My Story
The Childhood Dream
In my childhood I loved to see planes flying and it grew on me as I grew.
In a few years this liking transformed into my passion and dream.
I decided to be an Air Force pilot.
Since there was no google at that time, I tried very hard to learn as much from anybody I met.
Being in a small city like Bareilly, it was all the more difficult.
But, I gathered all information on the exam, interview, preparation, attitude, personality required, almost everything.
And I worked extremely hard for it!
When I cleared the written exam I was delighted, and when I cleared the 5-day SSB interview, I was on cloud nine.
My joy had no boundaries. I could see my dream come true very soon.
As I headed towards the final step, the medical examination, I started visualizing my entire life as an Air Force pilot, flying supersonic planes.
It was the final day of our medical examination, and we were to get our results.
My heart was throbbing in ecstasy as I awaited my name to be announced in the final selection list.
But what I heard instead was heart-breaking.
I had failed in the medical examination because of a minor scar on my lungs.
The Broken Dream
Deeply saddened and heartbroken I couldn’t think of anything.
My mind went absolutely blank as I struggled to find any words. With a heavy heart I returned home.
But soon, I regained my hope and set out once again to understand what can be done in this scenario.
I appealed in the Armed forces board, got the highest possible certificates from private hospitals like AIIMS and others.
But the Armed Forces didn’t consider any of these and passed their order of ‘Permanent Rejection’ that meant I could never get into Armed Forces.
My dream was shattered! And I felt devasted!
Not just for a day or a week, I was devastated for months!! Trying to figure out what in world to do!
My grandfather, a retired Commissioner who is also my ideal, often used to tell me – ‘You are so talented, if you move to Delhi you will achieve immense success in life.’
I always thought he was saying this to cheer me up.
A new Purpose
After several days I received a call.
On that call, to my surprise, 2 students asked for my guidance in their journey to become air force pilots.
I thought WOW!
If I can’t be a pilot, maybe I can help them realize their dream instead.
I embraced the opportunity!
So, I helped them with whatever best I could for 20 days and guess what!
Both of them got selected in the Armed Forces.
That gave a new purpose to my life.
To be able to help others realize their dreams became my passion.
The Academy
In 1999 I started my training academy in Bareilly.
For more than five years I was engaged in guiding and mentoring students and professionals get into their dream careers and grow in them.
Hundreds of my students were employed in various organizations both government and private and leading a successful in life.
This provided me such a huge satisfaction that I could think of nothing else but guiding people throughout my life.
But times changed once again!
I had to leave my training academy and move to Delhi for some personal reasons.
The relearning journey.
I landed in Delhi on 29th March 2005 with my wife and two kids aged 1 & 3 and a teaching job in a school for Rs 12k per month.
But within a few months I realized that teaching will not suit me as I wanted to earn a lot of money and in 12k we can’t even survive in Delhi.
So I started looking for a high-paying job in corporate. But it didn’t happen for several months. And those were the toughest months of my life.
We regularly borrowed from friends and family and were getting into debt everyday.
I started losing sleep. And one day in the middle of the month I realized that I had zero money in my bank account to survive the remaining month.
My wife burst into tears and with a heavy heart she asked me will we ever be able to come out of this situation?
She pointed towards our sleeping children and said, Is this how we are going to raise our children?
In that moment, I was shaken. Something broke inside me. I could not give her any reply…
But I couldn’t sleep that whole night thinking what to do.
I could sense that there was something that I was not doing correctly because of which I was not getting the desired result. And by the next morning, I had taken a decision.
The next day, I set out to find a coach and a mentor for myself.
I sold some of my wife’s jewellery, found a mentor and started on the journey of learning and re-learning with him.
The Corporate Journey
Within 2 months of surrendering myself to my mentor with complete dedication and commitment I got into one of the leading companies of India with more than double the salary that I was getting.
And from there, I never looked back. I earned promotion after promotion and tremendous growth.
Within 12 years I rose to the position of Vice President and acting COO of a global company earning more than 5 lakhs+ per month and all benefits extra. And it was all due to my mentor and my continuous learning.
I achieved tremendous career success, huge financial benefits, great time for family and friends and a lot of satisfaction from the work I was doing.
And many-a-times I remembered my grandfather’s words and realized how correct he was!
Role of self-education
But the career growth, achievements and awards did not come on their own.
I worked extremely hard for it and also continuously upgraded my education and skills.
I completed a degree in education and an MBA in HR and a Business management course from XLRI, besides several skill-based courses that helped me keep pace with the current corporate world requirements.
During this time, I realized that there are millions who struggle to get into a good job and achieve significant growth.
And the reason was ignorance! They all wanted it but didn’t know how to achieve it.
I could achieve it as I got a mentor and developed the skills required.
But there are millions who don’t get either of the two.
Re-birth of an Entrepreneur
And then one day came another big realization!
If I can combine my earlier passion to help people get into their dream careers with my corporate experience, I will be able to help so many people just like me to achieve immense success in life.
And in 2018, I quit my high paying job and started on the journey of to make a bigger difference in other peoples’ lives.
And this understanding prompted me to start my own entity that helps professionals achieve their desired career growth.
My Personal side
I am a son, a husband, a father and the most blessed human being on earth.
A firm believer of ‘Create your own destiny’, and a lifelong learner as I feel we have only one life and so much to learn.
I’m also a sports geek and love to play basketball, in which I played the national tournament as captain, besides badminton, cricket and soccer.
My Mission
I’m on a mission to help 10,000 millennials achieve the career growth they always dream of.
To achieve this, I have created a community called ‘Star Performers Hub’.
The sole objective of this community is to guide people how to achieve the career growth they aspire for and convert them into ‘Star Performers’.
And I’m glad you are here.
I would love to help you achieve your career growth which will give you everything that you need-financial freedom, job-satisfaction and work-life balance.
You can be a part of my community by clicking on the link below OR learn more about how I can help you in your career growth.
I know you deserve and have the potential to a highly successful career, its only that you have to figure out the right approach.
Connect with me to help you in this.
Yours sincerely
JAI KATARIA