Pooja Venkatraman

Aligned Ambition with Pooja V.

Business EN ↓ 620 episodes

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

Author

Pooja Venkatraman

Episodes

421. What my favorite sci-fi novel can teach you about building the career you want 11.06.2025 3:41

The enemy’s gate is down. Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access your flow no matte...

420. The Two Kinds of Motivation 10.06.2025 6:10

One will burn you out. The other will keep you in flow. Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning ho...

419. Is your career a garden or a jungle? 06.06.2025 2:46

I recommend building a jungle. Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access your flow no...

418. Don’t avoid mistakes. Make praiseworthy mistakes. 05.06.2025 7:54

Use this spectrum to toggle your brain out of fear and back into flow. Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internal...

417. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 7) 03.06.2025 5:07

Mistake #7: Expecting the process to be linear. Previous parts of this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Puzzle box video: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAa1KUfDEFn/ Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching eng...

416. The #1 reason you feel behind… 03.06.2025 3:22

It’s not a productivity problem. It’s an emotional avoidance problem. Coffee Chat - one-off coaching about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internall...

415. If you would have passed the marshmallow test as a kid, listen to this 31.05.2025 3:39

You’re probably burning out right now. Here’s why. Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how t...

414. What an ancient Indian parable can teach you about your job search 28.05.2025 5:18

Akbar and Birbal tell you to stop cold-applying to jobs on LinkedIn Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internall...

289. The stakes are so much lower than you think 23.05.2025 1:31

So relax and have a great long weekend :) Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access...

413. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 6) 23.05.2025 5:21

Mistake #6: Using the School Grading Model instead of the Matchmaking Model. Introduction to this series and Mistakes #1-5: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: htt...

364. Stop prioritizing your tasks by importance 22.05.2025 4:54

And start prioritizing them by this instead Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to acces...

412. Should you quit your job, or not? (with Master Coach Amelia Noël) 20.05.2025 37:18

I recently had a chance to meet Amelia Noël, a Master Certified Coach and creator of the Breaking Free from the Grind coaching program. I was so excited to meet her because we are both card-carrying high-stress high achievers. She’s a Columbia Business School grad. I’m a Harvard Business School grad. She worked in investment banking and consulting. I worked in corporate strategy and consulting. We...

267. Jealousy is super useful 20.05.2025 1:07

Find the signal in the noise Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access your flow no...

411. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 5) 16.05.2025 10:31

Mistake #5: Being in Execution Mode instead of Exploratory Mode. Previous parts of this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when 5 quick and easy career experiments: https://poojav.substack.com/p/5-quick-career-experiments-you-could Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult...

218. Be disciplined about the right things 15.05.2025 2:46

The right things aren’t what you think they are. Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to...

410. No amount of rest will fix a life that’s not in alignment 13.05.2025 6:33

You don’t have a laziness problem. You have a misalignment problem. Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internall...

409. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 4) 13.05.2025 4:07

Mistake #4: Prematurely accepting tradeoffs. ——— Intro to this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Mistake #1: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-3bb Mistake #2: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-544 Mistake #3: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-544 Coffee Chat - on...

408. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 3) 08.05.2025 5:27

Mistake #3: Discounting the value of your craft because it comes easily to you. Intro to this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Mistake #1: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-3bb Mistake #2: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-544 Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings at...

407. Something feels off. But is it Type 1 Wrongness or Type 2 Wrongness? 07.05.2025 3:06

One is signal, and the other is noise. Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access you...

406. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 2) 06.05.2025 8:13

Mistake #2: Thinking in terms of industries and functions…Instead of thinking in terms of goals, blockers, and problems to be solved. Intro to this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Mistake #1: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when-3bb Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com...

405. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (part 1) 30.04.2025 8:18

Mistake #1: Thinking in terms of jobs and roles…Instead of thinking in terms of applications of their craft. Introduction to this series: https://poojav.substack.com/p/7-mistakes-high-achievers-make-when Subscribe to my email newsletter: https://poojav.substack.com/ Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consul...

404. A secret extra bonus mistake that high achievers make when choosing their next career step 25.04.2025 2:11

A lil amuse bouche before we kick off the series next week Subscribe to my email newsletter to see the whole series: https://poojav.substack.com/ Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I he...

403. 7 mistakes high achievers make when choosing their next career step (intro) 25.04.2025 3:38

Correct these mistakes, and clarity, conviction, and momentum will swiftly follow. Subscribe to my email newsletter to see the whole series: https://poojav.substack.com/ Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching....

402. Perfectionism is like saying, “I NEED to pay $1000 for this banana.” 🍌 24.04.2025 4:04

“And if I don’t get to pay $1000, I’m going to leave the store and not buy anything.” 😡 Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high-stress high achievers build their careers around...

401. If you spend all day at work quietly afraid that you’re not adding enough value… 23.04.2025 6:46

You need to listen to this Coffee Chat - one-off brainstorm about your situation, no strings attached: https://calendly.com/pooja-venkatraman/coffee-chat Consult Call - let’s talk about working together in a full coaching engagement: https://poojavcoaching.com/contact ——— 🚀 I help high-stress high achievers build their careers around flow. This requires… 1. Internally, learning how to access you...