At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and inspiring stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Aashima Galhotra for an exclusive interview with us. Aashima is a Mindset & Communication Coach, Trainer and Founder at Jan Pehchaan. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, teaching philosophy, and valuable insights.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Aashima:
As a Chartered Accountant, what inspired you to move into soft-skills coaching and training, despite the common perception that CAs belong primarily to the world of numbers?
Honestly, my journey into coaching was not something I planned from day one. I am a Chartered Accountant by profession, and for many years, I was deeply involved in numbers, finance, professional practice, and corporate work. But somewhere along the way, I became increasingly curious about the people behind those numbers.
I noticed something very interesting. Two professionals can have almost identical qualifications, experience, and opportunities, yet their career trajectories can be completely different. One gets noticed, trusted, and remembered, while another equally capable person remains invisible.
That made me ask: What happens between knowing and showing up?
As I started training students and professionals, I repeatedly encountered incredibly talented people who had brilliant ideas but struggled to express them. They knew their subject, but when it came to speaking, presenting themselves, taking a stand, or leading a conversation, their confidence disappeared.
I realised that technical knowledge alone doesn’t determine how far we go. A degree can establish your credibility, but your mindset and communication skills determine what you do with that credibility.
That curiosity eventually took me beyond numbers and into mindset, communication, leadership, and soft-skills coaching.
Today, I continue to work with finance-related subjects, ESG, POSH, corporates, universities, entrepreneurs, and professionals. But my larger mission is to help people understand that professional success is not only about what you know; it is also about how you think, communicate, and show up.
I often describe my journey very simply: “I started with numbers, but I stayed curious about the people behind the numbers.”
You often say, “When your perspective shifts, your career does too.” How can a change in perspective influence someone’s professional growth and opportunities?
A change in perspective can completely change the decisions we make.
Imagine two professionals facing the same situation. One thinks, “I am not ready for this opportunity.” The other thinks, “I may not know everything yet, but I can learn.”
The situation is identical. The response is different and eventually, so is the career trajectory.
We often believe our careers are shaped only by qualifications, experience, and opportunities. But our interpretation of those opportunities matters just as much.
When your perspective changes from “What if I fail?” to “What can I learn?”, you begin taking different actions. You speak up in meetings. You ask for opportunities. You network differently. You negotiate better. You stop waiting for someone else to validate you.
And that is where growth begins.
I often tell people:
“Your circumstances may create the situation, but your perspective decides what you do with it.”
How do mindset, communication, and personal presence work together to shape someone’s professional identity?
I see them as three layers of the same person.
Mindset is the foundation. Communication is the expression. Presence is the perception.
Your mindset determines what you believe you are capable of. Communication determines how effectively you express those thoughts. Your presence is what people experience when you enter a room, participate in a conversation, or lead a team.
You can have exceptional knowledge, but if your mindset tells you to remain invisible, your communication will reflect hesitation.
Similarly, you may speak beautifully, but if your actions lack confidence, consistency, and authenticity, people will sense the disconnect.
Professional identity is therefore not simply about your designation or qualification. It is about what people experience when they interact with you.
My own journey as a CA, trainer, entrepreneur, wife, and mother has reinforced this for me. My qualifications opened doors, but my ability to communicate, connect, and create an impact helped me walk through those doors with confidence.
Your designation tells people what you do. Your presence tells them who you are.
Many talented professionals struggle to express themselves confidently. What are the most common barriers that prevent people from speaking with power?
I think the biggest barrier is not a lack of communication skills. It is the fear of how we will be perceived.
People constantly worry:
What if I say something wrong? What will people think? What if someone asks me something I don’t know? What if I sound stupid?
Then there is comparison. We see someone speaking fluently and confidently and immediately conclude, “They are naturally good at this. I am not.”
Another major barrier is perfectionism. People believe they need perfect vocabulary, perfect body language, or the perfect answer before they can speak confidently.
They don’t.
Powerful communication is not about using complicated words or speaking the loudest in the room. It is about clarity, conviction, and connection.
I tell my participants:
“Don’t try to sound impressive. Try to make an impact.”
When you know what you want to say, believe in what you are saying, and connect it to the person in front of you, your voice naturally becomes stronger.
How do you connect mindset with skill development, and why do you believe mindset is the foundation of effective communication and leadership?
For me, mindset is not just another topic in coaching. It is the starting point.
Whenever someone comes to me with a challenge, whether it is public speaking, lack of confidence, executive presence, overthinking, leadership, or difficulty expressing an opinion, I don’t immediately start teaching techniques.
I first try to understand what is happening underneath.
What are they thinking?
What are they believing about themselves?
When does the problem actually appear?
What are they afraid of?
What meaning are they giving to the situation?
For example, if someone tells me, “I lack confidence,” I don’t immediately say, “Let’s work on your body language.”
I ask, “When do you lose your confidence?”
Perhaps they are confident with their team but freeze in front of senior management. Perhaps they know the subject but constantly think, “What if I am wrong?”
The visible problem may be lack of confidence, but the root problem could be fear of judgement, self-doubt, or a limiting belief.
That is where my coaching begins.
I believe skills are like tools. Mindset determines whether you have the courage and clarity to use those tools.
You can teach someone articulation, storytelling, presentation skills, or body language. But if they constantly think, “I am not good enough,” the skill will never reach its full potential.
So my approach is not simply:
“Tell me what you want to say, and I will teach you how to say it.”
It is:
“Let me understand what is happening inside you first. Then we will work on what needs to change outside.”
I often describe it this way:
“Mindset is the root. Skills are the branches. Impact is the fruit.”
What inspired you to create Jan Pehchaan, and how is the platform helping people unlock their professional potential?
The idea behind Jan Pehchaan came from a very simple observation: people often know more than they are able to express.
I wanted to create a platform where people could work not only on what they know, but also on who they become while using that knowledge.
Jan Pehchaan has evolved around areas such as personality development, public speaking, communication, professional skills, and mindset.
The name itself is meaningful to me. Jan Pehchaan is about being recognised, but I also believe that before the world recognises you, you need to recognise yourself.
What are you good at?
What do you stand for?
What is holding you back?
How do you want people to remember you?
These are not just career questions. They are identity questions.
Through my work with students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and corporates, I have seen people chase degrees, designations, and money without stopping to ask, “Am I developing myself along the way?”
That is the gap I want to address.
Whether I am training a student who is afraid to speak on stage, a professional struggling with executive presence, a founder preparing for an investor pitch, or a corporate employee developing leadership communication, I want them to walk away with more than a certificate.
I want them to walk away with clarity, confidence, and the ability to use their potential.
For me, Jan Pehchaan is not simply about skill development.
It is about helping people recognise themselves before asking the world to recognise them.
Many professionals try to fit into conventional leadership styles. How can they discover and lead with their authentic identity instead?
The first thing I would say is: stop trying to copy someone else’s version of success.
There is no single personality type that defines a great leader.
Some leaders are naturally outspoken. Some are quiet observers. Some lead through vision, some through empathy, some through expertise, and some through their ability to bring people together.
Authenticity doesn’t mean saying, “This is just how I am, so I don’t need to change.”
It means understanding who you are, what you stand for, and what kind of impact you want to create and then consciously developing the behaviours that help you lead better.
Sometimes becoming more authentic actually requires stepping outside your comfort zone and learning new behaviours.
I ask professionals to reflect on three questions:
What do I naturally bring to the table?
What do people come to me for?
What kind of leader do I want to become?
The answers become the starting point for developing their own leadership identity.
What does it truly mean to “show up with grace” in today’s competitive and fast-paced professional world?
For me, grace does not mean being quiet, pleasing everyone, or avoiding difficult conversations.
Grace is having the strength to be firm without becoming harsh.
It is knowing your worth without constantly needing to prove it.
It is being able to say no without guilt, receive criticism without losing yourself, and succeed without making someone else feel small.
As women especially, we are sometimes taught to choose between being confident and being kind as if we cannot be both.
I don’t agree with that.
You can be ambitious and compassionate. You can be assertive and graceful. You can have strong boundaries and still have a warm heart.
My own journey as a professional, wife, and mother has taught me that balance is not about doing everything perfectly. Some days, one role needs more of you than another.
So, for me, showing up with grace means showing up fully without losing yourself in the process.
Can you share a transformation story where a shift in mindset or communication significantly changed someone’s career trajectory?
One transformation I see quite often is in professionals who are extremely competent but almost invisible.
I remember working with a professional who had excellent knowledge and years of experience, but whenever there was a discussion, she would hold herself back. She would have the answer in her mind but think, “Maybe someone else knows better.”
Our work was not about teaching her more technical knowledge. It was about changing her internal conversation.
We worked on how she entered a room, how she structured her thoughts, how she expressed disagreement, and most importantly, how she stopped apologising for having an opinion.
The change was gradual.
First, she started speaking in smaller meetings. Then she began expressing her ideas more clearly. Eventually, she started taking ownership of conversations instead of waiting to be invited into them.
The most beautiful part was that her personality didn’t change.
Her belief about herself changed.
Once that changed, her self-communication changed. Once her communication changed, people responded to her differently.
That is why I say coaching is not always about creating a new person.
Sometimes it is simply about helping someone finally see the person who was already there.
How do you help startup founders pitch their ideas effectively to investors, especially international investors over calls?
When founders approach me for pitch preparation, I don’t begin with, “Let’s make your presentation impressive.”
I begin with a much more fundamental question:
“Are you clear about what you are presenting?”
If the founder isn’t completely clear and convinced about the idea, no amount of presentation polish can compensate for that.
An investor isn’t simply listening to words. They are observing your confidence, clarity, understanding of the problem, conviction, and how you respond when challenged.
So I work on three levels.
First – mindset.
The founder needs to genuinely believe in the problem they are solving and understand why their solution deserves attention. Confidence cannot be manufactured through body language alone. It has to come from clarity and preparation.
Second – message.
We work on communicating the idea simply:
What is the problem?
What is the solution?
Why now?
Why this business?
Why this team?
What is the market opportunity?
And ultimately, why should the investor care?
With international investors, clarity becomes even more important. Your message needs to travel across geography and still make sense.
Third – delivery and practice.
We work on voice modulation, articulation, pace, pauses, storytelling, executive presence, handling questions, and managing the pressure of being challenged.
Because many investor conversations happen virtually, I also work with founders on their camera presence, eye contact, energy, listening, response time, and ability to stay composed when a difficult question comes their way.
But there is one thing I tell every founder:
“Don’t try to convince the investor that your idea is brilliant. First make them understand why the problem matters.”
A powerful pitch is not a performance. It is a conversation built on clarity and conviction.
My role is therefore not to give founders a script and say, “Now go and speak this.”
I help them understand their own story so well that when the script ends and the difficult questions begin, they still have the confidence and clarity to lead the conversation.
What practical advice would you give to professionals who want to strengthen their voice, elevate their presence, and become more confident leaders?
I would suggest starting with five simple things.
1) First, know your value – Don’t wait for someone else to tell you that you are good enough. Become clear about the expertise, experience, and perspective you bring.
2) Second, speak before you feel completely ready – Confidence doesn’t always come before action. Very often, confidence is the result of taking action.
3) Third, slow down – A confident speaker doesn’t have to rush to prove that they know something. Pause. Breathe. Think. Then speak.
4) Fourth, deliberately build your communication muscle – Record yourself. Practise your introductions. Learn to tell stories. Participate in discussions. Ask for feedback. Communication is a skill, and skills improve with practice.
5) Finally, stop trying to become someone else – Your voice does not need to sound like another leader’s voice. Your leadership does not need to look like someone else’s leadership.
My biggest belief is:
“Confidence is not the absence of self-doubt. It is the decision to not let self-doubt make your decisions.”
If professionals can shift their mindset, strengthen their voice, and become intentional about their presence, they don’t just communicate better; they start creating better opportunities for themselves.
And perhaps that is the real transformation:
When you stop waiting to be seen and start showing up.
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