Meet Rachana Bhide

We recently connected with Rachana Bhide and have shared our conversation below.

Rachana, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Thank you for having me! I’d love to share about optimism. Once I started leaning into art, music and creativity as a business leader, my world opened up. One story is on a plane from London back home to (where I lived at the time, as a management consultant) Germany. A teenager seated next to me told me his girlfriend was an opera singer, and had just been declined from a troupe in Berlin she auditioned for. Instead of dwelling on the rejection, he said something to the effect of, “no, that’s just part of being an artist. She is happy to audition for more, because she gets to perform and grow.”

I then looked down at the issue of British Vogue I’d purchased back in London. The page was open to an advertisement for a newly-opened Vogue Fashion School. I saw it as a sign to try something new. I took a sabbatical from my consulting career, and enrolled in the program to expand my creative thinking.

That Vogue program a decade ago set me on a path to bring more creativity into my corporate career, something that has lasted well into my current work; bringing my 25-year business consulting background into more creative frameworks.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a psychologist with a mainstream media (Bloomberg) broadcasting background. I spent 20+ years in corporate as a management consultant, both in the US and Europe.

What’s most special to me now is writing in new, creative ways about workplace psychology and change.

Reflective Serendipity is the name of my media and consulting business. It represents a spirit of depth psychology: which is reflective, introspective and believes in limitless opportunities. Our main focus now is called, “The Elephant in the Window,” workplace resources for psychological growth. In a brand new world of AI, the character (in the window!) to whom we refer is an ambitious elephant named Fonty, a window washer in NYC who uses real-life AI to explore workplace psychology.

I started creating Fonty purely as a psychologist in New York City during COVID; over time the characters began to represent real, deep metaphors of workplaces. Fonty, a large elephant, represents “vision,” for example. We offer a newsletter (40+ articles!), AI research summaries, and provide change management and leadership tools. We also have more creative materials, like Instagram stories, screenplays and artwork, to represent a creative evolution of business into the age of AI.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Design Thinking: Design Thinking changed my entire perspective, particularly through empathy and insight. By observing others’ subconscious needs, I can create better solutions as a business psychologist. I also use metaphors to frame and draw inspiration from unlikely places. This approach has been invaluable in both my creative and consulting work.

2) Growth Mindset: I learned about growth mindset in graduate school, which helps me see challenges as opportunities. This is how resilience builds over time; eventually everything becomes an opportunity to learn. When generative AI emerged, I began using it to enhance my fields of psychology and media.

3) Psychology of Personality: Personality psychology can anchor a growth mindset. By understanding different personality traits (“archetypes”), I better connected with others and myself. I’ve now grown beyond a fixed idea of personality, and am learning to see all archetypes of humanity in other people. I think this helps me as a live media presenter, when I interview guests and channel the warmth of an audience.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes! Fonty (The Elephant in the Window) is a content engine. We intentionally “break the fourth wall” to encourage a mindset for working with AI and teams in new ways. Fonty himself represents vision and limitless thinking, so we’d love to work with others who are excited about AI, growth, and modern workplace psychology.

Because we have hundreds of stories, we can easily support a company running a workshop on change; or to develop immersive experiences (storytelling drones in the sky; a virtual reality elephant helping you through your work day!). Additionally, we’d love to put our stories into art spaces, to bring corporate leaders into a place of creativity as they experience our lessons. If you’re excited about the future of AI and psychology, let’s connect and share something amazing together!

Contact Info:

 

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move