Your energy is your greatest currency.
When I left corporate life to start Ojas Vida, I thought the biggest challenge would be strategy, branding, or funding. In reality, the most valuable asset was my own energy. I learned quickly that when my energy was aligned, clients, ideas, and opportunities flowed. When it wasn’t, everything felt like a grind. Founders often underestimate this invisible resource.
Asa part of our series about Women Founders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Sonal Bhatia, MD.
Dr. Sonal Bhatia, MD, is the founder of Ojas Vida, a coaching and leadership practice that integrates Ayurveda and modern science to help women leaders reclaim energy, clarity, and purpose. Formerly the Chief Medical Affairs Officer of Pfizer Rare Disease, she brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience to her work. Through Ojas Vida, she guides individuals and organizations to realign health and leadership with ancient wisdom adapted for today’s world.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Igrew up with a deep curiosity about healing and the human body, which led me to pursue medicine and earn my MD. My career took me into the pharmaceutical industry, where I eventually became Chief Medical Affairs Officer of Pfizer Rare Disease, helping bring innovative treatments to patients with some of the world’s rarest conditions.
But even at the height of my corporate career, I felt something missing — the deeper connection between mind, body, and purpose. That’s what inspired me to study Ayurveda and integrative health, and ultimately to found Ojas Vida. Today, I help women leaders and organizations reclaim their energy, align their lifestyles with both ancient wisdom and modern science, and step into leadership that feels vital, clear, and deeply human.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
One of the most interesting moments for me was when I led a retreat in Mexico City and saw women who had arrived exhausted and skeptical leave with a renewed sense of energy, clarity, and connection. Watching them journal, walk, and practice Ayurveda-inspired rituals together — and then hearing how those small shifts rippled into their work and families — confirmed for me that Ojas Vida wasn’t just an idea, it was a movement.
That experience showed me the real impact of blending science, ancient wisdom, and community.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started, I hosted an event where I tried to do everything myself — the teaching, the setup, even brewing Ayurvedic teas. At one point I mixed up the herbs, and my “calming blend” ended up being more of an energizer!
We all laughed, but the moment taught me the importance of asking for help, creating systems, and not taking myself too seriously.
Growth comes with a lot of learning and humility.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am deeply grateful to my grandfather, who was an Ayurvedic physician. Although he passed away before I started this journey, his legacy and stories planted the earliest seeds of curiosity in me. Years later, as I began studying Ayurveda myself, I realized how much his path had quietly shaped my own — he became the invisible catalyst that inspired me to integrate ancient wisdom with modern leadership.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
In my experience, many women leaders struggle with energy, confidence, and the invisible weight of caregiving responsibilities. There’s also the systemic issue of access to capital and networks — women still have to prove themselves more than men to be taken seriously.
Finally, there’s an internal barrier: too often, women feel they need to have it “all figured out” before starting, instead of giving themselves permission to begin imperfectly. And flow with the imperfection, to live in an amorphous time and not in a box set in stone.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Individually, women need spaces to build confidence, energy, and leadership presence — which is exactly what I focus on through Ojas Vida. Circles of women create trust, foster empowerment and give women a lot of courage. They can take down their “guard”.
As a society, we need to normalize shared caregiving, invest in mentorship for women, and amplify role models who don’t fit the traditional mold of leadership. Let’s stop making this a “tagline” in an enterprise but actually “walk the talk”. Often, with new leadership, many such initiatives die, because they don’t become priorities of the new leadership, a great example of “not walking the talk”.
At the policy level, we must address inequities in funding and create programs that don’t just train women founders but actively invest in them.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women bring a holistic perspective to leadership — they see the human, relational, and systemic sides of business. The can bring both a masculine and a feminine side into “balance” due to the various hats they wear daily as women. This allows a much balanced leader to bring balance to the entire company and leadership.
Founding a company allows women to design workplaces and products that reflect values of balance, empathy, and sustainability.
And ultimately, the world needs more diverse leadership models if we’re going to solve the challenges of our time.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
One myth is that founders have to hustle 24/7 to succeed. In truth, sustainable success comes from energy management, not burnout. And using collective energy can be so much more efficient than using individual energy. The key is to knowing how to tap into this.
Another myth is that you need a perfect plan before starting — but the reality is, clarity comes from action and iteration. That leaves a lot of room for creativity.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
No, not everyone is meant to be a founder, and that’s okay. Different people for different tasks, that is what makes our world so diverse in a beautiful way.
Founders need resilience, curiosity, and the ability to pivot when things don’t go as planned.
If you prefer predictability, steady structure, and are uncomfortable with risk, you may thrive more in a traditional role.
But if you’re willing to blend vision with adaptability — and keep showing up even when the path isn’t clear — then being a founder can be one of the most rewarding journeys. That is what is driving me, living in an amorphous and highly creative space, with only my vision in mind — to help humanity heal.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1. Your energy is your greatest currency.
When I left corporate life to start Ojas Vida, I thought the biggest challenge would be strategy, branding, or funding. In reality, the most valuable asset was my own energy. I learned quickly that when my energy was aligned, clients, ideas, and opportunities flowed. When it wasn’t, everything felt like a grind. Founders often underestimate this invisible resource.
2. You don’t have to do it all yourself.
Early on, I fell into the trap of trying to be the strategist, designer, accountant, and teacher all in one. I once hosted a workshop where I literally set up chairs, brewed teas, ran the slides, and gave the talk — by the end I was too exhausted to enjoy it! That day taught me to invest in support and community. Asking for help isn’t weakness; it’s wisdom.
3. Clarity comes from action, not perfection.
I used to believe I needed the perfect plan before launching. The truth? You learn by doing. Some of my most powerful offerings — like my retreats — only came into being once I stepped forward and started small. Each iteration brought more clarity than endless planning ever could.
4. Your story is your strategy.
For years I separated my identities: physician, pharma executive, and student of Ayurveda. I thought I had to choose one. But once I started sharing my personal journey — from corporate boardrooms to ancient healing practices — I noticed how deeply it resonated. People don’t connect to your polished resume; they connect to your lived story.
5. Success is not a straight line — it’s seasonal.
In Ayurveda, everything follows rhythms: daily, monthly, seasonal. I’ve come to see entrepreneurship the same way. There are seasons of growth and seasons of rest, and learning to honor those cycles has saved me from burnout.
The lesson: building a company is more like tending a garden than climbing a ladder.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
For me, success is not just about titles or accomplishments — it’s about how we use them to create impact. At Pfizer, I was proud to help bring therapies to patients with rare diseases who often felt unseen by the system.
Now, through Ojas Vida, I focus on helping women leaders reclaim their energy and presence so they can lead with clarity and compassion in their organizations and communities. Especially those going through mid-life challenges.
Beyond my coaching work, I share knowledge through my Substack writing, media appearances, and speaking engagements — bringing the conversation about Ayurveda, integrative health, and leadership to a wider audience.
I also mentor young women in science and medicine, serve on nonprofit boards to expand access to education, and create retreats that give women space to heal, grow, and rise.
My hope is that by bridging Eastern wisdom and Western science, I can help shift how we think about leadership and wellbeing — making both more human and sustainable.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
If I could inspire a movement, it would be to reframe energy as the true currency of leadership and life. Too often, we measure success by titles, productivity, or financial metrics — but what truly sustains us is our energy, clarity, and presence.
Imagine a world where leaders prioritized caring for their bodies, minds, and communities as much as they did their bottom lines.
Through this shift, workplaces would become healthier, families more connected, and communities more resilient.
By blending ancient practices like Ayurveda with modern science, I believe we can create a collective movement where wellbeing is not a luxury but the foundation of leadership — and in doing so, bring more compassion, vitality, and purpose into the world.
Energy is leadership’s greatest asset — imagine the impact if we built our world around that truth.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have breakfast with Oprah Winfrey or President Barack Obama.
Oprah has been a trailblazer in creating platforms that blend personal growth, spirituality, and leadership — a space where my own work deeply resonates.
President Obama, on the other hand, embodies leadership grounded in empathy, resilience, and service, qualities I aspire to bring forward through Ojas Vida.
Sitting down with either of them would be an extraordinary opportunity to explore how we can reimagine leadership for the future — at a global level — one that sustains both human energy and collective wellbeing.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
