From Helicopter Engineer to Keynote Speaker
Hello!
Defying the expectations of women in India, Anu Arora began her career as a helicopter engineer before spending over 20 years in corporate leadership across India, Australia, and the United States, including as a Director at Microsoft. There, she created the SDET program at Bellevue Community College, retraining spouses of H-1B visa holders whose skills all too often went dormant from work authorization difficulties.
Understanding that skill training wasn’t enough, Anu launched GetHired, a 6-month retraining program that taught technical skills alongside interview, resume, and confidence-building support.
After attending the Women in Technology conference, Anu was inspired to co-found the Microsoft Women's Conference with Eddie Pate, a program that grew from a small seed contribution into a global, company-wide event that still happens today. Anu later led the Test track for Microsoft's Engineering Excellence Forum.
Her experiences in leadership development at GetHired inspired her to become an executive leadership coach. Anu works with individuals and teams to develop leadership and mindfulness skills.
Her passion for impact on a larger scale leads her to the main stage so she can inspire and lead from the heart.
As host of the Mindful Leadership Podcast, she helps executives and teams build the presence, judgment, and decisive action that no technology can replicate.
Speaking from the intersection of mindfulness, neuroscience, and leadership — Anu helps motivate and inspire.
Learn more about Anu
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Anu presents workshops and keynote addresses at the intersection of mindfulness and neuroscience. Past clients include Microsoft, Boeing, Expedia, Premera, Reverb Clients, and Indian American Community Services.
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Working with individual leaders and corporate teams, both in person and online, Anu helps build resilience, mindfulness, and an ability to remain present in times of uncertainty.
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International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach
Erickson Coaching International Certified Professional Coach
Team Coaching International Certified Team Performance Coach
ICF Advanced Certification in Team Coaching (ACTC)
The Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program
GTCI Practitioner
Hogan Assessments Certified
LPI Leadership Practices Inventory Coach
DEI Champions
Positive Psychology: Martin E. P. Seligman’s Visionary Science
Mental Health Systems
Registered Yoga Teacher Training Certification
Heroic Graduate
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Anu’s career in technology and innovation began as a helicopter engineer. This experience led her to work in Australia and to a rewarding career at Microsoft, culminating as Principal Software Engineering Director.
Building from her time at Microsoft, Anu realized a need to help develop test engineer skills and launched the Software Development Engineer in Testing program at Bellevue Community College and Everett Community College.
Her consulting firm, Get Hired, helped hundreds of applicants uplevel their skills and gain long-term employment in test engineering.
Her experience building hard skills while coaching students on the important soft skills that have a lasting impact, motivated her to increase the impact she could have as a leadership and mindfulness coach and that has made the difference in the lives of thousands of people. -
Anu loves connecting and finds the luxury of time that a podcast allows to unlock insights to be especially valuable.
In the past, Anu has spoken on the following:
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Anu is the author of two books, with one translated into two languages. Her poetry collection, Ignite Your Light, was mentioned in the introduction of Melinda Gates’ The Next Day, for its deep reservoir of wisdom.
