Lift up Lives and Empower All with Reetu Gupta

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Long after you're gone, what kind of legacy are you going to be leaving in this world? What kind of impact do you hope to make and how will you lift up people's lives? Just like an iPhone has multiple tools that are built inside of it, I'd like to introduce you to a marketer who's also an incredible engineer and an entrepreneur that is at the heart of the gap between technology and customer needs. Ritu Gupta spent 15 years in corporate America, from startups to Fortune 50 companies. She's earned her MBA as a valedictorian from the University of Washington. She is a member of Forbes next 1000 inspiring entrepreneurs and is also the winner of Female Entrepreneur of the Year award and she is with me right now. Rita is the founder and CEO of Circled In, a young professionals platform for Gen Z students, empowering them to showcase their professional achievements and connecting them with various opportunities at colleges, employers, trade shows and et cetera. But first, a word from our sponsors. This podcast is brought to you by the Wire Buzz team. Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because I've spent the past decade growing Wirebuzz into a digital marketing powerhouse designed to maximize clarity in complex sales processes so we can help accelerate revenue. And we do this in three phases. Phase one we transform your website to function like your best salesperson and then also incorporate persuasive on demand sales videos. Now, your entire team is aligned on messaging and they're injecting massive clarity into your prospect's head. So your site looks great, but it also has engaging content that helps your team sell on demand 24. 7. The next phase phase two we train your sales and marketing teams to sell remotely or in person to expand the impact of your sales team. And the third phase is we develop and run targeted ads to your prospects. Scale those ads to help you achieve more business results. Sign up for the Wirebuzz Company newsletter to learn more about effective and simple ways to improve your company messaging, attract more digital attention, and ultimately make more sales. Ritu, welcome to the Todcast.

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Yeah, it's so exciting for me. You and I have had an opportunity to talk before this as we prepared for the audience. And there, there is the obvious question on the table, which is where I'd like to start, which is where you are in your career right now. What is circled in? Tell me about it.

Well, circleed in is the future and present. So what Circle, Lynn, is it's a professional presence, professional portfolio platform for Gen Z Students designed and built for them to tell their professional story to the world. Who they are, their strengths, talents, interest and passion. And then bringing them in front of all the opportunities that are best fit based on who they are and and where they want to go. So on very loose terms, think LinkedIn for Gen Z, but way more than that. Design and will for students, by students.

And it allows the students, if I understand this correctly, to showcase their professional achievements, their abilities and also brings together opportunities like colleges and employers and trade shows, maybe even scholarships. Like where did this idea come from?

Yeah. And yes, it is actually a 360 degree holistic profile for students to compile everything they do, whether it's academics, inside school or classroom or outside, like sports, music, volunteering, all at one place. This is who they are. And then they can share with click of a button with any application. On the other side, we are bringing the whole ecosystem together around them. Colleges, internships, employers, for the part time job or the first time fresh college grads out of, you know, out of college looking for job. And what we are doing with that is we are making it a win win for both sides. Because if you look at the metrics today, both for higher education as well as employers, it's really bad. As an example, believe it or not, only 60% students graduate from college in six years. You'll never go to a hospital where your chances of walking out is only 60%. But we allow that in public education, in employment, first fresh grad, first job, 55.3% leave within first year. You know what is the cost of training and recruiting a fresh grad? Over $6,000. So it's all bad all across the board. Circle lane changes that and how I came up with the idea that was actually more as a parent. So I have my own kids and I'm a huge proponent of education because I think this is the most powerful weapon to change the world. Like Nelson Mandela said. And as I was born and raised in another country, India, mom is a teacher. When I was a teenager, I helped her start and run an elementary school. Hated it at that time, I'll say that as a teenager, didn't like it. But through that the value of education went in my DNA and brought me here. Today that I'm on this podcast, nobody would have known. We two born and raised in a tiny town in India, right? And then when I had kids in us going through the whole K12 education system, I saw tremendous opportunities to improve the system. It's funny, on one side we are building Driverless cars. We are doing space travel. And I found that there's no way for kids and students to tell their professional story. Having gone through a painful application process with my daughter, I thought, oh, there's gotta be something like LinkedIn. You and I have, there must be something for kids. Didn't find one. So being a mom, a marketer and an engineer decided to make one and circleed in, came into existence.

Okay, you know, as you're talking about the innovation that's happened in the world all over from the driver free car, I think of, wow, I could have really benefited from this study free education. But that's not what you're talking about at all. And you're as you mentioned, your mom ran an elementary school and education is deep in your DNA and it is obvious the education system is ripe for disruption. When did you start noticing that this education systems like 100 years outdated. When did that happen for you?

Well, when my older daughter was in elementary school. So I remember when she was in fourth grade. And we live in Seattle area, very highly educated city, one of the most educated city in the country and very, I mean tons of students who come from affluent families as well. And schools are good, public schools are good. But still I found it's still dated. So fourth grade I was like, okay, we have all these talents sitting in our community and kids have zero career exposure other than what their parents do. Kids don't know anything about any other careers. So I started a series, what I called making smart kids smarter where I brought in parents into the classroom, talked to them about airlines, talked to them about Oreo cookies. Somebody from Oreo supply chain came in and talked to them how cookies are made and sold. And kids were thrilled. They had a blast that whole school year. So that was just very simple example of I was trying to volunteer, but in a more strategic fashion than just helping teacher in the classroom. That's not me, unfortunately. And I all along I'm thinking, oh my God, there's so many ways of doing things better. So many ways. Yeah, the whole world has moved on to 21st century education. Still stuck in 17th and again with my daughter, it took me three weeks to put her application together one time and second application start all over again. She got accepted in that school and we lost access to that application platform. And I thought, wow, all that work I did, poof, gone. And I thought there's got to be something like LinkedIn for kids. Like I said all along, there are so many opportunities in our education system and I know it Sounds kind of weird. In some ways, Covid has sparked that innovation that was way needed 100 years ago.

Yeah, absolutely. Like much as you're talking, I'm thinking about my dad reprimanding me when I moved back to his house after college. And he'd walk by and go, what are you doing in the house? There's no opportunities in here. Look around. There's none. It's all outside. Get your ass outside. But now, like you said, Covid sparked innovation. Opportunities are now right there in their device. And I love that because it is a place where the market can get immediate access and, and the student or employee could also get immediate access. And it's like a, it's like a dating app in a sense that it's all brought into one central location.

Yes, exactly. So if you look at just some of the stats, and some people may debate on these numbers, colleges spend anywhere from 10 to $100 billion in recruitment and marketing. Who's paying for that money? Parents? You and I, right? Employers, like I said, spending over $6,000 per fresh grad recruit. And we know how unhappy people are in their jobs. You know, all of this, it's all mismatched. If we can have Tinder, why can't we have something like Circle in that can actually match students and opportunities, whether it's college, whether it's employment, and create Win win. It's not just about innovation. It's a process efficien. So what with Circle Lane we are doing, we are making youth recruitment more effective, efficient, and equitable. And don't even get me started on equitable. Seriously.

Well, what I love here is passion. Like anybody watching this right now can feel the passion that you're sharing. And for me, I've always looked at passion as being the fuel to overcome any obstacle. No matter how many hours you have to work, if you're passion filled, you can burn that, that passion to overcome. And when I think of you and how you grew up in a small town in India and you've been filled in your brain full of opportunities that have been fueled by passion, what is it about you that wants to leave a powerful legacy for the world that betters the world, you know, I see that, that like, value, passion has purpose. When I'm talking with you, where does that come from?

Well, I, I don't know exactly the source of that. Definitely one of them is my mom. Like I said, she's gritty, career conscious, very ambitious woman. She ran for public offices even when she was 60 something and one time when she was 63, she decided, she said, oh, I'm going to contest again. And we all are like, we are adult kids now. And we're like, mom, why are you doing that? And she said, if you can't help me get out of the way. And I was like, that's the powerful woman that I'm glad and I'm proud to be the daughter of. Right, that's where it comes from. I think most of it is my parents. And second thing is, it's just, I don't know, I grew up raising my hand. Yes, I'll do it. Yes, I'll do it. Yes, I'll do it. I volunteered. I took every opportunity that came my way. And I always say, stagnant water stinks. You have to keep moving, become the stream that learns every day, molds every day, grows every day. And that is just how I have. I had to be.

Yeah, yeah, stagnant water stinks. The idle hands are the devil's workshop. I mean, it's so obvious in people's lives that when they're not working on making, making some good in the world, good things don't happen, bad things happen. And even when you've. Look, you, as I mentioned in your introduction, you are like an iPhone that's got multiple tools. Be a marketer, an engineer, an entrepreneur. But often I think it's important to discuss professional setbacks. And there are a lot of people that are in the audience right now that have taken a setback. And setbacks can often feel devastating when it happens. But down the road, like when you turn around and look back, I think the most successful people have been able to flip their setback into a huge opportunity that's helped them spring forward. Has that happened for you?

Absolutely, absolutely, all the time. I mean, if you don't know setbacks, you can't enjoy the success. If you are eating sugar all day long, you don't know the difference. And you won't know how sugar is better or different than salt, Right? So you have to taste the salt. One very simple example that I can think of when I was in my career, I have masters in engineering and I started my career in software development working for Fortune 50 companies as well as startups under big companies umbrella with tons of money, all of that. I was always a star performer, always in top 2 percentile of my company, of the organization. And one time this boss gave me a really bad review because of some conflict. We didn't agree on everything. And I'm very vocal. I am not A yes, ma'. Am. Yes, sir. And I got a bad review and I was shocked. That was the setback. My instant reaction was, I'm gonna quit this job and go another place. Then I decided, no, you know what, I'm going to go back to school and this company is going to go pay for my mba. So three weeks later, I enrolled in my GMAT and I met with University of Washington Foster School of Business. I said, I'm coming in, and I did. Six weeks later, I took my GMAT and I enrolled in MBA that was sponsored by that employer. And lo and behold, if that had not happened, I will probably be still writing code somewhere in a cubicle in a company. That MBA opened doors. That was the best opportunity in disguise because that just.

Okay, so I love this. I think what I really love is that most people when confronted with a bad review or pushback, that maybe there's another level inside of them and they maybe don't want to hear it. Most people don't want to hear when there's another level inside. And it is the role and responsibility of a leader to be able to identify when that. That team member isn't playing at their full potential. But most people read to when they get that type of feedback, are shocked that they aren't getting all, you know, pluses in their life. And as a result, they run from the experience instead of embracing it. If you would have ran instead of embraced it, you wouldn't have had one of the greatest breakthroughs of your career.

That is very correct. Very correct. That's what I think, that I would still be writing code somewhere. Being a software developer, I would not have started circled in. I would not have gone on these international business roadshows that I did. And the opportunities I had, amazing opportunities, running hundreds of millions of dollars ARR product line, you know, I did all that and all came after that experience. That was the. Probably the best kick in my butt I had in my life.

Thank God for it, right?

Thank God for it. Yes.

Yeah. Okay, so this is, this brings me back to how I got onto the Tony Robbins stage. You see, I was, I tried for years to get onto his stage, but I kept hearing that I wasn't ready. And my first thought was that it was a no. But my wife said to me, wait a minute, did he say no or not yet? And I said, oh. He said no. And she, she. I said, I think it felt like a no. And she said, dude, I didn't ask you what it felt like. I said, was it a no? Or a not yet. And I said, you know, after I think about it, I. Yeah, I was a not yet. And she goes, beautiful, dude. You're still in the game. That means you can up your level of performance. If that's in you. Is it in you? And I said, yeah, of course it's in me. She goes, wait a second. Is there another level where you can add so much value into this world where they can't ignore you and they have to say, yes? And I said, yes, there's another level. And she said, well, why aren't you playing full out? Instead of complaining, just play full out. Can you do that? I said, yes. And she said, great. Don't quit before your miracle. Let's get to work.

And.

And so I kept upping my game exactly like Wendy said, to the point where my information was so good they couldn't ignore me. But at first glance, the rejection was enough to make me stop. And I'm so glad that somebody else recognized there was another level inside of me. Instead of playing at the level of excellent, I needed to play at the level of outstanding. And that's when everything changed in my life. And it sounds like it did for you.

Yes, yes, yes.

I love it. All right, so when I talk with you, I detect that you're a continuous learner and that a continuous learner is stuck in constant and never ending improvement. And there are other people that are stuck in constant and never ending complaining. Right. Or lamenting. But what is it like? What keeps you hungry to learn new things that'll help you elevate your game to the level of outstanding?

There's no other way. There's only one way to go, which is up. It's that simple.

But for a lot of people, they're striving for comfort. And anytime you have to learn something new, it's uncomfortable when you have to get to the next level. But it's growing pains. And clearly, even when you went through your MBA or you were an engineer or an entrepreneur or launching this business, it's been uncomfortable. What keeps you from finding and craving comfort? Instead, you find yourself pushing towards uncomfortable things that gets you next level.

Yeah, you know, and that's a good question. I don't have the answer to that. Honestly. I think there must be something in your genes or some of your DNA or something, because I was talking to my daughter just last week and we were talking about how if we have work less than 80 hour work week, we feel like there's nothing to do. We don't get done to work that is only 60 hour week. If it is 80, you stay here and your work, work, work, work, you get a lot more done than when you have 60 hour work week. We don't get anything done with 60 hour work week because that's like, oh, there's not enough work. So constant learning, like very simple examples. I'll. I don't know what is the root, I mean, what is the drive for that? But when I came to this country, I was born and raised in India. I have British English, right? My learning was all in British learn English, which is different, in fact very different than us. So even to date I get my writings checked with and the, because all these things I miss, I'm very consciously looking for that. When I came to this country just to learn the culture, I learned by looking at you. I learned by observing you, how you are standing, how you're sitting, how you're talking, how you're responding. So I went to that level of learning. When I came to this country, I accepted the fact that I'm hitting a reset button because there were so many things in new culture you just don't know, right? Same thing when I started Circle Lane. Honestly kid, you not. After first nine to ten months of Circle Lane, I thought I could get PhD in five different subjects from law and accounting to HR to fundraising to everything. Because I had to learn so much, right? Even today I can talk about LLC and C Corp and B Corp and S Corp and all those things and I can have smart conversations with learners because I don't, I don't want to sound like, not only don't want to sound like them, but if I only have 30 minutes with you with an expert, I want to ask the smart questions and learn as much as I can from you. So I do some homework and prep work beforehand. So learning is just part of the system.

I don't know how I do prep work before. Like you don't just show up and allow your God given talent to be sufficient when you show like a lot of people, I'm sure you see it, a lot of people just show up and then they can't figure out why it's not growing, whatever they're working on, right? So that effort that you put in, the extra hours, like today I went and had lunch with my neighbor and he's a New York Times bestselling author, Brian Moran, from the book the 12 week year. And so Brian and I went and had lunch. He's a dear friend of mine. And I remembered the first time he told me about his book when I met him outside our house and he said, oh, he's the author of the 12 week year. And I knew it, but I thought he was telling me that I only needed to work 12 weeks in a year. So in my brain I was like, how could that possibly be? Because like you, I feel like I'm always working because one, I'm incredibly passionate. But I know if I want to play at the next level, I need more time to be able to execute at that higher level. How do you juggle the professional passion that you have and the family passion? How do you make that happen?

So I'm going to give you an unpopular opinion here.

Yes.

Okay. When I was growing up, I knew one thing. In India, there are lots of people, it's very crowded, there's no concept of personal space even. Right. And the one thing I remember, and I did not see that live, but I saw the pictures and images of that. When Mahatma Gandhi died, there was a sea of people crying on the roads. Right? Because when Mahatma Gandhi was like, oh my God, he was the legend, I grew up thinking, I don't want to be that ant on the street that dies, gets crushed and nobody notices. I want to be that Mahatma Gandhi that when I cry, when I die, the whole planet is crying. Now, that's my goal, that's my legacy, that's what I'm working towards. What does that translate into professional passion or family passion? Yes, of course, my want my family to be there, but I don't want just four people in my family to cry when I die. Just four people. I want 4 billion people to cry.

Yeah.

Which means my professional passion includes my family passion. And I also believe that I'm setting a good example for my kids. Like I said, the conversation I just had with my daughter a couple of weeks ago, one of my contribution to the world is also to have these two kids who are going to make a difference in the world. It's not just my difference, of course. What I can do by myself is valuable, is that's what I want to do. I want it to be that priceless that everybody's like, she changed education, she changed the world, she made it better and more efficient. Right. But at the same time, oh, look, here is brain surgeon who designed and sort of who cured cancer, which is my older daughter working towards that. My younger one, computer science. Oh, look, she designed the next cloud optimization algorithm on Amazon Cloud, whatever that is. Again, I get little bit of contribution to that. So my contribution is not what I'm doing today, but how I'm also influencing the future and next generation to contribute to the world. That's where you blend the family and profession. People ask about work life balance. There is no such thing. Get over it. Seriously. Don't even. That. That. That phrase work life balance should not be in the dictionary. It's work life blend. How do you blend the two?

How do you blend them? And then how do you honor both so both can grow? And you know, that's. Thank God for my business coach therapist that helps me blend those two because, you know, I need guidance on it. I could easily lose sight of my relationship because my work is. Is all consuming at times and my wife is a saint. So I totally get this. I. I'm not sure if there is a. I agree with you. There isn't a work life balance. It is a work life. What did you call it? It was so good.

Blend.

Blend.

Yes. And you don't get me wrong, I mean there are. I was never a cupcake baking mom. I never was and I never will be. That's not my forte. That's not where my passion is. But what I have given to my kids that maybe other parents may not have, it's a different. That's why there's variety. That's why you have a world with now 8 billion people. Thank God we are all different. If we all were saying we'll kill each other because we'll be so bored of each other. Right? Yeah.

It would be like we're all mechanical. The good news is we all get to pursue our passions. And like I started off this interview, we all get to make this world. We have the opportunity to make this world a better place and to leave a lasting legacy behind us that can enrich lives for, you know, the rest of time. But few can actually make that choice. And that's a choice that you have to make a commitment on a daily basis. It's constant and never ending choice. Now, now, Circled in has different target audiences, right? Like it's for Gen Z students, educational and professional opportunities. And for more information, people could go to circledin.com on a lasting thought. For people that are listening that are probably not Gen Z students, can you give them an idea about how they could jump in and support Gen Z students and their quest to find a purpose and. And passion in this world professionally so they can leave a lasting legacy?

Yes. Yes, absolutely. You know, it's not just the difference that you make in the world. It's the difference you enable in the world. And you can do that through Gen Z through next generation. So first of all, Circleed in is one platform that you can share with any and every student, nephew, nieces, neighbors, kids, whoever. And it's spelled as c I r k l e-n.com and k by the way is kids at the center of our circle. It's intentionally circle. I will say be the good example for students in your life. Expose your career to them. You could be stay at home, parent, mom or dad. Show them what it looks like you are doing project management all day long. Show them project management. Show them the scale of organization and staying on communication and leadership and ownership. You can teach so many soft skills that many professionals cannot. If you are a professional, talk about your career to those kids. Expose them to various opportunities and how the world works. Right now all our Gen Z is growing in our classroom and guess what? Outside world is very different than classroom. Why don't you give a taste of outside world to kids while they're in the classroom so they come out a little bit more prepared. So beautiful.

Well, she's Ritu Gupta. She is the founder of Circled in and for more information visit circled circled in.com Ritu thank you so much for joining me on the Todcast.

Thank you, thank you Was it was lovely being here and giving the opportunity.

Yo, that was a powerful episode. And from what we just learned, it should be obvious how you can now implement these lessons in your life to get to the next level. Now, before you bounce, I just have three quick thoughts. First, thank you for taking me on your incredible life journey. Second, if you receive some value from me and you want to pay it forward, it would mean the world to me. If you left an honest rating and review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen, I'd be incredibly grateful. And lastly, if you share this episode, whether it be a screenshot or a photo from where you're listening, anything via Instagram stories or LinkedIn, Facebook or any of the social media sites, just tag me and the guest. I'll repost your content and I'll reply back in the comments because I love mixing it up. In fact, I'd love to share your shoutouts in my feed too. Not only are these shout outs really good for you and for me, but they also help us book more amazing guests because they'll be able to see the reach that you're helping to cultivate. This is a way for you to help contribute to the show. So thank you again for listening and I look forward to earning a regular spot inside that ear of yours. Let's grow.