“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes, then learn how to do it later.” – Richard Branson
If the above quote blends perfectly with a personality, it’s Dr. Anu Binny! She began her journey in the structured world of engineering, an environment defined by facts, figures, and precision. Yet beneath the surface of technical rigour flowed something different, i.e., creativity, empathy, and an innate understanding of people. Today, these questions she asked of herself as an engineer have become a much bigger concern in her life: ‘What kind of life am I trying to live?’
Her journey from a technical professional to a global life coach wasn’t a sudden leap; it was a gradual, organic transformation shaped by curiosity, reflection, and purpose. Dr. Anu started to think that the same procedure that was being applied in solving complex engineering problems could also help people design purposeful lives. This realisation led her to become the first woman in India to earn global certification as a Designing Your Life Coach, a role she now embodies with grace, resilience, and transformative vision, a journey further recognised when she was honoured by Aman Gupta, CEO of boAt.
Listening, Space-Holding, and Vulnerable Strength
Dr. Anu redefines leadership, not as command or control, but as creating space for others to rise. The first important turning point in her life was not a success in a boardroom, but a failure in an engineering project. Rather than pushing further with conventional metrics, she stopped and brought her team members into a world of empathy and narration. This very simple collective inquiry not only changed the project but also the work culture around the organisation.
Another pivotal moment came not through words, but through silence. When a junior colleague on the verge of burnout turned to her, Dr. Anu chose not to give advice but to listen deeply. In that safe and empathetic space, her colleague uncovered her own clarity, designed her own solution, and reignited her passion. “That is my true gift,” Dr. Anu reflects, “not providing ready-made answers, but creating the space where people can discover their own brilliance.”
Most interesting of all was when Dr. Anu, achievement-oriented on the outside, was lost on the inside. It took immense courage to walk away from a life that looked perfect on paper but felt misaligned with her soul. She started over, not as a coach or leader, but as a novice and in doing so, she learned the foundations of true leadership, vulnerability, coherence and intention.
The Four Principles that Anchor Her Work
Every decision Dr. Anu makes is guided by four core principles:
- Empathy: She believes every individual carries a powerful, often unseen story shaped by context and circumstance. True impact begins with understanding those layers deeply.
- Purpose and Legacy: Legacy isn’t reserved for a select few. Dr. Anu affirms that each person has the capacity to leave a meaningful imprint on the world.
- Creativity over Conformity: She challenges the notion of borrowed definitions of success, urging people to prototype their own paths instead of following predetermined ones.
- Context Matters: Through her work as a global facilitator, she has learned that what thrives in one culture or situation can fail in another. Honouring context ensures solutions are not only effective but sustainable.
Together, these principles shape her conviction that life does not simply happen to us; it is something we can consciously design with intention and purpose.
A Pioneer Walking the Road Less Taken
Dr. Anu does not think that there is any competition in the classical sense. She is in uncharted territory instead: a wide-open field where she doesn’t just seek relevance, but forges her own path and creates new opportunities. Her output is held at the unique point of cross-disciplinary interests of design thinking, psychological studies, cross-cultural insights, and mindful living.
Her approach is multi-dimensional and intentional:
- Global Insight- She has an international facilitation that allows her to trace early cultural trends and human trends.
- Living the Work- She is ever redesigning her own life, walking her talk in her method.
- Deep Thinking in a Distracted World- She does not ascribe to ephemeral trends but does maintain her searching and thought-through work.
Dr. Anu advocates for progress and mastery rather than the illusion of perfection.
Work-life balance is a comforting illusion, an attempt to divide what was never meant to be separate. Life doesn’t unfold in categories; it flows as a whole, and to live fully is to dissolve the lines we’ve drawn between meaning and routine. When other people are obsessed with hacks, she has shown people how to become holistically coherent: to align their purpose, passion and practice.
Reimagining Feminine Influence
Among the most daring myths, which are disproven by Dr. Anu, is the concept of a work-life balance. Instead, she puts forward a completely radicalised lens: coherence. Rather than attempting to divide time equally between home and work, she instructs us not to segment each area into pieces and fit them together; we have to integrate all aspects of life and our central values and vision into it. According to her, life is not about balance, but seasons. Careers need to be intense in certain seasons, and while others need to be deep at a personal level. It is an art to learn your season and to determine it deliberately.
She offers three transformative insights for women in leadership:
Abandon the drive to please people- Work more to be in commitment to it and be clear about the effect.
“True leadership”, she says, “is not about control, it’s about influence through authentic connection.”
She believes that authenticity is power, and your weakness is not a weakness, but it is your competitive edge.
In a society that largely requires women to keep a certain aspect of themselves quiet to get ahead, Dr. Anu is a disruptor. She says, “Shape your power. Let the world not tell you what to do.”
Designing Through Adversity
In the case of Dr. Anu, the hindrances are not setbacks, but redesign opportunities. All setbacks of social distrust to career remodelling were a booster on the way to even stronger control.
The Pressure to Be Polished- Early on, she believed she had to be perfect, but gradually she realised it was okay to be flawed. What the world may perceive as imperfections can, in fact, become one’s greatest gift to others. For her, the true essence lies not in perfection, but in the process of becoming, in the journey rather than the destination.
The Lone Trailblazer Syndrome- This was the first time any Indian woman received the certification in this approach, and therefore had no local colleagues or role models. She was not moved to retreat, but rather used every meeting with her clients as a design sprint to create, breathe life into a new environment culturally adequate, and yet retain the global best practices.
Her mantra of advice, “Difficulties are not detours, they’re the raw ingredients of conscious creation. And they are used in her effort to shape more anchored, accommodating and moving offerings.”
Impact That Lives in Quiet Moments
Dr. Anu Binny has received numerous accolades, from being honoured with the Indian Legacy Award to being featured in The Medium and recognised as one of the Top International Life Coaches by Aman Gupta. Yet, the recognitions that mean the most to her don’t come from a stage or a spotlight.
They arrive in quiet, personal moments, a text from a client who finally launched her dream business, a heartfelt message from someone who found the courage to leave a soul-draining job, or the joy on the face of a retreat participant who rediscovered a sense of purpose.
For Dr. Anu, these intimate victories are the true markers of success, living testaments to the transformative power of her work.
Advice for the Visionaries
For all the future revolutionaries, especially her fellow sisters, Dr. Anu shared this nugget of wisdom from the core of her being.
- Intentional Design- Don’t Let Life Take You Where It Wants. Choose your dreams. Prototype your purpose.
- Choose your circle – Stay close to people who exchange ideas, not people. Align with those who fuel your growth.
- Choose growth over comfort- Never return to people or places that once made you shrink. The events of your life do not have to be a definition of tomorrow.
- Handle With Grace And Grit- When have you ever been this version of you? Allow for growth, and allow yourself to trip up, to fly.
She champions actionable inspiration. “Schedule weekly blocks of time to work on your dreams. Document moments of courage. Ask the people around you. What dream have you parked? Then, help them rekindle it, and do the same for yourself.”
Designing Immersive Futures
Today, the mission of Dr. Anu Binny is both global as well as personal because the goal of this academician is to help people get out of their toxic default settings and design futures that resonate with their truth.
The expansion of her work is taking place in various directions:
- Consultant and Trainer Centre Design: She advises on the development of transformational learning experiences focused on creating sustainable behavioural change.
Also being passionate about equipping leaders to think differently, she conducts workshops on Strategic Design Thinking for Leaders, enabling them to solve complex challenges in products, services, creativity, and innovation.
- Immersive Life Design Retreats – Her signature retreats are high-energy, collective life architecture retreats where participants walk away with workable blueprints of their futures.
Her ultimate aspiration is: A world where designing a conscious life is as natural and expected as planning a career. In a place where no one makes it, creating a life full of things that he or she does not desire. Where character is not countenanced in ranks, but in fact.
Living Authentically, Leading Consciously
Dr. Anu Binny is not the kind of coach, consultant, or facilitator. She is a cultural architect, reshaping how people live, lead, and love with purpose. Her effort is a wake-up call to every person who is living on borrowed time: Rise. Take back your agency. Say what is true.
With her presence, philosophy and programs, she is showing that finding yourself is no luxury, but rather an essence to you living in your purpose. In the process, she is also leaving behind something more than a professional legacy; she is leaving behind a movement.
As an Author and recognised expert in life design, she believes the journey to shaping the future begins with healing. Combining her professional expertise and lived experiences, she created The Life Design Journal: Healing Edition — Heal. Rebuild. Design a Life You Love.
For collaborations, workshops, or speaking engagements, book her calendar. She is available at www.anubinny.com
