Aligned Ambition with Pooja V.

Pooja Venkatraman
  • 5.0 (6)
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Hi! I’m Pooja – I’m a double Harvard grad, ex-BCG consultant, and now a writer, thought leader, and executive coach. I help high achievers tackle stress productivity, performance and purpose so they can fulfill their biggest ambitions and unleash their fullest potential… …without sacrificing their sanity, their relationships, their authenticity, or their paychecks. Let’s build the life and career you actually want – one that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. Book a free consult call to discuss working together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact

  1. 5D AGO

    480. How to emotionally survive a stretch opportunity

    The only way to progress in your career is to do things you’ve never done before – aka, sign up for stretch opportunities. Stretch roles and projects are the rocket fuel that can power your career forward…and the trial-by-fire that can burn you out. Whether you’re holding yourself back from asking for one (and knowing it’s holding your career back too)... Or whether you’re actively in one, and trying not to let your imposter syndrome eat you alive… The 3 skills in this episode are what you need to survive, thrive, and grow in the stretch zone. Want to take this to the next level with a custom game plan for your situation? Book a Free Career Audit and let’s do a deep dive: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact  Want to learn the specific stretch opportunities you need to secure a C-suite role? Register for my workshop, Charting Your Course to the C-Suite: www.hbswa.org/csuiteMar2026  And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    33 min

  2. MAR 2

    479. Why high achievers feel MORE certain in their career paths when they’re younger, and less certain when they’re older

    There’s this common (but rarely spoken about) phenomenon that a lot of high achievers experience partway through their careers. They USED to have so much clarity, certainty, and conviction about their career path. They thought hard. They tried different things. They did all the assessments.  And they figured out what they wanted to do. Amazing! And now, several years down that path… With real success and real progress behind them… For some reason, they’re starting to feel uncertain again. Is this really what I want? Do I still have conviction that this is the right path for me? What if I’m on the wrong path? AND they beat themselves up for that uncertainty.  What’s wrong with me? Why am I suddenly losing conviction? Have I lost my ambition? Am I going backwards??  When this (extremely common!!) phenomenon happens… DON’T force yourself to just keep marching down the path you’re on. And DON’T rush to find your alternate path asap. What you need is an uncertainty audit.  Ideally with me – because they’re really hard to do by yourself. Book yours here! https://poojavcoaching.com/contact  What we’re going to do together is slow down and dig into your uncertainty.  Find all its ingredients and components.  And then use those to develop your diagnosis and game plan. You’ll walk away with a simple diagnosis of WHY you’re feeling this way. (Spoiler alert: Nothing is wrong with you.) And a clear game plan of what to do next. (If I can help, I’ll tell you how. And if I can’t, I’ll point you toward the resources that you need.) Today’s podcast episode gives you some examples of what a diagnosis and game plan could look like. But you won’t know yours until you talk to me. There’s no simple 3 step plan that applies to everyone. But there IS a simple plan that applies to YOU. So let’s develop it together. Book your uncertainty audit today: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact  And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    35 min

  3. FEB 23

    478. Don’t celebrate your success. Analyze it.

    Most high achievers are allergic to celebrating their successes. At best, celebrating feels corny and fake.  It feels like something you “should” do, like your gratitude journal. (And then you feel kind of bad for not doing it.) At worst, celebrating feels dangerous.  Resting on your laurels will make you arrogant and complacent…  Pride goeth before the fall…  The moment you relax is the moment the other shoe is going to drop… And yet, there is GOLD waiting for you inside your successes. Gold that you are MISSING because your brain is so busy focusing on the 1 thing that didn’t go well. 80% of my success (at least!) has come from extending and deepening WHAT’S WORKING – not fixing what’s not. So in today’s episode, I give you a simple way to extract and apply your Success Gold without feeling corny and without triggering your fears. If you’re a female HBS alum, come to my monthly roundtable this Thursday Feb 26, and we’ll work together to extract your own success playbook AND you’ll get to grab from the success playbooks of others. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/845yKxNERTqy5jQXI6UZRQ#/registration And if you want to go beyond extracting just one success playbook and make building on your strengths and extending what’s working a core part of how you operate day-to-day and how you set your career strategy overall… Book a free coaching consult and let’s talk about working together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact  That’s exactly what I do with my clients. And that’s exactly what I use my own coaches to do for me.  Because building around your strengths is way easier when you have an objective third party to help you identify them and time set aside to strategize and make it happen. And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    33 min

  4. FEB 17

    477. 5 terrible reasons to aim for the C-suite

    Tomorrow (Feb 18), executive coach Megan Porter and I kick off a three-part series for the HBS Women’s Association called Charting Your Course to the C-Suite. Register here: www.hbswa.org/csuiteFeb2026 But before you get busy charting your course to the C-suite… I want you to make sure that you actually want to be there. And so, this week’s podcast episode is all about 5 TERRIBLE reasons to aim for the C-suite. Listen in and see if any of them apply to you. (It’s okay if they do. I also tell you what to do to adjust your reasons so they support you instead of working against you :) And then once you’ve gotten your reasoning for aiming for the C-suite strong and clear… Come to our three-part event series, where we’ll help you: ✅ Survey the landscape of C-suite roles ✅ Define the C-suite role that’s right for you ✅ Make a plan to land it – and crush it in the role Register here: www.hbswa.org/csuiteFeb2026 If you’re not a female HBS alum, or the event is already done, but you’re still interested in what we shared, shoot me an email at pooja@poojavcoaching.com and I’ll see what I can do! And if this podcast episode made you realize that you’re not quite sure WHAT you want, and you want some help getting clear and confident on your path… Book a free consult call with me, and let’s talk: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact

    43 min

  5. FEB 9

    476. 5 unintuitive things my parents did to raise two daughters with four Ivy League degrees

    Okay, one thing I want to tell you before I let you loose to listen to this week’s podcast episode. This episode is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to hear from two women who have actually done this… Come to my workshop: Intergenerational Wisdom for High Achieving Moms It’s a fireside chat featuring my mom (senior leader at a Wall St bank for 20+ years) and Kelly Huang (HBS MBA, board leader, and professor). Two hardworking Asian immigrant moms that balanced their careers with parenting and raised two happy, successful children each. Ask them your questions. Get advice directly from the women who have done it. Register here: https://luma.com/s9v850p4 (We’ll be sending a replay to everyone who registers, so make sure to register even if you can’t make it live!) Okay, now you can listen to find out the 5 unintuitive things my parents did to raise two daughters with four Ivy League degrees. Because my parents didn’t… ❌ Tell us what we had to do ❌ Force us down pre-determined “success pathways” ❌ Yell at us all the time and make us scared of them ❌ Tell us it was their way or the highway Instead…they did these 5 things. Listen to find out :) To chat about how you can implement these ideas in your life, book a free coaching consult and let’s talk about working together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact  And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    49 min

  6. FEB 2

    475. You can be ambitious about anything

    This week’s podcast episode is about ambition — and what happens when the things you want to be ambitious about no longer fit into a narrow, career-only definition. I talk about: Why ambition doesn’t disappear when you stop wanting the corner office and the C-suite jobHow to redirect ambition instead of abandoning itA simple thought exercise for making this concept come to life in your brain and reignite your spark 🔥 If you’re not lit up by the path you’re on anymore… But you also don’t want to give up or check out on your big career ambitions… This is the episode for you. And if this episode makes you realize that your ambition is very much alive, but pointed at the wrong thing… Pause. Because this matters. Ambition, at its best, is an expression of who you are and the sacred work you’re meant to do in this world. It’s not about ego, titles, or accomplishments. It’s about bringing out what’s best in you and making the impact you were born to make. If you want support clarifying where your ambition belongs next, and then aiming your fire in that direction… Book a free coaching consult and let’s talk about working together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    23 min

  7. JAN 26

    474. Don’t confuse status with purpose

    This episode is about why it’s so hard to get clear on what you actually want, especially as a high achiever. I talk about: How subtle peer pressure distorts your true desiresTwo questions that help you separate what you want from what looks impressiveHow to work with status consciously instead of pretending it doesn’t matter If you’ve ever felt unsure whether you genuinely want to be on the path you’re on… Or whether you’re just being driven by social pressure… This episode will give you a clean, simple way to tell the difference. And if asking these questions cracks open a can of worms… If you realize you’re not sure what you want, or you’re not sure whether you want to stay on your current path… You’re not alone. That exact moment is where coaching was most helpful for me. You don’t need to make a rash decision. You don’t need to quit your job. You do need space to think clearly, untangle what’s driving what, and make a grounded decision you can stand behind. If that’s where you are, book a free coaching consult and let’s talk: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    46 min

  8. JAN 19

    473. 5 ways to toggle your brain from a stress state to a flow state

    You don’t see the world as it is. You filter reality through the state of your nervous system. That’s why this week’s podcast episode zooms in on stress. I talk about: Why the headspace you’re in is more important than what you doThe two broad categories your thoughts & emotions fall into – stress and flowHow to build a personal playbook you can use to reliably shift out of fight-or-flight and back into calm, clarity, and momentum This is so simple and so effective, and I cannot WAIT to share it with you. I also help my clients build and use these playbooks – customized to their nervous system, their goals, and their reality. If you want to be able to toggle your brain reliably from stress to flow on a daily basis… And change the filter you’re putting on your reality on demand… Book a free coaching consult and let’s talk about how we can work together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact The ROI on this work is enormous – not just in the end results you achieve, but in how you feel every step of the way. Come talk to me, and let’s get you moving forward smoothly and effectively today :) And email me anytime with thoughts, feedback, and topics you’d like to see covered on the podcast! ⁠⁠pooja@poojavcoaching.com⁠⁠

    40 min
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6 Ratings

About

Hi! I’m Pooja – I’m a double Harvard grad, ex-BCG consultant, and now a writer, thought leader, and executive coach. I help high achievers tackle stress productivity, performance and purpose so they can fulfill their biggest ambitions and unleash their fullest potential… …without sacrificing their sanity, their relationships, their authenticity, or their paychecks. Let’s build the life and career you actually want – one that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. Book a free consult call to discuss working together: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact

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