What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)

When you’re a woman in corporate and jumping off the ‘proverbial ledge’ to start yor own advisory or consultancy, it can be an overwhelming time.

You’re good at 50 things.

But in order to socialize your service and make money, stay afloat, you really need to talk about 1 thing. 1 superpower.

Let me give you an example.

In the 2023 Class year of my Mastermind, M was getting ready for her TEDx style talk on stage.

She came to me with a first draft that included NINE stories.

NINE.

I said 4 things:

This is a tremendous load on your audience.

The audience had to absorb 6 talks, 6 speakers that evening. She had to be mindful of audience bandwidth. Nine stories in her own talk would be robbing the peers who came after her on stage of that bandwidth.

If someone were to refer her in the future, the message has to be memorable and repeatable.

She needed 1 powerful emotional story, with high stakes. [see video here]

1 message.

We got her there together.

This week, I was really proud to see her posted as giving the closing keynote at a conference in October.

A photo on the website was her taking my stage that year.

SkyDiving Retreat I hosted at Crosskeys New Jersey

This week, I’ve been thinking alot about WHY I do the work I do.

I went back and re-read Richard Williams’ manifesto before Serena and Venus Williams were born.

A manifesto is a powerful declaration of intent and strategic clarity.

He wrote it in great detail. He envisioned his girls’ success in tennis as a demonstration of something much bigger: Black Power.

This week, I redid my vision board with great detail. What was different about this vision board is that I doubled down on my ‘why.’ Here is 5 steps to creating your vision board. Yes, I help women do a brand of raw and honest storytelling that unlocks opportunity.

The bigger thing I’m after is an inner transformation.

M had transformed internally into a clear and concise speaker, who knew to sell in one message, one story. Now she was landing bigger and more prominent speaking (and client retention) opportunities as a result.

I got my first glimpse of this ‘inner transformation’ when I went to India in 2010.

I took a production team of 4 men to the deep South of the country to shoot my first documentary feature film.

The 4 men who returned to New York, were not the same ones who had boarded a flight at JFK 6 weeks before.

I observed them transformed.

In relation to each other.

In relation to themselves.

That’s when the seed was planted for my international retreats.

For that brand of internal transformation that transpires.

Today, at noon, I’m hosting a workshop on Zoom on the first step I usually take with a client like M. It’s crafting her tagline.

Who she is. Who she helps. How she helps them.

You can sign up here. It’s the first step in being referred and memorable.

What I Did Last Week

Friday. I was at a wedding in Rhinebeck.

Saturday morning, I got up early while everyone was sleeping it off, to photograph the town with my trusty little camera. Before yoga class, I grabbed a coffee and sat on a bench outside Samuel’s Sweet Shop. A man in his 40’s, youngish, asked if he could sit next to me.

He was the descendant of local dairy farmers. Today, he’s a builder. He reimagines old barns into modern new builds. He showed me photos. Striations in the beams that supported the roofs of his reimagined barns reminded me of my favorite architect Santiago Calatrava. I’ll zip past his commentary (men have built civilization, women were put on earth to be mothers, women NEED men, but men don’t need women, and the feminist movement has gone too far) and get to the part of his monologue that I’m still thinking about.

I had traditional Indian parents and shared I had to break away to do something different. He leaned in. “Your parents are immigrants. They broke away and moved to another country to do something different.

You’re not that original.

I eventually backed away, like someone backs away from a ticking bomb. I say “backed” because I was wearing my Aristotle Onassis shirt that read “Without women, all the money in the world would have no meaning.” ON THE BACK.

But I’m still thinking about that conversation.

I DO stand on the shoulders of my parents and I think I forget that sometimes. Just like this man gets to stand on the shoulders of his father and grandfather who were dairy farmers.

Sunday, I dragged Matt to Rose Hill Farm, where we picked 4 different kinds of blueberries. I found I was still thinking about what he said.

I concluded I will be more grateful everyday for the quantum leap my parents made by immigrating from Calcutta and Burma.

Monday. I went to a book talk in Tribeca with my friend Hillary. It was a talk with the founders of skincare brand “Beekman 1802,”presented by Harvard Business Review. Of all good counsel the 2 founders shared, this one stands out: When you reach your goal, don’t change the goal post. Be content with what you have.

I’m working on that too.

Thursday and Friday. Are choc a block. Clients are in town getting headshots done. Seeing the stage where they will be giving their talks.

Afterwards, 5 clients and I are having dinner at La Mercerie at the Gulid in Soho.

What I am looking forward to

Spain! I had a conversation with the owners of a villa in a deep, magical forest in Andalusia Spain. Putting down a deposit on Monday for the 2026 retreat for my Mastermind.

I’m spending an afternoon with a client at the newly renovated, newly opened Frick Collection. The artist Vermeer has 3 paintings on loan from museums in the Netherlands and Dublin. All 3 paintings depict a young woman in Amsterdam when women were writing and becoming more educated. [Frick audio here] This meant she also had more agency over her dating life. Writing ‘love letters’ was a way to maintain this agency with a potential suitor. The mistress is seen in all three paintings with her maid, who is her confidante and sometime “delivery person” for these letters too.

Finishing Atomic Habits by James Clear. I’m re reading it. I’m fascinated by the fact that the parts of our brain that trigger ‘wanting’ are much bigger than the parts of our brain that trigger ‘appreciation.’ It’s why we love the anticipation of a trip so much.

It’s also why I need to leave a retail store and think about a purchase for 24 hours before making it.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in giving a TEDx style talk on a NYC stage in front of 200 people at the end.

Apply here

2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a digital community where all my scripts are organized (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

3.Today, at noon, I’m hosting a workshop on Zoom on the first step I usually take with a client like M. It’s crafting her tagline.

Who she is. Who she helps. How she helps them.

You can sign up here. It’s the first step in being referred and memorable.