Why Radhika Khandelwal Created RNK Coaching for Women at the Summit

Please share a brief introduction and your business:

When the stakes are highest - when a promotion demands a new level of leadership, when transformation success defines your legacy, when the pressure threatens to compromise what matters most - exceptional leaders seek exceptional guidance.

I’m Radhika Khandelwal, founder and CEO of RNK Coaching, I am an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited Executive Coach and Strategic Leadership Advisor. I partner with women navigating complex identities and high-stakes leadership to claim their rightful piece of the PIE™ - Power, Influence, Expansion.

I have over 20 years of operational executive experience leading enterprise-scale transformation programs across financial services, technology, and consulting sectors. I partner with chief executives, board members, and senior leadership teams navigating complex organizational change, strategic pivots, and leadership transitions that define organizational legacy and business outcomes.

As Founder of RNK Coaching, I deliver executive coaching engagements focused on strategic clarity, executive presence development, stakeholder influence, political navigation, and sustained high performance under pressure. My coaching methodology integrates organizational psychology, neuroscience of change, emotional intelligence development, and evidence-based leadership frameworks to enable measurable transformation in executive effectiveness, decision-making quality, and organizational impact.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

No - even though I come from a long line of entrepreneurs on both sides of my family, I never saw it as a path that was possible for me. Not until last year.

Do you have a co-founder?

No — I’m a solopreneur. But Entreprenista genuinely makes me feel like I’m building alongside a community rather than building alone. As for partnership - become a go-giver first and you will automatically gather the momentum to become a go-getter.

Are you a mamaprenista?

Yes — I’m a mom to a nine-year-old. No two days ever look the same, and that’s okay. Some days the family comes first, other days the business does. And perhaps most importantly: ask for help, accept help, and receive it with gratitude.

Take us back to when you launched? What was your marketing strategy?

I deeply believe in the power of networks and relationships. So while 2025 has been a intentional “soft launch” year for me, I’ve been taking steady, deliberate steps to get the word out - relying primarily on word of mouth and referrals. The pace has been slower than I originally imagined for a number of reasons, but I’m genuinely energized by communities like Entreprenista. Communities like this can be the difference between a business that merely survives and one that truly thrives.

What accomplishments are you the most proud of to date in your business?

The simple act of becoming a corporate escapee - without a fully formed business waiting on the other side - required immense courage. And I’m deeply proud of myself for taking that leap.

What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

I wish I had found Entreprenista much earlier. The community is truly a game-changer.

When hiring, what is your go-to interview question?

“If your boss had to describe you in one word, what would it be?”

Hire for attitude first, aptitude second.

What did you go before starting your own business?

Before establishing my executive coaching practice, I served as Divisional Chief Operating Officer at Vanguard, where I led strategic planning, portfolio oversight, and shared services delivery for 1,000+ employees across six global departments. In this enterprise leadership role, I had oversight of a $300M technology portfolio, established governance frameworks for complex program management, drove workforce transformation initiatives including strategic hiring of 200+ professionals, optimized location strategy and talent retention programs, and delivered $25M in operational savings through digital product management, total cost of ownership discipline, and fiscal governance initiatives.

During my tenure at Deloitte spanning multiple progressive leadership roles, I provided executive advisory services and transformation consulting to Fortune 500 clients. As Chief of Staff for a $2B business unit, I led strategy development, portfolio management, client account planning, and go-to-market execution across 20 industry verticals. I established and led program management offices for enterprise-wide change initiatives affecting 10,000+ professionals, designed and operationalized change management frameworks and communication strategies, and coached senior partners and client C-suite executives through regulatory transformation, operational restructuring, and cultural change programs.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

As I approached a milestone birthday, something deep inside me grew louder - a knowing that the work I had been doing could no longer hold the work I was truly here to do. I’ve always been guided by truth, growth, and expansion. Those aren’t values for me; they’re oxygen. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to helping people see the possibility inside themselves long before they can.

When I paused long enough to look back on my journey, the pattern was undeniable: the moments that shaped me - and the moments where I made the greatest impact - were always rooted in transformation. Not performance. Not polish. Not the expected. Actual, life-changing transformation.

And somewhere along the way, I realized the truth I had been dancing around: I was never meant to fit inside a system. I was meant to build something that fused emotional wisdom, identity work, and leadership into a form that didn’t exist yet. I’ve always been the renegade, the rebel, the one who pushed edges and refused to settle. Professionally, that instinct shaped my path. Personally, it was calling me to rise.

So starting my own business wasn’t a leap - it was a homecoming. A return to the purpose I had outgrown every role to reach. I believe with my whole heart that my calling is to teach, guide, and elevate people into the next, truest version of themselves. Entrepreneurship simply gave me the freedom to do that with devotion, integrity, and the kind of impact my soul has been asking me to make.

Do you have any recent wins?

Earning my International Coaching Federation (ICF) accreditation is a significant milestone - one that affirms I meet the highest standards of professional training, competency, and ethics. Having that credential not only strengthens my foundation as a coach, but also opens new doors as I expand my business from purely B2C into B2B engagements.

I also developed my proprietary CLIMB™ framework, which anchors my entire coaching methodology. This evidence-based framework has been shaped and refined through thousands of hours coaching C-suite executives, board members, and senior leaders navigating critical transitions, complex organizational transformations, and high-stakes leadership challenges.

What's one app on your phone that you cannot live without?

My calendar app — cliché, but true. It’s the command center for my life: personal, professional, family, husband, and daughter’s schedules all integrated in one place.

Who are your customers?

I partner with women navigating complex identities and high-stakes leadership to claim their rightful piece of the PIE™ - Power, Influence, Expansion. They tend to be leaders who feel stuck at the summit. They’ve mastered performance — now they seek meaning, visibility, and influence. They’ve achieved external success — but crave inner alignment, courage, and clarity for their next chapter. They tend to be:

• Senior executives, board-level leaders, and senior leadership teams especially women navigating high-stakes transformation or facing big transitions.

• Women entrepreneurs and innovators who feel “called” to something more meaningful and accelerate their risk-taking.

• Women in powerful roles who are crossing an internal threshold — from who they have been to who they are becoming.

What's your top productivity tip?

Dots and dashes. Balance the tactical (dots) with the strategic (dashes). And schedule everything. If it’s on the calendar, it has a fighting chance of moving from the “to-do” list to the “celebrate” list.

What's your favorite business tool?

Calendly. It eliminates the back-and-forth of scheduling and lets me color-code meetings while adding buffer time for sessions that demand high cognitive or emotional energy.

What's your approach to work-life balance?

One day at a time—and with the grace to know that dropping a few balls is okay. Not all are made of glass; the plastic ones bounce back.

How do you avoid burn-out?

I’m unapologetic about taking time to refill my own bucket. My consulting years taught me that you cannot pour from an empty cup. I work hard—but I make sure I play even harder.

What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

You are enough. Take it one day at a time, one step at a time — momentum builds from there.

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