In this episode, I sit down with Kanchana Gupta, from climbing the corporate ladder to founding a global mentorship platform for women, her journey is anything but linear. We get into how she found the courage to redefine success, why surviving breast cancer taught her the true meaning of resilience, and what it takes to break access barriers for women.

She breaks down why female leaders struggle with executive sponsorship and brand building and why asking for help is the ultimate career superpower.

This one goes beyond the highlight reel. Real insights on reinvention, mentorship, and navigating change.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 | Breaking the Access Barrier for Women

00:35 | Introduction: Meet Kanchana Gupta

01:48 | Embracing a "Squiggly" Career Path

03:26 | Finding Common Ground Across Ecosystems

04:21 | Leaving the Corporate Rulebook Behind at 33

06:59 | Art School, Failure, and Finding Her Voice

09:09 | Redefining Success: Who Are You Without Your Title?

11:36 | True Resilience: Navigating a Cancer Diagnosis

13:52 | The Birth of vLookUp During Chemotherapy

19:19 | How vLookUp Democratizes Mentorship

21:46 | Why vLookUp Will Always be Free

24:31 | Sponsorship & Branding: What Women Leaders Need Now

29:12 | Unlearning the "Waiting for Permission" Trap

30:46 | The "Five Meters" Rule for Navigating Change

32:00 | Episode Wrap-Up & Takeaways

32:27 | Gift Segment

Kanchana Gupta | Founder and CEO of vLookUp.ai

Kanchana Gupta is the Founder and CEO of vLookUp.ai, a global mentoring platform built to break access barriers for women through technology. With over two decades of cross-functional corporate experience, she has led teams across geographies before intentionally stepping off a traditional career path to explore entrepreneurship, art, and new ways of working. A multidisciplinary visual artist, mentor, and investor, her journey spans corporate leadership, creative reinvention, and community building. Today, she brings these parallel experiences together to champion more inclusive career pathways – enabling women to navigate non-linear journeys with greater clarity, confidence, and access to the right guidance.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanchana-gupta

Ritu Mehrish | Founder and Author | ReWrite The Rules

Ritu Gupta Mehrish is a speaker, executive coach and author, with 20 years of corporate experience working in companies such as P&G, GE Capital and GE spin-off Genpact. In her last role, Ritu ran a multimillion-dollar business vertical with 1000 people across eight countries and five continents. Throughout her extensive career, Ritu has had the opportunity to work, coach and converse with leaders across the globe from diverse industries. Her business and leadership experience has enabled her to bring in a pragmatic approach to leadership development. Her client list of Google, PayPal, Swiss Re, JP Morgan, Applied Materials, Intel, Knight Frank, Johnson & Johnson, AIA, Medtronic, Wharton Executive Education highlights the level of expertise she brings to the leadership topic.

https://www.letsrewritetherules.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritugmehrish/

https://www.ritumehrish.com/