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Six months after walking away from a stable corporate career, a single family event made Bengaluru-based CA Meenal Goel question everything. The wedding hall, filled with relatives, casual conversations, and unfiltered comparisons, became an unexpected moment of reckoning. What followed was self-doubt, near surrender, and a hard internal conversation. A year later, the same woman is running her own company with Rs 50 lakh in revenue, still without the usual markers of success, but with something far more personal.
Meenal Goel, an ex-Deloitte and KPMG employee, recently shared her experience on social media, reflecting on a family wedding she attended six months after quitting her job. The moment she arrived, the questions began. Relatives wanted to know why she had left her job, what she was doing now, whether her business was making money, and when she planned to get married. The conversations were polite on the surface, but relentless underneath.
Outwardly, she smiled and gave vague answers. Internally, she was struggling. The reality behind those smiles was far from reassuring. Her business was not making money. There was zero profit and only losses. She was surviving on savings that were slowly running out. Worse, she had no certainty that the path she had chosen would even work. The comparisons made it harder. A cousin of her age was also present. He worked at a consulting company and had just bought a new car. Family members pointed it out repeatedly, asking her when she would do the same. The contrast between a high-paying corporate role and her uncertain entrepreneurial journey felt brutal in that moment.
Overwhelmed, Meenal left the wedding early, citing an excuse. Sitting alone in an Uber on the way back, she felt like a failure. That night, she came dangerously close to giving up. She even called a recruiter to ask about possible job openings, a move that felt like a lifeline back to safety. But before taking the next step, she paused and asked herself a difficult question. Was she quitting because she was truly failing, or because she was scared of being judged? The answer was clear. It was fear, not failure, driving the urge to quit. She decided not to apply for a job and returned to work on her business the very next day.
Twelve months later, the situation looked very different. Meenal crossed ₹50 lakh in revenue. She still had not bought a car, a detail she openly acknowledged, but she had built something of her own. The sense of ownership mattered more than external validation. Reflecting on the experience, she shared what the episode taught her. People are quick to judge when you are struggling and just as quick to celebrate when you succeed. The judgment during the hard phase can feel suffocating, but letting it dictate decisions can stop progress entirely.
Meenal Goel, an ex-Deloitte and KPMG employee, recently shared her experience on social media, reflecting on a family wedding she attended six months after quitting her job. The moment she arrived, the questions began. Relatives wanted to know why she had left her job, what she was doing now, whether her business was making money, and when she planned to get married. The conversations were polite on the surface, but relentless underneath.
Outwardly, she smiled and gave vague answers. Internally, she was struggling. The reality behind those smiles was far from reassuring. Her business was not making money. There was zero profit and only losses. She was surviving on savings that were slowly running out. Worse, she had no certainty that the path she had chosen would even work. The comparisons made it harder. A cousin of her age was also present. He worked at a consulting company and had just bought a new car. Family members pointed it out repeatedly, asking her when she would do the same. The contrast between a high-paying corporate role and her uncertain entrepreneurial journey felt brutal in that moment.
Overwhelmed, Meenal left the wedding early, citing an excuse. Sitting alone in an Uber on the way back, she felt like a failure. That night, she came dangerously close to giving up. She even called a recruiter to ask about possible job openings, a move that felt like a lifeline back to safety. But before taking the next step, she paused and asked herself a difficult question. Was she quitting because she was truly failing, or because she was scared of being judged? The answer was clear. It was fear, not failure, driving the urge to quit. She decided not to apply for a job and returned to work on her business the very next day.
Twelve months later, the situation looked very different. Meenal crossed ₹50 lakh in revenue. She still had not bought a car, a detail she openly acknowledged, but she had built something of her own. The sense of ownership mattered more than external validation. Reflecting on the experience, she shared what the episode taught her. People are quick to judge when you are struggling and just as quick to celebrate when you succeed. The judgment during the hard phase can feel suffocating, but letting it dictate decisions can stop progress entirely.
