Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as Coach FEATURE: Priya Mohal
We continue to meet our fellow coaches, get inspired and build coach community with our “Meet the Coach” features! This month we meet Priya Mohal, a Career Coach from the UK.
Interview with Priya
About Priya
Lives In: London, UK
Company: Priya Mohal Coaching
Type of Coach: Career Coach
Describe your coaching business in one sentence: I support South Asian women to find clarity in their career path and prioritise their well-being.
Meet Priya
In a recent conversation with Dr Steve Jeffs and Erwin de Grave, Priya shared her inspiring journey from banking to becoming a career coach dedicated to empowering South Asian women in corporate roles. As someone who has personally navigated the complexities of working in corporate environments while balancing cultural expectations, Priya understands the unique challenges faced by many South Asian women.
Priya now dedicates her life to helping others break down barriers, build self-confidence, and thrive in their careers. Priya’s coaching approach combines empathy, self-reflection, and cultural awareness, providing a safe and supportive space for women to grow professionally while embracing their cultural identities. Whether you’re striving for leadership or simply seeking guidance, Priya’s mission is clear: to empower South Asian women to rise to their full potential and succeed in the corporate world.
Empowering South Asian Women in Corporate Roles
Priya is not your average career coach. She’s someone who has lived the struggles and triumphs of navigating a corporate career as a South Asian woman and now dedicates herself to helping others in similar situations thrive. Her career coaching expertise is specifically geared towards empowering South Asian women in corporate roles, offering guidance, empathy, and practical solutions for those balancing professional ambitions with cultural expectations.
From Banking to Coaching: A Journey of Growth
Priya’s journey began in the world of banking, where she worked in various roles, but her experiences in the workplace often felt stifled by cultural barriers. For South Asian women, the path to corporate success is often shaped by the pressure to juggle career goals with family responsibilities, which can lead to unique challenges. As Priya advanced in her career, she found herself struggling with the typical feelings of inferiority in meetings with senior male colleagues, especially those from a different cultural background. Over time, she realised the importance of building self-belief and contributing authentically to those discussions. This experience sparked her passion for helping other South Asian women break through similar barriers and reach their full potential.
The Cultural Nuances of Coaching
Understanding the nuances of cultural upbringing is at the heart of Priya’s coaching philosophy. She recognises that every South Asian woman faces unique challenges based on her family background, cultural expectations, and personal experiences. In her coaching approach, empathy plays a central role. Priya works to create a safe, judgment-free space for her clients, allowing them to share their experiences openly. She also conducts workshops and collaborates with employee resource networks to raise awareness about cultural differences within organisations. This deep understanding of cultural contexts enables her to guide her clients more effectively, helping them navigate their professional paths with confidence.
Empathy and Self-Discovery: The Heart of Priya’s Coaching Approach
Priya’s path to self-discovery wasn’t an easy one. As a mother, a professional, and a coach, Priya constantly grapples with the challenge of balancing her South Asian cultural roots with her own evolving identity. She explains that for many women, expressing opinions and asserting themselves can be particularly difficult due to societal expectations around silence, submission, and respect. This can lead to a lack of self-confidence and difficulty speaking up in the workplace. Through her coaching, Priya helps women discover their true selves by fostering self-reflection and encouraging personal growth.
What stands out most in Priya’s approach is her commitment to helping her clients understand that culture doesn’t have to define them. Priya’s own experience navigating the complex dynamics of cultural traditions while empowering her children to grow and make choices that suit their needs is a testament to her belief in adaptation, growth, and self-awareness.
Cultural Awareness in Leadership
Priya’s focus isn’t just on helping South Asian women excel in their current roles—it’s also about creating a pipeline of future leaders. She believes that we need more South Asian women in leadership positions to break down barriers and create more inclusive corporate environments. This belief was a key motivator for Priya when she made the transition from a corporate job to starting her own coaching business.
The transition wasn’t easy. Priya shared that initially, she found it challenging to find the right platform to promote her services. After experimenting with various social media channels like Facebook and Instagram, Priya found more success with LinkedIn, where she connected with other professionals who shared her vision. Through these platforms, Priya can reach more women, providing them with the tools and guidance to succeed in their careers.
The Power of Networking and Building Genuine Relationships
Priya’s journey of building her business has taught her many lessons. One key takeaway has been the importance of authentic connections. She realised that relying too heavily on social media for her business wasn’t enough. Building relationships through direct conversations has proven far more effective. Priya now encourages others to network in a way that values real connections over digital facades. She also emphasises the power of vulnerability, as it has helped her connect deeply with other South Asian women, allowing them to feel seen and understood in their professional journeys.
Intersectionality, Personal Growth, and Cultural Adaptation
As Priya’s coaching practice continues to evolve, she remains focused on fostering self-awareness and empowering South Asian women to embrace their identities while pursuing their professional goals. She often reflects on the role of intersectionality—the idea that every individual’s experiences are shaped by various factors, such as culture, gender, and race. This nuanced perspective helps her clients understand the ways in which their identities influence their careers and, importantly, how they can use that knowledge to their advantage.
The concept of cultural adaptation also plays a significant role in Priya’s coaching. She urges her clients to balance tradition with progress, knowing that embracing change is a key part of growth, both personally and professionally.
In Conclusion: Empowerment Through Coaching
Priya’s journey has been one of personal growth, cultural exploration, and a deep commitment to helping South Asian women succeed. She’s passionate about seeing more South Asian women rise to leadership positions and shatter the glass ceilings that have often held them back. Through her coaching, she provides a space for women to reflect on their identity, break free from cultural cycles, and carve their own path to success.
Whether through one-on-one coaching, group workshops, or networking opportunities, Priya continues to make a powerful impact on her community. As she builds her business, writes newsletters, and connects with others on LinkedIn, Priya remains driven by her passion for supporting women in their corporate careers, breaking down cultural barriers, and creating lasting change.
Connect with Priya
If you’re a South Asian woman in a corporate role or you’re simply interested in learning more about Priya’s coaching services, connect with her on LinkedIn or visit her website to learn more. Whether you’re looking for career guidance, leadership development, or simply a coach who understands the challenges you face, Priya is here to support you on your journey to success.
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