Avoid Burnout and Build Resilience as a founder w/ Kam Taj

00:00
Kam Taj:
But if we can't stay connected with that and take care of ourselves mentally, physically enough that we can stay connected with that vision that we have, it makes it incredibly challenging for us to sustain that journey. So for me, what resilience means in terms of a resilient founder, the traits that I've seen in the kind of people I've worked with, it's this capacity to be.

00:24
Anshika Arora:
Today we're talking all about how to become a more resilient founder in your business. We're honored to have Kam Taj on the podcast who empowers founders and leaders of startups and scale ups to build their businesses whilst cultivating relationships and also honoring your health and well being. We spoke about some of the key frameworks he suggests to use to prevent burnout, remain resilient and motivate your teams and so much more. I'm Anshika, the founder of Eternity, a CRM designed to streamline the wedding industry for couples and businesses alike. And I'm so excited to be hosting the BAE LAB podcast today. Let's get into it. Thank you so much, Kam, for joining us on today's episode of the BAE LAB podcast. I'm so excited to have you and be talking all things around how we can become more resilient founders.

01:11
Anshika Arora:
So let's just get straight into it. So firstly, I'd love to ask you, what does it mean to be a resilient founder? And how does that vary from being a founder who simply powers through the various challenges you face?

01:22
Kam Taj:
That is a great question to get started with. It's one that does come up quite a lot, because there's a lot of definitions of resilience floating around nowadays. And of course, the context of being a founder as well brings up a whole new host of challenges in terms of dealing with uncertainty, being responsible for a team and all of these other factors, they come together to mean that there's a different way in which we've got to think about resilience. And so for me, one of the things that always comes to mind is like, resilience has to be sustainable. You know, it's not enough to just grit your teeth and power through and be miserable in the process. We didn't go on this journey to found a company to be miserable.

02:01
Kam Taj:
We did it in service of a mission that hopefully we see as being greater than us and adding value to the world. There will be challenges we're going to encounter as part of that journey for sure, but if we can't stay connected with that and take care of ourselves, mentally, physically enough that we can stay connected with the. That vision that we have. It makes it incredibly challenging for us to sustain that journey. So for me, what resilience means in terms of a resilient founder, the traits that I've seen in the kind of people I've worked with, it's this capacity to be psychologically flexible instead of rigid.

02:34
Kam Taj:
So when there's that uncertainty, there is that ability to detach from the way we've always done things, and that temptation to perhaps go into a bit of a rigid core because there's so much uncertainty floating around us. And instead to approach the situation with that flexibility, to really hold space for that uncertainty and the unknown, realizing that they're integral parts of the journey. To accept that emotional discomfort is a price for this meaningful path that we're creating, and to see the weight of responsibility not as a burden, but as something which we're embracing. And even if it gets too heavy, we have these mechanisms to allow ourselves to kind of have a support system, to ease that weight a little bit, to rest and to replenish with as much commitment as we place into our business.

03:22
Kam Taj:
And in line with that idea of, like, I guess, lifting the weights of the burdens, to recognize that there is a lot of strength in walking this path alongside others, with them on our journey, rather than in solitude. And most of all, to learn to love the journey we're on amidst both the joy and the tears that we put into it. Whereas. Yeah sorry, yeah.

03:40
Anshika Arora:
No, absolutely. Because I resonate with so much of what you're saying. And being uncomfortable is what really ultimately leads to that growth, doesn't it? And you're. And you're right, there's going to be the good days, the bad days, and it's about enjoying and seeing the beauty in both. Because even the bad days are some form of learning, right?

03:57
Kam Taj:
Exactly. And this idea of powering through the bad is powering through implies that we're not stopping, we're just moving through. And in the form of, like, one of the forms of coaching that I practice called acceptance and commitment coaching. One of the key forms of inflexibility psychologically is concept we call experiential avoidance. The need to avoid the experience we're having, perhaps emotionally, because it's too distressing for us to actually confront. And it's this idea that when we're powering through something, it implies that we're just putting these blinders on. We're neglecting to actually pause and embrace the experience. We're Having. And so there's this element of denial in it.

04:33
Kam Taj:
There's this element of we're too afraid to sit with the discomfort of where we are or we're trapped in the throes of our ego, just too proud or too attached to our self story and who we are to be open to new ideas, support and flex. So whenever that, whenever someone says I'm powering through something, I will often ask and say, okay, well how does that experience feel for you? Because oftentimes they'll feel like something that's taking something from them rather than something that's adding something that's enriching their journey.

05:01
Anshika Arora:
Absolutely. And where you've mentioned that around really living within the experience and embracing it, I think it's one of those things that's a lot easier said than done when you're not going through the moment in itself. So what do you always find are some key habits or practices that you can suggest to any of the founders listening when you are going through those challenging times to really help cultivate that resilient founder mentality?

05:25
Kam Taj:
This is again such an important question because as founders, we're feet on the ground, right. We're in abstract concepts aren't going to help us to process these things. And one thing that we always caveat in this line of work is discussing the concept is the easy part. Putting into practice is the hard part. And so for me, one of the habits that very early in the journey we make sure to build in is daily self reflection. And daily self reflection can come in different forms. But the idea here is you need to know yourself. You need to learn how you're responding to the ups and downs you're facing. You need to be able to notice when your trajectory in terms of your energy and alignment is shifting downwards.

06:08
Kam Taj:
And to be able to course correct, you need to learn what at any point is working for you and what isn't and realize that what was working up to a point is no longer going to meet those needs. Now you can't do that if you're not reflecting. And oftentimes we start to deprioritize this self reflection part because there's always something more to do. The business is riding on us, there's always more action we can take. We must ship this new product, we must always be working towards that goal. We have, we have our investors, we need to meet deadlines that we've set around this. We have our teams we must provide for. Ironically, being so focused on all that external side of things means that we actually become very disconnected from what's going on internally.

06:47
Kam Taj:
And so for me, that carving out that time for daily self reflection is non negotiable. And it doesn't have to be extreme, it doesn't have to be. I'm going to score these categories of my life every single day and make notes on what was the highlights and the low points, the observations and actions that I'm going to take with me into tomorrow and so on. Which is what I do, by the way. I do it every day because I've gone through periods of war in my life. These challenges I've faced and these tools that I developed were the ones that helped me come through these situations and they've been adapted over time. But I will always say is start with some form of self reflection, whether it's a basic journal with a light structure in place.

07:25
Kam Taj:
Structure is always helpful for a founder with comes to these things. Don't leave it too kind of broad and unstructured and then adapt it as you need based on what's working for you and what isn't. We must always realize that the tool is in service to us. We're not in service to the tool. We're not building a self reflection habit because it's a fancy thing to do. We're building it for the purposes of our goals that we have. If it doesn't serve us, then we need to change it.

07:50
Anshika Arora:
Absolutely. And I for one absolutely love journaling. And I always start my structure is always to write gratitude affirmations and then journal. And I think that's one that I've seen worked and it really does. It changes at certain points. And I guess for me personally, I see that it changes when I'm having a great day and things are going well. That's the structure I like. But I often don't do that when things are uncertain and I'm feeling challenged and I'm feeling defeated. What would you recommend in those moments or those days, even when you're doing your daily practices, when you are just feeling defeated? For founders, what are one of the best practices you can do in that moment?

08:26
Kam Taj:
Well, it's incredibly hard to be able to connect with feelings of gratitude and to affirm what we wish to create into the world when we are feeling defeated. Right. There's a cognitive dissonance that's happening between what we're presenting and trying to force ourselves to think rather than how we're actually feeling. So you're absolutely right in that there needs to be a difference between so to Speak peacetime practices and wartime practices. We always say it's easy to love yourself when everything's going well. It's easy to create motivation when everything's going well. So what do you do when times actually get tough? There are a lot of different practices out there. I'm going to share the one that for me was the most helpful in my journey, when I've gone through these incredibly adverse periods where I felt utterly defeated.

09:08
Kam Taj:
And that is actually the voice note to self. It's a voice note to yourself. Make a little WhatsApp group with yourself and, you know, let go of the other person who you make the group with, or just a voice memo to yourself. And I'd go into a private place, perhaps into like a car or like go for a walk or something in an area, and I would just start venting into the voice notes. I would have to release what was there, what was obscuring me from connecting with perhaps the gratitude of the journey that I'm on. I can't make space for those emotions if I don't first process and release what is there. And the irony is that often when we most need that coach or that therapist is at times when they're least accessible.

09:47
Kam Taj:
It's the one in the morning kind of moment, right? It's when you're tired and exhausted and you don't have that session booked. So we've got to learn how to actually be there for ourself in that fashion. And writing is an incredible way to help us structure this. There were nights when I would do this writing in a form of dialogue where the first thing I'd be writing is in swear words, capital letters, frustration. Releasing it in that writing form. But the next bullet point below it is almost like my. A higher self, a more peaceful self, a more aligned self responding with a lot of compassion. That was the key thing. It was never a harsh, you know, no, come on, pull yourself up. You can do this kind of thing.

10:24
Kam Taj:
It had to be an acknowledgement and a validation that what I was going through was legit. I had to give myself that. And often I'd give that, and then there'd be some more being released from that kind of version of myself that felt defeated. And it was like this back and forth dialogue. And the same with those voice notes. If I really had to release in that form, it would often start with, like, my voice taking on a completely different tone and releasing the pain I was feeling, followed by noticing that there's another perspective in there. And that would then combine kind of almost console me, validate and be there and I'd release more and so on.

10:57
Kam Taj:
And this pattern is incredibly helpful because you can't go into that place of, you know, the wins, the gratitude of this until we actually make space to process those lows. The one thing I always say as part of building resilience is we've got to find a way to transition from that defeated, low emotional experience we're having to what is the lesson or the action. And so that part is really important. So one of the basic structures I give as part of journaling is it's called wins, losses, lessons. So we write down the wins we've had for the day in different categories. Then we have the losses, where we actually acknowledge the losses we're having in however form we want to write them. But then most importantly, we have the lessons or the actions or the mindset shifts we wish to make.

11:38
Kam Taj:
So the idea is we're trying to translate, teach our brain that we can move from loss to action or mindset shift without invalidating and skipping the phase of actually feeling that grief, disappointment and anger that we should be feeling. We care about our missions. So. Yeah, exactly.

11:57
Anshika Arora:
I love that. And that's a framework I definitely want to start implementing because I think it sounds so powerful, the wins, losses and lessons. I guess something that perhaps other founders listening to this would be able to relate to is what do you do when you're a founder in a situation where there's fear of uncertainty or fear of failure, when you actually don't know what the lesson is or what the. There's obviously been a win. And that's why you said there that you want to start from the smallest of small wins in your day. But when it comes to the lessons, what if you don't actually know how to move forward? And it's that uncertainty, there's that practical element of this is what the business needs. But ultimately we have the emotional side. This is how it's making me feel.

12:37
Anshika Arora:
And I know for a lot of founders it does lead to then insecurity and can I actually do this?

12:43
Kam Taj:
So this is. Again, you're asking all the right questions over here. This comes up with every single person that I work with. Founder, startup, scale up, leadership teams. It is our relationship with uncertainty and unpredictability. And let's be honest, uncertainty and unpredictability are not pleasant things for our brain to try and conceive of, which means that our brain is naturally going to want us to avoid having to confront those as much as possible.

13:07
Anshika Arora:
We go into fight or flight, don't we?

13:09
Kam Taj:
Absolutely, absolutely. Because it represents threats. So this is the key thing. It's not so much how do we solve for uncertainty and unpredictability that is an inherent part of life. We must find a way to accept it, not make peace with it and be, but to certainly accept that it exists. But so much of it comes down to that word relationship. How do we relate to these concepts? And this is a lot of the work that I do. It's understanding the relationship we have with it, which often actually stems from early childhood and not doing well in a test or what's going to happen in an exam. And that tells me who I am in my self identity and the disappointment that parents are going to have and authority figures. It's very complex.

13:47
Kam Taj:
But if we have learned to relate uncertainty and unpredictability as an evil, as a threat, as a fear, we can never thrive while running our startup. We cannot thrive. We're always going to be reactive. We'll be living in a state of apprehension. And that is not a creative space. It's not a flexible or innovative space. It's not a space where we can lead others from. And so what as part of this work is actually really coming to terms and relating how do we want to relate with these ideas? How can we perceive the unknown as the not yet created, the uncertain as well the curiosity to explore the unpredictable as an opportunity to test ourselves and see how adaptable we are. I describe what a lot as a dance we're having with uncertainty and unpredictability and they are leading the dance.

14:37
Kam Taj:
We've just got to train ourselves enough to adapt to their movements, to take advantage of the space that opens up the opportunities that emerge. We cannot live in a place where we're resisting it or fearing it. And so for me those are such important concepts for any entrepreneur founder to come to terms with. And I really recommend, you know this is parts where I get it's like it's worth reading or at least engaging with existential philosophies or in acceptance equipment coaching. We talk about contextualism or functionalism and trying to draw our own relationship with these concepts which will inevitably breed a sense of discomfort and perhaps take us away from the actions that are aligned with the values we've set.

15:18
Kam Taj:
So it is so important to actually take time to reflect on how do we want to relate to these concepts now and being very aware that as our context changes, so will our relationship with these concepts.

15:29
Anshika Arora:
I love that and I Love how it comes down to your mindset, doesn't it? And how you perceive that word, if you're going to fear it or if you're going to control it. And I think that's absolutely amazing. On a slightly different tangent, there's definitely the element of being a resilient founder and being constantly present and performing to the best of your ability in your business. But ultimately there is a stage where it gets to burnout. And sometimes as founders, we can be really good at recognizing it, and sometimes we can be really bad. But how do you balance that middle line between, okay, I am a resilient founder and I'm giving it my all and my business is moving at the pace I want it to, but actually making sure that you're not edging towards that burnout?

16:10
Kam Taj:
When it comes to burnout, there are burnouts. We're familiar with circumstances that have led us into those kind of places. And therefore, hopefully we've learned from that. And we can, you notice, we can notice it more effectively coming. But because we are always teetering on the edge of that uncertainty and unpredictability, there will always be the sources which can lead us into this place where we won't be able to anticipate them necessarily. So one thing that I always differentiate between is this idea that burnout, it comes in many different forms, right? There are physiological burnouts. Our bodies kind of shut down. There is a mental burnout where we're unable to just focus on anything. There's an emotional burnout where we just feel completely flat and our emotional spectrum of experiences has just become so flat in that way.

16:54
Kam Taj:
And it's a spiritual burnout when we just feel drained and exhausted by life, so to speak, by what's in front of us. And so for me, what I've noticed most is when we lose connection with the values that we've created for ourselves is when that burnout we become more susceptible to, or when we're feeling enslaved by the fears and the doubts that we have, when they're starting to take such a centerpiece in our life, we haven't essentially reconciled our relationship with that thought or feeling that we're having. That is when we become most susceptible. For me, this is where the daily self reflection practice came in. This is where it all kind of started for me was because I was burning out. When I was in management consulting, before starting these things, I burned out.

17:34
Kam Taj:
And that was when I was like, okay, I know why that happened. I had to understand it. And I realized, okay, well, These were the different factors that led to it. We also can't be reductionist. This is a very important thing in this field. It's like we'd love to reduce. Oh, but we became burnt out because of this thing or this thing. The truth is, in reality, there's a combination of all of those things and a bunch of things that we don't know. There are days when you'll wake up and you won't know why. You're just feeling a bit annoyed or upset or so on. Right? That is the human experience as well. And so rather than trying to control all of these elements, it is simply about the awareness side of it to be able to notice it.

18:12
Kam Taj:
And again, part of the acceptance and commitment coaching framework that is helpful is this idea of we almost let it sit beside us. Let that I don't feel at my best today, let it accompany us by our side rather than fighting it and resisting it and using the little energy we have to try and fight it away. We can't win, not when it comes to the strength of an emotional experience. So if need burnout and management of it, there are a few key questions that are worth asking around. Okay, like, is it a physiological, mental, emotional or spiritual kind of experience? How aligned am I with my values right now? To what extent are my fears and doubts dominating my mind space? Am I caught in future worries and fears, in which case I need to actually take time to understand them?

18:55
Kam Taj:
Because if I don't, then I'm powering through. Yeah, I'm powering my way all the way into a burnout. So these are some of the concepts that I found helpful. Filtering questions are also incredibly helpful to understand what is perhaps contributing, what are the thoughts that are contributing most to it? So one of my questions is, if it was blue sky, sunshine and 25 degrees right now, would I really give about this problem that I'm facing right now? And that framing helps me to realize just how much am I attaching to this? How important is this? Or would I just be kind of enjoying myself, it was a good day? Or if this problem was resolved in this way, if I didn't have to deal with this person today, how would I be feeling?

19:36
Kam Taj:
And I'm trying to understand, well, what are the things, what are the symbols, so to speak, in my life right now, whether a certain person or a certain situation or a certain investor meeting or a certain funding run I've got to go through? Or what is it that's contributing to this bandwidth being diverted towards something so draining without action actually coming into it to offset it. What is draining me so much that's moving me towards that state of burnout?

20:02
Anshika Arora:
Absolutely. So helpful. And I guess especially when you are a founder, you need to be resilient for yourself, but also for those around you, and that ultimately includes your team. So what advice would you give to founders listening around, remaining resilient, and really modeling that for your team?

20:19
Kam Taj:
Yeah, that's a really good question because. And again, we do a lot with the leadership coaching side of things. You know, it's a balance between that trust you build with your team and showing vulnerability, but without making your team feel unsafe and at risk. Right. That's a really important balance to strike. And I think that amidst all of this incredibly important talk about strength through vulnerability, yes, it works when you talk about a vulnerability in the past and how you have processed it. But if you're talking about in the present, if you're feeling like your leader actually does not have your back because they're so focused on their own and they don't know how to cope with it, that doesn't breed confidence in you either. It makes you feel more unsupported. It creates more of a rift.

21:00
Kam Taj:
So for me, again, this way, daily self reflection, self awareness is so important because if you are leaking your emotions out because you haven't yet processed them, your team are feeling it, your team are noticing it. They've been interacting with you long enough to know you as well. Right. And to be able to notice these subtle shifts in you. So for me, one of the most important things is drawing. If you wish to share with your team and to inspire them through this period of a crisis or uncertainty, perhaps draw on a past uncertainty or crisis that you've gone through. And here's how you guys came through it, here's how you felt and how valid that is to feel like, you know, it's incred tough right now. We're worried. We worry about these things like that's valid and here's how we can process it.

21:44
Kam Taj:
The other thing is if you're a leader in this kind of situation, ideally you're also being supported through this. Right? Whether through a mentor or through whoever's invested in your company, whatever it is, you're being supported too. And that means that you can model that to your team as well. You can say, look, well, here's some of the things that I've been working on, you know, in the past. And again, you can frame it in such a way that these are not Present things that are pressing you right now, but they're things that you can actually give them as well these tool because if you model that support is a good thing, support is part of it. Getting support does not model that. I'm so strong and you can trust me so much that I don't need support because I've got it all sorted.

22:20
Kam Taj:
We don't get support just because we don't have it sorted. We get support because we're looking to grow. And again, you can always frame to your team that anything that you're bringing an intervention like that, it's not because you can't do it without it's because you can do it. And you guys want to optimize even more, you want to perform even better, you want to create sustainable practices, you want to come out stronger, you want to be anti fragile. When something breaks, you actually come back from it stronger rather than just it breaks you. And you've got to be resilient and grit your teeth and come through it and endure it, or worse, being fragile, in which case it breaks you and you're gone.

22:56
Kam Taj:
So those are some of the things that are really important to model as leaders when it comes to these kinds of situations. And most of all validating. If people around you and your team are expressing these emotions, do not invalidate them. It is a valid experience that they're having. Create space for them to release it and then discuss what kinds of support would be most beneficial for them.

23:15
Anshika Arora:
Amazing. That's so helpful. And I guess my last question to you is how can founders maintain resilience in the long term? Because I know we've spoken about daily practices and in the moments of when perhaps it feels too uncertain and like a crisis, but in the long term, and when you're perhaps nearing that burnout or you may be in a phase where actually just success seems too far and out reach, how can founders then shift to a more resilient mindset?

23:41
Kam Taj:
So there's a couple of things in there that I want to pick up on. The first is that oftentimes when we get most caught up in the doubts and fears about the long haul, it's when we're most tired, it's when we ourselves are most exhausted. And what we're doing is something which there isn't so much of a term for it, but I'm going to call it emotional projection. I we're projecting how we currently feel tired, exhausted, stressed, and we're imagining all of our future selves dealing with the future problems in the long haul, in that same emotional state. And we've all done this, you know, if it's two in the morning and we're exhausted and we're imagining how hard tomorrow is going to be, yeah, we're doing so with the same lens of we're tired. That's what we're projecting.

24:19
Kam Taj:
So it's really important to catch that and to allow ourselves that grace, to know that how I feel now is not necessarily how I'm going to feel tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. What are the things that I can actually do to shift that? What is the support that I can get? What's the rest? What does resting intentionally look like for me? What does it look like to honor the task in front of me? What does it look like to realign with my values and let them drive my actions rather than relying on external pressure, which is a very lazy form of motivation to drive us, Taking the extra time to reconnect with the values we have and using them as our driver is a more sustainable fuel. A key thing here is what you mentioned on success.

24:54
Kam Taj:
And again, defining success is so important. The most successful founders that I've ever seen, they cannot see success as distant. In fact, they see that they're even on this journey in itself is the success. There is a bravery and a courage in experiencing the lows that come with failure. There is a sense of pride, healthy pride, in choosing to devote yourself, perhaps to a mission that you perceive to be meaningful. There are all of these different emotions around, perhaps again, that we ourselves need to clarify. I don't want to put words in people's mouth because this is such an individual journey to align with the values we have around it.

25:35
Kam Taj:
But the key thing is perhaps a reframing is needed, because if the success and goal is the exit, or it is this or it's that, and every step that we're not there is essentially not yet success. This journey is just a bit too fraught with uncertainty and peril for the majority of us to be able to suffice by saying, oh, well, the exit at the end will be worth it. And there's a lot of founders, actually, even if when they do exit, they follow it with a long burnout because they don't know how to define themselves other than being on that journey. And you might say it's a great problem to have. It is. It's a pretty good one. But what it does, it forces that introspection.

26:10
Kam Taj:
And so that's why for me, for every founder, it should be a non negotiable that every three to six months you block out a few hours to do some introspection, to see where you're at. To see like, am I able to connect with this journey itself as the success in existential philosophy, there's philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Most of us have heard of Nietzsche in some ways. And putting aside some of the stuff that he says that perhaps aren't as helpful, like I always believe that from any idea, philosophy and so on, we take what's useful for us and we adapt it to our own and we reject what doesn't work or resonate with us. We don't have to adopt into dogma of one person. This is the way they think.

26:46
Kam Taj:
But one thing that he talks about is this concept of amor fati, to love your fate. And this reached me at a time when I was in the most pain I've been in my journey. And it was such a horrible thing to like, I've got to love this. What are you talking about? This is the worst suffering I could ever imagine. I can't even control this. This is insane. Like I can't love this. But what it made me think was, well, actually, what is my objective with this? If I'm just trying to endure this, right? If I imagine it on a scale where it's like, I hate this place I'm in, I'm enduring this place I'm in, or I love this place I'm in, if I aim for endure, I might still end up in the. I'm struggling, I'm in that hate mode.

27:26
Kam Taj:
But if I learn, if I really find a way to connect with the love of the journey I'm on, to love this state, to love the ups and downs, to see it as the richness of this experience I'm having, the fact that I've chosen to take this path. Right now, the worst case is I miss the mark of love, but I still reach. I embrace or I accept. And that for me is a much more sustainable place to be. It's much less prone to burnout if one is able to accept that which they cannot control. To accept that we're here because of choices we're making in line with our values. And to accept that, yes, this is pain and discomfort, but there is still fulfillment that possible amidst pain and discomfort. Some of those fulfilling things in our life comes with that price.

28:06
Kam Taj:
To love is to embrace that you're going to suffer in some way if you're going to love deeply. Ask any parent, ask anyone whose partner has gone through health challenges to love, isn't that there will be some suffering, but is it honorable? Is it value aligned? In which case you'll find that strength to perhaps not love the fate, but certainly to accept or embrace it. So for me, these are the kind of things that are important for founders to reflect on.

28:28
Anshika Arora:
What an amazing note to end on. Thank you so much Kam, for your time today and all of the different frameworks and learnings that you've just spoken through. I know that I'm definitely going to be practicing them and I would strongly recommend any other founders listening to definitely take them on board. Now, as with any BAE podcast, we always have to round off with our usual few questions. So the first one being who are three British Asians doing incredible pieces at work that you suggest our audience check out?

28:54
Kam Taj:
This is probably one of the hardest questions to answer of all of today because there thankfully some who've already done the podcast who I'll say so checking out the podcast if you do with Neda Sahabelm who is incredible when it comes to all things scale Asif Ahmed, who's brilliant when it comes to the financial side of things Matti Sharif who is one of those genuinely incredible people building humble Shamik Parek talking about healthcare like these are all incredible British Asian entrepreneurs and who I admire so much. In terms of three that I'd like to suggest when I give my answer for this, each of these people are not just doing incredible work, but it is the way that they are doing it.

29:32
Kam Taj:
They're succeeding within their businesses but also leading with integrity and creating this fulfillment across multiple domains of their lives, their families, their friends, their well being. So the first is Nikita Thakrar who's the CEO and co founder of Included VC. She is an absolutely incredible human being. The work they're doing, they're changing the face of the VC industry by providing these like fully founded fellowships, fully funded fellowships to aspiring VCs from non traditional backgrounds. But she herself was an absolute powerhouse of a human. So generous with her time and energy, a real connector of people and without a doubt one of the most resilient people I've ever met. And she indirectly is the reason why I'm on this podcast today. So I've heard a thank for that.

30:14
Kam Taj:
The second person is one that I feel very it's a really interesting one to mention, it's my older cousin called Shahriar Tajbakhsh. He's the co founder and CTO of Metaview. Now I really didn't want to say him because he's my older cousin, but I admire him and the work that he's doing. And for context, when were kids, he was coding Sudokus using Visual Basic and programming Lego robots, and he was so fascinated with the idea of AI. And so right now, and for the last, like even pre Covid, they founded this company called Metaview. He and his co founder, they survived incredible challenges, but most of all, they did right by their teams in that time. And now they're actually building the AI workspace for recruiting.

30:52
Kam Taj:
And it's super cool because for me, when I think about it, they're actually finding a way to build this new software designed to treat AI users and human users the same and give them both the same kinds of tools and interfaces to work with. Which it's crazy to me because this is literally this human AI collaboration concept is what Shahriar would talk about when were kids all the time. And he's actually making it happen. So I'm so excited for them. And the other reason why I'm throwing his name in this is because he's also a damn good husband and father. A semi decent cousin, but a damn good husband and father. His wife, Hema Thanki, is an absolute superstar in product marketing and one of the most natural organizational leaders I've ever met. So he's the second.

31:31
Kam Taj:
And the final one I'm going to mention is actually another husband and wife combo, Akash and Chandni Vaghela. So they run RNT Fitness, which is all about body transformation, like personal training, nutrition, these elements. And they work a lot with like Asian entrepreneurs, doctors and bankers. Because I think a lot of us, we empathize with coming from cultures where like, health and wellness wasn't prioritized and grandma was always telling us were too fat or too skinny and eating and so on, that we had these unhealthy relationships we developed. But the reason why I love them is one, because like their ethos is that the physical is the vehicle for all transformation. So the terms your mind, not just your body, which I really resonate with that holistic rather than reductionist perspective. And they built an incredible company.

32:14
Kam Taj:
But what I admire is the way that they co lead it together and their relationship and how they raise their daughter. For me, that is so important, not just the fact their business is doing great. So those are my three amazing.

32:25
Anshika Arora:
And how can people find out more about you and your company?

32:28
Kam Taj:
Oh, about me. So connect with me on LinkedIn. Kam Taj: will tell you a bit about me and my story and my journey. My website is kamtaj.com it has information from the work I do as a leadership coach with scale ups and leadership teams and also the one to one executive coaching work that I do. I also have another business called Exam Success Academy. It was what I started way back in the day where we nurture the kind of future generations through using the academic journey as a vehicle for their personal and professional development. So we teach them skills like time management and stress management and stuff like that, how to learn more effectively emotional intelligence. And so examsuccessacademy.com is also how you can get in touch and learn about that.

33:07
Kam Taj:
Because for me, nurturing future generations is just as, if not more important than helping the current ones.

33:13
Anshika Arora:
Absolutely. And how can our audience help you?

33:16
Kam Taj:
So I guess one of the biggest ways. All right, so look, one of my biggest things and why I do what I do is because growing up I saw firsthand what it was like when I'd go to friends houses and their parents would come home and they'd just be so not present, there'd be conflict in the home. And so when I saw how it affected the kids growing up, if you're listening to this and you have kids, you're in this kind of capacity or you're leading people in your teams and they have kids and so on, the stuff I talked about, I would really appreciate it if you find a way to make it your own.

33:47
Kam Taj:
Because if you're able to create a ripple effect where the people in your community, your family, your team and so on are being benefited by the work that you're doing, the ripple is spreading far further than you think it is affecting the interactions they have in their home lives and the way that they're nurturing those around them. So that's one incredible way that it's super helpful and that shouldn't be limited to what I've talked about. Just in general, just keep working on yourself so you can be a brighter light to those around you. With Exam Success Academy, just thinking about it, the resources and courses we have, I try and give out loads of accounts for free from students from low income international or non traditional backgrounds globally.

34:24
Kam Taj:
So like last year I collaborated with organizations like Product Access to provide free courses to hundreds of students. Last year one of the things I'm thinking was discussing partnerships with anyone who'd consider contributing to this as part of like CSR initiatives. I'd love to hit like a million students across the world having free access to these resources, especially in countries where either the pricing points makes these things challenging or they don't have access to these resources because with things like TikTok and YouTube now there's access to resources around, say, education and learning and so on. But what you will notice is a lot of people engage with these things. They don't actually apply it to their own lives.

34:58
Kam Taj:
And so the idea with this course was that everything would be there for them and they can actually begin applying these tools in the same way as everything I've said today. It's all words. It's you listening, actually applying it to your life and your context that will make it impactful for you.

35:12
Anshika Arora:
Amazing. I love that. Thank you so much. Any final words from you, Kam?

35:16
Kam Taj:
Just a ton of gratitude to my wife. I share that, my journey, it's entirely due to her. What she's gone through these last five, six years is something that no human being, I'd ever wish for them to go through. She's my inspiration, my guide, my coach in everything I do. The most resilient, courageous, determined person I'd ever met. And so if any of the messages today have resonated with anyone, you have my wife to thank. We're always standing on the shoulders of giants. She is the person whose shoulders I most am grateful for support. I guess I can also just say a quick gratitude to my family, too, because they gave me that roof, that love and support when I quit consulting 10 years ago to embark on his coaching path.

35:58
Kam Taj:
So I wouldn't be here talking today about these things were it not for the fact that they. Again, I'm standing on their shoulders too. So just the gratitude I have for them.

36:07
Anshika Arora:
Thank you so much, Kam. It was such a pleasure talking to you today. And I'm sure that so many founders are going to resonate and practice so many of the things that you've just said.

36:15
Kam Taj:
Thank you so much for having me. It was a real pleasure.

Amardeep Parmar:

Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe. See you next time. 

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