Entrepreneurial Journey Mr. Satyen H Parikh: Founder & CEO of “Team Talent & Empowerment Consultants”

Name: Mr. Satyen H Parikh

Company & job title: Team Talent & Empowerment Consultants, Founder & CEO

Little about your professional journey

1. Professional Experience (1982 – 2011)
   ◇ Vice President & BUE (IBM: STG Sector Sales – ISA Region)
   ◇ Managing Director (ISA Region) F5 Networks
   ◇ Regional Director, Strategic Alliance – APJ Citrix
   ◇ Managing Director – ISA Region, Borland
   ◇ Executive Director – South Asia Region, Onward Novell India
   ◇ Group Marketing Manager, Hinditron
   ◇ Business Executive, HCL
2. Entrepreneurial Journey (from 2011) as a Business Coach & Mentor to Indian Enterprises and Startups. Passion for empowering individuals (be it graduating students / Women Entrepreneurs / Working Professionals in Enterprises (established / Start-ups / MSMEs) to their utmost potential, helping them succeed in their respective aspirations
3. I have facilitated over 25+ Leadership workshops for Professionals, Entrepreneurs & Businesses.
4. One of my inert passions is to be up and close with Academia which got me to reach out to thousands of students across various colleges in India – Interacted + Mentored over 8000 students across different colleges in the country (Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ichalkaranji, Jaisinghpur) via in-person workshops around life-skills & Employability aiding their thinking process on Career Planning.
5. I have been equally passionate in supporting and assisting women entrepreneurs in India, Nigeria, and Johannesburg to find their paths to establishing growing businesses. Till date, I have Coached & Mentored 75+ Women Entrepreneurs running diverse businesses across geographies.
6. Supported, Coached & Empowered Over 60 IT professionals who were impacted by Restructuring / Reorganization to find alternative career options as well as cope up with the immediate shock of losing a job.

How did you come to your current role/position?

1. The three decades of cross-functional experience in various Global Technology business operations have allowed me to optimize processes, develop superior interpersonal skills, and bolt toward project goals in record time. While I have been responsible for creating new markets and opportunities for Technology MNCs as Professional Leader helming the operations; my heart was always driven towards the Purpose of Empowering Minds & Touching Lives as a Coach & Mentor – a journey I started 13 years back in 2011.
2. I love to absorb, introspect, and assess the varied insights, life has taught me which helps me offer sharper insights about self-awareness and personal accountability with the affection and pride of a guardian. I am well aware of the power of cross-cultural communication and emotional intelligence at work. I thus focus on optimizing the inherent personal strengths in self and in others.

Who has influenced you the most in life and why?

It will be immensely difficult to name just one person as a key influencer in my life. At every phase of my life (early years to being a professional and now an entrepreneur) there have been a few angels who helped me stay up the path to where I am today. My Parents and grandparents imbibed Culture and Values to be Good Human Beings. My Wife whose unflinching support, understanding, and companionship provided me absolute freedom to endeavor new initiatives and take risks. I have been a keen learner and practitioner – thus many leaders whom I worked, interacted, and engaged with, have given me wonderful insights and knowledge about understanding Human Mindsets and their behaviors.

The biggest challenges you have faced in your life and how did you overcome them?

• There have been challenges galore in my 42 years of professional journey (work and entrepreneurial). Setbacks, Exasperations, and Frustrations on things not going one’s way, Lack of recognition…… Emotional lows, Self-Doubts, and incidents that dent self-confidence have all been experienced. Each of these has pushed me to focus on inner resilience, keeping up my self-belief and conviction that these are temporary and testing times for me to leverage my inner strengths + capabilities to overcome them. My biggest go-to in such situations has been that it is part of Learning – Evolving – Being more Self-Aware & Continue to develop my persona to combat the challenges face.
• One of the things that work very well for me in such situations is that the moment I feel a challenge is overwhelming my thoughts and actions – I start Counting my Blessings, this helps me neutralize the impact of negativity and focus on what I need to do with clear thinking.

What lessons you have learned from your professional career?

• Take Decisions – Never Regret any decision taken
• Address issues/conflicts / confronting situations quickly and with Clear Head, based on facts rather than hear-say or grapevine talks.
• Confront inner demons as well as “Nay-sayers” with Self-Belief and Conviction
• Be a Continuous Learner to maintain Humility and Nobility
• Establish Trust and build Mutual Respect through Words, Actions, Emotions, and Non-verbals
• Open and Honest Communication

What do you see as the biggest challenge for brands in the digital space?

• Problem of Plenty – there are many alternatives to choose from by a customer…. So how does a brand make itself relevant and compelling buy for its audience?
• Excessive Creativity could miss the mark on what is the key message the brand wants to convey
• Too much in-the-face marketing can overwhelm the viewer and thus turn off.
• Distractions galore can minimize the engagement the Brand would like to have with its prospective buyer

How your services, product, or solution can help to resolve the pain points of your customers?

1. My career has equipped me with an arsenal of diverse skills and experiences. I maintain a strong belief that every individual on earth today has Leadership traits and they have abilities within to be Successful and Happy – If they honestly, sincerely, and dedicatedly empower themselves to tap their immense inner potential.
2. The services as Business Coach & Mentor I offer are for
   • Everyday entrepreneur,
   • The woman who started her own business,
   • The student who couldn’t figure out his life path,
   • The tired and disillusioned mid-career manager,
   • An enterprise staring at a plateau in business growth.
3. As many have attested, I let you find your way to your own answers and trust yourself to make the most powerful decisions.
4. My relentless pursuit and continued Journey to Empowering Minds is a culmination, an inevitability, to take my history, my vast experience across multi-domains in businesses, my gut motivations, and passion and plant them firmly in the hopes that our country’s talent can re-examine methods, candidly introspect, and set pragmatic expectations for creating desired success and happiness.

In Summary, as a Passionate Professional, I have Expertise in enhancing Businesses / establishing new business ventures to create sustained revenue models in India / South Asia (ISA) / APAC for various Multinational IT Companies…… as a Compassionate & Empathetic Entrepreneur, I have focused my Endeavor around “Empowering Minds & Touching Lives” with firm belief that Every Empowered Employee creates the desired Success an Enterprise aspires.

• • Awarded Man of Excellence by India Achievers Forum in 2022
  • Covered via Podcast by Dream100 Leaders on 30 Jun 2022
  • Video Interviewed by India Achievers Forum for their YouTube Channel
  • Awarded for Excellence in Business Coaching by Brand Global Media in 2023
  • Business & Community Award in 2024 from All India Business Community Federation

What do you do in your free time?

• I enjoy Music – Listening and Singing. I love Hindi songs of yesteryears for their melody, lyrics, and soulful rendition while the newer ones are enjoyable for their orchestration, foot-tapping beats, and peppiness.
• Love watching various content across OTT platforms
• Watch Dramas in Theatres
• Reading Books (non-fiction) – Each book is an immense source of inspiration and repertoire of knowledge
• Socializing with Friends
• Family time

Do you have any advice for those who want to be an entrepreneur/chief officer?

Rather than doling out advice, my submission is that whoever wants to take the Entrepreneurial route, should be ready to dig deep within and assess if they can cope up with its roller-coaster ride. A few pointers though which I feel should be kept in mind are:

• This decision will be a game changer – it will come with its own share of highs – lows/ups – and downs are you willing to go the whole hog?
• Risks are aplenty – Rewards are few and far between during the initial years …. Do not expect windfall or smoother roads
• The impact of this decision will also be on your family – Assess your current liabilities and how will they be managed in the absence of regular income to meet monthly expenses…. Would be ideal to get into a position of Zero Debt (so far as monthly EMIs or Loans are concerned)
• Realize that your Probability to Succeed is a healthy 50% – while another 50% will be your Learning
• Be prepared and ready to confront Apprehensions / Self-Doubts / Pessimists around with your Self Conviction and Belief
• Always be Open to Evolve – Learn – Practice and Adapt to situations (planned or unplanned)
• Focus on Leverage available from the prevailing ecosystem
• Never deliberate on “Who is Right” Rather focus on “What is the Right thing to do”
• Everyone appreciates an Honest, Authentic, and Positive Emotion in any adverse situation.

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