CA Lawyer | ICBI

A WINNING CAREER CHANGE

From Chartered Accountancy/Law Professionals to Image Consultants and Soft Skills Trainers

BECOME A CERTIFIED IMAGE CONSULTANT & SOFT SKILLS TRAINER

MRINAL GUPTA VIRMANI

“Quitting the job seemed unwise to a lot of people, though to her it gave wings to explore life outside her comfort zone”

Mrinal Changed Her Career as a Thriving Chartered Accountant to Become an Image Consultant

Mrinal is a Chartered Accountant with more than 15 years of experience in the Big 4 audit firms. In her corporate career she has interacted with people across hierarchy levels- freshers who had just transitioned from college to seasoned CFOs, CEOs & Partners, people from diverse cultural backgrounds- Indians, Europeans, Americans. She has worked in the flashiest offices of large Multinational Corporates to small dingy rooms in factories, given presentations to audiences both inhouse and various colleges at the Delhi University (as part of campus placements) and interviewed more than 500 people for various positions.

Mrinal believes in living in the present, learning from experiences and moving forward. She quit her job and relocated to London to support her husband’s professional aspirations. At a stage in her career where she was completely enjoying her work leading some high-profile projects, travelling to exotic destinations such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Prague, Norway for work assignments and being one of the few women in the senior leadership team of the organisation. Quitting the job seemed unwise to a lot of people though to her it gave wings to explore life outside her comfort zone.

When Mrinal came back to India after a stint of almost 2 years in London, she looked for jobs but what materialised was not to her liking. And as they say, life is all about evolving, so she decided to change her career trajectory.

Scrolling on social media introduced her to this premier institute: ICBI. It was like the universe giving her a sign and resolving her confusion of “what next?”. The corporate etiquette embedded in Mrinal, over the last 15 years, coupled with her habit of dressing well gave her the confidence to hone her skills to become a Soft Skills trainer & Image Consultant.

Presently, she is working with corporates and young adults helping them to enhance their image and enrich their skills; also, building a niche around working with women in the corporate world on growing their executive presence. She has been empanelled as faculty for soft skills courses at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

She is a proud member of the ICBI family.

APOORVA THAKUR

“It’s pure joy to have chosen this path of my true calling, giving wings to my childhood dream!”

How did a Practising Lawyer/Educator Find a new World of Opportunities Open up with ICBI?

Advocate Apoorva Thakur, a defense counsel and a NET-qualified Asstt. Professor, possessing a total work-experience of 9 years till 2022, currently serves as Partner at MKA Legal Law Offices (Delhi-based law firm). Inclined towards teaching and mentoring, she has also had exposure as Faculty at Delhi University, Jamia Hamdard, and GGSIPU.

A classical dancer and musician/vocalist, ICF-approved Breakthrough Coach, and Mindler-CDA-backed Internationally Certified Career Counselor (Foundation), Apoorva has always liked donning multiple hats to know more about diverse career-paths and try to be a ‘value-adding problem-solver’ for several people from various walks of life.

She has had keen interest in understanding more about behavioral psychology, linguistics & cultures, and human relationship-dynamics.When combined with her profile of having been an Advisor and Speaker at multiple NGOs, think-tanks, startups, and educational institutes, Apoorva got somehow determined to act upon her instincts when she stumbled upon ads of ICBI Business Program in Image Consultancy and Soft-Skills Training.

Hardly did she know that taking a leap of faith by enrolling in this unique course during nation-wide lockdown, would make her embark on a special journey that would help her realize much much beyond her childhood dream of becoming a Fashion Designer!

An Image Consultant, in true sense, came across Apoorva’s logical mind as a globally-recognized and empowering professional who could engineer a 360-degree shift in the personality of an individual or even a brand. Coupled with gaining a strong foothold in knowing in-depth about Soft-skills and Etiquette, Apoorva gradually felt her true calling dawn upon her, with ICBI-Business Mentoring opening fresh avenues for her to explore her underutilized strengths & untapped potential that could equip her well to help transform lives of many around.

Lastly, the independence and adventures of a freelance entrepreneur’s life, is what has always attracted Apoorva — something which has now given her strong encouragement to happily contemplate transitioning from a licensed legal practitioner to a full-time Soft-skills Trainer & Etiquette Educator plus an Image Management Coach!…

SHRADDHA BHANDARI

“Everyone has a calling. It just takes a little patience and a lot of determination to find it.”

Why did a Chartered Accountant Leave Her High Flying Corporate Job to Take up a Business Program at ICBI?

Shraddha is a qualified Chartered Accountant and was working with a US based MNC as Human Resource Development consultant for nearly 4 years. She was designing and driving corporate strategies around revamping organizational structures, employee engagement, leadership and development, and reward strategies.

She was doing pretty well for herself with a high paying and high-flying job, however she wasn’t really satisfied in what she was doing and wanted to do something more meaningful that had a direct impact on people.

She had a distant friend who was an Image Consultant and she came to ICBI to find answers for what is this field. It took about a year of constantly asking questions and getting answers from ICBI, when she decided to quit her job and pursue the business program full time at ICBI.

Within 6 months she finished her course and assignments and started her entrepreneurial venture. In the next two year she was able to make profit from the investment at ICBI and in her venture.

She began complimentary training for corporates in her close network which helped her build her profile and led to word of mouth paid work. One of her high paying clients was a company which gave her an opportunity to do intensive development programs for 8 individuals over 8 months. This project alone helped her recover much more than her investment in the Course fee.

Post marriage, she moved to Jaipur from Mumbai, taking up family business and combining her passion for training alongside. She is the CEO for Swasthya Kalyan Group, training and developing nearly 200 faculty and 2000 students studying there. She is also looking after training and development of 200 nursing and management staff of Rajasthan Hospital, where she is employed as a Strategic Consultant. She is currently also the President of IMPA Jaipur Chapter.

SUPAL TALATI

“The Best way to live a fulfilling life is to believe in the power of your dreams and make your life your own Masterpiece.”

Why did a Chartered Accountant Consider Taking the Plunge and Converting Her Passion into a Profession?

Being a Chartered Accountant by qualification, Supal was very passionate about taking up something that involves coaching / training / mentoring wherein she could connect with people and add value to their lives. The era wherein all the freshly qualified Chartered Accountants were waiting to grab the golden opportunities of getting absorbed by the biggest organizations and serve therein, Supal had a different plan in her mind. She found that her calling was all about taking a plunge into the noble profession of Training and Development.

It’s rightly said that,” You are always one decision away from a totally different life. She took this decision of joining the course of being a Certified Soft Skills Trainer with ICBI and there was no looking back. Her journey in this profession has been amazing and ICBI has been an integral part in carving the roadmap into this world of Training and Development. Presently, she has been contributing as an energetic, highly-motivated and committed trainer who is fully dedicated to help Individuals flourish and achieve Excellence in all walks of life. She has been an empaneled Life Skills and Employability Skills Trainer for the Finishing School Initiative by KCG (Govt. of Gujarat) since 2018.

With over 96,000 Man Hours’ equivalent training experience, she has been meticulously working to be the Transformational Catalyst by conducting training in various areas of essential skills since the completion of the course. She is also the Founder & Mentor at “One Step Ahead” which is an Initiative to gift individuals an insightful and enriching journey by conducting experiential, interactive, knowledge-based, creative & fun-filled training programs, workshops, seminars, webinars and one-on-one consulting for different participants coming from all walks of life right from young adults, students, professionals, entrepreneurs, women etc.

A WINNING CAREER CHANGE

From Employment to Entrepreneurship
How 4 IT/ITES Professionals Found a Fulfilling Career at ICBI

BECOME A CERTIFIED IMAGE CONSULTANT & SOFT SKILLS TRAINER

ARUNA DAS

“Being an entrepreneur was like a dream come true.”

From IT/ITES to Image Consulting – How Aruna Made a Life-changing Career Move

Having finished her Masters in Computers and Management (MCM), when Aruna joined Deloitte Consulting, she was all excited about her career taking off. But the excitement settled eventually and just like every ambitious professional, Aruna too started searching for a job with better prospects. Her search finally ended when she took a leap from Deloitte to Accenture. At Accenture, she worked for 6 years.

The journey took a halt when Aruna decided to leave Accenture and take a break so she could focus on her little one – Aditya. Five years later, when she decided to get back to working regularly, she knew she did not want to go back to a gruelling schedule and a high-pressure work environment. So she started exploring multiple opportunities, until ICBI came her way. Being an entrepreneur was like a dream come true!

During her very first presentation, hearing about Image Consulting, her instincts told her that this is exactly what she was meant to be. Meeting diverse personalities and working with corporate companies across various sectors, was a genuinely enriching experience for her. The fact that every client’s need is unique and presents an opportunity to impact someone’s life positively is what keeps her motivated.

She has worked with clients from junior executives to CXOs in the Banking, manufacturing, insurance, pharmaceuticals, SME, retail, IT, and ITES sectors. She also works very closely with international schools and Colleges across India.

Over the last ten years, she has trained nearly 20,000 people, including school students, college students, working professionals, and entrepreneurs. Additionally, she has worked with international clients for 5+ years. She has been associated with politicians and celebrities to manage their public and media image too. She is a holistic transformation partner to corporate and individuals, bringing together solutions leveraging coaching, training and counselling.

Among her many firsts and milestones include being featured on Zoom TV and her role as the President of Image Management Professional Association (IMPA), TN Chapter for 6+ years, and being a proud recipient of various excellence, leadership and entrepreneurial awards.

SINTHUJA MARTIN

“Being an Image Consultant gives me the freedom to choose: my work, time, clients, and I get to spend quality time with my adorable kids! What more does a woman need?”

The Transition from IT/ITES to ICBI – How Sinthuja’s Stagnated Career Cruised to the Next Level

Sinthuja was a Computer Engineering graduate who was working as a Quality Assurance Associate for an MNC. But soon, the extra hours, unreasonable demands, increasing work stress, and poor work-life balance began to impair her quality of life. So she decided to take a long break after her marriage and enjoyed motherhood with her 2 lovely kids.

From childhood, Sinthuja always loved fashion, and she was a big fan of the show “Trinny and Suzanna’s What Not to Wear.” Growing up, she always used to wonder how cool a job this is! So when she stumbled upon ICBI’s advertisement on paper, she knew that this was it! And today, she is a proud, successful image consultant conquering new horizons.

She now conducts training in various schools, colleges and corporations. She has conducted One on One Consultations for CEOs, CFOs and GMs of various companies. Her clientele includes students, homemakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and CEOs. She has empowered many by bringing out the leader in them through my one of a kind “Evolve in Style” workshop.

She is the Founder Director of Ever Preen Image Consulting, where she offers highly customised Image Management solutions to individuals, institutions and corporates. Her clients include FLEX, Rheinburke IT services, LTTS, Amway, ICICI, HSBC, Dynamic, 3M, Wedo to name a few. She was invited as a speaker for the Visionary Women’s Conference and at Christ University, Lavasa.

JIGNA SHAH

“I feel that I made the best decision by taking up this career.”

What Inspired a Successful IT/ITES Professional Not to Settle?

Coming from a humble middle-class Gujarati family, Jigna always had a desire to do something of her own. But computers were the “in thing” to do when she completed her B Sc. in Human Development from Mumbai University. So she went with the flow and finished her 2-year diploma in Software Engineering at Aptech only to end up with a job in the IT/ITES sector.

But the mind-numbing monotony and mounting pressure of the IT/ITES sector pushed her to explore other avenues. This was when she dabbled into a few other businesses like catering, software consulting, and marketing, but nothing gave her the satisfaction. It all changed when Jigna saw an advertisement on TV about the Image Consulting Business Institute. That is when she realised that this is a perfect opportunity to start something of her own!

Jigna was still working at Microsoft while she completed her course at ICBI. The experiential learning in the class from top-notch instructors gave her a lot of insight and the confidence to leave her cushy IT job. But leaving a job with a seven-figure salary and starting from scratch was both scary and challenging. However, she mustered the courage and confidence from the motto, “What does not kill you only makes you stronger” and took the leap of faith.

Ever since the launch of her own company “BrandU Image Consulting, Jigna has impacted the lives of 500+ business owners, VPs, CEOs and professionals and 1000+ students. Her signature program “Power of Personal Branding” is one of its kind 3 days intensive courses for ALL individuals! Some leading clientele of Jigna include: Microsoft India, Oracle India, Urbane College, Hyderabad and Warangal, Oakridge School, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), HSBC Bank, Advanta Seeds, Ascendas, IT Start-ups including Nicanor, NowFloats, and Karvy Financials.

ARUSHI OSWAL

“My ulterior motive of being an Image Consultant is to empower people with their own inner strengths and bring about positive transformations in their lives”

The Journey from a Software Engineer to a successful Image Consultant

As a student of CJM Ambala, DAV Public School Ludhiana and Panjab University Chandigarh, Arushi always had a keen interest in the co curriculars. She did theatre for 8 years, was the editor of her college magazine, won awards and recognitions at school, university and inter-state levels, and even stood for Student elections and won. She feels proud for being the only Female Representative till date of her Department to the Student Council. She moved to Delhi in 2014 and worked in a multinational as a software engineer for almost 5 years. This, she describes as a turning point in her life as it led to the discovery of her inner passions, interests and skill set. A dynamic and free spirited individual, Arushi decided to leave her lucrative job in pursuit of her passions. This was when ICBI stepped in her life and changed everything.

Being an Image Consultant helps her juggle and manage her work with her latest role of being a mother. She says no other profession can give her the freedom to choose when and not to work so that she can spend quality time with her little one. She describes her journey of being an Image Consultant as self-transformative and that this has made her evolve from the inside which she reflects with grace and confidence on the outside wherever she goes.

Arushi is the Founder and Director of “Re-invent with Arushi”. She has trained and influenced the lives of a large number of audiences- from individuals to groups. She facilitates training sessions for the Indian Army, the Delhi Police, numerous education institutions across India. Her clientele also includes many individuals-CEOs, homemakers & students whom she helps enhance their self-confidence and style.