Step Down to Level Up with Karan Mehta

Ever had to take a job that felt like a step down? Today, you'll hear why that step back might be the move that actually levels you up. Welcome to the NeuroLeadership Edge, brain science for bold leaders ready to master their mind and own their voice. I'm your host, Claire Hayek, NeuroLeadership expert, ex-engineer, lifelong musician, and founder of Mind Soul Purpose Team Building. Well, in this episode, you'll learn how to lead yourself through big change without losing your nerve, how to reframe a step down into a stepping stone, and one quick way to clear your head when things get tough. My guest today is Karan Mehta. Karan is a dynamic marketing and operations leader with over 9 years of experience driving revenue growth, managing high-impact campaigns, and enhancing customer experiences. He has led transformative initiatives for leading brands, including Uber Eats, where he achieved a 60% increase in revenue and successfully expanded campaigns across 27 cities. Known for blending strategic vision with operational excellence, Karan consistently delivers measurable results that scale businesses and strengthen brand awareness and brand presence. Karan, how are you doing? Very well.

Thank you so much for the warm introduction. Very pleased to be here today.

Good to have you. Really good to have you. So I'm, I'm very excited to dive right into your I love your story. And I think a lot of people share along the way some kind of step-down story and where when they look back, they see it as a huge advancement in their career. So, we definitely want to dive deep into what happened. And the whole point is to help people listening that might be going through something similar and say, you know what? It's going to be okay. This might be the best thing that ever happens to you.

Yeah.

But before we dive in, I would like to just share a couple of kind of like a quick neuroscience reset. So we're gonna do 2 short inhales with 1 long exhale through the mouth. And we are gonna do that twice. And what we're gonna do, this actual move is gonna bring you into your prefrontal cortex, gonna get you more focused, and is definitely gonna calm down your nervous system. So let's do it. All right. Now the next thing is we're gonna feel our toes and wiggle our toes or feel our feet into the floor for about ten seconds. So as we're talking here, you just have to like be mindful of your feet touching the floor. This is its physical cue tells. Basically, it's telling your brain, I'm here, I'm present. So again, your prefrontal cortex, your thinking brain comes back online because you might be somewhere else. You might be in your emotions right now. You might be going through something so we can focus and be present. All right. Thank you for, for playing along and humoring me with some neuroscience. But Karan, let's start and tell me about your story. What happened? What was that step back that really was a huge stepping stone for you? Walk us through it, please.

Yeah, sure. Basically, this is back in 2019 when I took a step back in my professional career. I basically had started off my professional career back in 2015 for about 4 years in India with a financial conglomerate. I worked with them for about 4 years, got a couple of promotions through that, and I was doing pretty well when I decided to kind of move on to Canada for a new opportunity and to level up. terms of studies and in terms of my professional career growth. So I basically did my post-graduation in marketing back in 2019 from George Brown College here in Toronto. And to my surprise and to everybody's surprise and to the world's surprise, we got hit with COVID which was very unfortunate. And at that point in time, Things were very iffy while I was doing that as well. Back in 2019, when I came here, I did start working with McDonald's as a server. So at that point in time, it felt like, okay, it was just while I was studying, I'll do something part-time. And, you know, it's just going to be a matter of a year.

Right.

And after that, I will have my step back into my corporate career and it'll be a big boost. with my professional career, which I'll be getting over there. So unfortunately, COVID had other plans for me, and that got me to stay with McDonald's for about a couple years, which was extremely, extremely difficult, as one might imagine. After working in the corporate world for about 4 years, kind of climbing up the ladder just a little bit there, it was not easy. Every day was fight with myself to get going and making sure that I am showing up no matter what and no matter how difficult it might get, no matter how little I would be paid for the amount of work that I'm doing, even as a server or even while making a coffee or something. But I was definitely very, very motivated to ensure that I'm showing up because I think Once somebody had actually told me that all that matters is actually showing up every single day and not giving up. And I think that has basically worked out in my favor. Those couple of years of not giving up and making sure that I'm showing up and always positive with whatever I'm doing and giving in 100% has kind of gotten me to where I am right now. And basically working with this company called OPZ, it's been a couple of years with them. And it was an opportunity which came out of the blue as well. Again, it was not planned for. I was manifesting that I should be getting something very big and make sure that I am able to track something which is extremely, extremely big. It took its time. It took about 5 years to come. 2019 to 2024 is what I kept going at it, making sure I'm not getting demotivated, not getting bogged down, be it COVID, be it whatever coming my way. There was actually a time when back in 2020 with COVID everybody in my family was like, okay, I think it's too much for you right now.

Right.

With the way things are going in Canada, I don't think you're going to be able to make it there. Why don't you just take a flight back and come back in? And I actually had my flight booked for May 1st, 2020. And I don't know what happened back then. I just had that gut feeling in me and that feeling that I'm going to be able to make it and make it big. And that's the reason I did not take the flight back home. It took almost a year for the refund to come in on the lighter amount.

I'm not surprised. Yeah.

Yeah. But I did persist, continued being with McDonald's. Some opportunities, other opportunities came by as well. I did start working on the marketing and the HR side of things with another company. Which lasted for about a good 10 to 11 months.

Right.

Had another setback for which I had to go back home, spent another 3, 4 months over there, came back, decided I need to go strong all over again. So there have been multiple instances when I've had to take a step down from what I was doing. But I think the bigger picture and what kept me going was the Was the hope and like there is light at the end of the tunnel is something which I always believe in. And I think I was able to see the light coming by very soon. And that did happen.

So tell me a little bit here. Let's unpack this a bit more. So when, when you were really, you know, in a state, you know, we're working at McDonald's, it's kind of a step down. What was going through your head? You know, I mean, How did it feel? The ego, the pain, the uncertainty. You know what? What really? What was happening? What was going through your head? How did you reset your mind? I mean, this is a neuro leadership podcast, so I'm really curious to see. I mean, you did say you manifested, you had a vision, and you really believed. But tell us a little bit more about the reality of things because I'm sure you're probably not always. 100% positive. I mean, maybe, maybe that's the key. I want to know a bit more details. So how did it feel and how were you able to, you know, when you hit those low moments, to rise up and lift yourself back up? What was your thing?

Yeah. So I think the key for me was positive reinforcement every morning. I used to wake up and be like, okay, we're going to get there. We're going to get there. I used to keep talking to myself and make sure that if 10 things go wrong, there's going to be one thing which is going to go right. And that one moment is going to take me to where I should be. So I kept believing in myself, kept believing in the process, kept doing and kept being at it than just holding, like folding my hands and just sitting down and being like, oh, I don't think this is going to work out anymore. I don't think I'm going to be able to reach to where I want to, or things like that. So they always used to come in my mind at any given point in time. There used to be one, the ego with regards to being almost an assistant manager back in India.

Right.

Then coming down and becoming a server at McDonald's, that was a big ego clash with myself. And I used to be like, okay, how am I going to cope with this? How am I going to do this? And I had my friends talking to me as well, and they were like, are you sure you want to take the step down? And how are we going to deal with it after being in the corporate world for about 4 years, knowing what it looks like and seeing what climbing the ladder looks like?

Right.

But positive reinforcement, and I think the bigger picture was always the key. Waking up and making sure that I'm able to calm myself down every morning. Positive reinforcement, writing down things on a piece of paper and sticking it right in front of my— as soon as I wake up, I'm like, yeah, the goal is to get somewhere. The goal is to get somewhere. These are just stepping stones.

So you were able to really bring yourself focus whenever maybe you were spiraling down, you were able to refocus. With tools that you've put around you to help you, whether it was a habit that you're actually forming, which is, you know, manifesting and thinking positively every day and repeating, that's going to be fine, we're going to get out of this. Or so you were able to instinctive— instinctively come up with tools to train your brain, which is wonderful. You know, you, you obviously have a mentally you have a good mental fitness already to start with and you're able to get yourself out of it. And it's definitely intention and drive, right? You must have a lot of drive. But a lot of us sometimes, you know, we just wanna give up. So I think what you said, you know, thinking positively and thinking of this as a period of time.

Something's gone.

This is just momentary. This is not it. And just focusing on that and continue to focus on that. I think that was really the key because I have an episode on my podcast on this topic podcast talk that your brain is— sorry, titled Your Brain Is Listening. So, your brain is listening. And what your thoughts affect your feelings affect your actions that affect your thoughts and so on and so forth. So, as you raise yourself up, it's just inevitable that the outcome will be what you're— it's up there, right? It's the positive reinforcement that you called. But when you're spiraling down, you're telling yourself, I'm not good enough. I'm never going to succeed. Well, guess what's going to happen? That's exactly what's going to happen. But when you tell yourself the opposite, here we go. You're the proof. So this is why—

I think that's the key as well. Sorry to interject, but I think that's the key as well. Sometimes we forget that there are 2 sides to a coin and we forget the rest of the 50% aspect of it. We always are focusing on the negative aspect of it. What if we're not able to do it? What if this does not work out? However, there's another 50% which says, what if this works out? That is something which we never focus on. And I think that is something that I would like to bring the listeners' attention to, is to always try and focus on something on the other side of the coin, which is what if this goes right?

Yeah.

Because we're always focusing on the negative aspect of things. We are always focusing on what can go wrong. However, the what can go right is, I think, which is very, very important. And that is something that I kept reinforcing to myself, reinforcing back to the universe that it's going to fall right. It's going to fall right. You know, so I think that's the key as well, is something that I would like to add.

Absolutely. And the thing is, I mean, this is all proven with research. I love the fact that you're giving real-life examples, you know, because that's what it's all about. The real stories that work. It works. And the thing is, is that you said the 50/50, but also even if Specific things that you wanted didn't happen at the time you wanted to happen. It doesn't mean anything. It just means it's not the right time, but it's still going to happen. When you're focused on an outcome, it's just you know the time you don't know what when it's going to happen. It's not you know something we can control. I mean, there's major manifestors out there; they're able to do that, but that's not what it's about. Sometimes it's even if it looks like a challenge, like yeah, but you know I thought this would work, but it didn't at the end. It's okay. The next thing will work, right? So it doesn't matter because whatever didn't work now, it just didn't work for a reason. You need to believe, like, what's the gift? How can— let me find the gift out of this. Maybe this was training me to learn this. So next time I'm a bit more prepared and so on and so forth. It's all good. All challenges are good. There's always a gift in a challenge. And if you keep your focus on your target, where you're heading, It doesn't matter. It's the journey. So enjoy the journey, whether there's ups and downs. But you know with certainty that you're gonna succeed. And this is where things become different, when you know for sure in your body that you will succeed. The journey is a journey, but you know the end goal will always be sure. So that's the beauty of, of the, the power, the power of, of the mind and what we are capable of as beings. But Thanks so much for sharing this. I think this is very relevant. And I think a lot of us sometimes forget this. So, that's a great reminder. So, from your seat now, you're running Canada, big campaigns. You have big teams, big crews. What do you do as a leader so your team reacts well to change? How do you help them?

Sure. I think change is inevitable, firstly. There are going to be situations where things might come up and what a plan A was will probably go into plan B or plan C or even a plan D, which you'd not even imagined for. So I think the key to this is to be there for the team. So I think firstly, how I take it with my team is basically try to make them understand that this is what plan A was, but we've had some changes and this is what Plan B is going to look like now. However, that does not bog us down with the process. Our process still remains the same. How we reach that, how we accomplish that plan is something which is going to change, or how we do it is basically going to look different. So I think basically reinforcing into them that this is not a big change. At the end of it, we got to achieve the same goal, but instead of this, we are going to do it this way. kind of understand their feelings as well around it, because sometimes of what we've planned and what we've done for about 2 to 3 or 5 days or even months can just change, you know, in a matter of time. So basically speaking to them, bringing them up to speed in terms of what this looks like and how this is not going to disrupt anything and how we can as a team achieve the same goals and stuff that we are supposed to be achieving.

Mm-hmm.

I think the key to this is not being, you know, like not bossing around people and being like, okay, this is what we're supposed to be doing. Take them along. I think the key to lead a team and to succeed in the team is basically to take the team along with you, then, you know, or leading by example, than just throwing in some words and asking them or expecting them to Come out with, come with outcomes. I would rather say that we are holding hand to what, like, keep them holding hand in terms of what they're supposed to be achieving and taking them through that.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And one quick tool here for anyone listening, when something unexpected happens and there's this change, whether you're living it yourself in your own life, in your career, or with your team, You can do like this 60-second exercise. Basically, just name the change in one sentence. This is what's happening right now. And then, name one thing that actually is not changing. It's staying the same. And then, just decide on what your next action is going to be. What that does is basically tells your brain. It calms your brain down because when the brain has certainty and control, Then, it's just a bit more calm, right? So, naming it and labeling it then takes away the mystery out of it and the unsafe factor, right? Because the brain, its job, only job is to keep us alive and for us to survive. So, anything that is not the usual thing, it's gonna panic. It's gonna just go into the, okay, what are we doing? What's happening? So, in order to calm it down, name it. And then bring it back to certainty and control. I'm taking an action. This is what's happening. I'm taking an action.

Good.

Let's jump into the rapid fires. Actually, I have a couple of questions for you. These are short answers. Not too short. Short enough. Let's go with the first one. So, one practice that kept you steady while you were stepping down. A habit, a person, a rule, anything.

Yeah, I think in terms of the habit one, I used to meditate every morning to kind of, again, positive reinforcement and calming my mind down. So I think that was very, that was the key to success is what I would say. Basically every morning, even if it is 5 minutes, actually it used to be about 20 to 25 minutes of positive reinforcement, kind of going back and talking to myself and just being with myself for those 20 minutes. But at times when I did not have time, I used to still give it 5 minutes, go back, speak to myself, positive reinforcement through and through, looking at the big picture. I think those were the key elements of being able to stay where I was able to stay and go up from there.

Awesome. Awesome. All right, next question. A podcast, a book, or a talk that really affected you, that rewired how you lead?

So I think I have read a few, I've like heard a few podcasts and read a few books. But I think the thing that stuck with me specifically was this podcast by Mo Gawdat, which he has podcasts which he runs quite often. It's called Transforming Yourself Starts with Your Thoughts. So I think That's something that stuck with me very, very for a long time. And again, like we've been speaking about positive affirmations, positive transformations, all of those things, I think you need to wire your brain up to kind of be there because it's easy to spiral down. So I think that positive wiring is always extremely very, very important. And that is what I feel has been the key for me to ensure that I'm able to Again, get to where I am right now.

Absolutely. Yes. Love that. Thanks for sharing, by the way. And you know what? Kudos to everybody out there adding value to listeners, to people, no matter what they do, what they're going through in their life. I think these podcasts, these talks, books, um, that are out there, they really help people. Sometimes we put things out there and we, we think somebody's listening. Maybe no one's listening. But but I feel that we just have if you have something to add value to other people, if you have something to share that you know is going to impact their life in in in a way or another, I really encourage you to do it. I really encourage you to start a podcast, write a book, or share it in on social media because we all need help. And the more of us out there, the merrier. I'm going to share with you now the listener challenge. For the week, so we're talking about stepping when we step down. How do we looking at it as a step forward? So pick one thing in your life that right now feels like a step down, that you feel like my God, it seems like I'm really going backwards here, and where I need to be going forward. So pick that thing that sounds like a or feels like a step down, and think of it. Do it on purpose. And reframe it as a step forward, okay? Or a step towards something bigger. In other words, find the gift in the challenge. It's like, how is this helping me step up even more? You know, how is this preparing me? How is this actually a stepping stone for something much bigger in my life? Write it down on a sticky note and put it up on your monitor. And when you catch yourself spiraling down with negative thoughts, negativity, anxiety, self-doubt, etc., read this and reinforce it. And, you know, that will help you spiral back up kind of in a way to lift yourself up with positivity, especially exactly like Karan actually mentioned. So we'd love to hear from you and see how this works for you. Please do tag me in a post on this, and you can also tag Karan. I'm sure he'll be very happy. To hear from you. So please do share this with us and tell us how you— how this experience was for you. So it's all about practicing mindfulness, practicing positivity, and looking at challenges as gifts. Karan, it's the end of the episode. It flew by. I would love to thank you actually for really being vulnerable and sharing your story with us and being authentic. This is what it's all about. This podcast is all about authenticity and bold leadership, and I think you embody this very well. And I'd like to just ask you, do you have any final words you'd like to share with our listeners?

No, I think, thank you so much, Clare, as well for having me here. And it was a great podcast, I would say, of what I was able to share with everybody. And I would just say, keep at it. There are going to be times when you will feel down, you will feel bogged down, you'll spiral down. But those are just going to be stepping stones and just keep stepping on them, each one on one, one by one. And we'll get there to the bigger picture. And it's right there. We will get there.

There you go. There you go. You need to have the vision of where you're heading, focus on where you're heading, and try to enjoy the journey. Even it looks, it looks tough. And sometimes, you know, just keep going, keep at it. Thanks so much again, Karan. So if this helped you, follow the show. And share this episode with one person who needs it today. For upcoming webinars, masterclasses, the full podcast archive, and as well as free resources— I have tons of those— do scan the QR code that you see on the screen. Or if you're not watching this per video, just listening to the audio, check the comments for my Linktree. And finally, I just want to end with Stay human. We go through ups and downs, but if you lead boldly, you you keep being positive. You keep finding that gift, and you keep raising your spirits up, and you're focused, and you regroup, and you refocus on your goal. Nothing's gonna hold you back. So I hope that this episode was helpful for you again, Karan. Thanks so much for being the guest today. We'll see you next time. All right.

Bye. Thank you so much.