Testimonials

Why coaching?

I used to ask the question, "How to find purpose, joy, and meaning in work?" And I was consuming content (books, articles, podcasts, videos) to find the answer. But it got tricky when I started asking the question, "How do I find purpose, joy, and meaning in my work?" The answer to this second question turns out to be a journey of curiosity, reflection, and trusting myself. It involves staying with feelings, reframing some persistent beliefs, and a ton of frustrating trial and error. And these were not easy to do on my own. In my experience, this journey became more fun when I allowed the support of a wise guide, aka a coach. To have a comfortable, meaningful relationship with what I do—what I spend most of my day on, from what I derive some aspects of my self-worth and identity and all of my income—I needed guidance that isn't necessarily therapy or career-specific mentoring. For me, coaching met this need.

Why I recommend Siri?

I started my sessions with Siri in mid 2021 and continue to benefit from her guidance. I found Siri's approach very different from what I saw in my previous coaching experiences. One thing her coaching style isn't is a templatized program about climbing up proverbial ladders, setting goals, or making lists. These never worked sustainably for me anyway. She has no program, no one-size-fits-all philosophy. Each of my sessions with Siri have taken a different form. And she brings all her skills and presence to address whatever I am needing to address—no trend-based productivity mumbo jumbo, just staying with what comes up and works best for me.

Siri is an acute and perceptive listener and holds space with empathy and kindness. I feel seen, heard, and accepted for who I am. A lot of times, this is what I need more than motivation, goals, or strategies. She helps bring full awareness to what is going on. Some things have needed practical solutions and she has left me with suggestions to consider. But sometimes, I have needed a radical realignment in reframing persistent beliefs about work, colleagues, and my own self-worth.

I found it freeing to not be given fixed solutions to implement. Our sessions are always flexible too. I have the agency to decide when and how often I need the sessions and we talk about scheduling based on our availability. I found this very empowering.

A fun thing about Siri is that she has a wide range of practices, interests, and curiosities beyond her obvious in-depth experience in coaching—nonviolent communication, tai chi, shinrin-yoku, and several rigorous forms of meditation. And conversations with her are enriched by all these interests (though you wouldn't even know she's into these things if you didn't ask). Over the years, I've also drawn inspiration from her own growth story, from how she walks the talk in her context.

In the last 2.5 years, I have been able to navigate some toxic workplace conflicts, plan my finances with courage, and clarify my own vision of what well-being at work looks like for me. I'm grateful to Siri for being the catalyst in this change.

The conversations i had with Siri were very helpful to see through the muddled up thoughts on the career choices that were in front of me. It helped me to unearth some subconscious patterns that were driving some of my decisions with career.

Siri listens and provides a space of non judgement. After a few sessions, I could see without judgement and blame the needs that I was meeting with career choice, an atypical one, that I was making.

She is knowledgeable, with real world experience in corporate which helps her to connect with the dynamics that is common at work place.

I would strongly recommend Siri if you are looking to talk to someone who can help you see to yourself and feel empowered to work with self in an enriching manner.

What was the obstacle in your mind that would have prevented you from signing up for the 3 Coaching Sessions with Shirisha?

The idea of seeking coaching itself was initially a hurdle. I had never considered it before and had reservations about opening up to someone. Additionally, finding the right coach felt daunting.

What did you experience as a result of the Coaching Sessions with Shirisha?

I experienced a profound shift in my mindset. I became more optimistic, gained better control over my actions and decisions, and developed a greater sense of empowerment. I also learned to appreciate the natural rhythms of life and to view challenges within the context of a larger plan.

What specific feature did you most like about the Coaching Sessions with Shirisha?

The safe space Shirisha created for sharing was invaluable. Her ability to actively listen and gently guide me towards my own solutions was incredibly helpful.

What else did you find useful about the Coaching Sessions with Shirisha?

Shirisha's insights on meditation, understanding my drivers, and reframing challenges were all beneficial. Her ability to pull me out of specific situations and help me understand them within the broader context of my life was also key.

Would you recommend Coaching with Shirisha and if so, why?

Absolutely. Shirisha's guidance has been transformative. She provides a safe and supportive environment for self-discovery and growth. Her approach is gentle yet effective, and she expertly facilitates the process of finding your own solutions.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

If you're hesitant about seeking coaching or unsure if it's right for you, I encourage you to give it a try. The experience can be incredibly rewarding, and Shirisha is an excellent guide on that journey.

Shirisha has been my coach and mentor for the last 9 years, both professionally and personally. At the time, in a world that only recognises extroverts and hopefully that is changing, Shirisha recognised that I was struggling silently. Within a few days of being introduced, for me to get guidance on a project for work; Shirisha noticed the work I was doing for what it truly was and made professional recommendations on my behalf and that was just the beginning of how skillfully she has been mentoring me even to this day.

As we worked together, Shirisha observed me as a person and asked me with all due respect with simple, easy, straightforward questions if there was anything I wanted to talk about and helped me navigate some very difficult emotions because at the time I was emotionally flatlined and she was the ONLY one who noticed it. Shirisha was able to pinpoint where I was struggling emotionally, shutting down completely when emotions were involved, how the light inside me was out. Months later, a Doctor repeated the exact same words. It was a shock when I heard it from Shirisha because I could not see this, hearing it a second time from the Doctor only confirmed what a highly intuitive and skilled coach Shirisha is.

The passion and skill that Shirisha has for mentoring and coaching is a true gift i must say, the way she was the tugboat to my otherwise lost ship at sea. I didn't even realise how she was guiding me so effortlessly to topics that caught my attention, made me get interested in learning, in life, in new concepts. Shirisha introduced me to Mindfulness and even shared the only copy she has of the book written by the man himself. I could start to 'feel' and emphasising the word feel because that was a milestone. The biggest turning point was me feeling for myself, not just empathise with other people and put them first. Empathising with myself was and is the biggest achievement because Shirisha taught me and still does remind me on occasion how to listen to my own feelings and voice and how to stand up for myself.

I can't trust talking about my career and aspirations with anyone, I had some bad experiences, literally received advise that was anything but friendly or productive. There is another spectrum Shirisha is working with me, how to trust myself, how to treat myself with kindness and she leads by example. Recently I called on Shirisha to ask for professional guidance, she patiently listened to everything I had to say muddled thought process and everything, worked through the confusion (literally see the image of a person detangling a ball of thread here) and was able to give me a solution, a perfect fit solution.

Take this testimonial as proof of the good work Shirisha is doing, because one of the biggest challenges I faced was putting my feelings into words, for something as simple as a 'Have a good day' or 'Happy Birthday', I used to google for examples.

9 years is by far, and I am blessed to say this, one of the longest connects I have kept with anyone other than my immediate family. Thank you, Shirisha I am truly grateful to know you as my coach, mentor and friend. I wish you every success with the new platform sanerworklife.com, lucky are the people who get a chance to work with you and experience life with your guidance.

As a mid-career professional, trying to find my footing in Bengaluru's fast-moving tech-startup world, I found myself overwhelmed. Despite past success, I was struggling to feel a sense of belonging, confidence, or camaraderie at work. The usual strategies weren't working, and I was slipping into a loop of anxiety and self-doubt. As someone who doesn't give up easily, I decided to dig deeper into these challenges—and reached out to Shirisha.

What I brought to her was a dense, multi-layered challenge with emotional and professional threads intertwined. She helped me zoom out, reconnect with long-term goals, and build clarity around what truly matters. Together, we worked on boundary-setting, prioritization, and creating a framework to differentiate between non-negotiables, nice-to-haves, and definite no-gos at work.

What surprised me most was how seamlessly she integrated emotional regulation with actionable strategy. Her approach helped me reduce reactivity, stay grounded, and bring more balance, acceptance, and gratitude into my work life.

If I had to sum up my coaching experience in three words: clarifying, grounding, transformative. I feel lucky to have crossed paths with Shirisha at just the right time. The shift in how I approach work—and myself—is already playing out in visible, meaningful ways.

There are always phases in one's career when things feel off-track. In those moments, don't wing it. Reach out to Shirisha who can help you navigate with insight, empathy, and precision.

I've always been a little bit sceptical of 'life coaches'. I had concerns that a life coach could have me repeating positive mantras in front of the mirror every morning and telling me to follow a list of 10 simple steps to achieve happiness and fulfilment. Thank goodness I put my concerns to the side and gave Siri a chance!

Siri is unlike any life coach I have ever met. She is flexible, fluid, kind, and compassionate. She doesn't force an outcome or push me in any particular direction. Each session is full of surprises and personal discoveries. Siri has helped me listen to my inner wisdom and trust myself during challenging times. It's been an absolute delight working with a coach outside of Australia (where I live) and I've also really enjoyed learning more about Siri's culture.

Many thanks Siri!

My interactions with Siri have impacted me: they have always been insightful. Siri brings her whole self to the table, which includes peace, discernment and good judgement. She has the gift of creating safe spaces where I can say what I really think, knowing it will not be held against me afterwards (which is GOLD in this world). Siri's work is brilliant, in the form as well as in the substance – she embodies what she preaches.

I have always believed that people sometimes come into my life, at a moment in time, for a purpose. Shirisha is one of those special people. We met through the mindfulness community at work. I was at the beginning of my journey, practicing but without a full understanding or connection in my mind, body and heart. In her soft and insightful way Shirisha gently guided me towards reference material, books and individuals who would help me deepen my understanding of mindfulness and also my practice. Spending time with her leaves me energised and inspired. Like a teacher, she has the ability to widen your perspective and outlook on life. She has helped me to think creatively and given me the confidence to have courage and to take risks, to stretch myself and to start to recognise who I really am and to know what is important to me.

Shirisha, you are a beautiful, warm and kind soul. You make me feel inspired and energised, motivated to follow my own path and to have faith in myself and the Universe. Thank you. I would love to stay in touch……we are just a zoom away on Mother Earth x

Working with Siri has been a real pleasure. Having her as a colleague, program manager and coach has been a stable pillar to my own career. Her kindness, her support and her respect for everyone is outstanding. She managed to keep the mindfulness program running, guided us through building our own local community and founding our own hub.

To me personally she has always been a source of wisdom, at the same time challenging and supporting me with whatever I was dealing. Her expertise as a coach are outstanding as are her facilitation skills and her abilities in planning and hosting our sessions throughout the year, considering different time zones, different cultures, different people and even external speakers are just fantastic.

If I was ever struggling again with whatever life throws at me or with who I am or want to be, Siri would be the person I would think of talking to. She has always helped me with a good advice or with finding my own answers.

8,257 miles separate us. I have never met you in person. Yet, you have forever changed my life…my way of thinking…my way of being.

You opened your heart and shared yourself fully, without fear.

You have helped me learn that limitations are not limiting, we can break free and release our hold on these boundaries, we can break the patterns we have lived with for so long, we can expand and grow. We can be open to each other, the world and the unknown that may be ahead of us.

Your honesty, sincerity, guidance, and smile have been a breath of fresh air to me. It gives me the confidence to go out and be the full me, the honest me.

"Shirisha, (aka Siri) has been my trusted 'Hey Siri' for mindfulness. Her extensive personal experience in this field adds depth to her advice and sessions. Even during challenging times, Siri has skilfully kept everyone engaged and inspired. Being a part of Siri's team has been a wonderful experience and I will genuinely miss her."

Am so glad and honored that our paths crossed because, knowing you and learning from you has been the best experience ever, which will last me a lifetime! You are a truly caring human being giving your time and energy for others, whilst remaining cheerful despite your own personal challenges. Words are not enough to express my gratitude for your support, for patiently listening to my grievances and giving me a shoulder to cry on, when I needed them the most.

Your passion for mindfulness is infectious to say the least. You've been my inspiration (and am sure for many others as well ) on the mindfulness journey.

I have always been amazed at your strength in helping others interpret the emotions/sensations in the practice sessions… Will miss your Thursday session's a lot. You have been such a positive influence on us, and our community and you will be missed a lot!

Really really sad to see you go. Am still hoping and wishing you change your mind Am sure HSBC will continue its hunt for your successor, till the time you come back Having said that, hope your new journey brings you all that you are looking for coz you deserve the best!!

You know where am, and so stay in touch. Share snippets from your incredible journeys and if you ever decide to take on an assistant, let me know

Your mindfulness practice sessions, your role as my coach and our conversations around life and otherwise have had a deep impact on me and have helped me become a better version of myself. I truly admire you of being honest and open about your life experiences and for sharing your vulnerabilities and for time and again reminding that it is okay to not be okay.. that it is absolutely fine to grow at your own pace, to trust and enjoy the journey in its entirety. It truly must have been my good fortune to have you as my mindfulness guide and my coach.

Meeting and getting to work alongside Siri has been one of the best experiences I have ever had in my professional life. I could not imagine a more perfect person to support and guide our community of Mindfulness Champions; I would say the role was made for Siri, but I think it is more that she made the role hers completely. The support I felt every time I would talk with Siri helped me get more involved in our Mindfulness community at my own pace, even in between chats with her I would remember her words and the advice she gave me and it would keep me motivated to progress more with both my personal mindfulness practice and my support of others in our company. Siri's way with people is unmatched, I have both been on the receiving end of and witnessed the way that she can relate to others, build rapport and make people feel comfortable to share any challenges they are facing – every time I see her speak I am more and more in awe of her ability to connect with others. Siri is an incredible storyteller and consistently has others gripped with her ability to deliver anything from an anecdote to some instructions for a task, when she speaks everyone listens. I really can't speak highly enough of how much Siri has enriched my professional life and will be forever grateful for the short time we worked together.

You are a leader who is not just approachable and inspirational, but is also a guide, enabler, torch-bearer. Your passion for the work on Mindfulness shows up in the high quality of the CDE sessions I have attended so far. The best thing about knowing you has been the discovery of the writer in you. A dream and a passion I have been living for some time now and so, talking to you about writing made me feel like having a purposeful conversation with a like-minded friend. I am grateful to you for leading me into the Mindfulness journey and also for introducing me to Writing Down the Bones.

One of the most powerful visualisations I have ever experienced in 3 years of practice. I loved the imagery you used and the pace you went at. Connection to body was also phenomenal and I adore the fact that the group is asked what they want to get out of the session and then your words are tailored to achieve this. Really special.

I can't image who can play Mindfulness Champion Manager role as well as Siri do. She embodied Mindfulness, kindness, inclusion, in her notes to everyone in the team, but also in her speeches. I definitely liked and admired her own style of writing.

I still remember Siri wrote to me, 'I don't think it would be a barrier. In fact, it can be quite an asset as you would slow down and frame your questions instead of rushing into it as fluent speakers do, and that becomes a challenge in getting into the coaching mindset.', when I was unsure of my English ability to take a coach course as a non-native speaker. That was really helpful words. Finally, I finished the course and got the certification.

I know for a fact that joining your mindfulness practises was one of the best steps I made during last 2 years.

You create a safe space for everybody to share and brainstorm about the happy, not so happy and often confusing thoughts.

I could always count on your support and advise and when it's required – simply you turn into a great listener.

The mindfulness practices that you introduced me to, gave me an opportunity to contact with my inner voice and let me understand the deep buried needs. You thought me how to self-consciously analyse my issues and deal with them with respect to my feelings.

Thanks to you and your positive attitude I now know how to walk through life keeping the work-life balance and mind opened to any circumstances.

I wish you all the best whatever plans you have installed for yourself in the future and don't be a stranger if you ever challenge yourself to visit Poland

I was a part of a cohort that was an organizational initiative for the batch of 2022 and a colleague was kind enough to share the link to your Mindfulness sessions when I mentioned I try to practice meditation once in a while. And honestly, this was one of top takeaways from that group. I remember coming onto the call with a lot of excitement as I always loved talking to new groups and have new experiences yet I wasn't sure if I'll be able to regularly attend it or not because it used to clash with a lot of my meetings. I remember coming out of that call with so much knowledge and contentment. The session that day was about our prefrontal cortex followed by a guided meditation which I had never done before. I immediately went to my mom and shared how wonderful the session was and what all I learnt. I really needed those sessions because I was in a phase where I was so exhausted I had almost stopped seeking new areas of knowledge and this was a beautiful transition to get back into my learning mode. And from there I knew I am going to make it to each and every one of your sessions.

My experience of you has developed a lot throughout this time, from feeling a teacher-student dynamic between us and to now feeling that you one of my dearest friends with whom I would never want to let the contact fade away. So, please don't be alarmed if I randomly ping you sometime or reply to any status on your WhatsApp (Please do share your contact if you ever change it). I definitely always felt safe being in sessions with you and being vulnerable helped me in strengthening myself further. I would definitely hope we cross our paths someday and could go on a walk and discuss life. You are very kind, empathetic and have a warm demeanor. I am going to miss you a lot!

I am sure even after taking so much time, I'd feel I have missed out on mentioning something later but I want to let you know that I will always cherish the time I got to listen to you. You have taught me a lot.

I have known Siri when I wanted to join the Mindfulness community at work – I must say it was her warm nature, her knowledge in this space and her overall welcoming nature that convinced me to be a part of this group.

Since I have joined the group, Siri has always been available whenever, simply for a chat or for professional knowledge. Through interaction with Siri, one can know that she is thorough in her knowledge and is a person who is well read and takes genuine interest in you and listen to your needs.

She will always suggest a good book to read or a place that you can retreat to if one is looking for a place to go!

I wish her all the very best and I will miss her dearly !

Wanted to thank you for your post reminding to block one hour to do that important email/ follow up task/ I did that today and I completed something I have been sitting on for 3 weeks.

I usually just pick the most important/urgent task and then by the time it's done- I do not want to do any more- but by nature of my work, I get important ad hoc tasks on a daily basis. So if I keep doing just that, I am stuck with all the ones I should be doing.