kind of border — cultural, professional, geographic, generational? What does it mean to sit at the table, not just as a token, or an exception, but as a presence that reshapes the table itself? This week on WanderWomen: The Podcast, I speak with Dr. Shefaly Yogendra, a portfolio non-executive director, emerging technology advisor, and one of the most insightful, deeply grounded women I’ve had the privilege to know for over two decades. Shefaly doesn’t raise her voice to be heard — she doesn’t need to.Her clarity cuts through. Her steadiness reverberates.And when she says something, you feel it. 💬 Belonging Doesn’t Wait for Permission One of the most powerful things Shefaly said in this conversation was this: “If I’m in the room, I belong there. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be there.” There was no arrogance in her tone — just a quiet self-trust that’s been earned over years of showing up in rooms where she was one of the only women. One of the only people of color. One of the few people bringing a different lens. And yet, she never outsourced her sense of belonging to the room itself. Belonging, she reminded me, isn’t something others bestow.It’s something we carry. It’s something we anchor in our core. And if you’re waiting for someone else to tell you that you deserve to be there — you’ll be waiting your whole life. 🌿 Grounded in Culture, Sharpened by Systems Shefaly grew up in pre-liberalization India — a world of scarcity, frugality, and what she calls “value extraction.” These weren’t just economic principles — they were cultural. They were familial. They shaped how she sees everything from boardroom budgeting to water conservation. What struck me was this:She didn’t leave her culture behind to succeed in the West.She carried it in with her — not as baggage, but as ballast. And it’s made her more, not less. ✨ Boardrooms, Bias & Becoming In the UK, after years of corporate experience, Shefaly found herself facing a new layer of bias:Questions about her legal status.Assumptions about her age, her family planning, her future. At the time, there were no words for what she was experiencing.Now, we’d call it bias. Xenophobia. Structural erasure.Back then? It was simply what you had to “deal with.” Instead of letting it shrink her, she built her own path — a portfolio career long before the term became fashionable. Today, she advises boards on risk, tech, and strategy — and in doing so, she’s quietly reframing how leadership shows up in rooms where power has historically been held by the same kind of people. She’s not just sitting at the table.She’s redesigning it. 💭 Red Lines, Reflection & the Discipline of Knowing Yourself When I asked Shefaly what she would say to high-skilled immigrant women navigating disorientation — that foggy space of reinvention and quiet grief — she didn’t offer a quick fix. Instead, she offered this: “Know your core. Know your boundaries.Your purpose lives in your core.Your power lives in your boundaries.Discomfort often comes from betraying either one.” That sentence felt like truth carved into stone.Because how many of us have ignored our core to “fit in”?How often have we overstepped our own boundaries, hoping to be seen? Clarity doesn’t make you harder to work with. It makes you impossible to misplace. And that, to me, is what Shefaly teaches by example. 🎧 In this episode, we explore: * What it means to belong without waiting for external approval * How cultural values — not just Western norms — can shape modern leadership * The “drive-by feedback” trap and how to distinguish noise from growth * Gendered double standards in early career moments — like being locked in a girls’ hostel while the boys roamed freely * Why boundaries, reflection, and calm clarity are tools for surviving complexity — not personality traits 🧭 This episode is for you if: * You’ve ever been underestimated or tokenized in high-power spaces * You’re navigating reinvention in systems that weren’t built for your identity * You’re searching for ways to lead without losing yourself * You’re ready to move from surviving the room — to reshaping it Watch the full episode now: 📬 Subscribe for early access + reflections like this each month. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 📚 And while you’re here...My upcoming book WanderWomen: How High-Skilled Immigrant Women Thrive is a love letter, a truth bomb, and a permission slip for every woman who’s reinvented herself across borders. Pre-order here:👉 https://www.shivangiwalke.com/wanderwomen You don’t need to be louder.You don’t need to be less.You don’t need to wait. You already belong. Now lead like it. With reverence and fire,Shivangi Get full access to Shivangi Walke at theshivangiwalke.substack.com/subscribe
