What made you choose a career in speaking/training?
It all started 16 years ago when I started my career selling loans for Citibank. I was overjoyed with that opportunity, spinning success dreams by the minute, imagining myself in a black business suit, high heels and strutting a power walk. As excited as I was, I was equally oblivious about the fiercely competitive world I was stepping into, where the only language spoken or heard was the language of numbers. Months went by and I consistently kept missing my targets. My non-performance pushed me to the wall with no escape route. A training program gave me the opportunity to interact with my business head who gave me the winning formula for life, “Nidhi, you are in a battlefield where knowledge is your biggest weapon. Learn to wield your sword and help others prepare.” Those words changed the course of my life and that’s when I started recreating myself for success. Over a period of time, I realised that my true passion lies in sharing the best practices and knowledge with others. When the time was right, I made the switch to what I love doing the most.

How did you become an author?
Books have contributed immensely to my life; given me perspective and power to shine when I needed it the most. I have always had an inclination towards non-fiction books being a small town girl. Back in the day, when the world was not digitally forward, it was my only source of acquiring cutting edge knowledge and skills. In those moments of getting wowed by the author, I always thought of writing someday. As the years went by, my professional situations created unique experiences and challenges that were tricky to handle. Whether it was developing strategic orientation, declining promotions due to movement, my sabbatical, coping up with changing demographics or limited opportunities – these situations empowered me in the long run. I designed a mechanism to cope up with challenges and felt it is my responsibility to share it with the world. That is how I became an author.

What is Vertical Hyphen about?
Vertical Hyphen is a young entity created to help organisations, corporates and individuals with their learning needs. Our motto is to stay relevant, add value and help our clients develop fearless, collaborative and profitable human assets. Within this short span, we have built a reputation of understanding the uniqueness of each organisation and providing accountable solutions. My endeavour is to reach out to all the professionals who are at a point where I was years ago in the beginning of my career. I have learnt that a winning mind-set and a firm grip on business processes is the secret ingredient to success.

Tell us about your YouTube channel?
My life experiences have taught me that the only way to ‘get’ is to ‘give.’ And one can only give what one has. I’m blessed with the wealth of books. I feel it is my responsibility to share the knowledge of books with people who either do not have time to read or resources to embrace one. With that compelling thought, one fine day without any planning or forecasting, I started the YouTube channel under my name ‘Nidhi Vadhera.’ To keep it informal, I decided on Hinglish as my language of communication and curated a series named ‘5 minute Ka Kitabi Gyan’ (knowledge of a book in 5mins). I post a new video every week and the response from viewers has been overwhelming so far.

Considering you have had to move several times with regards to your husband’s job, how did you manage building your career?
Most of us think of our careers as a linear progression which is not true. At the end of the day, it is about acquiring skills that help you complete a task with maximum efficiency. In my case, my husband’s movement worked as the hidden magical spell in making me the person I am today. Initially, the organisation I was working with kept transferring me to locations where my husband moved, but after a point that support ceased. That is when I took the leap to learning and development. I cannot shy away from accepting that my career took a back seat because of our movements, but my entrepreneurial journey is a result of these movements. Had I not seen the instability, I would have never pushed myself out of the comfortable salary mind-set. My situation is a typical example of high aspiration syndrome. Girls in my shoes keep taking baby steps. Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Your opportunity is right around the corner.

How do you apply your learnings from psychology into your business?
Whether it is work or home, we deal with people. They may look different on the outside but at the emotional level we are nearly the same. Studying psychology empowered me with reasoning behind a person’s behaviour. It taught me to separate ‘intentions from actions’ before judging someone. When you accept that you are loving, jealous, fearful, insecure, bright and competitive just like everybody else, it becomes easier to connect. And when you connect, magic happens!

How did you become a TEDx organiser?
TEDx is a platform that resonates with my philosophy of life that sharing ideas can change attitudes, lives and ultimately the world that we live in. I have always looked up to this platform where the top thinkers and doers of the world share their ideas and inspire billions. The live audience and those who view the videos online to learn from professors, parents, teachers, students, administrators, artistes, business leaders and citizens as they share their ideas. TEDx is about serving your community with ideas worth sharing. I wanted to serve the Ulsoor community (in Bangalore) and that is how I decided to become a TEDx organiser.

When and where is the next event happening? And what is it about?
The first ever TEDxHalasuru is scheduled for 16th April, 2020 at Conrad Bengaluru. The theme for this event is Shifting Paradigms – what worked then, what works now.

What is your motto is life? What do you strongly live by?
My motto in life is to collaborate and create success stories. I strongly live by passion and integrity.

If you had to explain yourself in four words, what would they be?
Fragile as a diamond.