How Shikhaa Siingh transformed an unfulfilled dream of public service into a lifelong mission of empowering people through learning, leadership, and transformation.
Dr. Shikhaa Siingh
Founder & Director: Swabodh Studio People Solutions
Industry: Learning & Development
Business Stage: Growing
Location: NOIDA,DELHI NCR India
Dr. Shikhaa Siingh is an Internationally certified soft skills trainer, POSH Trainer, CPD Facilitator, and Image Consultant with over 21 years of experience across academia, research, learning and development, and professional transformation. As the Director & Founder of Swabodh Studio People Solutions, she works with organisations, professionals, and emerging leaders to build self-leadership, confidence, professional presence, and workplace effectiveness through experiential learning. With a strong foundation in Economics, a passion for continuous learning and guided by her philosophy, “It’s always me versus me,” , Shikhaa is known for creating impactful, practical, and engaging learning experiences.
Some people have a presence that immediately captures your attention. Not because they are trying to impress anyone, but because there is an unmistakable confidence about them. That was my first impression of Dr. Shikhaa Siingh. She is articulate, elegant, thoughtful, and remarkably self-aware. During our conversation, I found myself drawn not just to what she was saying but to how she was saying it. She has the ability to light up a room, inspire people, and command attention without demanding it. Whether it was the way she reasoned through life’s challenges, the conviction with which she expressed her views, or the quiet confidence she carried, I could see a woman who had spent years building herself long before she built a business.
Yet Shikhaa’s story is not one of effortless success. Like many women, her journey has been shaped by dreams interrupted, expectations imposed, responsibilities assumed, and battles fought silently.
In her younger years, Shikhaa nurtured a dream that was bigger than the life most people expected of her. She wanted to clear the Administrative Services examination like RAS/IAS and build a career in public service. It was an ambitious aspiration for a young woman in her early twenties. But before she could even sit for the examination, conversations around her marriage had already begun.
For many women, this is where dreams quietly take a back seat. But not for Shikhaa who chose a different path. Before saying yes to the marriage, she candidly shared her aspirations with her future husband’s family. She wanted them to know that her dreams mattered. What followed was something she remembers with immense gratitude. Instead of asking her to let go of her ambitions, her family stood beside her. After the wedding, her father-in-law would personally accompany her to coaching classes, encouraging her every step of the way. It was an early reminder that while dreams belong to individuals, the right support system can make the journey far less lonely.
Life, however, had a different script in mind.
Despite months of preparation and sincere effort, Shikhaa couldn’t clear the Administrative Services examination. Yet, the end of that cherished dream became the beginning of discovering where she truly belonged.
She realised that her true passion lay in academics, research, and shaping young minds.
Shikhaa began her career as a school teacher in an ICSE board school and continued in the role for a few years. It didn’t take long for her to realise that she craved deeper learning, meaningful research, and opportunities to contribute beyond the classroom. Rather than settling, she chose to invest in herself once again.
She pursued higher education, developed a strong interest in economics, completed her PhD from MNIT, and steadily built a career in academia. Over the years, she earned the opportunity to teach at some of India’s leading educational institutions. Her knowledge was respected, her research valued, and her students admired her ability to simplify complex ideas.
From the outside, it looked like she had achieved everything she had worked for. She had built an impressive academic career and earned the respect of her peers. Yet, somewhere within, there remained an unsettling feeling that something was still missing. A feeling that would eventually become the catalyst for the next chapter of her life.
As our conversation drifted to those years, Shikhaa shared something that many women rarely say out loud. For her, money was never just about earning a livelihood. It was a measure of the value she created. Not because she was driven by material success, but because she believed that knowledge, expertise, and years of hard work deserved to be recognised and rewarded. She knew she had the capability to create impact. She knew she was making a difference. Yet she also believed that true recognition wasn’t complete until it reflected in the opportunities she received and the compensation she earned. Deep within, she refused to confuse humility with settling for less. She had worked too hard to undervalue herself.
As her husband’s career took them from one city to another, Shikhaa adapted with every move, rebuilding her professional life each time without ever giving up on her own aspirations. But one of the most defining chapters of her life had little to do with her career. It was about embracing the responsibilities of marriage, navigating family expectations, and carrying the emotional weight of becoming a mother.
During our conversation, she reflected on the questions that so many accomplished women continue to face. “Who looks after the home while you work?” “Your career is doing well, but when are you planning to have children?” Beneath these seemingly casual remarks lies a deeper social reality that a woman’s achievements are often viewed as secondary to her roles within the family. No matter how educated, accomplished, or successful she may be, society still tends to measure her worth through motherhood and caregiving.
Shikhaa spoke candidly about a reality that millions of working mothers quietly live every day. While conversations around equality have evolved, the invisible weight of parenting still rests largely on a mother’s shoulders. The endless planning, the emotional labour, the worrying, the scheduling, and the constant mental checklist rarely disappear simply because a woman has a career. She carries both worlds, often without anyone noticing.
Yet Shikhaa has never believed that women should have to choose between building a family and building a career. She believes both are possible, though never without conscious choices and personal sacrifice. She remembers leaving her young daughter at storytelling classes for a couple of extra hours so she could steal uninterrupted time for her doctoral research. Those hours sometimes came wrapped in guilt, exhaustion, and constant negotiation with herself. There were days when she questioned whether continuing her professional journey was worth the emotional and physical toll. But every time she came close to stepping away, she reminded herself of everything she had worked so hard to become.
Over the years, Shikha earned far more than academic credentials. She became a mentor her students admired, a colleague her peers respected, and an educator whose work was recognised across academia and the learning fraternity. With every role she embraced, she quietly built a reputation for excellence, one that was hard-earned, deeply respected, and, at times, quietly envied.
But perhaps the greatest education wasn’t happening inside the classroom. It was happening through life itself. Juggling multiple cities, professional commitments, research, motherhood, and family responsibilities taught her lessons no textbook ever could. Time management became second nature. Problem-solving became instinctive. Managing diverse stakeholders: from students and institutions to clients and family became one of her defining strengths. Looking back, these weren’t just life skills; they were unknowingly preparing her to become an entrepreneur.
Amidst all of this, life presented yet another unexpected challenge. Her husband was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and almost overnight, the rhythm of the family changed. Sleepless nights became routine. Anxiety quietly settled into the home. Every day brought new uncertainties in the initial phase, demanding emotional strength that few people outside the family could see.
Like countless women, Shikhaa found herself holding together multiple worlds at once. She was a wife standing beside her husband, a mother nurturing her child, a caregiver managing the invisible emotional load, an educator committed to her students, and a professional unwilling to let years of hard-earned expertise fade away. From the outside, she appeared composed, gracefully managing every responsibility. But beneath that calm exterior was a woman running on resilience, often stretched beyond her limits.
Ironically, it was during one of the most difficult phases of her life that she found the clarity she had been searching for. The chaos forced her to pause and ask questions she had never truly asked herself before: Who am I beyond the roles I play? What kind of life do I want to build? And if not now, then when?
Those questions eventually found their answer in Swabodh Studio People Solutions. Swabodh, a Sanskrit word meaning self-awareness, was far more than the name of her venture. It was the story of her own transformation. After years of fulfilling the roles that life had assigned to her; daughter, wife, mother, teacher, caregiver, she was finally reconnecting with the woman she had always wanted to become.
Without hesitation, Shikhaa credits one decision for changing the trajectory of her life. Enrolling in a Soft Skills and Image Consulting program. It wasn’t driven by business ambitions or career plans. It was a deeply personal investment in becoming the woman she knew she was capable of being. While many people associate image consulting with appearance, Shikhaa experienced it as something much deeper. It transformed the way she carried herself, communicated her ideas, and showed up in every professional interaction. It gave her the confidence to own her expertise instead of waiting for others to acknowledge it.
“When you look good, you radiate a different kind of confidence. One that people can’t ignore,” she says with a smile. “That confidence becomes the silent power that opens doors, creates opportunities, and helps people trust you before you even begin speaking.”
For Shikhaa, building her business wasn’t just about acquiring clients. It was about becoming the person capable of leading one.
Interestingly, entrepreneurship wasn’t born out of a meticulously crafted business plan or a lifelong dream of building a company. It was born out of clarity and guidance from mentors. Years of teaching, research, learning, caregiving, and navigating life’s uncertainties had quietly prepared her for this moment. She realised she no longer wanted to wait for institutions to define her potential or for opportunities to recognise her worth.
After brainstorming sessions with her mentors, she almost instinctively took the first step. One day, she logged on to the MSME portal and registered her venture. There was no grand launch, no investors, no elaborate roadmap, and no guarantee that it would succeed. There was only one unwavering belief that she had spent far too many years investing in herself to continue compromising on her aspirations. If life wasn’t going to create the opportunity she was looking for, she would build it herself.
Stepping into the learning and development industry was both exciting and intimidating. It didn’t take Shikhaa long to realise that she was entering one of the most crowded professional spaces. Everywhere she looked, there were trainers, coaches, facilitators, and consultants, each promising transformation. It is at this stage that many aspiring professionals, especially women, begin to question themselves. “Am I good enough?””Why would someone choose me over hundreds of others?” For many, the fear of competition quietly becomes the reason to stop.
Shikhaa chose to think differently.
Instead of obsessing over what others were doing, she became obsessed with understanding her clients. She believed the real competition wasn’t other trainers. It was irrelevant. So she asked different questions. What problem is the client really trying to solve? What outcome are they seeking? How can I create measurable value? What expertise can I bring that others cannot? More importantly, how do I become a trusted partner instead of just another trainer?
Rather than competing on price or popularity, she built her reputation on solving problems. She learned to listen before she proposed solutions, to customise rather than standardise, and to focus on impact instead of activity. Over time, this client-first mindset became her biggest differentiator and laid the foundation for a business that clients were willing to trust, recommend, and pay a premium for.
Shikhaa recalled a seemingly ordinary moment that left an extraordinary impact on her. At a professional gathering, independent trainers and consultants were casually referred to as “freelancers.” Most people in the room barely noticed. She did.
It wasn’t the word itself that unsettled her. There is dignity in freelancing. What troubled her was how casually it reduced years of relentless effort into a generic label. Behind her stood decades of teaching, research, certifications, doctoral studies, image consulting, corporate training, mentorship, and continuous learning. She hadn’t spent years building expertise simply to be seen as someone available for assignments.
At that moment, she realised she wasn’t selling workshops. She was solving business problems. She wasn’t merely delivering training sessions. She was helping leaders build confidence, teams communicate better, and organisations transform their people. That distinction mattered deeply to her because it fundamentally changed how she saw herself.
From that day onwards, she stopped positioning herself as someone who conducted training programs. She began building a business that reflected the true depth of her knowledge, experience, and impact. And perhaps that shift in identity became one of the most defining moments of her entrepreneurial journey.
Key Lessons from Shikhaa’s Journey
- Identity cannot be reduced to roles
- Dreams don’t expire. They evolve
- Continuous learning is a long-term investment
- Recognition matters but self-recognition matters more
- Life disruptions can become turning points
- Timing in life is not linear
- Self-doubt is normal; stagnation is a choice
- The right label can limit or liberate you
- Client understanding is more powerful than competition anxiety
- Reinvention is strongest when it is rooted in self-worth
Today, Shikhaa’s vision extends far beyond building a successful business. She dreams of transforming Swabodh Studio People Solutions into a platform that nurtures the next generation of trainers, facilitators, and learning professionals. Having walked the difficult road herself, she understands how lonely the journey can be. She wants to create opportunities for aspiring trainers to learn, grow, and build meaningful careers. More than creating a profitable enterprise, she wants to build an institution that creates livelihoods, restores confidence, and enables people to earn not just an income, but a life of dignity.
As our conversation drew to a close, I realised that Shikhaa’s story was never really about learning and development, corporate training, or even entrepreneurship. It was about identity. It was about a woman who refused to let life’s many roles erase the person she had worked so hard to become. A young girl whose dream of joining the civil services didn’t materialise, yet who never stopped learning. A wife who moved cities without giving up on her ambitions. A woman who silently endured society’s questions about motherhood without allowing them to define her. A mother who stole precious hours for research because her dreams deserved time too. A caregiver who stood beside her family during illness while quietly rebuilding herself. And finally, an entrepreneur who stopped waiting for validation and started creating it.
Somewhere along the journey, Shikhaa discovered a truth that every woman deserves to hear: Your worth is not determined by the titles you hold, the roles you play, or the permission others give you. It is determined by the courage to keep becoming who you are meant to be.
If you are inspired by Sikhaa’s story, connect with her on Linkedin
Blog By: Nidhi Vadhera
Startup Strategist | Investor | Author (Romancing Targets)
Connect with Nidhi On LinkedIn
Disclaimer: This blog is based on an interview conducted by Nidhi Vadhera with Shikhaa Siingh and on the details shared during the discussion.