Unsatisfied with her corporate job, Smita Das Jain, an IIM Indore alumna, found herself at crossroads when she quit her 14-year-old corporate career to convert her passions into pursuits.
A Life and Executive Coach by profession, Smita Das Jain now encourages people to live the life they like, and once she was into the business, there was no going back. Along with being a great Life Coach, Smita also juggles the profession of an author and a speaker. Smita’s corporate experience and coaching expertise make her well-positioned to support clients with work-life integration. Be it stress management or career transition, Smita knows it all.
She has got multiple certifications to enhance her qualifications and won accolades from delighted clients as she moves forward on the path of success. Join Smita in this intriguing conversation available at Storiyaan!
Smita Das Jain: The Quest to Self-discovery
Interview
Questions and answers
● What struck you one day to follow your passion for empowering and elevating 'others' lives? Share with us the moment when you decided this is the way to go.
Despite doing well in my 14-year corporate tenure, I was dissatisfied and unsure of the impact that I was having around me, which happens when the work you do is not aligned to your intrinsic values. When the pandemic struck, I realised that life is uncertain and one should make the most of the present moment. I enjoyed mentoring and guiding people, so I took the first step in resigning from my corporate job and moved in the direction of coaching, never looked back since.
● What were the major challenges you had to overcome in your life to be where you are today?
I wanted to crack my CAT in my first attempt without any coaching, which I did, as I didn’t want to spend my parent’s hard-earned money on expensive classes and so during my graduation, I skipped a meal a day just so I could save capital. Though I had always been a good student, coming to Delhi made me feel like a small fish in a big pond, so self-confidence was too much of a dare. Being a working mother of a special child was a big challenge. Being an entrepreneur has its own set of challenges, like unlearning a lot of things to learn a few skills and more. All these challenges made me stronger and better for the future!
● Being a life coach, what are the major issues you see these days that people are facing mostly and how do you help them?
From what I’ve seen, people are struggling for time, are under pressure and want a better work-life integration but aren’t sure how to go about it. They’ve also faced crisis of confidence and worked with me to enhance their self-esteem. They want more fulfilling lives and want to do something they love, and this is where I come in; I enable my clients to create the career they love and live the life they choose.
● How do you strategise your sessions and customise them according to various problems faced by your clients?
To make sure that I understand my clients’ priorities, I hold a Complimentary Strategy Session where I ask them about their background, concerns and motivations, which provides an opportunity for both the client and me to assess if we are a good fit for each other. From this, we reach the client’s priority goal, the time frame he wants to achieve it by, etc. The subsequent sessions are all about implementing and improvising on the foundation from the first session.
● Through your coaching program ‘Empower Yourself’, what are the expectations the clients can keep if they are seeking help under your guidance?
I come with extensive experience, so I understand the pressures they are facing and hence, my clients can expect me to partner with them to solve their problems. They can expect to get better at what they do, achieve better work-life integration, find more time for passions, and enhance their confidence and whatnot. They can expect a customised approach towards getting more ‘‘‘Empowered’ in their lives.
● Elucidate us through the ways our interested readers can reach out to you to overcome the problems they are cocooned with.
They can visit my website- www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com and directly book a Complimentary Strategy Session at their convenience. They can also drop an email or DM me on Instagram or any other social media platforms.
● You help people find a purpose in their life and to work it out, but often it takes a long time to figure this out. In such cases how do you hold the client's belief, especially if they are doubtful?
I have yet to have a client who is sceptical of the results because they often see the progress from the first session. The ultimate goal — achieving their purpose or securing that dream job might take a certain amount of time to attain, which they set, but the bigger goal is divided into chunks of smaller action steps- months, weeks and days- which the clients act on. So every day, they are making measurable progress towards their goals. When they see these results, their belief in themselves grows up further. I don’t have to hold the clients to the belief since they start seeing the difference from the first session.
● Could you brief us about the qualifications required to be a life and executive coach and how can one attain them?
Coaching is an unregulated profession, so theoretically, anyone can call themselves a coach without obtaining qualifications and therefore, clients need to be careful of such unscrupulous elements and ask their coaches what certifications they hold. To become a life coach, one must complete the minimum prescribed training hours with an institution affiliated with a reputed coaching federation such as the International Coaching Federation, Certified Coaches Alliance or the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, and then get certified or accredited with these respective institutions.
● Share with us feedback from your client that has a great impact on your professional life.
A very senior leader in an organisation was disillusioned with her job despite the hefty pay package and the impressive responsibilities of her position. She came to me to help her to figure out what it is that she really would want to do, and after three months, she was enjoying her current job with a clear cut roadmap laid out for future career transition. She said that “Your sessions put my career back on track. My productivity has increased, and confidence skyrocketed ever since”. That gave me immense satisfaction.
● What is the mantra in your life that has kept you motivated through the tough times and what would be your piece of advice to the ones reading this interview?
Discipline and Determination. If you are determined to achieve what you want and disciplined enough to follow through on your actions, you will eventually get what you have set out to achieve. Persistence is bound to bring about an improvement. And that would be my advice to readers: Persist with something long enough to decide whether you are a success or failure at it. If you don’t, you will never know the answer.
Quick 5
1.Your most favourite book: A Slice Of Life: Every Person Has A Story by Smita Das Jain. Yes, I’m an author.
2.Your most favourite book: A Slice Of Life: Every Person Has A Story by Smita Das Jain. Yes, I’m an author.
3.The person you look up to the most: My father. He has a major role to play in what I am today.
4.When you don’t work, you mainly:write.
5.Your biggest strength: Time management.