Kalashree Anand on Motherhood, Purpose, and Redefining Success for Women
📝Interviews
Kalashree Anand’s journey is a powerful story of redefining success on her own terms. After nearly a decade in the corporate world, motherhood became the turning point that led her to step away from a thriving career and pursue her deeper calling in coaching and healing. In this conversation with StartupTalky, she reflects on choosing purpose over conventional success, navigating the realities faced by working women in India, and how her definition of achievement has evolved from titles and recognition to impact and meaningful human connection.
StartupTalky: What was the defining moment in your career that made you realize you wanted to carve your own path — and how did being a woman shape that decision?
Kalashree Anand: I became a mother when I was 34 years old. When I was pregnant, I was already working in a corporate and had put in 9 years of service.
The most defining moment in my career arrived in the early months of being a mother.
For nearly a decade I had poured my heart in building a team from scratch. I had joined as a Market Analyst. With hard work and dedication, within 9 years I had got 3 promotions and was a Manager of a powerful team. I had everything that a lady could dream of. I had a high-paying role, recognition, respect and the kind of identity that takes many years to build.
I was very proud of the work I had done. I was happy with the international trips, edge of the seat decision making situations. Late night client escalations and lot of stakeholder appreciation. My team loved me, my bosses valued me and I had a strong sense of belonging in that world.
But life had a different plan for me. It placed me at crossroads which I wasn’t prepared for.
At the age of 34, I conceived naturally. Had an effortless pregnancy and a smooth delivery. My baby was born and my world shifted in ways I had never experienced before. I had very strong dreams about how I would nurture him. Especially the simple and yet profoundly important act of breastfeeding. I wanted to be physically present for him in his early months of life. At the sametime, my office had moved 25 kms away from my home and WFH was not an option that my organisation was willing to offer.
This was the time, I was being pulled apart between two worlds that I had cared, nurtured and built. The same two worlds I deeply love. On one side, it was a career I had built for 10 years. The career which gave me identity, security and fulfilment. And on the other side, was a tiny human who needed me always in ways only a mother understands.
The pressure of making a choice wasn’t just emotional. It began affecting my body and health as well. It all felt like weight on my body that I couldn’t carry at all.
Even during my corporate years, there was a deep calling within me. The calling of being able to serve people and society. Even with a busy work schedule, on weekends I would conduct spiritual healing classes from the comfort of my home. All those these classes gave me a lot of satisfaction, I always kept them on the side. This part was me was like a sacred whisper in the background of my otherwise very structured, busy corporate life.
I believe motherhood changes our inner sanctuary and also changed how deep I listen to my inner voice.
After many weeks of inner conflict, I chose to step away from my corporate life. This decision was completely mine and mine to own. My team and my bosses missed me and even to this day I miss the busy bee that I was.
That moment while making the decision was deeply painful and personal. But I knew deep in my heart that I had to do something which will allow me to serve more humans. This is when I started carving my own path.
The world expects us to carry many roles. But this defining moment, I decided that I will carve my career path and redefine what success means to me.
For me, the act of leaving the corporate job was not just a decision. But it was about choosing presence, nurturing life and trusting that when one door closes, another opens. The other door being more aligned to my deepest purpose.
So from the comfort of my home, while nurturing my baby and taking care of my parents I started supporting other women and new mothers.
StartupTalky: Many women professionals in India face the pressure of choosing between ambition and family expectations. How have you navigated this balancing act, and what has that journey taught you?
Kalashree Anand: In early years of corporate career, I was fortunate to have a lot of freedom and support at home. That freedom gave me a lot of space to focus deeply on my office work. It allowed me to build credibility and create a strong professional track record. When you are able to give undivided attention at work, growth happens naturally.
Just like me, many women face a test after motherhood and family responsibilities grow.
After my child was born, my parents growing older lead my landscape of my life changed drastically. I was no longer a corporate employee. I was navigating being a mother, wife and daughter navigating emotional and physical responsibilities. At the sametime, I was building my coaching and healing practice almost from scratch. This journey needed immense courage, patience and trust. This phase taught me a very honest truth of what it looks like to be a woman.
Society tells us that we need to balance. But according to me balance is a myth. Women are frequently that they should be able to manage everything. They are expected to be calm and graceful throughout the time. But according to me, when we try to do everything perfectly, we can slowly push ourselves towards exhaustion and burnout.
What I follow to this day is the power of priorities and intentional living.
There are seasons in our life when our children need us more than anything else. There are some phases in our life when our work, our purpose needs more attention. Instead of trying to juggle ten different things at once, I learned to give myself permission to focus-deeply on what mattered the most during that season.
Even to this day, I choose consciously and give my 100% to the few things that truly matter then life begins to be more meaningful rather than overwhelming.
This translated to meaningful strong boundaries, letting go of the pressure of doing everything and allowing myself to be fully present in the roles that needed me the most at that season.
Ironically, this shift did not reduce my impact – it expanded it. When I stopped chasing perfection in 100 different directions, I chose Intention and clarity. When I did this, my energy became more focused, my work became more authentic and life began to feel richer and delightful. Life was not heavier but enjoyable.
My life journey has taught me that true success for women is not about doing it all. Its about knowing the wisdom to chase things that matter the most in every season and phase and giving it our whole-hearted presence.
StartupTalky: Can you share a specific instance where you had to prove yourself in a room where you were underestimated — and how did that experience change your approach going forward?
Kalashree Anand: I grew up in a house where music was just not an art form. It was legacy.
My father is even now called the God-father of Carnatic percussion. He is an internationally acclaimed percussionist and it was by default that I was surrounded by music right from childhood.
My early years was surrounded by percussion instruments, practice sessions, interactions with great musicians and artists.
With so much going on, people naturally thought I would carry the legacy forward. As a child, I did try my hand at music and percussion. I was reasonably good at it. But somewhere deep inside, I didn’t see music as my calling. I love listening to concerts. I love being around musicians. I deeply respect and honour their art and I continue to support my father in every way I can.
But this choice I made, left many scars in my life. Because of this choice, many people fed different narratives in my head. Many people around me, sometimes casually, sometimes bluntly, would say that I am absolute failure because I didn’t inherit and continue my father’s musical legacy.
As a young girl, those words cut very deep into my existence. It is not easy to constantly hear that I was falling short of the expectation attached to my own family.
For many many years, those expectations lived quietly inside me.
I have always been honest with myself. This honesty helped me and life revealed its beauty to me.
After my delivery, I started doing my healing and coaching business fulltime. Although I was doing this work from many years, doing it fulltime meant a whole different territory. I was building my identity, my work slowly but sincerely and with dedication. And with time, something remarkable happened. Many musicians started approaching me for support with their mental and emotional well-being.
Today, a significant number of musicians are my clients.
I have had the pleasure of helping them navigate the pressures of performance, emotional stress, disappointments and monetary struggles. Watching these musicians heal, grow with renewed confidence has been the most rewarding journey of my life.
Now, there are many of the same musicians who once questioned me, taunted my path deeply appreciate the work I do. Some of them have even told me that perhaps I was meant to be a healer and coach as people who can support people like this are rare.
To answer this question, there was probably not one specific moment in my life where I was underestimated. With me it was a quiet journey of staying true to myself despite the caustic comments and judgements I received.
These experiences have taught me something I carry deeply. We cannot shape our lives based on other’s people’s judgements and expectations.
I have learnt that I cannot abandon my inner voice in order to fit into someone’s idea of success. If we do so, we lose an integral part of ourselves. But when we listen to our heart and move forward with intention. Then our work will eventually begins to speak for itself.
The early comments I got, did hurt me. But I didn’t allow it to define me. Instead I walked the path that felt honest and meaningful to me.
StartupTalky: Who is the woman — whether a public figure, mentor, or family member — who most influenced your professional journey, and what lesson from her do you carry with you daily?
Kalashree Anand: I cant pinpoint one woman here. I have always learnt many aspects of my life watching women around me. The women around me and their unique ability to navigate life. My life has been quietly shaped by many women.
I have been a deep observer of women around me. I learn from watching how they navigate life, relationships, responsibilities and challenges with a strength that is often invisible to the outside world. Every women holds a lesson. Every woman carries of story.
My mother, with their quiet grace, taught me resilience without ever needing to announce it. My Motherinlaw, though her kindness and warmth, showed me the power of compassion and acceptance within a family. Interestingly, my own children have been some of my greatest teachers. Their innocence, honesty and ability to lead a life of curiosity and presence taught me what truly matters.
The women who come into my life as my clients have shaped me in profound ways. Every women who walks in for coaching brings with her a life lesson. One which is enriched with courage, pain, hope and transformation. While I coach them, they teach me the undying spirit of the human spirit
And then there are women mentors and coaches. I have learned from them that no matter what, we need to show up. Showing up on days when life feels heavy. Showing up even when the path is uncertain. Showing up for purpose, my dream, my work and the people I serve.
If there is one lesson deeply anchored in me. Then it is that every person who walks into my life holds a deep lesson. Sometimes they teach through love, sometimes through challenge and sometimes by leaving.
And because there are so many women who have walked my life and enriched it, I have learnt to walk my path with gratitude, curiosity and humility.
StartupTalky: If you could go back and give your 25-year-old self one piece of career advice that no one told you at the time, what would it be?
Kalashree Anand: There are two pieces of advice I would love to give my 25-year old self.
- Learn to walk away earlier. Many women tend to stay in environments where they are undervalued. I feel as women if we are constantly proving our worth in a room, then the people in that room are refusing to see your worth. Then its better to leave such a space or room.
- Not every skill needs to become a profession. Sometimes the world pressures us to monitise everything. My advice to myself is that we have to protect some parts of our life purely for joy and not let go of them because they are not earning money.
StartupTalky: What is one systemic change you believe would make the biggest difference for working women in India — not just in your industry, but across the board?
Kalashree Anand: If there is one systemic change I wish we could normalise across workplaces in India – is this. I want all of us to respect and recognise that biological rhythms of women are different and always changing.
Professional needs and environments have been designed in a very linear, constant model of hustle and productivity. The expectation is that every person can perform at the same level every single day of the month.
But women’s bodies are not like that. Our hormonal cycle influence our energy, creativity, focus and emotional capacity. It varies across different phases of the month.
Yet this truth is never acknowledged in professional spaces.
This knowledge, acceptance and wisdom is almost not present in women as well.
This doesn’t mean reducing capability or creating special treatment. It is about recognising biological reality and building systems that support the longterm wellbeing.
When women are allowed to work with their bodies, rather than against them. Then they tend to become more productive. They also become more aligned, creative and resilient.
StartupTalky: This Women's Day, what does success look like to you now versus what it looked like when you started — and how has your definition evolved as a woman professional?
Kalashree Anand: Success when I was working is very much different to what it is now.
Like many young professionals, I associated success with external markers – a respected job, designation, recognistion in the organisation, a hefty salary and the validation I got from the society. At that time, these milestones were almost critical to me and that helped me shape my identity and confidence.
But as life happened and I moved through many seasons of life – wife, motherhood, personal challenges and building my coaching and healing business, my understanding of success has changed.
Today at 45, success feels far more inward and deeply personal.
It is no longer about the title I hold, or the title that comes after or before my name. Instead, success for me is measured by something much more meaningful.
Success for me now is the number of people or lives I have been able to touch and enrich through my work.
Every human who leaves my session feeling lighter, every person who begins to see themselves with more compassion, every life that finds little more clarity and courage because of a conversation I shared, those moments have become my true markers of success.
Success for me also means having the courage to speak my truth and allow my voice to reach the people who need to hear it. When your work begins to come from an authentic space rather than a need to prove myself, something changes. The impact becomes more specific and deeper and sincere.
Most importantly, success also means my ability to give and receive unconditionally.
In my early professional years, my life was about striving, achieving and proving. Today it is more about connection, service and presence.
I now know my life is worth celebrating as I create spaces where people feel more peace with themselves, more hopeful about life, less fearful and deeply connected to their inner strength.
Sakshi Jadhav