Transitioning from Corporate Life to Entrepreneurship with Madhav Raina-Thapan

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Are you ready to transition from corporate life to following your passion? In the second episode of In Between Homes, I am joined by Madhav, an entrepreneur living in New Delhi, to talk about his journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship.

After 15 years in a corporate environment, Madhav realized it wasn't aligned with his values and talents, so he quit and started a new entrepreneurial venture. Now, he helps others define their vision of life so they can live and be their best selves.

In today's conversation, we discuss finding a sense of home, building connections in foreign environments, and the importance of knowing your values. Madhav shares the pivotal moment when he realized he needed to change his career, leading to his transition into entrepreneurship. We explore the fears and uncertainties that come with shifting to an entrepreneurial role and the importance of financial planning. He also dives into the significance of creating a vision for your life and aligning your work with your values.

Where is Home for Madhav and What it Means to Feel at Home

For Madhav, defining "home" has been a complicated question. Although he felt at home in France for some time, New Delhi has become his home in the past 2-3 years. Born and raised in New Delhi until age nine, Madhav then spent another nine years in the Philippines. 

But as of now, New Delhi is home. Returning to New Delhi was challenging; he initially felt disconnected from the city and its people. However, over several years, he built connections—professionally, personally, socially, and culturally. Now, he feels that home is where one forms meaningful connections with people and culture.

Building Connections Abroad & Finding Community

Jumping right in, we get into what is Madhav’s advice for those trying to build connections with people abroad in a foreign environment. 

He advises those trying to build connections to engage with people through work or shared interests. He has found community by joining a choir, taking up music, and even learning salsa dancing. These activities helped him meet people outside his immediate work environment, offering a broader perspective and enriching his experience.

If you're in a corporate environment, you may not want to always be stuck with meeting people from the same environment, so it's through these interest groups that you can make connections. Plus, he thinks it makes it more fun. Try something new, get outside of your comfort zone, and connect with new people. 

Reflecting on the Last 10 Years and a Career Shift

This leads us to dive into what Madhav’s life has been like as we look back at the last 10 years.

Reflecting on the last decade, Madhav notes that the biggest change has been gaining clarity and vision for his life, which he lacked in his 20s and early 30s. During those earlier years, he drifted from job to job without a clear sense of direction. Now, at 40, he understands the importance of having a vision and knowing one's values. He learned that if you don't actively choose your path, life will choose it for you.

Life can throw unexpected challenges, prompting deep reflection. Key questions he began to ask himself include:

• How do you want to live?

• Who do you want to be?

• Who do you want to serve?

• What kind of work do you want to do?

• How much money do you want, and how much do you really need?

Developing a vision for his life brought greater clarity about his goals and values. This newfound understanding became important when dissatisfaction with his last job led him to deeply reflect and eventually transition from employee to entrepreneur. This change required significant self-exploration and a willingness to embrace discomfort. At 40, he realized he couldn't just keep trying different things as he did in his 20s. The limited choices forced him to think seriously about his future.

He turned to various resources, including YouTube, for inspiration and education, exploring subjects that interested him. Gradually, this exploration led him from corporate to embarking on an entrepreneurial journey. While this journey is still starting, it was catalyzed by changes in his work situation, which pushed him to pursue a path more aligned with his true self.

Overcoming Fear in the Entrepreneurial Journey

Fortunately, larger forces created opportunities for Madhav to embark on his journey as an entrepreneur. But did this shift bring any fears for him?

For Madhav, he points out that the biggest fear for everyone in entrepreneurship is uncertainty, especially concerning income. However, he believes that entrepreneurship can de-risk one's career by offering more control over income. Planning, especially financial planning, was crucial in his transition. By understanding his spending and saving patterns, he could make informed decisions and set realistic goals, easing the leap into entrepreneurship.

Initially, people around him warned that he was taking a risk, but Madhav felt compelled to take this path, believing it was the right choice for him. This really helped him make the decision to jump ship.

There is a lot more stress if there’s no planning, but this can be mitigated with proper planning and structure. Having clear plans, deadlines, and contingency options makes it easier to navigate the uncertainties. Once you start selling and working on your project, new ideas and opportunities emerge. Today, there are more opportunities than ever to explore.

Learning Financial Planning & Transforming Habits

Many people may think it’s too late to learn about financial planning, but Madhav believes you're never too old to learn. He compares it to learning to play the piano in your 60s and becoming a great pianist by your 90s.

Coming back to finances, he initially avoided them. He didn't pay much attention to numbers, bank statements, or credit card bills. He only had a vague sense of his income and spending. However, he started focusing more on his finances, realizing that financial awareness is a reflection of one's life and values. This new perspective helped him make more informed decisions, not just financially but in other aspects of life as well.

He realized that finances are not something external but an expression of one's life. Thus, being aware of your finances, even in simple terms, is important. This means understanding:

• What are you spending money on?

• What are your priorities?

• What are you earning from?

Making projections based on this understanding provides comfort in making decisions. The more self-aware you are, the easier it is to make decisions and focus your energy on projects you care about.

He also emphasizes knowing your values. He often helps clients navigate periods of transformation or critical life decisions by asking:

• What problem do you want to solve?

• Who do you want to solve it for?

Understanding what you enjoy about working with certain people or clients helps you identify where to focus and grow. Life is short, not just because of our mortality but also due to potential health issues. This awareness motivates him to focus on work that brings joy and creates value for others.

By examining these aspects in detail, Madhav believes you'll be better equipped to make decisions about your career and life in general.

Finding the Time to Ask Questions about Your Career

This led us to unpack how Madhav found the time to ask these important questions about his life and career.

For him, this process was challenging. But thanks to our financial planning work together, he was able to take a break from work, which gave him the mental space and time needed to reflect. He had begun contemplating these questions about a year before he quit his job, but it was difficult to fully engage with them while working full-time. If possible, he recommends taking a break, especially if you have a financial cushion, to detoxify and unlearn past habits. Juggling a demanding job with such introspection can be tough, though starting the process early is beneficial.

One important lesson Madhav learned was his desire to create content on YouTube, focusing on wellness and transformation. Although he was unsure of the exact direction, he knew he wanted to be in that space. Clarity came only after quitting his job, allowing him to create videos, write, and take courses, which helped him become more focused.

Yet he acknowledges that it's hard to have clear direction at the start, but that's part of the journey. Even if you're unsure of the specifics, knowing that your current job isn't fulfilling can be a strong motivator. If possible, planning ahead and setting aside a financial buffer is worth the investment. It's not just about time, but about investing money in yourself and your potential future.

This journey is step-by-step; it's not something that happens overnight. You can't just abruptly leave your current life and create a new one. Some people can make drastic changes, but for most, a gradual transition with minimized risk is more practical. Taking it step-by-step—exploring, investigating, and gaining clarity—can help make the transition smoother and less daunting.

Not Everyone Needs to Be An Entrepreneur

The other thing that Madhav points out is that not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur.

If you're unhappy with your job, it doesn't automatically mean you need to start something on your own. Entrepreneurship requires a specific mindset and comes with its own set of challenges and rewards.

But Madhav knew he wanted to venture out on his own, partly because he has always been somewhat of a loner. However, he believes it's important to step back when feeling stuck or overwhelmed and reflect on why you're in that situation and what you might do to improve it.

Finding something new is certainly an option but it’s not the only one. Some people don't want to necessarily change their jobs. They're happy with their careers, but it's more about what is the meaning of this. Are you working merely for a paycheck, enduring weekdays for the sake of weekends, or is there a more profound purpose to your life? Madhav suggests that the more important question is to understand what you're doing and whether it serves a higher purpose beyond just personal or family well-being.

It's about embarking on a journey of clarity, seeking meaning, and understanding what resonates with you.

Prioritizing Health & Mindfulness Practices

Madhav also highlights the importance of prioritizing health, which led us to discuss this aspect in more detail.

For the past two years, he has made his health a top priority. A pivotal moment came when a blood test revealed he was nearing pre-diabetic levels. He loves sweets but suddenly he realizes that if he becomes diabetic there’s no going back from that. 

This wake-up call prompted him to become more conscious of his health. Observing the increasing frequency of heart attacks and other health issues among younger people due to unhealthy lifestyles made him realize that no amount of money could compensate for poor health. Whether you have $100 or $100 million, serious health problems can drastically affect your quality of life and it's not going to be the same. 

To address this, Madhav took actionable steps:

1. Reducing Sugar Intake: He began by eliminating all sources of added sugar from his diet for two months. Then he observed the changes, such as weight loss and increased lightness, helping him stay mindful of his sugar consumption moving forward.

2. Mental Detox: Madhav also focused on detoxifying his mind. Recognizing that everything you consume—whether it’s media or entertainment—affects your mental state, he chose to limit exposure to stressful or negative content. For creative thinking and intuition, a calm mind is essential. He removed himself from social media and minimized consumption of mindless content. Instead, he engaged with topics of personal interest, such as transformation, growth, spirituality, and occasionally important political events. Daily doses of inspirational content helped uplift and motivate him.

3. Music and Nature: He also incorporated soothing activities into his routine. Listening to classical music, like Beethoven’s symphonies or Mozart’s compositions, provided mental relaxation. He also spent time in nature—whether it was walking in a park, sitting under trees, or simply being away from screens and devices. These moments of connection with nature helped him center himself and calm his mind.

Importance of Family & Long-Distance Relationships

One of the last things in our discussion was we touched on Madhav’s experiences living abroad and the challenges of distance from family.

Madhav does think it really depends on everyone’s individual situation. But during his time in the US and France, he was fortunate to have family members nearby, which allowed him to build strong relationships with them.

He places a high value on family, believing that maintaining strong connections is essential, even when living far away. While family provides unconditional love, finding friends who feel like family can also be a great source of comfort. Madhav stresses the importance of staying connected and present in relationships—whether with family or friends—is crucial.

He notes that it is entirely possible to nurture deep connections while living abroad. It’s not just about physical presence; but even when you speak to your family or friends back home, how present you are during those conversations, and how often you keep them up. Just as with any meaningful aspect of life, such as managing a business or pursuing personal goals, maintaining these relationships takes work.

Reassuring Family in Career Transitions & Decisions

We also dive into the challenges Madhav faced with family reactions when he decided to leave his job and become an entrepreneur.

As Madhav points out, your family cares about you and it can be a standard reaction to be uncertain about a career transition. They want you to have a backup plan but ultimately it is your life, and you need to chart your own course, make your own decisions, and learn from your experiences.

So when transitioning to entrepreneurship, he found it essential to communicate his plans clearly and reassure them of his thoughtful decision-making process. Understanding their concerns helped him address their fears and maintain their support.

Remember, it's important to approach these conversations with empathy and understanding. Recognize that their fears come from a place of wanting to protect you and ensure your well-being. Even if they express doubts, it’s vital to convey that your decision is well-considered and not coming from an impulse, it’s something you have been thinking about and building.

Lastly, the key takeaway is to work on this vision of your life, understand the problems you want to solve, identify your target audience, and plan for financial stability. These reflections provide clarity and direction, crucial for anyone considering a significant career change or life transition. The sooner you start reflecting on these things, the clearer your vision of what needs to be done or what you need to do will come into place.

Thank you, Madhav, for sharing your insights on transitioning from corporate life to entrepreneurship. To hear more about Madhav’s journey, listen to the full conversation on your favorite podcast platform.

Connect with Madhav:

• Email: madhav@mrtsworld.com

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/madhavrt

• YouTube: http://youtube.com/@mrtsworld