Life rarely moves in a straight line. Careers change. Businesses go through uncertain phases.
Responsibilities pile up. And sometimes, even when everything looks fine from the outside, you
know something needs to shift.
For Preeti Saigal, these aren’t just subjects she works with. She has experienced them from
different sides. Today, she is a life coach and executive coach in Delhi, working with
professionals, leaders and entrepreneurs — and increasingly with women in midlife — on career
transitions, difficult decisions and periods of uncertainty. Her coaching draws on more than 20
years as a corporate professional, team leader and business owner.
Understanding different worlds
Preeti began her career in corporate and research environments, working across industries with
international clients and teams. It gave her a close view of corporate life: the ambition and
growth, but also the performance pressure, difficult stakeholders and the constant effort to
balance professional expectations with everything happening outside work.
She later founded Caleidoscope Knowledge Solutions, an independent research and
insights business supporting consulting and investment teams globally. Entrepreneurship
taught her something different.
“Building something of your own can be exciting, but it can also be lonely,” she says. “There are
decisions that ultimately sit with you. You may have people around you and still feel alone in
figuring out what to do next.”
Her experience as a woman adds another layer. Women often move through several roles at
once: professional, partner, daughter, mother, caregiver, leader. A decision that looks like it’s
about work may also involve finances, family, confidence or changing expectations from life. For
Preeti, that wider context matters.
Why coaching became the natural next step
Over the years, Preeti grew more interested in the human questions behind professional
decisions. Why does someone highly capable still feel stuck? Why do we know what we should
do and struggle to act? How do we define success when our priorities change? Those questions led her to coaching and well-being. She is a Certified Happiness Coach
from the Berkeley Well-Being Institute, has studied the Science of Happiness
through UC Berkeley, and has trained in Cognitive Hypnotic Coaching.
She works with clients in person and online, combining conversation with structured
frameworks, reflective exercises and practical tools.
She doesn’t believe a coach’s job is to hand out answers.
“Sometimes the most useful thing is not immediately finding an answer. It is asking a better
question.”
What it looks like in practice
Take a client, whom we’ll call Meera. In her mid-forties and a senior manager at a large firm, she
was offered a bigger leadership role. On paper, it was exactly what she’d worked for. But she
kept putting off her answer. Her children were growing up, her parents needed more of her time,
and she was quietly wondering whether she still wanted the life she’d built.
She came to Preeti expecting help with a career decision. Over a few sessions, it became clear
that the question wasn’t really, “Should I take the role?” It was, “What do I want the next ten
years to feel like?”
Once she could answer that, the decision stopped feeling like a threat. She took the role, but on
her own terms, having renegotiated parts of it and rebuilt her routines around what mattered
most to her.
“The aim is not for someone to leave saying, ‘Preeti told me what to do.’ I would much rather
they leave saying, ‘I understand what I want to do.'”
Pause. Reflect. Shift.
That belief sits behind the philosophy of her practice: Pause. Reflect. Shift.
People used to being productive often respond to difficulty by pushing harder. Preeti believes
there are moments when the better response is to pause.
Not to stop, but to create enough distance to understand what is really happening, what matters
now and what needs to change.
Coaching and mentoring
Preeti has also recently joined Womennovator – Global Incubator for Women as a
mentor, supporting women entrepreneurs, students and emerging leaders. Mentoring lets her share experience when it’s useful. Coaching asks for something different:
creating the space for someone to find their own answer.
That may be what she brings together best after two decades across corporate life, leadership,
entrepreneurship and coaching: the ability to sit with complexity, see a situation from different
angles and help create clarity.
Sometimes, meaningful change begins there.
About Preeti Saigal
Preeti Saigal is a Life Coach, Strategic Coach and Mentor based in New Delhi. She works
with professionals, leaders and entrepreneurs navigating growth, change and important
decisions.
Website: www.preetisaigal.com
Email: preeti@preetisaigal.com
Instagram: instagram.com/pause2shift
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/preetisaigal
