Leaping into Alignment - Find your flow with Nittasha

Leaping into Entrepreneurship: The Inspiring Journey of Nittasha Naidu

In this inaugural guest episode of 'Leap to Empower,' host Shaila Lalani sits down with entrepreneur Nittasha Naidu. Nittasha, the founder of Elsun Med Staff and HR Consulting, shares her inspiring journey from corporate America to starting her own business. Emphasizing self-actualization, internal dialogue, and overcoming fear. She discusses how she stayed grounded through exercises such as meditation and connecting with nature. 

Nittasha also highlights the importance of financial planning, having a strong support system, and knowing one's worth in business. Her story aims to empower listeners to take their own leaps into the unknown, reminding them of the vital role of self-alignment, resilience, and continuous personal growth.

01:10 Meet Nittasha Naidu: Entrepreneurial Journey Begins

01:49 The Influence of Family and Education

02:29 Corporate America to Entrepreneurship

02:58 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Self-Actualization

05:33 Facing Fear and Embracing Growth

07:55 Staying Grounded and Connected

10:16 Financial Considerations and Support Systems

14:40 Finding Joy and Commitment

15:09 Knowing Your Worth as a Woman Entrepreneur

16:21 Changing Strategies and Valuing Yourself

18:30 Relationship with Money

19:53 Legacy and Empowerment for the Next Generation

22:07 Advice for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs

23:53 Overcoming Life's Challenges

25:34 Fun Segment: Soul Sparks

Thanks for tuning into Leap 2 Empower for real stories of real people who dared to leap.

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If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs it. And remember your leap doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be yours.

Transcript

Shaila 0:01

Hello Leapers and welcome to the first guest episode of Leap to Empower. I'm Shaila Lalani, and this podcast is to honor the real life stories of people who dare to leap into the unknown. And today, I couldn't think of a more powerful way to begin this journey than with somebody who embodies all of that and more, my dear friend, Nittasha Naidu. Nittasha is a bold entrepreneur, a spiritually aligned powerhouse, a loving wife, and a mom of two, and someone who truly leads from the inside out. She's the founder of Elsun Med Staff and HR consulting. A powerhouse agency providing healthcare staffing, and HR solutions across the country. From hospitals to clinics, she's helping organizations find the right people and build stronger and more sustainable care. In this episode, I'm excited to dive into her story of leaping into entrepreneurship and her worth and staying grounded in faith and family. So welcome, Nittasha. I'm truly honored to have you here. Thank you for being the first to leap with me into this space. Let's start with your story.

Nittasha 1:12

Thank you for having me, Shaila. I'm so honored to be here, and most of all, I am so happy to be your first guest. So let's do this. Yeah, so about my story, right? So where to begin? So I started my business, but it didn't just happen overnight and it would be, it would make a wonderful story if I just told you that I woke up one day and said I wanted to have a business, but that's just not the person I am. Mm-hmm. It's a buildup process for me. That's how I operate and function in my life. And so I was very happy working my corporate America job. But I knew that there was a little spark inside me that always told me that I was meant to be an entrepreneur, and that's because I come from an entrepreneurial family. I have been working since the age of 10 at my parents' business, and I always knew somewhere deep down in my heart that I would one day own and operate my own business. However, being that I'm from an immigrant family, my parents wanted me to, of course go get my education. And then once I got my education, I thought to myself, okay, well I know I wanna have a business because I've already done that. but how can I be so sure if I haven't tried the other way, which is working in corporate America? Mm-hmm. So I went down that path and every single job I ever had, I would naturally be a leader in that role. So eventually one day I just sat down with myself and I like to do this. I really do like to sit down and have an internal dialogue with myself very often about what I'm doing, where do I see myself, are my needs being met? Is my potential being maximized? One thing we learned in grad school was Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Yes. I don't know if you're familiar with that, right? Yes. Yes. So basically, Maslow says that. Th that's the psyche of the human behavior. Once all these needs are met, that's those needs drive the human behavior. That's right. And at the top of that is self-actualization, right? So once you meet your psychological safety, all your basic needs, your self-esteem, love, and belonging. All of those needs, then you get to self-actualization and that is where you end up and that's the highest need. Mm-hmm. Well, a couple years later, Maslow added another need on top of that, which is called Meta Motivation. Really? And we learned about this in grad school. And I literally evaluate my life every five years based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Wow. That's amazing. So I'm like, okay, my psychological needs met. Yeah, I'm good. I have food, air, water, everything is good there. Are my safety needs met? Is my family good? My home good, my properties, everything's good. love and belonging, you know, that's your family, friends. Mm-hmm. Okay, so are all those needs met? Then you move on to the next need, which is esteem your self-esteem, your confidence. Are you respecting others? Are others respecting you? And then you get to self-actualization, which is, are you accepting of things around you? Are you spontaneous? Are you, are your creative needs being met? Right? Mm-hmm. I was, by the grace of God, everything was good. So where I was currently at my job, I was good. But something inside me was saying I wasn't reaching my maximum potential. And that's where meta motivation comes in. So meta motivation is when you have met all your needs. And now you're at self-actualization, and now you move into a personal growth realm. Wow. And so I thought to myself, okay, I am doing great here, but I do aspire to have my own business. And that has always been inside me. And that's pretty much when I decided to reignite that flame, put a whole bunch of gas on it, and turn it into a whole big forest fire. And that's where we are.

Shaila 5:00

So it looks like you've definitely taken many leaps here. If you connect the dots, looking back at your life, you went to school, then you're like, let me try the corporate America way. Mm-hmm. Because that seemed right at that moment. Right. And then after you did that, you were like, you know what? This is not it. And then you were like, I'm gonna take a bigger leap mm-hmm. And start my own business. Obviously everything helped from your background and your past. When I think about it, I have always looked at you as a bold personality, like somebody who's out there and when she wants something, she gets it. So how does fear play a part in this? Fear is such a real part of growth. How did you move through all that fear? And it sounds great when you look back, but in the moment, how did it feel?

Nittasha 5:45

I personally, I don't operate from a place of fear. I really don't. For me, I work slow and steady, so I'm one of those people that processes what I'm going through in the moment. So even when I got to that point where I was like, okay, I want to have my own business, I sat down to myself and I ask myself, okay, if you want your own business, what does your life look like five years from now? What does your lifestyle look like five years from now? Are you gonna be happy doing what you're currently doing? Or do you want to go do something that you feel where you can maximize your potential? Either way was fine. So I'm not here to tell you to go ahead and start a business and make that leap, right? Because your next goal might be to move into a director level role or a VP or whatever it may be. But you have to sit there and ask yourself, am I in alignment with my future self, not your current self, because your current self, you already did that five years ago. If you are a person who sits down and has internal dialogue with yourself. Now, if you're just following the status quo and just moving with the emotions of life, then I highly encourage you to sit down and have these conversations with yourself because you'll be surprised. A lot of people I meet don't even know who they are, and they don't even know what they like. They just are so busy living that hamster wheel life. Yeah. It's daunting for people. It's fearful for people who are not connected and aligned with themselves. I don't operate from a place of fear. I operate from a place of, this is where I currently am. I already did the work five years ago to get here. Where do I need to go five years from now? And I know it's very cliche because people say, oh, you know that question. Where do you see yourself five years from now in an interview? It's such a cliche question. But to me it's not because it, it provokes you to sit down and think, where do I see myself five years from now and what do I want for my future self and how does that look for my future self and my family? And that's the direction I go in. Yes. I learned a lot of lessons through that process. When I decide to move towards that. But that's the whole exciting part of the journey. That's a part of your evolution that's amazing is, is to learn and grow.

Shaila 7:52

So you talked about, how you sit with yourself. And I've realized that as an entrepreneur, that's very important to ground yourself. So what do you do? What keeps you grounded? To move to that next level.

Nittasha 8:04

Yeah. No, that's great. Again, moving into alignment, so when I say sit with myself, I'm not necessarily meaning like I actually sit with myself, but I'm saying is, is that I take time to connect with myself. That's what I mean by I sit with myself, right? So that I can connect with myself, I can align, realign, pivot, figure out my next steps. That's what I do for my growth now, in terms of to get me grounded. I mean, there are so many things that anybody can do, anything that they want. For me, it could be reading a really good book. Sometimes I just shut down. I shut everything off. I go to Barnes and Noble, I pick up a random book. I do tend to go more towards a self-help business section. Mm-hmm. Not so much in, in the fiction, but I'll just pick something up and I'm like, let me see what I'm meant to learn from this. Today? Yes. Yes. Like I literally just point to a book and pick it up and I'll just open it to a certain page and I'll go at it. And I love it. I actually really enjoy people watching too. It is just a different outlook on how people move and operate. I meditate a lot. Okay. A lot. And I do that mostly by way of my walks in the mornings. Mm-hmm. I connect with nature. I love to fuel the sunlight on my skin. I love to, again, that all goes back to keeping me connected and centered. Mm-hmm. I love to cook. I shut down when I cook. I spend time with my family. There's so many different ways of keeping yourself grounded. Yes. But the key is to know when you need that, because people don't recognize that they do need to pause to stay grounded. And then that's when anxiety kicks in. Yes. And then that's when stress happens. And then stress manifests, manifests its way into your body by way of other things. So you have to, again, once you are connected and aligned with yourself, you'll tell yourself, oh, it, it's getting a little too chaotic for me. Yeah. I need to figure out I need to pause. Maybe go for a walk, maybe meditate. Go read a book. Give my kids a hug. Cook.

Shaila 9:57

It seems like you are so grounded in the sense where you don't let distractions come in the way, you are human. And there are some, distractions. Mm-hmm. But you get through it and you push through it and you still stay aligned and centered. Right. With your business, how did financial or empowerment take a place here?

Nittasha 10:16

Yeah. No, that's a great question. That is probably one of the biggest reasons why people sometimes don't make the leap because of finances. You have a family, I. You have children, you're very comfortable with your paycheck. You don't know where your next paycheck is coming from, when you have a business. So I know that that is something that's very daunting. But for me, it also came from a place of, I had a lot of support when I started this journey. And when you decide to start a journey, I think it's really, really important to rally in the troops. So find your people. You know who your people already are. Yeah. And it's so important to get their buy-in. And if they trust you and they have confidence in you, they are gonna understand that you can do this and this is what's gonna help you reach your maximum potential. So I'm gonna start off with, I know we're gonna talk about finances, but let me just tell you my support system are my parents and my husband. Mm-hmm. And I wanted to make sure that everybody understood what I wanted to do and which way I was going. To make sure that everybody was okay with it. My parents don't have a say in my finances, but I did need my parents for the support because my mom was gonna have to watch my kids while I was out there trying to get business. My husband, of course, he's amazing. He helped me, helps me with everything. If I had a busy day, I didn't have to worry about laundry, dishes, kids money. Yes. He was handling that all for me. Yes. So when I decided to go into this journey, I was intentional. I did have a business plan, which I think is very important. I decided to look into how much it would cost to create this business. Could we afford this? Am I gonna be able to make that money in the future? Maybe not. Am I willing to show up every day? Is what it was. Yeah. So I know that when I started to look into the, staffing agency aspect. I saw a staffing agency on sale for $300,000. And I called that staffing agency and I was like, Hey, you know, I'm really interested in the staffing agency. Tell me what do what am I gonna get for this $300,000? And they're like, uh, no. Nothing, just our name. Mm-hmm. And I was like, not an office. And they're like, no. I'm like, not a database, no. Not even a printer. No nothing. Not nothing. Yes. Not even a piece of paper. So I said, well, so what am I paying $300,000 for? And they were like, oh, well we, we will give you our name and we'll give you our model. I'm like, are you gonna train me on your model? Yes. They said no. So I remember I hung up the phone. I called my husband and I was like, guess what? And he was like, what? And I was like, I'm with $300,000. You gone. I'm starting my own staffing agency. Yes. So, again, support is very important. Getting buy-in from your group, the people that really support you. And then of course when the tough conversations about finances did happen between me and my husband, but I will be happy to share with you that he gave me so much support. And I know not everybody gets this, so I didn't have to go this route. But if you do need to go to a route to get a loan or whatever, obviously you would know how much capital you need to start your business. Yes. I didn't have to do that because we decided to fund the business fully in the beginning. Yes. I just didn't wanna take on any loans. And we are still till date loan free.

Shaila 13:34

Yes. Yeah. Oh, wow. That's, great. And it seems like you took the risk, you had the family support. Did you ever think about the other side? What if? Did that ever cross your mind?

Nittasha 13:47

You know what, it really didn't. Wow. It really didn't. I just thought to myself, look, we, we know that, at least to me, I feel that the biggest and successful businesses, sometimes they didn't just take off because they were amazing ideas. They took off because that person decided to show up every day and they were committed. You are right. And I was committed. So I didn't think, what if I didn't do good? I just thought, okay, well let's start and pivot along the way. Amazing. And I had a plan and I would revisit my plan every three months in the beginning and I'd be like, okay, lessons learned, what worked, what didn't? Let's pivot this way. Let's move. To the next step, right? So no, I didn't think what if, but I will tell you, it's so funny because I do sometimes things to myself. I loved corporate America so much and I was excelling in it But this is something that I enjoy a whole lot more. Like I said, it helps me meet my potential. I get to meet lots of different people. So it, it's one where I still get my kick and I'm still engaged and I show up every day. Yes. The owner of KFC started his business at 65. He was going home to home giving chicken to people for samples. But he showed up every day. So for me it was just about just be committed to show up.

Shaila 15:01

Amazing. You continue to inspire me always. So speaking of financial empowerment and how did you know your worth?

Nittasha 15:09

Yeah. I guess what you're asking me is how did I ever have any issues with asking for my worth being a woman entrepreneur? Yes. Right? Yes. And let me tell you it, that's a really wonderful question. Whenever you start your business in the beginning, you are hungry and so you're like, okay, you can negotiate a lot. And you're like, okay, I'm trying to build the business right now. I'm trying to network though I was always, and I am always very confident in my knowledge, skills, education, experience. I always make sure that all my clients understand the value that they're getting out of working for me. But before I used that strategy, I did go through that in the beginning where people would be like, oh, let's negotiate her down a lot. Let's reduce it, reduce it, reduce it. You're a new business. Not that anybody told me outwardly that I was a woman, but staffing is a man's world. The staffing agency realm is very male centric, very male dominated, and every single client of mine is mostly male. Right. So when I walk in through the door, they're probably like, oh yeah, she's gonna negotiate. And I did in the beginning. I did negotiate and I did reduce my rates. However, I decided to change my strategy because I know that I am smart, knowledgeable, insightful. I got my master's in healthcare, human resources. All of my experience for 15 years has been there, skills, everything. And I finally decided that. I wasn't going to negotiate anymore. Because even without negotiating, my prices are excellent. You try to find those prices somewhere else, you won't get them. But people just like to negotiate you down. And so I changed my strategy. I make sure that my clients understand the value that they get out of working with someone like me. And if they still don't understand, I understand that it's okay. It's probably best that we don't work together. Because we are, they're probably never going to understand my value and appreciate it. Do you ever see yourself walking into Chanel or Ferrari and negotiating with them? Right, right, right. So you can't want a Honda price when you want a Ferrari. When you go into the Ferrari showroom. True. That. And so again, and, but the only people that will understand a Ferrari's value are the people that get it. That understand its value. That they'll, they're gonna be the ones to pay it. So I only want the people who understand my value and what I bring to the table. To work with because then we know it's gonna be a collaborative relationship and they'll understand my value and what I can do for their business. And then we have a long lasting relationship and those are the people that then refer me to their own other networks. So I get to work with those kind of people that understand. So no, I don't have any, any issues asking for my value. I explain my value. My value proposition, and then if they choose to take it, great. It's a Ferrari, and if they don't then it's okay.

Shaila 17:58

And Ferrari's not looking for quantity, they're also looking for quality, correct. Right. Correct. So it's all about the quality that you provide to your clients. Mm-hmm. And it goes back to showing how when you first started, you kept on saying. Pivot, pivot. Pivot. Right. And you kept doing that until you got what you thought you were worth. Yeah. And that's beautiful how it all just connected the dots. Right. Right. Yeah. I have one question for you. Yeah. So, if money was to walk into the door today. What kind of relationship would you have or do you think you have with money?

Nittasha 18:31

Yeah, that's a great question. So, here's my philosophy on money. Okay. When I started my business, I wasn't thinking about the money. Yes, everybody likes money. I wanted to make that money, but to me it was more about. What does this, this business mean for me? Right? Mm-hmm. Which was freedom. Freedom to be myself and and move in that direction. And I feel like if I'm operating from an authentic place in my life. I'm gonna make the money. And I feel that there's a lot of money out there in the universe. It's just waiting for me to grab it. Yes. I'm showing up every day. And if I show up every day, I'm getting money every day. So to me, my relationship with money isn't, oh, I'm gonna win the lot and it's gonna show up. And now what do I do? I'm gonna take a bath in the bathtub with all that money. No. It's more about, I show up every day. Every day that I decide to show up and work hard. I'm making that money. And so that's my relationship with money. And to some people, maybe money is survival for them. Yes. I need to make that next rent payment. Yes. To some people who have a little bit of money. Money could mean a vacation. To some people who have a little bit more money. It could mean investments or more investments. Yes, yes. But people who I think have my kind of mindset by way of showing up money means freedom. Oh. That's my relationship to money.

Shaila 19:46

I couldn't agree more. And you spoke about your, your husband and your support system so well, and I know you're a mom of two. What kind of legacy do you wanna leave for your kids? Yeah. What are the few things that you know that you're gonna leave these for your two daughters?

Nittasha 20:02

Yeah, for sure. Well, I want my daughters to, to see their mom and think nothing is impossible. If we wanna do something, it's gonna get done. So long as we are, we know who we are, we are strong and we're committed. I want my daughters to know that they have it in them to leave their own legacy. Just whatever they want to do, they can do. There is no limit for them. No, and that's where I just tell my kids all the time, even now, I tell 'em, you can be whatever you wanna be. And you know what? If you feel that you don't even know how to get started. Come talk to mommy and Daddy. We'll help you get there. So for me, I want my kids to understand their potential. It's very important for me that my kids understand their essence. And their potential in themselves. And then they can come up with whatever it is that they want to do next and will support them. Just like how my parents supporting me, no one told me to do or not do something. My parents left that autonomy to me. To make decisions on my life. Yes. They trusted themselves as parents that they did the best in giving us guidance and an education, a good moral and ethic platform. And then they said, fly. Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, we'll help you. We'll help you fly as high as you can. And that's what my husband did for me too. Yes. And so that's what I would like to do for my kids is say, as long as you are connected to yourself and you know who you are and what you want to do. We got this.

Shaila 21:29

And empowerment comes from your family, like your parents, it's what you role model throughout the way and pass through your generation. Absolutely. So it seems like empowerment was just not starting from you. It had already started from your families. Yeah. Absolutely. And. And maybe perhaps you were attracted to your husband because you saw how empowered he was and how much he was empowering you, right? Yeah, for sure. And so it's like an empowerment family right here who's just gonna take things to the next level. Absolutely. That's beautiful. And Nittasha, I love it. I love hearing your story. Now. If you were to advise any woman out there who is at the edge of her leap, or is wanting to take that next step and is just not sure, because there's fear, there's risk, what advice would you give that person, yeah. To move forward? To nudge them?

Nittasha 22:16

Yeah. No, well, I would tell every woman out there to really become a strong individual on her own first. So, like I said, be in alignment with who you are. But you have to dig deep down into yourself to see what makes you happy, and if it is something that you really feel like you're passionate about. Make the choice. Either you make the choice to stay where you currently are, or you make the choice to do something where you feel like, okay, I'm going to reach my full potential. But if you think the price of winning is too much, then wait till you get the bill for regret. Don't ever regret that I didn't do it. If you have that drive. Work towards it. I know finances are sometimes what comes into play, but financial literacy is also very important. Yes. And that is something that I think that, a lot of times if a woman is like, I don't even know where to get started with the finances, then start getting literate on it. Understand what a budget means. Understand what it means to take payroll even for yourself when you're starting your business. Yes. 'cause you don't always get to do that in the beginning. Yeah. Work with a financial advisor. See how much you can and cannot do. So there are lots of different steps that you can take into really taking ownership of your finances, but that comes with getting literate on your finances.

Shaila 23:37

I couldn't agree more. That totally makes sense is to empower yourself is to educate yourself right. In whatever it is that you are trying to achieve. Yeah. And that's beautiful. You keep saying that, you had it in you, you knew exactly what you wanted, you were aligned and you did a assessment every time. Was there ever a time where you were so deeply down? There are times where life just brings you the ups and then the downs. How do you get yourself up?

Nittasha 24:07

Yeah. No, of course. I am human. I do feel like I am mentally very strong, and I think that throughout the years I've actually almost trained myself to where if I have a negative thought lurking, I literally, I, what's the word I'm looking for? I block it. I literally block it with a good thought. Amazing. So I'll be like, but this is through years of conditioning and training. I am a human and I have been through the lows as well. But you know what I feel that attitude is everything. And attitude impacts your perception. So what are you gonna do? I mean, I can sit and cry in a corner about a lot of bad things. That have happened, or I can say, Hey, I am the owner of my life. And I have this whole universe. I'm here. I'm sitting here. Either I can sit in a corner and cry, or I can go and make something out of this. Whenever I have been down in life, I have always looked at, nothing is a wash. So I've always looked at it as an opportunity to come back better from it. So that's really my thought process on it. Is that okay, yeah, I'm down about this, but. Let's not do this again and let's do this better. And that's it. And we move forward.

Shaila 25:10

I hope one day you end up teaching like a business course in psychology or how to be an entrepreneur or a bold entrepreneur is what I look at you as. So thank you. I hope one day you do that. So many other entrepreneurs to be can learn from you. Thank you. And it's definitely a delight, always talking to you. Let's get into something more fun. I call this segment soul sparks. It's just quick words that come to your heart when I ask you these questions. So empowerment in one word. Freedom. A mantra that grounds you. Attitude is everything. Wow. A book person or moment that changed your life. There isn't something that I can actually pinpoint to on that, but I guess you can say, Deepak Book Chopra actually had a big part in it. In me connecting with myself and reading his books and listening to his podcast really helped me. Yeah. Along the way. He's, he's amazing. One thing you'd tell your younger self before you took the leap. Oh, just do it. Just wait. Just you, you are going to fly. Just jump. Just take the leap. Okay. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what truth stands in front of you? She thought she could, and so she did. Oh, wow. Okay. Well, one thought that you wanna leave your listeners with. Okay. It's not just the one word, okay? So I'm gonna connect this for you. Remember I told you when in life when the highs are really high and the lows are really low. And then you asked me that question about what do I do in that moment? So what I will say is that. Process everything that you're going through. Okay. And for that, I will say the oak fought with the wind and it broke. The willow bent and it survived. Very deep. I hope people get that if they don't, what I'm saying is. Create a plan, work towards it, pivot along the way. You got this. Thank you, Nittasha. Thank you so much for sharing this with us today. It was such a pleasure having you. And to our listeners, if Nittasha's story reminded you of your strength, your own voice, or the leap you've been waiting for, trust that it's not by accident. You already, you're worthy and you are not alone. This is just the beginning of leap to empower, and I'm so grateful you're joining us on this journey. Until next time, keep leaping, keep believing, in your magic.